Double-exponential inseparability of Robinson subsystem Q+

In this work a double exponential time inseparability result is proven for a finitely axiomatizable first order theory Q+. The theory, subset of Presburger theory of addition S+, is the additive fragment of Robinson system Q. We prove that every set that separates Q+ from the logically false sentences of addition is not recognizable by any Turing machine working in double exponential time. The lower bound is given both in the non-deterministic and in the linear alternating time models.The result implies also that any theory of addition that is consistent with Q+—in particular any theory contained in S+—is at least double exponential time difficult. Our inseparability result is an improvement on the known lower bounds for arithmetic theories.Our proof uses a refinement and adaptation of the technique that Fischer and Rabin used to prove the difficulty of S+. Our version of the technique can be applied to any incomplete finitely axiomatizable system in which all of the necessary properties of addition are provable.