For $X$ a separable metric space define $\pp(X)$ to be the smallest cardinality of a subset $Z$ of $X$ which is not a relative $\ga$-set in $X$, i.e., there exists an $\om$-cover of $X$ with no $\ga$-subcover of $Z$. We give a characterization of $\pp(2^\om)$ and $\pp(\om^\om)$ in terms of definable free filters on $\om$ which is related to the psuedointersection number $\pp$. We show that for every uncountable standard analytic space $X$ that either $\pp(X)=\pp(2^\om)$ or $\pp(X)=\pp(\om^\om)$. We show that both of following statements are each relatively consistent with ZFC:
(a) $\pp=\pp(\om^\om) < \pp(2^\om)$ and
(b) $\pp < \pp(\om^\om) =\pp(2^\om)$
Let S1(Gamma,Gamma) be the statement: For each sequence of point-cofinite open covers, one can pick one element from each cover and obtain a point-cofinite cover. b is the minimal cardinality of a set of reals not satisfying S1(Gamma,Gamma). We prove the following assertions: (1) If there is an unbounded tower, then there are sets of reals of cardinality b, satisfying S1(Gamma,Gamma). (2) It is consistent that all sets of reals satisfying S1(Gamma,Gamma) have cardinality smaller than b. These results can also be formulated as dealing with Arhangel'skii's property alpha_2 for spaces of continuo…
We show that a statement concerning the existence of winning strategies of limited memory in an infinite two-person topological game is equivalent to a weak version of the Singular Cardinals Hypothesis.
In this note we collect some known information and prove new results about the small uncountable cardinal $\mathfrak q_0$. The cardinal $\mathfrak q_0$ is defined as the smallest cardinality $|A|$ of a subset $A\subset \mathbb R$ which is not a $Q$-set (a subspace $A\subset\mathbb R$ is called a $Q$-set if each subset $B\subset A$ is of type $F_σ$ in $A$). We present a simple proof of a folklore fact that $\mathfrak p\le\mathfrak q_0\le\min\{\mathfrak b,\mathrm{non}(\mathcal N),\log(\mathfrak c^+)\}$, and also establish the consistency of a number of strict inequalities between the cardinal $\…
We construct a Borel graph G such that ZF+DC+"There are no maximal independent sets in G" is equiconsistent with ZFC+"There exists an inaccessible cardinal".
A stationary subset S of a regular uncountable cardinal kappa reflects fully at regular cardinals if for every stationary set T subseteq kappa of higher order consisting of regular cardinals there exists an alpha in T such that S cap alpha is a stationary subset of alpha. We prove that the Axiom of Full Reflection which states that every stationary set reflects fully at regular cardinals, together with the existence of n-Mahlo cardinals is equiconsistent with the existence of Pi^1_n-indescribable cardinals. We also state the appropriate generalization for greatly Mahlo cardinals.
