The inner model problem for supercompact cardinals, one of the central open problems in modern set theory, asks whether there is a canonical model of set theory with a supercompact cardinal. The problem is closely related to the more precise question of the equiconsistency of strongly compact cardinals and supercompact cardinals. This dissertation approaches these two problems abstractly by introducing a principle called the Ultrapower Axiom which is expected to hold in all known canonical models of set theory. By investigating the consequences of the Ultrapower Axiom under the hypothesis that there is a supercompact cardinal, we provide evidence that the inner model problem can be solved. Moreover, we establish that under the Ultrapower Axiom, strong compactness and supercompactness are essentially equivalent.
We prove that the Generalized Continuum Hypothesis holds above a supercompact cardinal assuming the Ultrapower Axiom, an abstract comparison principle motivated by inner model theory at the level of supercompact cardinals.
The relationship between the large cardinal notions of strong compactness and supercompactness cannot be determined under the standard ZFC axioms of set theory. Under a hypothesis called the Ultrapower Axiom, we prove that the notions are equivalent except for a class of counterexamples identified by Menas. This is evidence that strongly compact and supercompact cardinals are equiconsistent.
Assuming an abstract comparison principle called the Ultrapower Axiom, which is motivated by the comparison process of inner model theory and generalizes the statement that the Mitchell order is linear on normal ultrafilters, we characterize strongly compact cardinals in terms of supercompactness: a strongly compact cardinal is either supercompact or a limit of supercompact cardinals. Assuming the Ultrapower Axiom and the GCH, we also prove a local result that roughly states that every countably complete ultrafilter factors as a finite iteration of supercompact ultrafilters.
Let omega be the first infinite ordinal (or the set of all natural numbers) with the usual order <. In section 1 we show that, assuming the consistency of a supercompact cardinal, there may exist an ultrapower of omega, whose cardinality is (1) a singular strong limit cardinal, (2) a strongly inaccessible cardinal. This answers two questions in [CK], modulo the assumption of supercompactness. In section 2 we construct several lambda-Archimedean ultrapowers of omega under some large cardinal assumptions. For example, we show that, assuming the consistency of a measurable cardinal, there may exi…
We study the structure of the Rudin-Frolik order on countably complete ultrafilters under the assumption that this order is directed. This assumption, called the Ultrapower Axiom, holds in all known canonical inner models. It turns out that assuming the Ultrapower Axiom, much more about the Rudin-Frolik order can be determined. Our main theorem is that under the Ultrapower Axiom, a countably complete ultrafilter has at most finitely many predecessors in the Rudin-Frolik order. In other words, any wellfounded ultrapower (of the universe) is the ultrapower of at most finitely many ultrapowers.
This paper studies structural consequences of supercompactness of $ω_1$ under $\sf{ZF}$. We show that the Axiom of Dependent Choice $(\sf{DC})$ follows from "$ω_1$ is supercompact". "$ω_1$ is supercompact" also implies that $\sf{AD}^+$, a strengthening of the Axiom of Determinacy $(\sf{AD})$, is equivalent to $\sf{AD}_\mathbb{R}$. It is shown that "$ω_1$ is supercompact" does not imply $\sf{AD}$. The most one can hope for is Suslin co-Suslin determinacy. We show that this follows from "$ω_1$ is supercompact" and Hod Pair Capturing $(\sf{HPC})$, an inner-model theoretic hypothesis that imposes …
We study various orders on countably complete ultrafilters on ordinals that coincide and are wellorders under a hypothesis called the Ultrapower Axiom. Our main focus is on the relationship between the Ultrapower Axiom and the linearity of these orders.
Recently the second author introduced combinatorial principles that characterize supercompactness for inaccessible cardinals but can also hold true for small cardinals. We prove that the proper forcing axiom PFA implies these principles hold for $ω_2$. Using this, we argue to show that any of the known methods for forcing models of PFA from a large cardinal assumption requires a strongly compact cardinal. If one forces PFA using a proper forcing, then we get the optimal result that a supercompact cardinal is necessary.
