Stability theory, permutations of indiscernibles, and embedded finite models

We show that the expressive power of first-order logic over finite models embedded in a model is determined by stability-theoretic properties of . In particular, we show that if is stable, then every class of finite structures that can be defined by embedding the structures in , can be defined in pure first-order logic. We also show that if does not have the independence property, then any class of finite structures that can be defined by embedding the structures in , can be defined in first-order logic over a dense linear order. This extends known results on the definability of classes of finite structures and ordered finite structures in the setting of embedded finite models. These results depend on several results in infinite model theory. Let be a set of indiscernibles in a model and suppose is elementarily equivalent to where is -saturated. If is stable and is saturated, then every permutation of extends to an automorphism of and the theory of is stable. Let be a sequence of -indiscernibles in a model , which does not have the independence property, and suppose is elementarily equivalent to where is a complete dense linear order and is -saturated. Then -types over are order-definable and if is -saturated, every order preserving permutation of can be extended to a back-and-forth system.