Since being isolated by Viale and Weiss in 2009, the Guessing Model Property has emerged as a particularly prominent and powerful consequence of the Proper Forcing Axiom. In this paper, we investigate connections between variations of the Guessing Model Property and cardinal arithmetic, broadly construed. We improve upon results of Viale and Krueger by proving that a weakening of the Guessing Model Property implies Shelah's Strong Hypothesis. We also prove that, though the Guessing Model Property is known not to put an upper bound on the size of the continuum, it does imply that $2^{ω_1}$ is as small as possible relative to the value of $2^ω$. Building on work of Laver, we prove that, in the extension of any model of $\mathsf{PFA}$ by a measure algebra, every tree of height and size $ω_1$ is B-special (a generalization of specialness introduced by Baumgartner that can also hold of trees with uncountable branches). Finally, we investigate the impact of forcing axioms for Suslin and almost Suslin trees on guessing model properties. In particular, we prove thatif $S$ is a Suslin tree, then the axioms $\mathsf{PFA}(S)$ and $\mathsf{PFA}(S)[S]$ imply the Guessing Model Property and the Indestructible Guessing Model Property, respectively, and, if $T^*$ is an almost Suslin Aronszajn tree, then the axiom $\mathsf{PFA}(T^*)$ implies the Indestructible Guessing Model Property. This answers a number of questions of Cox and Krueger.
In this article we prove three main theorems: (1) guessing models are internally unbounded, (2) for any regular cardinal $κ\ge ω_2$, $\textsf{ISP}(κ)$ implies that $\textsf{SCH}$ holds above $κ$, and (3) forcing posets which have the $ω_1$-approximation property also have the countable covering property. These results solve open problems of Viale and Hachtman-Sinapova.
We analyze the notion of guessing model, a way to assign combinatorial properties to arbitrary regular cardinals. Guessing models can be used, in combination with inaccessibility, to characterize various large cardinals axioms, ranging from supercompactness to rank-to-rank embeddings. The majority of these large cardinals properties can be defined in terms of suitable elementary embeddings j\colon V_γ\to V_λ. One key observation is that such embeddings are uniquely determined by the image structures j [ V_γ]\prec V_λ. These structures will be the prototypes guessing models. We shall show, usin…
We investigate the interaction between compactness principles and guessing principles in the Radin forcing extensions. In particular, we show that in any Radin forcing extension with respect to a measure sequence on $κ$, if $κ$ is weakly compact, then $\diamondsuit(κ)$ holds. This provides contrast with a well-known theorem of Woodin, who showed that in a certain Radin extension over a suitably prepared ground model relative to the existence of large cardinals, the diamond principle fails at a strongly inaccessible Mahlo cardinal. Refining the analysis of the Radin extensions, we consistently …
We obtain strong coloring theorems at successors of singular cardinals from failures of certain instances of simultaneous reflection of stationary sets. Along the way, we establish new results in club-guessing and in the general theory of ideals.
We introduce a stronger version of an $ω_1$-guessing model, which we call an indestructibly $ω_1$-guessing model. The principle IGMP states that there are stationarily many indestructibly $ω_1$-guessing models. This principle, which follows from PFA, captures many of the consequences of PFA, including the Suslin hypothesis and the singular cardinal hypothesis. We prove that IGMP is consistent with the continuum being arbitrarily large.
We give two results on guessing unbounded subsets of lambda^+. The first is a positive result and applies to the situation of lambda regular and at least equal to aleph_3, while the second is a negative consistency result which applies to the situation of lambda a singular strong limit with 2^lambda>lambda^+. The first result shows that in ZFC there is a guessing of unbounded subsets of S^{lambda^+}_lambda. The second result is a consistency result (assuming a supercompact cardinal exists) showing that a natural guessing fails. A result of Shelah in math.LO/9808140 shows that if 2^lambda=lambd…
Starting with two supercompact cardinals we produce a generic extension of the universe in which a principle that we call ${\rm GM}^+(ω_3,ω_1)$ holds. This principle implies ${\rm ISP}(ω_2)$ and ${\rm ISP}(ω_3)$, and hence the tree property at $ω_2$ and $ω_3$, the Singular Cardinal Hypothesis, and the failure of the weak square principle $\square(ω_2,λ)$, for all regular $λ\geq ω_2$. In addition, it implies that the restriction of the approachability ideal $I[ω_2]$ to the set of ordinals of cofinality $ω_1$ is the non stationary ideal on this set. The consistency of this last statement was pre…
This paper explores the consistency strength of The Proper Forcing Axiom ($\textsf{PFA}$) and the theory (T) which involves a variation of the Viale-Wei$ß$ guessing hull principle. We show that (T) is consistent relative to a supercompact cardinal. The main result of the paper implies that the theory "$\sf{AD}$$_\mathbb{R} + Θ$ is regular" is consistent relative to (T) and to $\textsf{PFA}$. This improves significantly the previous known best lower-bound for consistency strength for (T) and $\textsf{PFA}$, which is roughly "$\sf{AD}$$_\mathbb{R} + \textsf{DC}$".
