TITLE: What is the difference between representability and definability?
QUESTION [5 upvotes]: I am confused about the difference between the representability of a set in a theory and the definability of a set in a theory. Part of any given introduction to the incompleteness theorems goes over the definition of a set being strongly/weakly represented in a theory, and shows that for consistent recursively axiomizable extensions of Robinson Arithmetic, the only sets that are strongly representable are the recursive sets and the only sets that are weakly representable are the recursively enumerable sets, so by Post's theorem they're the $\Delta^0_1$ and $\Sigma^0_1$ sets, respectively.
The definition that I have seen for weakly representing a set is that a theory $T$ weakly represents a set $S$ iff for some formula $A(x)$ in the language of the theory, if $n \in S$, then  $T \vdash A(n)$.
To me, that seems like it just says that $S$ needs to be definable by some formula in the language of $T$ and $T$ needs to prove $A$ holds of each $n \in S$. 
My issue is that given what I've stated above, it seems to me to imply that a theory can not prove anything other than $\Delta^0_1$ and $\Sigma^0_1$ statements. But clearly that isn't true, because there are $\Pi^0_1$ sentences easily provable in PA, for example. 
So clearly I am not understanding something. Why can PA prove some given $\Sigma^0_3$ sentence but it cannot represent the $\Sigma^0_3$ set that the sentence defines? How can ZFC talk about $\Pi^2_3$ sets if it can't represent them? More to my actual point, what part of the definitions am I not understanding?

REPLY [2 votes]: A sentence doesn't define a set. A formula defines a set. 
I assume by "define" you mean define arithmetically. In other words some one variable formula $\phi(x)$ in the language of arithmetic defines the set $\{x\in\mathbb N: \mathcal N\models \phi(x)\}$ where $\mathcal N$ is the standard interpretation of arithmetic in the natural numbers.
(Sometimes people also talk of defining in a particular arithmetic theory, but that is more akin to representing, depending on the exact definitions people use.)
If we want this formula to weakly represent this same set in some arithmetical theory $T$, then, according to the definition you gave, we need to have, for every $n\in S,$ $ T\vdash \phi(\mathbf n).$ This is not just one sentence $T$ needs to prove, but infinitely many (provided $S$ is infinite).