We study several cardinal, and ordinal--valued functions that are relatives of Hanf numbers. Let kappa be an infinite cardinal, and let T subseteq L_{kappa^+, omega} be a theory of cardinality <= kappa, and let gamma be an ordinal >= kappa^+. For example we look at (1) mu_{T}^*(gamma, kappa):= min {mu^* for all phi in L_{infinity, omega}, with rk(phi)< gamma, if T has the (phi, mu^*)-order property then there exists a formula phi'(x;y) in L_{kappa^+, omega}, such that for every chi >= kappa, T has the (phi', chi)-order property}; and (2) mu^*(gamma, kappa):= sup{mu_T^*(gamma, kappa)| T in L_{k…
We define a generic Vopěnka cardinal to be an inaccessible cardinal $κ$ such that for every first-order language $\mathcal{L}$ of cardinality less than $κ$ and every set $\mathscr{B}$ of $\mathcal{L}$-structures, if $|\mathscr{B}| = κ$ and every structure in $\mathscr{B}$ has cardinality less than $κ$, then an elementary embedding between two structures in $\mathscr{B}$ exists in some generic extension of $V$. We investigate connections between generic Vopěnka cardinals in models of ZFC and the number and complexity of $\aleph_1$-Suslin sets of reals in models of ZF. In particular, we show tha…
A subset $X$ of a Polish group $G$ is \emph{Haar null} if there exists a Borel probability measure $μ$ and a Borel set $B$ containing $X$ such that $μ(gBh)=0$ for every $g,h \in G$. A set $X$ is \emph{Haar meager} if there exists a compact metric space $K$, a continuous function $f : K \to G$ and a Borel set $B$ containing $X$ such that $f^{-1}(gBh)$ is meager in $K$ for every $g,h \in G$. We calculate (in $ZFC$) the four cardinal invariants ($\rm add$, $\rm cov$, $\rm non$, $\rm cof$) of these two $σ$-ideals for the simplest non-locally compact Polish group, namely in the case $G = \mathbb{Z}…
Suppose lambda is a singular cardinal of uncountable cofinality kappa. For a model M of cardinality lambda, let No(M) denote the number of isomorphism types of models N of cardinality lambda which are L_{infty lambda}-equivalent to M. In [Sh:189] inverse kappa-systems A of abelian groups and their certain kind of quotient limits Gr(A)/Fact(A) were considered. It was proved that for every cardinal mu there exists an inverse kappa-system A such that A consists of abelian groups having cardinality at most mu^kappa and card(Gr(A)/Fact(A))= mu. In [Sh:228] a strict connection between inverse kappa-…
We show that it is consistent that the continuum is as large as you wish, and for each uncountable cardinal $κ$ below the continuum, there are a subset $T$ of the reals and a family $A$ of countable subsets of $T$ such that (1) both $T$ and $A$ have cardinality $κ$, (2) $|\bar{a}\cap T|=κ$ for each $a\in A$, (3) for each uncountable subset of $T$ contains some elements of $A$, and so (i) there is an almost disjoint family of subsets of the reals with size and chromatic number $κ$, (ii) there is a locally compact, locally countable $T_2$ space with cardinality spectrum $\{ω,κ\}$.
We show that the statement "every universally Baire set of reals has the perfect set property" is equiconsistent modulo ZFC with the existence of a cardinal that we call a virtually Shelah cardinal. These cardinals resemble Shelah cardinals but are much weaker: if $0^\sharp$ exists then every Silver indiscernible is virtually Shelah in $L$. We also show that the statement $\text{uB} = {\bfΔ}^1_2$, where $\text{uB}$ is the pointclass of all universally Baire sets of reals, is equiconsistent modulo ZFC with the existence of a $Σ_2$-reflecting virtually Shelah cardinal.
Much recent work in cardinal characteristics has focused on generalizing results about $ω$ to uncountable cardinals by studying analogues of classical cardinal characteristics on the generalized Baire and Cantor spaces $κ^κ$ and $2^κ$. In this note I look at generalizations to other function spaces, focusing particularly on the space of functions $f:ω^ω\to ω^ω$. By considering classical cardinal invariants on Baire space in this setting I derive a number of "higher dimensional" analogues of such cardinals, ultimately introducing 18 new cardinal invariants, alongside a framework that allows for…
Assuming that $0^\dagger$ does not exist, we prove that if there is a partition of $\mathbb R$ into $\aleph_ω$ Borel sets, then there is also a partition of $\mathbb R$ into $\aleph_{ω+1}$ Borel sets.
It is proved to be consistent relative to a measurable cardinal that there is a uniform ultrafilter on the real numbers which is generated by fewer than the maximum possible number of sets. It is also shown to be consistent relative to a supercompact cardinal that there is a uniform ultrafilter on ${\aleph}_{ω+1}$ which is generated by fewer than ${2}^{{\aleph}_{ω+1}}$ sets.