This paper explores several topics related to Woodin's HOD conjecture. We improve the large cardinal hypothesis of Woodin's HOD dichotomy theorem from an extendible cardinal to a strongly compact cardinal. We show that assuming there is a strongly compact cardinal and the HOD hypothesis holds, there is no elementary embedding from HOD to HOD, settling a question of Woodin. We show that the HOD hypothesis is equivalent to a uniqueness property of elementary embeddings of levels of the cumulative hierarchy. We prove that the HOD hypothesis holds if and only if every regular cardinal above the fi…
We construct a variety of inner models exhibiting features usually obtained by forcing over universes with large cardinals. For example, if there is a supercompact cardinal, then there is an inner model with a Laver indestructible supercompact cardinal. If there is a supercompact cardinal, then there is an inner model with a supercompact cardinal κfor which 2^κ=κ^+, another for which 2^κ=κ^++ and another in which the least strongly compact cardinal is supercompact. If there is a strongly compact cardinal, then there is an inner model with a strongly compact cardinal, for which the measurable c…
In other work we have outlined how, building on ideas of Welch and Roberts, one can motivate believing in the existence of supercompact cardinals. After making this observation we strove to formulate a justification for large-cardinal axioms of greater strength, and arrived at a motivation for a new large-cardinal property, which we define here and prove to be equivalent to the property of being a Vopěnka scheme cardinal. Making use of this result, one can also show that a theory $B_0(V_0)$ described in a previous paper of Victoria Marshall implies the existence of a Vopěnka scheme cardinal $κ…
A new axiom is proposed, the Ground Axiom, asserting that the universe is not a nontrivial set forcing extension of any inner model. The Ground Axiom is first-order expressible, and any model of ZFC has a class forcing extension which satisfies it. The Ground Axiom is independent of many well-known set-theoretic assertions including the Generalized Continuum Hypothesis, the assertion V=HOD that every set is ordinal definable, and the existence of measurable and supercompact cardinals. The related Bedrock Axiom, asserting that the universe is a set forcing extension of a model satisfying the Gr…
In the absence of the Axiom of Choice, the "small" cardinal $ω_1$ can exhibit properties more usually associated with large cardinals, such as strong compactness and supercompactness. For a local version of strong compactness, we say that $ω_1$ is $X$-strongly compact (where $X$ is any set) if there is a fine, countably complete measure on $\mathcal{P}_{ω_1}(X)$. Working in $\mathsf{ZF} + \mathsf{DC}$, we prove that the $\mathcal{P}(ω_1)$-strong compactness and $\mathcal{P}(\mathbb{R})$-strong compactness of $ω_1$ are equiconsistent with $\mathsf{AD}$ and $\mathsf{AD}_\mathbb{R} + \mathsf{DC}$…
The Axiom of Full Reflection at a measurable cardinal has been conjectured to be equiconsitent with the existence of a coherent sequence of measures with a repeat point. However we prove that the Axiom of Full Reflection at a measurable cardinal is surprisingly equiconsistent just with the existence of a measurable cardinal. We also generalize the result to larger cardinals as strong or supercompact. Hence we can conclude that the Axiom of Full Reflection at large cardinals weaker than measurable, e.g. as n-Mahlo, does push the consistency strength up, but does not push the consistency strengt…
This paper introduces the seed order, a partial order of the class of uniform countably complete ultrafilters that generalizes the Mitchell order on normal measures. Like that order, the seed order is consistently a linear ordering even under strong large cardinal assumptions. In fact, the linearity of the seed order is a feature of all known canonical inner models for large cardinal axioms. We develop the theory of the seed order under the assumption that it is linear. Augmented by large cardinal hypotheses currently out of reach of inner model theory (namely supercompactness), this linearity…
A new axiom is proposed, the Ground Axiom, asserting that the universe is not a nontrivial set-forcing extension of any inner model. The Ground Axiom is first-order expressible, and any model of ZFC has a class-forcing extension which satisfies it. The Ground Axiom is independent of many well-known set-theoretic assertions including the Generalized Continuum Hypothesis, the assertion V=HOD that every set is ordinal definable, and the existence of measurable and supercompact cardinals. The related Bedrock Axiom, asserting that the universe is a set-forcing extension of a model satisfying the Gr…
We show from a weak comparison principle (the Ultrapower Axiom) that the Mitchell order is linear on certain kinds of ultrafilters: normal ultrafilters, Dodd solid ultrafilters, and assuming GCH, generalized normal ultrafilters. In the process we prove a generalization of Solovay's lemma to singular cardinals.