We prove that a wide class of strongly proper forcing posets have quotients with strong properties. Specifically, we prove that quotients of forcing posets which have simple universal strongly generic conditions on a stationary set of models by certain nice regular suborders satisfy the $ω_1$-approximation property. We prove that the existence of stationarily many $ω_1$-guessing models in $P_{ω_2}(H(θ))$, for sufficiently large cardinals $θ$, is consistent with the continuum being arbitrarily large, solving a problem of Viale and Weiss.
Suppose that there is a measurable cardinal. If \aleph_ωis a strong limit cardinal, but the power of \aleph_ωis bigger than \aleph_{ω_1}, then there is an inner model with a Woodin cardinal. Modulo the need of the measurable cardinal this answers a question of Gitik and Mitchell.
From large cardinals we show the consistency of normal, fine, $κ$-complete $λ$-dense ideals on $\mathcal{P}_κ(λ)$ for successor $κ$. We explore the interplay between dense ideals, cardinal arithmetic, and squares, answering some open questions of Foreman.
Part A: A revised version of the guide in "Cardinal Arithmetic" ([Sh:g]), with corrections and expanded to include later works. Part B: Corrections to [Sh:g]. Part C: Contains some revised proof and improved theorems. Part D: Contains a list of relevant references.
We prove that for regular $λ$ above a strong limit singular $μ$ certain guessing principles follow just from cardinal arithmetic assumptions. The main result is that for such $λ$ and $μ$ there are coboundedly many regular $κ<μ$ such that $\clubsuit^-(S^λ_κ)$ holds whenever $λ=λ^{<κ}$.
We study the effects of piece selection principles on cardinal arithmetic (Shelah style). As an application, we discuss questions of Abe and Usuba. In particular, we show that if $λ\geq 2^κ$, then (a) $I_{κ, λ}$ is not $(λ, 2)$-distributive, and (b) $I_{κ, λ}^+ \rightarrow (I_{κ, λ}^+)^2_ω$ does not hold.
We present a survey of some results of the pcf-theory and their applications to cardinal arithmetic. We review basics notions (in section 1), briefly look at history in section 2 (and some personal history in section 3). We present main results on pcf in section 5 and describe applications to cardinal arithmetic in section 6. The limitations on independence proofs are discussed in section 7, and in section 8 we discuss the status of two axioms that arise in the new setting. Applications to other areas are found in section 9.
We continue the investigations in the author's book on cardinal arithmetic, assuming some knowledge of it. We deal with the cofinality of (S_{<= aleph_0}(kappa), subseteq) for kappa real valued measurable (Section 3), densities of box products (Section 5,3), prove the equality cov(lambda, lambda, theta^+,2)=pp(lambda) in more cases even when cf(lambda)= aleph_0 (Section 1), deal with bounds of pp(lambda) for lambda limit of inaccessible (Section 4) and give proofs to various claims I was sure I had already written but did not find (Section 6).
This paper deals with variety of problems in pcf theory and infinitary combinatorics. We look at normal filters and prc, measures of the size of [lambda]^{<kappa}, pcf-inaccessibility, entangled orders (and narrow Boolean Algebras), measuring prod_{i<kappa}f(i) by a family of ideals and a family of sequences <B_i:i<kappa> with |B_i|<mu_i, and finally we deal with the existence of strongly almost disjoint families.
If cf(kappa) = kappa, kappa^+< cf(lambda) = λ, then there is a stationary subset S of {delta<lambda:cf(delta)=kappa} in I[lambda]. Moreover, we can find <C_delta :delta in S>, C_delta a club of lambda, otp(C_delta)=kappa, guessing clubs and for each alpha<lambda we have: {C_delta \cap alpha: alpha \in nacc(C_delta)} has cardinality <lambda. Also, we prove that e.g. there is a stationary subset of S_{<aleph_1}(lambda) of cardinality cf(S_{<aleph_1}(lambda),subseteq) Then we prove the existence of nice filters when instead being normal filters on omega_1 they are normal filters with larger domai…
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…
We show that various tameness assertions about abstract elementary classes imply the existence of large cardinals under mild cardinal arithmetic assumptions.