We study the values of the higher dimensional cardinal characteristics for sets of functions $f:ω^ω\to ω^ω$ introduced by the second author. We prove that while the bounding numbers for these cardinals can be strictly less than the continuum, the dominating numbers cannot. We compute the bounding numbers for the higher dimensional relations in many well known models of $\neg\mathsf{CH}$ such as the Cohen, random and Sacks models and, as a byproduct show that, with possibly one exception, for the bounding numbers there are no $\mathsf{ZFC}$ relations between them beyond those in the higher dime…
Let "ex" be the cardinality of the smallest independent family of subsets of omega (independent means that all nontrivial Boolean combinations are infinite) which cannot be extended to a homogeneous independent family. "Homogeneous" means that every finite partial map (points to points, sets to sets) that is compatible with the family is induced by a permutation of omega. Despite its apparently ``complex'' (second order) definition, this cardinal is equal to a well-known ``simple'' cardinal invariant from Cichon's diagram.
The main purpose of this paper is to study \emph{$e$-separable spaces}, originally introduced by Kurepa as $K_0'$ spaces; we call a space $X$ $e$-separable iff $X$ has a dense set which is the union of countably many closed discrete sets. We primarily focus on the behaviour of $e$-separable spaces under products and the cardinal invariants that are naturally related to $e$-separable spaces. Our main results show that the statement "there is a product of at most $\mathfrak c$ many $e$-separable spaces that fails to be $e$-separable'" is equiconsistent with the existence of a weakly compact card…
Under large cardinal hypotheses beyond the Kunen inconsistency -- hypotheses so strong as to contradict the Axiom of Choice -- we solve several variants of the generalized continuum problem and identify structural features of the levels $V_α$ of the cumulative hierarchy of sets that are eventually periodic, alternating according to the parity of the ordinal $α$. For example, if there is an elementary embedding from the universe of sets to itself, then for sufficiently large ordinals $α$, the supremum of the lengths of all wellfounded relations on $V_α$ is a strong limit cardinal if and only if…
This is a paper that aims to interpret the cardinality of a set in terms of Baire Category, i.e. how many closed nowhere dense sets can be deleted from a set before the set itself becomes negligible. . To do this natural tree-theoretic structures such as the Baire topology are introduced, and the Baire Category Theorem is extended to a statement that a $\aleph$-sequentially complete binary tree representation of a Hausdorff topological space that has a clopen base of cardinality $\aleph$ and no isolated or discrete points is not the union of $<\aleph+1$-many nowhere dense subsets for cardinal …
Cichoń's diagram lists twelve cardinal characteristics (and the provable inequalities between them) associated with the ideals of null sets, meager sets, countable sets, and $σ$-compact subsets of the irrationals. It is consistent that all entries of Cichoń's diagram are pairwise different (apart from $\textrm{add}(\mathcal{M})$ and $\textrm{cof}(\mathcal{M})$, which are provably equal to other entries). However, the consistency proofs so far required large cardinal assumptions. In this work, we show the consistency without such assumptions.
This paper enlarges classical syllogistic logic with assertions having to do with comparisons between the sizes of sets. So it concerns a logical system whose sentences are of the following forms: {\sf All $x$ are $y$} and {\sf Some $x$ are $y$}, {\sf There are at least as many $x$ as $y$}, and {\sf There are more $x$ than $y$}. Here $x$ and $y$ range over subsets (not elements) of a given \emph{infinite} set. Moreover, $x$ and $y$ may appear complemented (i.e., as $\overset{-}{x}$ and $\overset{-}{y}$), with the natural meaning. We formulate a logic for our language that is based on the class…
We give a complete characterization of the sets of cardinals that in a suitable forcing extension can be the Kurepa spectrum, that is, the set of cardinalities of branches of Kurepa trees. This answers a question of the first named author.
