The study of Borel equivalence relations under Borel reducibility has developed into an important area of descriptive set theory. The dichotomies of Silver and Harrington-Kechris-Louveau show that with respect to Borel reducibility, any Borel equivalence relation strictly above equality on $ω$ is above equality on ${\cal P}(ω)$, the power set of $ω$, and any Borel equivalence relation strictly above equality on the reals is above equality modulo finite on ${\cal P}(ω)$. In this article we examine the effective content of these and related results by studying effectively Borel equivalence relations under effectively Borel reducibility. The resulting structure is complex, even for equivalence relations with finitely many equivalence classes. However use of Kleene's $O$ as a parameter is sufficient to restore the picture from the noneffective setting. A key lemma is the existence of two effectively Borel sets of reals, neither of which contains the range of the other under any effectively Borel function; the proof of this result applies Barwise compactness to a deep theorem of Harrington establishing for any recursive ordinal $α$ the existence of $Π^0_1$ singletons whose $α$-jumps are Turing incomparable.
We consider countable Borel equivalence relations on quotient Borel spaces. We prove a generalization of the Feldman-Moore representation theorem, but provide some examples showing that other very simple properties of countable equivalence relations on standard Borel spaces may fail in the context of nonsmooth quotients.
Let $E\subseteq F$ and $E'\subseteq F'$ be Borel equivalence relations on the standard Borel spaces $X$ and $Y$, respectively. The pair $(E,F)$ is simultaneously Borel reducible to the pair $(E',F')$ if there is a Borel function $f:X\to Y$ that is both a reduction from $E$ to $E'$ and a reduction from $F$ to $F'$. Simultaneous Borel embeddings and isomorphisms are defined analogously. We classify all pairs $E\subseteq F$ of smooth countable Borel equivalence relations up to simultaneous Borel bireducibility and biembeddability, and a significant portion of such pairs up to simultaneous Borel i…
We study the class of Borel equivalence relations under continuous reducibility. In particular , we characterize when a Borel equivalence relation with countable equivalence classes is $Σ$ 0 $ξ$ (or $Π$ 0 $ξ$). We characterize when all the equivalence classes of such a relation are $Σ$ 0 $ξ$ (or $Π$ 0 $ξ$). We prove analogous results for the Borel equivalence relations with countably many equivalence classes. We also completely solve these two problems for the first two ranks. In order to do this, we prove some extensions of the Louveau-Saint Raymond theorem which itself generalized the Hurewi…
We study Borel equivalence relations induced by Borel actions of tsi Polish groups on standard Borel spaces. We characterize when such an equivalence relation admits classification by countable structures using a variant of the $\mathbb G_0$-dichotomy. In particular, we find a class that serves as a base for non-classification by countable structures for these equivalence relations under Borel reducibility. We use this characterization together with the result of [B. D. Miller, to appear in the Journal of Mathematical Logic] to show that if such an equivalence relation admits classification by…
We introduce a notion of relative primeness for equivalence relations, strengthening the notion of non-reducibility, and show for many standard benchmark equivalence relations that non-reducibility may be strengthened to relative primeness. We introduce several analogues of cardinal properties for Borel equivalence relations, including the notion of a prime equivalence relation and Borel partition properties on quotient spaces. In particular, we introduce a notion of Borel weak compactness, and characterize partition properties for the equivalence relations ${\mathbb F}_2$ and ${\mathbb E}_1$.…
The following will be shown: Let $I$ be a $σ$-ideal on a Polish space $X$ with the property that the associated forcing of $I^+$ Borel subsets ordered by $\subseteq$ is a proper forcing. Let E be an analytic or coanalytic equivalence relation on this Polish space with all equivalence classes Borel. If sharps of certain sets exist, then there is an $I^+$ Borel subset $C$ of $X$ such that $E \upharpoonright C$ is a Borel equivalence relation.
In this paper we complete the attempt of H. Lefmann to show that Borel equivalence relations on the $n$-element subsets of $2^ω$, that respect an order type, have a finite Ramsey basis.
Boykin and Jackson recently introduced a property of countable Borel equivalence relations called Borel boundedness, which they showed is closely related to the union problem for hyperfinite equivalence relations. In this paper, we introduce a family of properties of countable Borel equivalence relations which correspond to combinatorial cardinal characteristics of the continuum in the same way that Borel boundedness corresponds to the bounding number $\mathfrak b$. We analyze some of the basic behavior of these properties, showing for instance that the property corresponding to the splitting …
There is a fascinating interplay and overlap between recursion theory and descriptive set theory. A particularly beautiful source of such interaction has been Martin's conjecture on Turing invariant functions. This longstanding open problem in recursion theory has connected to many problems in descriptive set theory, particularly in the theory of countable Borel equivalence relations. In this paper, we shall give an overview of some work that has been done on Martin's conjecture, and applications that it has had in descriptive set theory. We will present a long unpublished result of Slaman and…
The transitive closure of a reflexive, symmetric, analytic relation is an analytic equivalence relation. Does some smaller class contain the transitive closure of every reflexive, symmetric, closed relation? An essentially negative answer is provided here. Every analytic equivalence relation on an arbitrary Polish space is Borel embeddable in the transitive closure of the union of two smooth Borel equivalence relations on that space. In the case of the Baire space, the two smooth relations are closed and the embedding is homeomorphic.