I explore two separate topics: the concept of jointness for set-theoretic guessing principles, and the notion of grounded forcing axioms. A family of guessing sequences is said to be joint if all of its members can guess any given family of targets independently and simultaneously. I primarily investigate jointness in the case of various kinds of Laver diamonds. In the case of measurable cardinals I show that, while the assertions that there are joint families of Laver diamonds of a given length get strictly stronger with increasing length, they are all equiconsistent. This is contrasted with …
The $κ$-density of a cardinal $μ\geκ$ is the least cardinality of a dense collection of $κ$-subsets of $μ$ and is denoted by $\mathcal D(μ,κ)$. The Singular Density Hypothesis (SDH) for a singular cardinal $μ$ of cofinality $cfμ=κ$ is the equation $\mathcal D(μ,κ)=μ^+$. The Generalized Density Hypothesis (GDH) for $μ$ and $λ$ such that $λ\leμ$ is: $\mathcal D(μ,λ)=μ$ if $cfμ\not=cfλ$ and $\mathcal D(μ,λ)=μ^+$ if $cfμ=cfλ$. Density is shown to satisfy Silver's theorem. The most important case is: Theorem 2.6. If $κ=cfκ<θ=cfμ<μ$ and the set of cardinals $λ<μ$ of cofinality $κ$ that satisfy the \…
In this paper, we consider certain cardinals in ZF (set theory without AC, the Axiom of Choice). In ZFC (set theory with AC), given any cardinals C and D, either C <= D or D <= C. However, in ZF this is no longer so. For a given infinite set A consider Seq(A), the set of all sequences of A without repetition. We compare |Seq(A)|, the cardinality of this set, to |P(A)|, the cardinality of the power set of A. What is provable about these two cardinals in ZF? The main result of this paper is that ZF |- for all A: |Seq(A)| not= |P(A)| and we show that this is the best possible result. Furthermore,…
Andrew Wiles' Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, As Expected, Does Not Require a Large Cardinal Axiom. A Discussion of Colin McLarty's "The Large Structures of Grothendieck Founded on Finite-Order Arithmetic"
We look at an old conjecture of A. Tarski on cardinal arithmetic and show that if a counterexample exists, then there exists one of length omega_1 + omega .
In this paper we investigate some properties of first order theories which prevent them from having universal models under certain cardinal arithmetic assumptions. Our results give a new syntactical condition, oak property, which is a sufficient condition for a theory not to have universal models in cardinality lambda when certain cardinal arithmetic assumptions implying the failure of GCH (and close to the failure of SCH) hold.
Assume GCH and let $λ$ denote an uncountable cardinal. We prove that if $\square_λ$ holds, then this may be witnessed by a coherent sequence $< C_α| α< λ^+ >$ with the following remarkable guessing property: For every sequence $< A_i | i<λ>$ of unbounded subsets of $λ^+$, and every limit $θ<λ$, there exists some $α<λ^+$ such that $\otp(C_α)=θ$, and the $(i+1)_{th}$-element of $C_α$ is a member of $A_i$, for all $i<θ$. As an application, we construct an homogenous $λ^+$-Souslin tree from $GCH+\square_λ$, for every singular cardinal $λ$. In addition, as a by-product, a theorem of Farah and Velic…
We give an application of our extender based Radin forcing to cardinal arithmetic. Using a preparation forcing and interleaving of Cohen and Levy forcings in the normal Radin sequence we get a model with a power function having a fixed finite gap on all cardinals.
Suppose that $T^*$ is an $ω_1$-Aronszajn tree with no stationary antichain. We introduce a forcing axiom PFA($T^*$) for proper forcings which preserve these properties of $T^*$. We prove that PFA($T^*$) implies many of the strong consequences of PFA, such as the failure of very weak club guessing, that all of the cardinal characteristics of the continuum are greater than $ω_1$, and the $P$-ideal dichotomy. On the other hand, PFA($T^*$) implies some of the consequences of diamond principles, such as the existence of Knaster forcings which are not stationarily Knaster.
We investigate pseudopowers of singular cardinals, and show that deduce some consequences for cardinal arithmetic. For example, we show that in {\sf ZFC} that $$\cov(μ,μ,θ,σ)=\cov(μ,μ,(\cfμ)^+,σ)+\cov(μ,μ,θ,σ^+)$$ whenever $\aleph_1\leqσ=\cf(σ)<\cf(μ)<θ<μ$, and use recent work of Gitik to show that both summands in the equation are required.