We prove that for each universal algebra $(A,\mathcal A)$ of cardinality $|A|\ge 2$ and an infinite set $X$ of cardinality $|X|\ge|\mathcal A|$, the $X$-th power $(A^X,\mathcal A^X)$ of the algebra $(A,\mathcal A)$ contains a free subset $\mathcal F\subset A^X$ of cardinality $|\mathcal F|=2^{|X|}$. This generalizes the classical Fichtenholtz-Kantorovitch-Hausdorff result on the existence of an independent family $\mathcal I\subset\mathcal P(X)$ of cardinality $|\mathcal I|=|\mathcal P(X)|$ in the Boolean algebra $\mathcal P(X)$ of subsets of an infinite set $X$.
We show that for an infinite set X, if L is a completely distributive algebraic lattice with not more completely join irreducible elements than the size of the power set of X, then there is a monoidal interval in the clone lattice on X which is isomorphic to 1+L, which is L plus a new smallest element added. Concerning cardinalities of monoidal intervals this result implies that there exist monoidal intervals of all cardinalities of at most the size of the power set of X, as well as monoidal intervals of cardinality 2^k, for all cardinals k which are not greater than the power set of X.
We establish some similarities/analogies between uncountable cardinals or powersets and the class $V$ of all sets. They concern mainly the Boolean algebras ${\cal P}(κ)$, for a regular cardinal $κ$, and ${\cal C}(V)$ (the class of subclasses of the universe $V$), endowed with some ideals, especially the ideal $[κ]^{<κ}$ for ${\cal P}(κ)$, and the ideal of sets $V$ for ${\cal C}(V)$.
We study conditions on automorphisms of Boolean algebras of the form $P(λ)/I_κ$ (where $λ$ is an uncountable cardinal and $I_κ$ is the ideal of sets of cardinality less than $κ$) which allow one to conclude that a given automorphism is trivial. We show (among other things) that every cardinality-preserving automorphism of $P(2^κ)/I_{κ^+}$ which is trivial on all sets of cardinality $κ^+$ is trivial, and that $MA_{\aleph_1}$ implies that every automorphism of $P(\mathbb{R})/Fin$ is trivial on a cocountable set.
Let $\mathcal{E}$ be the $σ$-ideal generated by the closed measure zero sets of reals. We use an ultrafilter-extendable matrix iteration of ccc posets to force that, for $\mathcal{E}$, their associated cardinal characteristics (i.e.\ additivity, covering, uniformity and cofinality) are pairwise different.
Motivated by the model theory of higher order logics, a certain kind of topological spaces had been introduced on ultraproducts. These spaces are called ultratopologies. Ultratopologies provide a natural extra topological structure for ultraproducts and using this extra structure some preservation and characterization theorems had been obtained for higher order logics. The purely topological properties of ultratopologies seem interesting on their own right. Here we present the solutions of two problems of Gerlits and Sagi. More concretely we show that (1) there are sequences of finite sets of …
Let kappa be a regular uncountable cardinal and lambda >=kappa^+ . The principle of stationary reflection for P_kappa lambda has been successful in settling problems of infinite combinatorics in the case kappa=omega_1. For a greater kappa the principle is known to fail at some lambda. This note shows that it fails at every lambda if kappa is the successor of a regular uncountable cardinal or kappa is countably closed.
We present two different types of models where, for certain singular cardinals lambda of uncountable cofinality, lambda -> (lambda, omega+1)^2, although lambda is not a strong limit cardinal. We announce, here, and will present in a subsequent paper, that, for example, consistently, aleph_{omega_1} not-> (aleph_{omega_1}, omega+1)^2 and consistently, 2^{aleph_0} not-> (2^{aleph_0},omega +1)^2 .
