Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 March 2014
Jullien's indecomposability theorem (INDEC) states that if a scattered countable linear order is indecomposable, then it is either indecomposable to the left, or indecomposable to the right. The theorem was shown by Montalbán to be a theorem of hyperarithmetic analysis, and then, in the base system RCA0 plus induction, it was shown by Neeman to have strength strictly between weak
choice and
comprehension. We prove in this paper that
induction is needed for the reversal of INDEC. that is for the proof that INDEC implies weak
choice. This is in contrast with the typical situation in reverse mathematics, where reversals can usually be refined to use only
induction.