We calculate the possible Scott ranks of countable models of Peano arithmetic. We show that no non-standard model can have Scott rank less than $\omega $ and that non-standard models of true arithmetic must have Scott rank greater than $\omega $. Other than that there are no restrictions. By giving a reduction via $\Delta ^{\mathrm {in}}_{1}$ bi-interpretability from the class of linear orderings to the canonical structural $\omega $-jump of models of an arbitrary completion T of $\mathrm {PA}$ we show that every countable ordinal $\alpha>\omega $ is realized as the Scott rank of a model of T.

We study the first-order consequences of Ramsey’s Theorem for k-colourings of n-tuples, for fixed $n, k \ge 2$ , over the relatively weak second-order arithmetic theory $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0$ . Using the Chong–Mourad coding lemma, we show that in a model of $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0$ that does not satisfy $\Sigma ^0_1$ induction, $\mathrm {RT}^n_k$ is equivalent to its relativization to any proper $\Sigma ^0_1$ -definable cut, so its truth value remains unchanged in all extensions of the model with the same first-order universe.

We give a complete axiomatization of the first-order consequences of $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0 + \mathrm {RT}^n_k$ for $n \ge 3$ . We show that they form a non-finitely axiomatizable subtheory of $\mathrm {PA}$ whose $\Pi _3$ fragment coincides with $\mathrm {B} \Sigma _1 + \exp $ and whose $\Pi _{\ell +3}$ fragment for $\ell \ge 1$ lies between $\mathrm {I} \Sigma _\ell \Rightarrow \mathrm {B} \Sigma _{\ell +1}$ and $\mathrm {B} \Sigma _{\ell +1}$ . We also give a complete axiomatization of the first-order consequences of $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0 + \mathrm {RT}^2_k + \neg \mathrm {I} \Sigma _1$ . In general, we show that the first-order consequences of $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0 + \mathrm {RT}^2_k$ form a subtheory of $\mathrm {I} \Sigma _2$ whose $\Pi _3$ fragment coincides with $\mathrm {B} \Sigma _1 + \exp $ and whose $\Pi _4$ fragment is strictly weaker than $\mathrm {B} \Sigma _2$ but not contained in $\mathrm {I} \Sigma _1$ .

Additionally, we consider a principle $\Delta ^0_2$ - $\mathrm {RT}^2_2$ which is defined like $\mathrm {RT}^2_2$ but with both the $2$ -colourings and the solutions allowed to be $\Delta ^0_2$ -sets rather than just sets. We show that the behaviour of $\Delta ^0_2$ - $\mathrm {RT}^2_2$ over $\mathrm {RCA}_0 + \mathrm {B}\Sigma ^0_2$ is in many ways analogous to that of $\mathrm {RT}^2_2$ over $\mathrm {RCA}^*_0$ , and that $\mathrm {RCA}_0 + \mathrm {B} \Sigma ^0_2 + \Delta ^0_2$ - $\mathrm {RT}^2_2$ is $\Pi _4$ - but not $\Pi _5$ -conservative over $\mathrm {B} \Sigma _2$ . However, the statement we use to witness failure of $\Pi _5$ -conservativity is not provable in $\mathrm {RCA}_0 +\mathrm {RT}^2_2$ .

This article bears on four topics: observational predicates and phenomenal properties, vagueness, strict finitism as a philosophy of mathematics, and the analysis of feasible computability. It is argued that reactions to strict finitism point towards a semantics for vague predicates in the form of nonstandard models of weak arithmetical theories of the sort originally introduced to characterize the notion of feasibility as understood in computational complexity theory. The approach described eschews the use of nonclassical logic and related devices like degrees of truth or supervaluation. Like epistemic approaches to vagueness, it may thus be smoothly integrated with the use of classical model theory as widely employed in natural language semantics. But unlike epistemicism, the described approach fails to imply either the existence of sharp boundaries or the failure of tolerance for soritical predicates. Applications of measurement theory (in the sense of Krantz, Luce, Suppes, & Tversky (1971)) to vagueness in the nonstandard setting are also explored.

Let $\left\langle {{W_n}:n \in \omega } \right\rangle$ be a canonical enumeration of recursively enumerable sets, and suppose T is a recursively enumerable extension of PA (Peano Arithmetic) in the same language. Woodin (2011) showed that there exists an index $e \in \omega$ (that depends on T) with the property that if${\cal M}$ is a countable model of T and for some${\cal M}$-finite set s, ${\cal M}$ satisfies ${W_e} \subseteq s$, then${\cal M}$ has an end extension${\cal N}$ that satisfies T + We = s.

Here we generalize Woodin’s theorem to all recursively enumerable extensions T of the fragment ${{\rm{I}\rm{\Sigma }}_1}$ of PA, and remove the countability restriction on ${\cal M}$ when T extends PA. We also derive model-theoretic consequences of a classic fixed-point construction of Kripke (1962) and compare them with Woodin’s theorem.

We separate many of the basic fragments of classical logic which are used in reverse constructive mathematics. A group of related Kripke and topological models is used to show that various fragments of the Weak Law of the Excluded Middle, the Limited Principle of Omniscience, and Markov’s Principle, including Weak Markov’s Principle, do not imply each other.

This paper addresses the structures (M, ω) and (ω, SSy(M)), where M is a nonstandard model of PA and ω is the standard cut. It is known that (ω, SSy(M)) is interpretable in (M, ω). Our main technical result is that there is an reverse interpretation of (M, ω) in (ω, SSy(M)) which is ‘local’ in the sense of Visser [11]. We also relate the model theory of (M, ω) to the study of transplendent models of PA [2].

This yields a number of model theoretic results concerning the ω-models (M, ω) and their standard systems SSy(M, ω), including the following.

• $\left( {M,\omega } \right) \prec \left( {K,\omega } \right)$ if and only if $M \prec K$ and $\left( {\omega ,{\rm{SSy}}\left( M \right)} \right) \prec \left( {\omega ,{\rm{SSy}}\left( K \right)} \right)$.

• $\left( {\omega ,{\rm{SSy}}\left( M \right)} \right) \prec \left( {\omega ,{\cal P}\left( \omega \right)} \right)$ if and only if $\left( {M,\omega } \right) \prec \left( {{M^{\rm{*}}},\omega } \right)$ for some ω-saturated M*.

• $M{ \prec _{\rm{e}}}K$ implies SSy(M, ω) = SSy(K, ω), but cofinal extensions do not necessarily preserve standard system in this sense.

• SSy(M, ω)=SSy(M) if and only if (ω, SSy(M)) satisfies the full comprehension scheme.

• If SSy(M, ω) is uniformly defined by a single formula (analogous to a β function), then (ω, SSy(M, ω)) satisfies the full comprehension scheme; and there are models M for which SSy(M, ω) is not uniformly defined in this sense.

We give a survey of the study of nonstandard models in recursion theory and reverse mathematics. We discuss the key notions and techniques in effective computability in nonstandard models, and their applications to problems concerning combinatorial principles in subsystems of second order arithmetic. Particular attention is given to principles related to Ramsey’s Theorem for Pairs.