LAOS: Logicians At Ohio State

An interdisciplinary group of scholars with research interests in logic

Welcome to the LAOS members' page. Here you will find brief details about the wealth of different interests of scholars working in logic-related areas at Ohio State. This is a cross-departmental, interdisciplinary grouping with breadth and depth that is hard to match in the English-speaking world. The student seeking instruction in any aspect of Logic is bound to find someone on this list who can help. For more information about members' research and teaching, please visit their individual web-pages.

Department of Philosophy

Department of Mathematics

  • Tim Carlson
    Professor. PhD.     Web-page
    Logic-related AOSs: Mathematical Logic. Logics of Computation. Combinatorics.
    Current logic-related projects: Ordinal Analysis based on Patterns of Embeddings. Calculi for the logic of well-founded structures. Combinatorial Independence.
    Recent representative logic-related publications:
    • (with S. Simpson) 'A dual form of Ramsey's theorem', Advances in Mathematics 53, 1984, pp. 265-290.
    • 'Modal logics with several operators and provability interpretations', Israel Journal of Mathematics 54, 1986, 14-24.
    • 'Some unifying principles in Ramsey theory', Discrete Mathematics 68, 1988, 117-169.
    • 'Knowledge, machines, and the consistency of Reinhardt's strong mechanistic thesis', Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 105, 2000, pp. 51-82.
    • 'Elementary patterns of resemblance', Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 108, 2001, pp. 19-77.
    Logic-related courses taught:
    • MATH 647,648,649: Mathematical Logic I, II and III
    • MATH 745,746,747: Advanced Mathematical Logic I, II and III

  • Harvey Friedman
    Distinguished University Professor of Mathematics, Philosophy, and Computer Science. PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Web-page
    Logic-related AOSs: Mathematical logic, mathematical philosophy, computational complexity, proof verification.
    Current logic-related projects: The theory of everything. Concept calculus. Boolean relation theory.
    Recent representative logic-related publications:
    • (with S. Simpson), 'Issues and Problems in Reverse Mathematics", in Computability Theory and its Applications, Contemporary Mathematics, volume 257, 2000, 127-144.
    • 'Internal finite tree embeddings', in Reflections on the Foundations of Mathematics: Essays in honor of Solomon Feferman, eds. Sieg, Sommer, Talcott, Lecture Notes in Logic, volume 15, 62-93, 2002, ASL.
    • 'Selection for Borel relations', in Logic Colloquium 01, ed. J. Krajicek, Lecture Notes in Logic, volume 20, ASL, 2005, 151-169.
    • 'A Way Out', in One Hundred Years of Russell's Paradox, ed. Godehard Link, de Gruyter, 49-86, 2004.
    • (with J. Avigad), Combining decision procedures for the reals, Logical Methods in Computer Science 2(4:4), 2006.
    Logic-related courses taught:
    • MATH 746: Advanced Mathematical Logic

  • Chris Miller
    Associate Professor. PhD Urbana-Champaign. Web-page
    Logic-related AOSs: Applications of model theory to real analytic geometry, geometric measure theory, and asymptotic analysis. Model-theoretic tameness in expansions of densely ordered groups, in particular, of the real field. O-minimal structures.
    Current logic-related projects: Expansions of densely ordered groups having o-minimal open core. Asymptotics of spiralling trajectories of o-minimal vector fields. Book on o-minimality, with L. van den Dries.
    Recent representative logic-related publications:
    • With J. Tyne, 'Expansions of o-minimal structures by iteration sequences', Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 47, 2006, no. 1, 93-99.
    • 'Avoiding the projective hierarchy in expansions of the real field by sequences', Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society 134, 2006, no. 5, 1483-1493.
    • 'Tameness in expansions of the real field', in Logic Colloquium~'01 (Vienna), Lecture Notes in Logic 20, Association for Symbolic Logic, Urbana, IL, 2005, 281-316.
    • With H. Friedman, 'Expansions of o-minimal structures by fast sequences', Journal of Symbolic Logic 70, 2005, no. 2, 410-418.
    • With G. Edgar, 'Borel subrings of the reals', Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society 131, 2003, no. 4, 1121-1129.
    Logic-related courses taught:
    • MATH 648,649: Mathematical Logic II and III
    • MATH 745: Advanced Mathematical Logic I

