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Linglib.Theories.Semantics.Entailment.Extremum

Cross-world extremum under entailment #

@cite{fox-2007} @cite{fox-hackl-2006} @cite{beck-rullmann-1999} @cite{von-fintel-fox-iatridou-2014} @cite{rouillard-2026}

The cross-world entailment-based "maximally informative" predicate (IsMaxInf) that has no mathlib analogue, plus mathlib bridges for the per-world specialization, plus the MIP_Licensed licensing predicate combining non-constancy with per-world extremum existence.

Two formulations #

The mathlib-shape per-world reading is just IsLeast {y | P y w} x (or IsGreatest) — call mathlib directly. The Fox 2007-style cross-world reading is unique to formal semantics:

IsMaxInf P x w := P x w ∧ ∀ y, P y w → ∀ w', P x w' → P y w'

reading: at world w, x is true; and for any other true alternative y at w, the proposition denoted by x entails the proposition denoted by y across every world. Equivalently: x denotes the smallest proposition (in subset order on Set W) among true alternatives at w. Bridge to per-world via mathlib's MonotoneOn.map_isLeast family.

Two predicates fail under different conditions, so the MIP licensing condition is their conjunction:

Naming #

The shared mathematical structure — extracting the extremal element of an indexed family under an evaluation map — also appears outside semantics (notably as argmax_u (ln P_L0(s | u)) in RSA-style pragmatics; both pick the most informative alternative under their respective evaluation map). The file lives in Theories/Semantics/Entailment/ because the cross-world quantifier is the entailment relation between propositions.

Beck-Rullmann attribution #

@cite{beck-rullmann-1999} introduce answer1(w)(Q) = ⋂{p : Q(w)(p) ∧ p(w)} — the conjunction of all true Hamblin propositions at w. For upward-monotone scalar predicates this reduces to the smallest-true-degree case captured by IsLeast. For non-scalar predicates (their §4.4) it is the literal conjunction and not an extremum. So the IsLeast per-world reading is an ergonomic specialization of Beck-Rullmann answerhood under monotonicity, not their primary formulation.

def Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.IsMaxInf {α : Type u_1} {W : Type u_2} (P : αWProp) (x : α) (w : W) :

A scale value x is maximally informative in a degree property P at world w iff P x w is true and P x entails P y (across every world) for every other true P y w.

The unified exhaustivity condition underlying only-implicatures, degree questions, and definite descriptions in the @cite{fox-2007} / @cite{von-fintel-fox-iatridou-2014} tradition. @cite{rouillard-2026} specializes this to numerals in temporal in-adverbials.

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    def Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.HasMaxInf {α : Type u_1} {W : Type u_2} (P : αWProp) (w : W) :

    A degree property has a maximally informative element at world w.

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      def Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.InformationCollapse {α : Type u_1} {W : Type u_2} (P : αWProp) :

      Information collapse: no element is maximally informative at any world. @cite{fox-hackl-2006}: this is why degree questions fail over dense complements, why only + "more than n" is contradictory, and why definite descriptions over dense open sets lack a presupposition-satisfying referent.

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        theorem Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.isMaxInf_of_isLeast_upward {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} {P : αWProp} (hUp : Core.Scale.IsUpwardMonotone P) (w : W) (x : α) (h : IsLeast {y : α | P y w} x) :
        IsMaxInf P x w

        For an upward-monotone family, a per-world smallest-true value is cross-world maximally informative. The converse requires threshold-witness assumptions on the world space (one direction only).

        theorem Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.isMaxInf_of_isGreatest_downward {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} {P : αWProp} (hDown : Core.Scale.IsDownwardMonotone P) (w : W) (x : α) (h : IsGreatest {y : α | P y w} x) :
        IsMaxInf P x w

        Dually for downward-monotone families: the per-world largest-true value is cross-world maximally informative.

        def Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.MIP_Licensed {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} (P : αWProp) :

        Maximal Informativity Principle licensing for upward-monotone derived properties (e.g., E-TIA telic in @cite{rouillard-2026}). The conjunction captures both failure modes:

        • AdmitsOptimum P (non-constancy): the family distinguishes alternatives at all (failure mode for atelic / homogeneous predicates).
        • IsLeast {y | P y w} x at some w: a smallest true value exists (failure mode under density without minimum).
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          def Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.MIP_LicensedDown {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} (P : αWProp) :

          Dual MIP licensing for downward-monotone derived properties (e.g., G-TIA in negative perfects).