In $\mathsf{ZFC}$, if there is a measurable cardinal with infinitely many Woodin cardinals below it, then for every equivalence relation $E \in L(\mathbb{R})$ on $\mathbb{R}$ with all $\mathbfΔ_1^1$ classes and every $σ$-ideal $I$ on $\mathbb{R}$ so that the associated forcing $\mathbb{P}_I$ of $I^+$ $\mathbfΔ_1^1$ subsets is proper, there exists some $I^+$ $\mathbfΔ_1^1$ set $C$ so that $E \upharpoonright C$ is a $\mathbfΔ_1^1$ equivalence relation. In $\mathsf{ZF} + \mathsf{DC} + \mathsf{AD}_\mathbb{R} + V = L(\mathscr{P}(\mathbb{R}))$, for every equivalence relation $E$ on $\mathbb{R}$ with…
We prove that orbit equivalence relations (ERs, for brevity) of generically turbulent Polish actions are not Borel reducible to ER s of a family which includes Polish actions of S_\infty, the group of all permutations of N, and is closed under the Fubini product modulo the ideal Fin of all finite sets, and some other operations. Our second main result shows that T_2, the equivalence relation called ``the equality of countable sets of the reals'', is not Borel reducible to another family of ERs which includes continuous actions of Polish CLI groups, Borel equivalence relations with G_δclasses, …
We introduce an analog of the theory of Borel equivalence relations in which we study equivalence relations that are decidable by an infinite time Turing machine. The Borel reductions are replaced by the more general class of infinite time computable functions. Many basic aspects of the classical theory remain intact, with the added bonus that it becomes sensible to study some special equivalence relations whose complexity is beyond Borel or even analytic. We also introduce an infinite time generalization of the countable Borel equivalence relations, a key subclass of the Borel equivalence rel…
For a class $\mathcal K$ of countable relational structures, a countable Borel equivalence relation $E$ is said to be $\mathcal K$-structurable if there is a Borel way to put a structure in $\mathcal K$ on each $E$-equivalence class. We study in this paper the global structure of the classes of $\mathcal K$-structurable equivalence relations for various $\mathcal K$. We show that $\mathcal K$-structurability interacts well with several kinds of Borel homomorphisms and reductions commonly used in the classification of countable Borel equivalence relations. We consider the poset of classes of $\…
We study the complexity of isomorphism of classes of metric structures using methods from infinitary continuous logic. For Borel classes of locally compact structures, we prove that if the equivalence relation of isomorphism is potentially $\mathbfΣ^0_2$, then it is essentially countable. We also provide an equivalent model-theoretic condition that is easy to check in practice. This theorem is a common generalization of a result of Hjorth about pseudo-connected metric spaces and a result of Hjorth--Kechris about discrete structures. As a different application, we also give a new proof of Kechr…
A Borel equivalence relation on a Polish space is said to be countable if all of its equivalence classes are countable. Standard examples of countable Borel equivalence relations (on the space of subsets of the integers) that occur in recursion theory are: recursive isomorphism, Turing equivalence, arithmetic equivalence, etc. There is a canonical hierarchy of complexity of countable Borel equivalence relations imposed by the notion of Borel reducibility. We will survey results and conjectures concerning the problem of identifying the place in this hierarchy of these equivalence relations from…
Given an analytic equivalence relation, we tend to wonder whether it is Borel. When it is non Borel, there is always the hope it will be Borel on a "large" set -- nonmeager or of positive measure. That has led Kanovei, Sabok and Zapletal to ask whether every proper $σ$ ideal satisfies the following property: given $E$ an analytic equivalence relation with Borel classes, there exists a set $B$ which is Borel and $I$-positive such that $E\restriction_{B}$ is Borel. We propose a related problem -- does every proper $σ$ ideal satisfy: given $A$ an analytic subset of the plane with Borel sections, …
We present a selection of basic results on Borel reducibility of Borel ideals and equivalence relations, especially those with comparably short proofs. The focal point are reducibility/irreducibility results related to some special equivalences like $E_0, E_1, E_2, E_3, E_\infty, Z_0,$ and Banach-induced equivalences $l_p,$ in particular several dichotomy theorems. The bulk of results included in the book were obtained in the 1990s, but some rather recent theorems are presented as well, like Rosendal's proof that Borel ideals are cofinal within Borel equivalences of general form.