Department of Computer and Information Science

  • Anish Arora
    Professor. PhD.     Web-page
    Logic-related AOSs: Formal Methods for Fault-tolerance, Security, Dependability. Distributed Systems and Computer Networks. Wireless Sensor Networks.
    Current logic-related projects: DESAL programming language for wireless sensor networks.
    Recent representative logic-related publications:
    • A. Arora and M. G. Gouda, 'Closure and convergence: A foundation of fault-tolerant computing', IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 19(10), 1015-1027, 1993. [postscript, pdf, bibtex]
    • A. Arora and M. G. Gouda. 'Distributed reset', IEEE Transactions on Computers, 43(9), 1026-1038, 1994.
      [postscript, pdf, bibtex ]
    • A. Arora and D. Poduska. 'A timing-based schema for stabilizing information exchange in networks', Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Computer Networks, Tokyo, Japan, 1995. [postscript, pdf, bibtex]
    • A. Arora, P. C. Attie, and E. A. Emerson. 'Synthesis of fault-tolerant concurrent programs', Proceedings of the 17th ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC), Mexico, 1998. [postscript, pdf, bibtex]
    • W. Leal and A. Arora. 'State-level and value-level simulations in data refinement', Information Processing Letters 77(2-4), 2001. Special issue on the retirement of professor Edsger W. Dijkstra. [postscript, pdf, bibtex]
    Logic-related courses taught:
    • Introduction to Distributed Computing, CSE763
    • Advanced Operating Systems, CSE 760
    • Fault-tolerant and Secure Distibuted Computing and Networked Systems, CSE788.11J

  • B. Chandrasekaran
    @STUB@

  • John Josephson
    Research Scientist. PhD, Ohio State. Web-page
    Logic-related AOSs: Abductive Inference, Computational Epistemology, The Logic of Investigations.
    Current logic-related projects: Architecture for Information Fusion, Command-Post Information Fusion Based on Abductive Inference.
    Representative logic-related publications:
    • Abductive Inference: Computation, Philosophy, Technology. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Edited with Susan G. Josephson.
    • 'Smart Inductive Generalizations are Abductions', in Abduction and Induction, P. A. Flach and A. C. Kakas (eds.), Kluwer, Netherlands, 2000. A draft is available here.
    • 'Abduction-Prediction Model of Scientific Discovery Reflected in a Prototype System for Model-Based Diagnosis', Philosophica 61(1), 2000, 9-17.
    • (with Vivek Bharathan) 'Belief Revision controlled by Meta-Abduction', Special Issue of Logic Journal of IGPL on Abduction, Practical Reasoning, and Creative Inferences in Science, edited by L. Magnani, Volume 14, issue 1 or 2, Oxford University Press.
    • 'On the Proof Dynamics of Inference to the Best Explanation', Cardozo Law Review, Volume 22, Numbers 5-6, July 2001.
    Logic-related courses taught:
    • CSE 888.04: Graduate Seminar on Automated Diagnosis and Discovery

Department of Linguistics

  • Chris Brew
    Associate Professor. D.Phil (Sussex) Web Page:     http://www.purl.org/NET/cbrew.html
    Logic-related AOSs: Linguistic knowledge Representation. Logic Programming.
    Current logic-related projects: Distributional models of meaning
    Recent representative logic-related publications:
    • Brew, Chris. 'Systemic classification and its efficiency,' Computational Linguistics, 17(4), 1991:375-408.
    • Brew, Chris. 'Systemic Grammar and Partial Descriptions', in Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Computational Linguistics, volume 1, 1990, pages 36-41, Helsinki, Finland.
    • Brew, Chris. 'Stochastic HPSG', in Proceedings of the 7th Conference of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics, pages 83-89, Dublin, Ireland, 1995. University College.
    • Brew, Chris. 'Adding preferences to CUF', in Jochen Dörre, editor, Computational Aspects of Constraint-Based Linguistics Description, Vol. 1, 1993. ILLC/Department of Philosophy, University of Amsterdam, August. DYANA-2 Deliverable R1.2.A.
    • McDonald,Scott and Chris Brew. 'A distributional model of semantic context effects in lexical processing,' 42nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics, Barcelona, Spain July 21-26, 2004.