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            Migrated from Core/Scales/Scale.lean: applications of IsMaxInf to the canonical degree predicates atLeastDeg, moreThanDeg, atMostDeg (defined in Scale.lean, monotonicity proven there). The pure scale theory stays in Scale.lean; the IsMaxInf-flavored consequences live here as a downstream entailment-theoretic application.

            theorem Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.atLeast_hasMaxInf {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} (μ : Wα) (w : W) :

            "At least d" always has a maximally informative element: d₀ = μ(w).

            This holds on ANY scale — dense or discrete — because the actual value μ(w) is always in the domain and "at least μ(w)" entails "at least d" for all d ≤ μ(w) by transitivity.

            This is why bare numerals generate scalar implicatures regardless of scale density: the relation creates a closed set with a natural maximum at the true value.

            theorem Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.moreThan_noMaxInf {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} [DenselyOrdered α] (μ : Wα) (hSurj : Function.Surjective μ) (w : W) :

            Implicature asymmetry (@cite{fox-2007}, @cite{fox-hackl-2006}): on a dense scale, "more than n" has NO maximally informative element.

            For any candidate d₀ < μ(w), density gives d' ∈ (d₀, μ(w)). A witness world w₁ with μ(w₁) ∈ (d₀, d') has "more than d₀" true but "more than d'" false — so d₀ does not entail d'.

            The hSurj hypothesis says every degree value is realized by some possible world.

            theorem Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.isMaxInf_atLeast_of_hit {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} (μ : Wα) (m : α) (w : W) (hHit : ∃ (w' : W), μ w' = m) :
            IsMaxInf (Core.Scale.atLeastDeg μ) m w μ w = m

            Kennedy / @cite{fox-hackl-2006} bridge (point-realization form): IsMaxInf of the "at least" degree property at value m and world w holds iff μ w = m, given only that m itself is in the image of μ. This is strictly weaker than full Function.Surjective μ and is the hypothesis actually used in the proof.

            theorem Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.isMaxInf_atLeast_iff_eq {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} (μ : Wα) (m : α) (w : W) (hSurj : Function.Surjective μ) :
            IsMaxInf (Core.Scale.atLeastDeg μ) m w μ w = m

            Kennedy / @cite{fox-hackl-2006} bridge: IsMaxInf of the "at least" degree property at value m and world w holds iff the measure at w equals m, under full surjectivity. Corollary of isMaxInf_atLeast_of_hit.

            On ℕ, "more than m" has HasMaxInf: the discrete collapse rescues maximality. Contrast with moreThan_noMaxInf: on dense scales, HasMaxInf fails.

            theorem Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.atMost_hasMaxInf {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} (μ : Wα) (w : W) :

            "At most d" always has a maximally informative element: d₀ = μ(w). Symmetric to atLeast_hasMaxInf.

            theorem Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.isMaxInf_atMost_iff_eq {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} (μ : Wα) (m : α) (w : W) (hSurj : Function.Surjective μ) :
            IsMaxInf (Core.Scale.atMostDeg μ) m w μ w = m

            Kennedy / @cite{rouillard-2026} bridge: IsMaxInf of "at most d" at value m and world w holds iff the measure at w equals m. Symmetric to isMaxInf_atLeast_iff_eq: the MIP derives exact meaning from "at most" just as it does from "at least".

            Kennedy's de-Fregean type-shift is the MIP applied to a monotone degree property: for both "at least" (Kennedy direction) and "at most" (@cite{rouillard-2026} direction), max⊨ at world w = μ(w), the true value. So the MIP universally derives exact meaning from monotone degree properties, regardless of monotonicity direction.

            theorem Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.mip_atLeast_is_exact {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} (μ : Wα) (m : α) (w : W) (hSurj : Function.Surjective μ) :

            MIP derives exact meaning from "at least" (Kennedy's direction).

            theorem Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.mip_atMost_is_exact {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} (μ : Wα) (m : α) (w : W) (hSurj : Function.Surjective μ) :

            MIP derives exact meaning from "at most" (Rouillard's direction).

            theorem Semantics.Entailment.Extremum.mip_direction_invariant {α : Type u_1} [LinearOrder α] {W : Type u_2} (μ : Wα) (m : α) (w : W) (hSurj : Function.Surjective μ) :

            The MIP is direction-invariant: "at least" and "at most" yield the same exact meaning under maximal informativity. Kennedy's type-shift and Rouillard's MIP are literally the same operation.