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
$\mathrm {RCA}_0 +\mathrm {RT}^2_2$
.