  • Peter Culicover
    Professor. PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Web-page
    Logic-related AOSs: Syntactic theory. English syntax. Language learnability. Current logic-related projects: Representing knowledge of language as the configuration of a dynamical system. Computational modeling (with Andrzej Nowak) of the acquisition of language using naturally occurring data.
    Recent representative logic-related publications:
    • (with Ray Jackendoff) Simpler Syntax, Oxford University Press, 2005.
    • (with Andrzej Nowak) Dynamical Grammar. Volume Two of Foundations of Syntax, Oxford University Press, 2003.
    • Syntactic Nuts: Hard Cases in Syntax, Volume One of Foundations of Syntax, Oxford University Press, 1999.
    • 'The minimalist impulse', in Peter W. Culicover and Louise McNally (eds.) The Limits of Syntax, Academic Press, NY, 1998.
    • 'Language acquisition and the architecture of the language faculty', in Miriam Butt and Tracy Holloway King, eds. Proceedings of the Berkeley Formal Grammar Conference Workshop, The University of California, Berkeley. CSLI Publications, 2000.

  • David Dowty
    Professor Emeritus. PhD, University of Texas. Web-page
    Logic-related AOSs: Compositionality of semantic interpretation in natural language. Categorial (Type-Logical) Grammar. Lexical Semantics.
    Current logic-related projects: Methodology of coordinated syntax-semantic linguistic analysis. Resumptive Negation. Semantic relationships between alternative verb diatheses.
    Recent representative logic-related publications:
    • 'Compositionality as an Empirical Problem' (pdf), in Papers from the Brown University Conference on Direct Compositionality (in press), edited by Chris Barker and Polly Jacobson, Oxford University Press.
    • 'The Dual Analysis of Adjuncts and Complements in Categorial Grammar' (pdf, dvi.gz), in Modifying Adjuncts, eds. Lang, Maienborn, and Fabricius-Hansen, de Gruyter, 2003 . (Earlier version published in ZAS Papers in Linguistics 17, 2000)
    • 'The semantic asymmetry of "argument alternations" (and why it matters)' (pdf), in Making Sense: From Lexeme to Discourse, in Groninger Arbeiten zur germanistischen Linguistik Nr. 44, eds. Geart van der Meer and Alice G. B. ter Meulen, Center for Language and Cognition Groningen, Groningen 2001, [Note: this is an abbreviated version of a longer paper in preparation.]
    • 'Non-Constituent Coordination, Wrapping,and Multimodal Categorial Grammars' (ps.gz, dvi.gz) [expanded draft of Aug 96 paper from International Congress of Logic, Methodology, in M. L. Dalla Chiara et al. (eds.) Structures and Norms in Science, 347--368, 1997]
    • 'The Role of Negative Polarity and Concord Marking in Natural Language Reasoning' (ps.gz, dvi.gz), Semantics and Linguistic Theory IV (SALT IV), 1994.
    Logic-related courses taught:
    • Introduction to Semantics I (LINGUIST 683.01) (instructor on occasion)
    • Introduction to Semantics II (LINGUIST 683.02) (instructor on occasion)
    • Seminar in Semantics (LINGUIST 812) (instructor on occasion)

  • Jirka Hana
    Graduate Student. RNDr, Charles University, Prague. Web-page
    Logic-related AOSs: Higher-order logic. Functional programming languages.
    Current logic-related projects: Complex word-order in Higher Order Grammar.
    Recent representative logic-related publications:
    • Hana, Jirka (2005): Czech Clitics in Higher Order Grammar. In A. D. Sims and M. Whiting (Eds.): Proceedings of the First Graduate Colloquium on Slavic Linguistics, November 8, 2003, at the Ohio State University; Working Papers in Slavic Studies, Volume 3. Columbus, Ohio: Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures. Significantly revised in 2005; antedated to 2004. [pdf]
    • Pollard, Carl and Jiri Hana (2003): 'Ambiguity, Neutrality, and Coordination in Higher-Order Grammar'. In G. Jaeger, P. Monachesi, G. Penn & S. Wintner (eds): Proceedings of Formal Grammar 2003, pp. 125-136. [pdf]