We recently formulated a new large-cardinal axiom of strength intermediate between a totally indescribable cardinal and an $ω$-Erdős cardinal, positing the existence of what we called an "extremely reflective cardinal", and we showed that the property of being extremely reflective was in fact equivalent to the property of being remarkable, and we sought to argue that this axiom should be seen as intrinsically justified. This built on related earlier work in which the notion of an $α$-reflective cardinal was formulated. Then Welch and Roberts put forward a family of reflection principles, Welch…
This paper contributes to the theory of large cardinals beyond the Kunen inconsistency, or choiceless large cardinal axioms, in the context where the Axiom of Choice is not assumed. The first part of the paper investigates a periodicity phenomenon: assuming choiceless large cardinal axioms, the properties of the cumulative hierarchy turn out to alternate between even and odd ranks. The second part of the paper explores the structure of ultrafilters under choiceless large cardinal axioms, exploiting the fact that these axioms imply a weak form of the author's Ultrapower Axiom. The third and fin…
We introduce a class of notions of forcing which we call $Σ$-Prikry, and show that many of the known Prikry-type notions of forcing that centers around singular cardinals of countable cofinality are $Σ$-Prikry. We show that given a $Σ$-Prikry poset $\mathbb P$ and a name for a non-reflecting stationary set $T$, there exists a corresponding $Σ$-Prikry poset that projects to $\mathbb P$ and kills the stationarity of $T$. Then, in a sequel to this paper, we develop an iteration scheme for $Σ$-Prikry posets. Putting the two works together, we obtain a proof of the following. Theorem. If $κ$ is the…
The resurrection axioms are forcing axioms introduced recently by Hamkins and Johnstone, developing on ideas of Chalons and Velicković. We introduce a stronger form of resurrection axioms (the \emph{iterated} resurrection axioms $\textrm{RA}_α(Γ)$ for a class of forcings $Γ$ and a given ordinal $α$), and show that $\textrm{RA}_ω(Γ)$ implies generic absoluteness for the first-order theory of $H_{γ^+}$ with respect to forcings in $Γ$ preserving the axiom, where $γ=γ_Γ$ is a cardinal which depends on $Γ$ ($γ_Γ=ω_1$ if $Γ$ is any among the classes of countably closed, proper, semiproper, stationar…
We study consequences of stationary and semi-stationary set reflection. We show that the semi stationary reflection principle implies the Singular Cardinal Hypothesis, the failure of weak square principle, etc. We also consider two cardinal tree properties introduced recently by Weiss and prove that they follow from stationary and semi stationary set reflection augmented with a weak form of Martin's Axiom. We also show that there are some differences between the two reflection principles which suggest that stationary set reflection is analogous to supercompactness whereas semi-stationary set r…
We show that the theory ZFC-, consisting of the usual axioms of ZFC but with the power set axiom removed-specifically axiomatized by extensionality, foundation, pairing, union, infinity, separation, replacement and the assertion that every set can be well-ordered-is weaker than commonly supposed and is inadequate to establish several basic facts often desired in its context. For example, there are models of ZFC- in which $ω_1$ is singular, in which every set of reals is countable, yet $ω_1$ exists, in which there are sets of reals of every size $\aleph_n$, but none of size $\aleph_ω$, and ther…
There are several examples in the literature showing that compactness-like properties of a cardinal $κ$ cause poor behavior of some generic ultrapowers which have critical point $κ$ (Burke \cite{MR1472122} when $κ$ is a supercompact cardinal; Foreman-Magidor \cite{MR1359154} when $κ= ω_2$ in the presence of strong forcing axioms). We prove more instances of this phenomenon. First, the Reflection Principle (RP) implies that if $\vec{\mathcal{I}}$ is a tower of ideals which concentrates on the class $GIC_{ω_1}$ of $ω_1$-guessing, internally club sets, then $\vec{\mathcal{I}}$ is not presaturated…
Kunen's proof of the non-existence of Reinhardt cardinals opened up the research on very large cardinals, i.e., hypotheses at the limit of inconsistency. One of these large cardinals, I0, proved to have descriptive-set-theoretical characteristics, similar to those implied by the Axiom of Determinacy: if $λ$ witnesses I0, then there is a topology for $V_{λ+1}$ that is completely metrizable and with weight $λ$ (i.e., it is a $λ$-Polish space), and it turns out that all the subsets of $V_{λ+1}$ in $L(V_{λ+1})$ have the $λ$-Perfect Set Property in such topology. In this paper, we find another gene…
In two recent papers (math.LO/0003164 and math.LO/0003165) we answered a question raised in the book by Eklof and Mekler (p. 455, Problem 12) under the set theoretical hypothesis of diamondsuit_{aleph_1} which holds in many models of set theory, respectively of the special continuum hypothesis (CH). The objects are reflexive modules over countable principal ideal domains R, which are not fields. Following H.Bass, an R-module G is reflexive if the evaluation map s:G ---> G^{**} is an isomorphism. Here G^*=Hom(G,R) denotes the dual module of G. We proved the existence of reflexive R-modules G of…
