Category Archives: Expository

The chromatic numbers of the Erdos-Hajnal graphs

Recall that a coloring c:Gκ of an (undirected) graph (G,E) is said to be chromatic if c(v1)c(v2) whenever {v1,v2}E. Then, the chromatic number of a graph (G,E) is the least cardinal κ for which there exists a chromatic … Continue reading

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Shelah’s approachability ideal (part 1)

Given an infinite cardinal λ, Shelah defines an ideal I[λ] as follows. Definition (Shelah, implicit in here). A set S is in I[λ] iff Sλ and there exists a collection {Dαα<λ}[P(λ)]<λ, and some club Eλ, so … Continue reading

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Dushnik-Miller for regular cardinals (part 3)

Here is what we already know about the Dushnik-Miller theorem in the case of ω1 (given our earlier posts on the subject): ω1(ω1,ω+1)2 holds in ZFC; ω1(ω1,ω+2)2 may consistently fail; ω1(ω1,ω1)2 fails in ZFC. In this post, we shall provide … Continue reading

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A large cardinal in the constructible universe

In this post, we shall provide a proof of Silver’s theorem that the Erdos caridnal κ(ω) relativizes to Godel’s constructible universe. First, recall some definitions. Given a function f:[κ]<ωμ, we say that Iκ is a set of indiscernibles for … Continue reading

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c.c.c. forcing without combinatorics

In this post, we shall discuss a short paper by Alan Mekler from 1984, concerning a non-combinatorial verification of the c.c.c. property for forcing notions. Recall that a notion of forcing P is said to satisfy the c.c.c. iff … Continue reading

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Dushnik-Miller for singular cardinals (part 2)

In the first post on this subject, we provided a proof of λ(λ,ω+1)2 for every regular uncountable cardinal λ. In the second post, we provided a proof of λ(λ,ω)2 for every singular cardinal λ, and showed that λ(λ,ω+1)2 fails for every … Continue reading

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Dushnik-Miller for regular cardinals (part 2)

In this post, we shall provide a proof of Todorcevic’s theorem, that b=ω1 implies ω1(ω1,ω+2)2. This will show that the Erdos-Rado theorem that we discussed in an earlier post, is consistently optimal. Our exposition of Todorcevic’s theorem would be … Continue reading

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Dushnik-Miller for singular cardinals (part 1)

Continuing the previous post, let us now prove the following. Theorem (Erdos-Dushnik-Miller, 1941). For every singular cardinal λ, we have: λ(λ,ω)2. Proof. Suppose that λ is a singular cardinal, and c:[λ]2{0,1} is a given coloring. For any ordinal α<λ, denote … Continue reading

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Dushnik-Miller for regular cardinals (part 1)

This is the first out of a series of posts on the following theorem. Theorem (Erdos-Dushnik-Miller, 1941). For every infinite cardinal λ, we have: λ(λ,ω)2. Namely, for any coloring c:[λ]2{0,1} there exists either a subset Aλ of order-type λ with … Continue reading

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Shelah’s solution to Whitehead’s problem

Whitehead problem notes in hebrew : Table of contents Chapter 0 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 References

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