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We investigate connections between arithmetic properties of rings and topological properties of their prime spectrum. Any property that the prime spectrum of a ring may or may not have, defines the class of rings whose prime spectrum has the given property. We ask whether a class of rings defined in this way is axiomatizable in the model theoretic sense. Answers are provided for a variety of different properties of prime spectra, e.g., normality or complete normality, Hausdorffness of the space of maximal points, compactness of the space of minimal points.

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§1. Introduction. Let M be a totally ordered set. A (Dedekind) cut p of M is a couple (pL, pR) of subsets pL, pR of M such that pL ⋃ pR = M and pL < pR, i.e., a < b for all a ∈ pL, b ∈ pR. In this article we are looking for model completeness results of o-minimal structures M expanded by a set pL for a cut p of M. This means the following. Let M be an o-minimal structure in the language L and suppose M is model complete. Let D be a new unary predicate and let p be a cut of (the underlying ordered set of) M. Then we are looking for a natural, definable expansion of the L(D)-structure (M, pL) which is model complete.The first result in this direction is a theorem of Cherlin and Dickmann (cf. [Ch-Dic]) which says that a real closed field expanded by a convex valuation ring has a model complete theory. This statement translates into the cuts language as follows. If Z is a subset of an ordered set M we write Z+ for the cut p with pR = {a ∈ M ∣ a > Z} and Z− for the cut q with qL = {a ∈ M ∣ a < Z}.

Abstract. A super real closed ring is a commutative ring equipped with the operation of all continuous functions R n → R. Examples are rings of continuous functions and super real fields attached to z-prime ideals in the sense of Dales and Woodin. We prove that super real closed rings which are fields are an elementary class of real closed fields which carry all o-minimal expansions of the real field in a natural way. The main part of the paper develops the commutative algebra of super real closed rings, by showing that many constructions of lattice ordered rings can be performed inside super real closed rings; the most important are: residue rings, complete and classical quotients, convex hulls, valuations, Prüfer hulls and real closures over proconstructible subsets. We also give a counterexample to the conjecture that the first order theory of (pure) rings of continuous functions is the theory of real closed rings, which says in addition that a semi-local model is a product of fields.