A subset $\mathcal X$ of a C*-algebra $\mathcal A$ is called irredundant if no $A\in \mathcal X$ belongs to the C*-subalgebra of $\mathcal A$ generated by $\mathcal X\setminus \{A\}$. Separable C*-algebras cannot have uncountable irredundant sets and all members of many classes of nonseparable C*-algebras, e.g., infinite dimensional von Neumann algebras have irredundant sets of cardinality continuum. There exists a considerable literature showing that the question whether every AF commutative nonseparable C*-algebra has an uncountable irredundant set is sensitive to additional set-theoretic ax…
In this paper we prove that if there is a Borel-cover gamma-set of cardinality the continuum, then there is one which is not hereditary. A set of reals X is a Borel-cover gamma-set iff for every countable family of Borel sets which is an omega-cover contains a gamma-cover. This is also denoted S_1(Borel_omega, Borel_gamma). This result partially answers a question of Bartoszynski and Tsaban. Tsaban points out that it also gives an example of set which is both a gamma-set and sigma-set but is not hereditarily gamma, which answers a question of Bukovsky, Reclaw, and Repicky.
We study $Σ_1(ω_1)$-definable sets (i.e. sets that are equal to the collection of all sets satisfying a certain $Σ_1$-formula with parameter $ω_1$) in the presence of large cardinals. Our results show that the existence of a Woodin cardinal and a measurable cardinal above it imply that no well-ordering of the reals is $Σ_1(ω_1)$-definable, the set of all stationary subsets of $ω_1$ is not $Σ_1(ω_1)$-definable and the complement of every $Σ_1(ω_1)$-definable Bernstein subset of ${}^{ω_1}ω_1$ is not $Σ_1(ω_1)$-definable. In contrast, we show that the existence of a Woodin cardinal is compatible …
We consider classical representations of integers: Church's function iterators, cardinal equivalence classes of sets, ordinal equivalence classes of totally ordered sets. Since programs do not work on abstract entities and require formal representations of objects, we effectivize these abstract notions in order to allow them to be computed by programs. To any such effectivized representation is then associated a notion of Kolmogorov complexity. We prove that these Kolmogorov complexities form a strict hierarchy which coincides with that obtained by relativization to jump oracles and/or allowan…
We investigate the existence of perfect homogeneous sets for analytic colorings. An analytic coloring of X is an analytic subset of [X]^N, where N>1 is a natural number. We define an absolute rank function on trees representing analytic colorings, which gives an upper bound for possible cardinalities of homogeneous sets and which decides whether there exists a perfect homogeneous set. We construct universal sigma-compact colorings of any prescribed rank gamma<omega_1. These colorings consistently contain homogeneous sets of cardinality aleph_gamma but they do not contain perfect homogeneous se…
We study Baire category for subsets of 2^omega that are downward-closed with respect to the almost-inclusion ordering (on the power set of the natural numbers, identified with 2^omega). We show that it behaves better in this context than for general subsets of 2^omega. In the downward-closed context, the ideal of meager sets is prime and b-complete (where b is the bounding number), while the complementary filter is g-complete (where g is the groupwise density cardinal). We also discuss other cardinal characteristics of this ideal and this filter, and we show that analogous results for measure …
We will prove that there exists a model of ZFC+``c= omega_2'' in which every M subseteq R of cardinality less than continuum c is meager, and such that for every X subseteq R of cardinality c there exists a continuous function f:R-> R with f[X]=[0,1]. In particular in this model there is no magic set, i.e., a set M subseteq R such that the equation f[M]=g[M] implies f=g for every continuous nowhere constant functions f,g:R-> R .
For a set $x$, let $\mathcal{S}(x)$ be the set of all permutations of $x$. We study several aspects of this notion in $\mathsf{ZF}$. The main results are as follows: (1) $\mathsf{ZF}$ proves that for all sets $x$, if $\mathcal{S}(x)$ is Dedekind infinite, then there are no finite-to-one maps from $\mathcal{S}(x)$ into $\mathcal{S}_{\mathrm{fin}}(x)$, where $\mathcal{S}_{\mathrm{fin}}(x)$ is the set of all permutations of $x$ which move only finitely many elements. (2) $\mathsf{ZF}$ proves that for all sets $x$, the cardinality of $\mathcal{S}(x)$ is strictly greater than that of $[x]^2$. (3) I…
