J. Barkley Rosser
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John Barkley Rosser Sr. (1907–1989) was an American logician, a student of Alonzo Church, and known for his part in the Church-Rosser theorem, in lambda calculus. He also developed what is now called the Rosser sieve, in number theory. He was later Director of the Army Mathematics Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Rosser wrote mathematical textbooks as well.
In 1936, he proved a stronger version of Gödel's first incompleteness theorem, showing that the requirement for ω-consistency may be weakened to consistency. Rather than using the liar paradox sentence equivalent to "I am not provable," he used a sentence that stated "For every proof of me, there is a shorter proof of my negation".
In prime number theory, he proved Rosser's theorem.
John Barkley Rosser Jr. is known as a mathematical economist and is a professor at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
[edit] Writings by Rosser
- A mathematical logic without variables by John Barkley Rosser, Univ. Diss. Princeton, NJ 1934, p. 127-150, 328-355
- Logic for mathematicians by John B. Rosser, 2nd ed., Chelsea Publ. Co. 1978, 578 p., ISBN 0-8284-0294-9
- See Barkley Rosser papers for a complete list of Rosser's publications.