Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 March 2014
Let {We}e∈ω be a standard enumeration of the recursively enumerable (r.e.) subsets of ω = {0,1,2,…}. The lattice of recursively enumerable sets, , is the structure ({We}e∈ω,∪,∩). ≡ is a congruence relation on
if ≡ is an equivalence relation on
and if for all U, U′ ∈
and V, V′ ∈
, if U ≡ U′ and V ≡ V′, then U ∪ V ≡ U′ ∪ V′ and U ∩ V ≡ U′ ∩ V′. [U] = {V ∈
| V ≡ U} is the equivalence class of U. If ≡ is a congruence relation on
, the elements of the quotient lattice
/ ≡ are the equivalence classes of ≡. [U] ∪ [V] is defined as [U ∪ V], and [U] ∩ [V] is defined as [U ∩ V]. We say that a congruence relation ≡ on
is
if {(i, j)| Wi ≡ Wj} is
. Define =* by putting Wi, =* Wj if and only if (Wi − Wj)∪ (Wj − Wi) is finite. Then =* is a
congruence relation. If D is any
set, then we can define a
congruence relation
by putting Wi
Wj if and only if Wi ∩ D =* Wj ∩D. By Hammond [2], a congruence relation ≡ ⊇ =* is
if and only if ≡ is equal to
for some
set D.
The Friedberg splitting theorem [1] asserts that if A is any recursively enumerable set, then there exist disjoint recursively enumerable sets A0 and A1 such that A = A0∪ A1 and such that for any recursively enumerable set B