Descriptive set theory and computability theory are closely-related fields of logic; both are oriented around a notion of descriptive complexity. However, the two fields typically consider objects of very different sizes; computability theory is principally concerned with subsets of the naturals, while descriptive set theory is interested primarily in subsets of the reals. In this paper, we apply a generalization of computability theory, admissible recursion theory, to consider the relative complexity of notions that are of interest in descriptive set theory. In particular, we examine the perfect set property, determinacy, the Baire property, and Lebesgue measurability. We demonstrate that there is a separation of descriptive complexity between the perfect set property and determinacy for analytic sets of reals; we also show that the Baire property and Lebesgue measurability are both equivalent in complexity to the property of simply being a Borel set, for $\boldsymbol {\Sigma ^{1}_{2}}$ sets of reals.

This note is about functions ƒ : Aω → Bω whose graph is recognized by a Büchi finite automaton on the product alphabet A x B. These functions are Baire class 2 in the Baire hierarchy of Borel functions and it is decidable whether such function are continuous or not. In 1920 W. Sierpinski showed that a function $f : \mathbb{ R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R} $ is Baire class 1 if and only if both the overgraph and the undergraph of f are Fσ. We show that such characterization is also true for functions on infinite words if we replace the real ordering by the lexicographical ordering on Bω. From this we deduce that it is decidable whether such function are of Baire class 1 or not. We extend this result to real functions definable by automata in Pisot base.

We discuss in the paper the following problem: Given a function in a given Baire class, into “how many” (in terms of cardinal numbers) functions of lower classes can it be decomposed? The decomposition is understood here in the sense of the set-theoretical union.