  • Yusuke Kubota
    Graduate Student. MA, University of Tokyo. Web-page
    Logic-related AOSs: Logic-based syntactic theories of natural language (e.g. categorial grammar). Model-theoretic semantics of natural language.
    Current logic-related projects: Analyses of linguistic phenomena in categorial grammar.
    Recent representative logic-related publications:
    • 'Syntax and semantics of Japanese nonconstituent clefting in Combinatory Categorial Grammar.' (with E. Allyn Smith). To appear in Proceedings of the 36th North East Linguistic Society. [pdf]

  • Robert Levine
    @STUB@

  • Walt Detmar Meurers
    Associate Professor. PhD Tübingen, Germany. Web page
    Logic-related AOSs: Linguistic Modeling. Typed Feature Logic. (Constraint) Logic Programming. Tools for Teaching these topics.
    Current logic-related projects: Formal foundations of Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar. Constraint-based grammar implementation. Teaching mathematical and logical skills to undergraduates.
    Recent representative logic-related publications: Logic-related courses taught:

  • Carl Pollard
    Professor. Ph.D. in Linguistics, Stanford University, 1984.
    Logic-related AOSs: Natural language syntax and semantics. Logical foundations of linguistics. Type theory and higher-order logic. Substructural logics. Categorical logic.
    Current logic-related projects: Higher Order Grammar. Hyperintensional Semantics.
    Recent representative logic-related publications:
    • 'Hyperintensions', The Journal of Logic and Computation, special issue on lambda calculus, type theory, and natural language, in press.
    • 'Minimal recursion semantics: an introduction', Research on Language and Computation vol. 3, no. 4, December 2005, pp. 281-332. (With A. Copestake, D. Flickinger, and I. Sag)
    • 'Remarks on binding theory', Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on HPSG, Stanford, CSLI Publications, 2005, pp. 561-577.
    • 'Type-logical HPSG', Proceedings of Formal Grammar 2004, Nancy, France, European Summer School on Language, Logic, and Information, 2004, pp. 107-124.
    • 'A higher-order fine-grained logic for intensional semantics',Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium on Logic and Language, Pecs, HUngary, 2002, pp. 37-46. (With Chris Fox and Shalom Lappin)
    Logic-related courses taught:
    • LING 602.02: Syntax 2
    • LING 680: Formal Foundations of Linguistics
    • LING 681: Algebraic Linguistics
    • LING H294: Logic and Language

  • Craige Roberts
    @STUB@

  • Elizabeth Smith
    @STUB@

  • Judith Tonhauser
    @STUB@

  • Michael White
    Assistant Professor. PhD, University of Pennsylvania. Web-page
    Logic-related AOSs: Natural language semantics. Computational semantics.
    Current logic-related projects: Representations of meaning for natural language generation. Representations of paraphrase.
    Recent representative logic-related publications:
    • Efficient Realization of Coordinate Structures in Combinatory Categorial Grammar. 2006. Research on Language and Computation, 4(1):39–75.
    • CCG Chart Realization from Disjunctive Inputs. 2006. In Proc. of the 4th International Conference on Natural Language Generation (INLG-06).
    Logic-related courses taught:
    • LING 684.03: Computational Semantics

Center for Cognitive Science

  • Vladimir Sloutsky
    @STUB@

This site is maintained by Neil Tennant. His postal address is

Department of Philosophy
The Ohio State University
230 North Oval Mall
Columbus, OH 43210
His email address is
tennant[dot]9[at]osu[dot]edu
His phone number at work is (614)292-1591. You may leave a voicemail at that number if he is unable to answer.