We show that if the restriction of the Lascar equivalence relation to a KP-strong type is non-trivial, then it is non-smooth (when viewed as a Borel equivalence relation on an appropriate space of types).
In this paper we study the Borel reducibility of Borel equivalence relations, including some orbit equivalence relations, on the generalised Baire space $κ^κ$ for an uncountable $κ$ with the property $κ^{<κ}=κ$. The theory looks quite different from its classical counterpart where $κ=ω$, although some basic theorems do generalise.
The space of Lascar strong types, on some sort and relative to a given first order theory T, is in general not a compact Hausdorff space. This paper has at least three aims. First to show that spaces of Lascar strong types and other related spaces such as the Lascar group, have well-defined Borel cardinalities. The second is to compute the Borel cardinalities of the known examples as well as some new examples. The third is to explore notions of definable map, embedding and isomorphism between these and related quotient objects. The motivation for writing this paper is the recent discovery, via…
We prove a number of results about countable Borel equivalence relations with forcing constructions and arguments. These results reveal hidden regularity properties of Borel complete sections on certain orbits. As consequences they imply the nonexistence of Borel complete sections with certain features.
We prove that any divisible dynamical simplex is the set of invariant measures of some Toeplitz subshift. We apply our construction to prove that orbit equivalence of Toeplitz subshifts is Borel bireducible to the universal equivalence relation induced by a Borel action of a nonarchimedean Polish group.
In this paper, we show that, for each $p>1$, there are continuum many Borel equivalence relations between $\Bbb R^ω/\ell_1$ and $\Bbb R^ω/\ell_p$ ordered by $\le_B$ which are pairwise Borel incomparable.
We show that polynomial time Turing equivalence and a large class of other equivalence relations from computational complexity theory are universal countable Borel equivalence relations. We then discuss ultrafilters on the invariant Borel sets of these equivalence relations which are related to Martin's ultrafilter on the Turing degrees.
This paper addresses the notion of time change equivalence for Borel multidimensional flows. We show that all free flows are time change equivalent up to a compressible set. An appropriate version of this result for non-free flows is also given.
We develop a correspondence between the study of Borel equivalence relations induced by closed subgroups of $S_\infty$, and the study of symmetric models and weak choice principles, and apply it to prove a conjecture of Hjorth-Kechris-Louveau (1998). For example, we show that the equivalence relation $\cong^\ast_{ω+1,0}$ is strictly below $\cong^\ast_{ω+1,<ω}$ in Borel reducibility. By results of Hjorth-Kechris-Louveau, $\cong^\ast_{ω+1,<ω}$ provides invariants for $Σ^0_{ω+1}$ equivalence relations induced by actions of $S_\infty$, while $\cong^\ast_{ω+1,0}$ provides invariants for $Σ^0_{ω+1}$…
This paper deals with countable products of countable Borel equivalence relations and equivalence relations "just above" those in the Borel reducibility hierarchy. We show that if $E$ is strongly ergodic with respect to $μ$ then $E^\mathbb{N}$ is strongly ergodic with respect to $μ^\mathbb{N}$. We answer questions of Clemens and Coskey regarding their recently defined $Γ$-jump operations, in particular showing that the $\mathbb{Z}^2$-jump of $E_\infty$ is strictly above the $\mathbb{Z}$-jump of $E_\infty$. We study a notion of equivalence relations which can be classified by infinite sequences…
The main result of the paper is classification of free multidimensional Borel flows up to Lebesgue Orbit Equivalence, by which we understand an orbit equivalence that preserves the Lebesgue measure on each orbit. Two non smooth Euclidean flows are shown to be Lebesgue Orbit Equivalence if and only if they admit the same number of invariant ergodic probability measures.
We prove that, for $1 \le p<q<\infty$, the partially ordered set $P(ω)/{\rm Fin}$ can be embedded into Borel equivalence relations between $\mathbb{R}^ω/\ell_p$ and $\mathbb{R}^ω/\ell_q$. Since there is an antichain of size continuum in $P(ω)/{\rm Fin}$, therefore there are continuum many incomparable Borel equivalence relations between $\mathbb{R}^ω/\ell_p$ and $\mathbb{R}^ω/\ell_q$.
