Implicit Kripke semantics and ultraproducts in stratified institutions

We propose stratified institutions (a decade old generalized version of the theory of institutions of Goguen and Burstall) as a fully abstract model theoretic approach to modal logic. This allows for a uniform treatment of model theoretic aspects across the great multiplicity of contemporary modal logic systems. Moreover, Kripke semantics (in all its manifold variations) is captured in an implicit manner free from the sometimes bulky aspects of explicit Kripke structures, also accommodating other forms of concrete semantics for modal logic systems. The conceptual power of stratified institutions is illustrated with the development of a modal ultraproducts method that is independent of the concrete details of the actual modal logical systems. Consequently, a wide array of compactness results in concrete modal logics may be derived easily.