Ben-David and Shelah proved that if $λ$ is a singular strong-limit cardinal and $2^λ=λ^+$, then $\square^*_λ$ entails the existence of a normal $λ$-distributive $λ^+$-Aronszajn tree. Here, it is proved that the same conclusion remains valid after replacing the hypothesis $\square^*_λ$ by $\square(λ^+,{<}λ)$. As $\square(λ^+,{<}λ)$ does not impose a bound on the order-type of the witnessing clubs, our construction is necessarily different from that of Ben-David and Shelah, and instead uses walks on ordinals augmented with club guessing. A major component of this work is the study of postprocess…
We show that some cardinal arithmetic configurations related to the negation of the Shelah Weak Hypothesis and natural from the forcing point of view are impossible.
We investigate forcing properties of perfect tree forcings defined by Prikry to answer a question of Solovay in the late 1960's regarding first failures of distributivity. Given a strictly increasing sequence of regular cardinals $\langle κ_n: n< ω\rangle$, Prikry defined the forcing $\mathbb{P}$ all perfect subtrees of $\prod_{n<ω}κ_n$, and proved that for $κ=\sup_{n<ω}κ_n$, assuming the necessary cardinal arithmetic, the Boolean completion $\mathbb{B}$ of $\mathbb{P}$ is $(ω,μ)$-distributive for all $μ<κ$ but $(ω,κ,δ)$-distributivity fails for all $δ<κ$, implying failure of the $(ω,κ)$-d.l. …
Under some cardinal arithmetic assumptions, we prove that every stationary subset of lambda of a right cofinality has the weak diamond. This is a strong negation of uniformization. We then deal with a weaker version of the weak diamond- colouring restrictions. We then deal with semi- saturated (normal) filters.
We prove that assuming suitable cardinal arithmetic, if B is a Boolean algebra every homomorphic image of which is isomorphic to a factor, then B has locally small density. We also prove that for an (infinite) Boolean algebra B, the number of subalgebras is not smaller than the number of endomorphisms, and other related inequalities. Lastly we deal with the obtainment of the supremum of the cardinalities of sets of pairwise incomparable elements of a Boolean algebra.
We show that for $Π_2$-properties of second or third order arithmetic as formalized in appropriate natural signatures the apparently weaker notion of forcibility overlaps with the standard notion of consistency (assuming large cardinal axioms). Among such $Π_2$-properties we mention: the negation of the Continuum hypothesis, Souslin Hypothesis, the negation of Whitehead's conjecture on free groups, the non-existence of outer automorphisms for the Calkin algebra, etc... In particular this gives an a posteriori explanation of the success forcing (and forcing axioms) met in producing models of su…
We apply the recently developed technology of cofinality spectrum problems to prove a range of theorems in model theory. First, we prove that any model of Peano arithmetic is $λ$-saturated iff it has cofinality $\geq λ$ and the underlying order has no $(κ, κ)$-cuts for regular $κ< λ$. Second, assuming instances of GCH, we prove that $SOP_2$ characterizes maximality in the interpretability order $\trianglelefteq^*$, settling a prior conjecture and proving that $SOP_2$ is a real dividing line. Third, we establish the beginnings of a structure theory for $NSOP_2$, proving that $NSOP_2$ can be cha…
We show that $\mathsf{PFA}$ (Proper Forcing Axiom) implies that adding any number of Cohen subsets of $ω$ will not add an $ω_2$-Aronszajn tree or a weak $ω_1$-Kurepa tree, and moreover no $σ$-centered forcing can add a weak $ω_1$-Kurepa tree (a tree of height and size $ω_1$ with at least $ω_2$ cofinal branches). This partially answers an open problem whether ccc forcings can add $ω_2$-Aronszajn or $ω_1$-Kurepa trees. We actually prove more: We show that a consequence of $\mathsf{PFA}$, namely the guessing model principle, $\mathsf{GMP}$, which is equivalent to the ineffable slender tree proper…
The paper is the second of two and shows that (assuming large cardinals) set theory is a tractable (and we dare to say tame) first order theory when formalized in a first order signature with natural predicate symbols for the basic definable concepts of second and third order arithmetic, and appealing to the model-theoretic notions of model completeness and model companionship. Specifically we use the general framework linking generic absoluteness results to model companionship introduced in the first paper to show that strong forms of Woodin's axiom $(*)$ entail that any theory $T$ extending …