We prove a number of results motivated by global questions of uniformity in computability theory, and universality of countable Borel equivalence relations. Our main technical tool is a game for constructing functions on free products of countable groups. We begin by investigating the notion of uniform universality, first proposed by Montalbán, Reimann and Slaman. This notion is a strengthened form of a countable Borel equivalence relation being universal, which we conjecture is equivalent to the usual notion. With this additional uniformity hypothesis, we can answer many questions concerning …
Let $F_{ω_1}$ be the countable admissible ordinal equivalence relation defined on ${}^ω2$ by $x \ F_{ω_1} \ y$ if and only if $ω_1^x = ω_1^y$. It will be shown that $F_{ω_1}$ is classifiable by countable structures and must be classified by structures of high Scott rank. If $E$ and $F$ are equivalence relations, then $E$ is almost Borel reducible to $F$ if and only if there is a Borel reduction of $E$ to $F$, except possibly on countably many $E$-classes. Let $E_{ω_1}$ denote the equivalence of order types of reals coding well-orderings. It will be shown that in the constructible universe $L$ …
We study topological groups that can be defined as Polish, pro-countable abelian groups, as non-archimedean abelian groups or as quasi-countable abelian groups, i.e., Polish subdirect products of countable, discrete groups, endowed with the product topology. We characterize tame groups in this class, i.e., groups such that all orbit equivalence relations induced by their continuous actions on Polish spaces are Borel, and relatively tame groups $G$, i.e., groups such that every diagonal action $α\times β$ of $G$ induces a Borel orbit equivalence relation, provided that the actions $α$, $β$ of $…
We prove that for every Borel equivalence relation $E$, either $E$ is Borel reducible to $\mathbb{E}\_0$, or the family of Borel equivalence relations incompatible with $E$ has cofinal essential complexity. It follows that if $F$ is a Borel equivalence relation and $\cal F$ is a family of Borel equivalence relations of non-cofinal essential complexity which together satisfy the dichotomy that for every Borel equivalence relation $E$, either $E\in {\cal F}$ or $F$ is Borel reducible to $E$, then $\cal F$ consists solely of smooth equivalence relations, thus the dichotomy is equivalent to a know…
We show that every basis for the countable Borel equivalence relations strictly above $\mathbb{E}_0$ under measure reducibility is uncountable, thereby ruling out natural generalizations of the Glimm-Effros dichotomy. We also push many known results concerning the abstract structure of the measure reducibility hierarchy to its base, using arguments substantially simpler than those previously employed.
In this paper, a notion of Schauder equivalence relation $\mathbb R^\mathbb N/L$ is introduced, where $L$ is a linear subspace of $\mathbb R^\mathbb N$ and the unit vectors form a Schauder basis of $L$. The main theorem is to show that the following conditions are equivalent: (1) the unit vector basis is boundedly complete; (2) $L$ is $F_σ$ in $\mathbb R^\mathbb N$; (3) $\mathbb R^\mathbb N/L$ is Borel reducible to $\mathbb R^\mathbb N/\ell_\infty$. We show that any Schauder equivalence relation generalized by basis of $\ell_2$ is Borel bireducible to $\mathbb R^\mathbb N/\ell_2$ itself, but i…
We introduce a new family of jump operators on Borel equivalence relations; specifically, for each countable group $Γ$ we introduce the $Γ$-jump. We study the elementary properties of the $Γ$-jumps and compare them with other previously studied jump operators. One of our main results is to establish that for many groups $Γ$, the $Γ$-jump is \emph{proper} in the sense that for any Borel equivalence relation $E$ the $Γ$-jump of $E$ is strictly higher than $E$ in the Borel reducibility hierarchy. On the other hand there are examples of groups $Γ$ for which the $Γ$-jump is not proper. To establish…
The main question here is the possible generalization of the following theorem on ``simple'' equivalence relation on 2^omega to higher cardinals. Theorem: (1) Assume that: (a) E is a Borel 2-place relation on 2^omega, (b) E is an equivalence relation, (c) if eta, nu in 2^omega and (exists ! n)(eta(n) not= nu(n)), then eta, nu are not E --equivalent. Then there is a perfect subset of 2^omega of pairwise non E-equivalent members. (2) Instead of ``E is Borel'', ``E is analytic (or even a Borel combination of analytic relations)'' is enough. (3) If E is a Pi^1_2 relation which is an equivalence re…
We improve the known results about the complexity of the relation of isomorphism between separable Banach spaces up to Borel reducibility, and we achieve this using the classical spaces $c_0$, $\ell_p$ and $L_p$, $1 \leq p <2$. More precisely, we show that the relation $E_{K_σ}$ is Borel reducible to isomorphism and complemented biembeddability between subspaces of $c_0$ or $\ell_p, 1 \leq p <2$. We show that the relation $E_{K_σ} \otimes =^+$ is Borel reducible to isomorphism, complemented biembeddability, and Lipschitz equivalence between subspaces of $L_p, 1 \leq p <2$.
