In recent work, the authors have established the group configuration theorem for simple theories, as well as some of its main applications from geometric stability theory, such as the binding group theorem, or in the $\omega$-categorical case, the characterization of the forking geometry of a finitely based non-trivial locally modular regular type as projective geometry over a finite field and the equivalence of pseudolinearity and local modularity. The proof necessitated an extension of the model-theoretic framework to include almost hyperimaginaries, and (...) the study of polygroups. (shrink)

We continue [2], developing simplicity in the framework of compact abstract theories. Due to the generality of the context we need to introduce definitions which differ somewhat from the ones use in first order theories. With these modified tools we obtain more or less classical behaviour: simplicity is characterized by the existence of a certain notion of independence, stability is characterized by simplicity and bounded multiplicity, and hyperimaginary canonical bases exist.

We develop positive model theory, which is a non first order analogue of classical model theory where compactness is kept at the expense of negation. The analogue of a first order theory in this framework is a compact abstract theory: several equivalent yet conceptually different presentations of this notion are given. We prove in particular that Banach and Hilbert spaces are compact abstract theories, and in fact very well-behaved as such.

We study in detail the blow-up procedure described in [BTW01]. We obtain a structure theorem for coreless polygroups as a double quotient space G//H, and a polygroup chunk theorem. Seeking to remove the arbitrary parameter needed for the blow-up, we find canonical Ø-invariant groupoids.

We introduce the notion of a lovely pair of models of a simple theory T, generalizing Poizat's “belles paires” of models of a stable theory and the third author's “generic pairs” of models of an SU-rank 1 theory. We characterize when a saturated model of the theory TP of lovely pairs is a lovely pair , finding an analog of the nonfinite cover property for simple theories. We show that, under these hypotheses, TP is also simple, and we study forking (...) and canonical bases in TP. We also prove that assuming only that T is low, the existentially universal models of the universal part of a natural expansion TP+ of TP, are lovely pairs, and “simple Robinson universal domains”. (shrink)

We prove that for every simple theory T there is a compact abstract theory T.

We characterise imaginaries (up to interdefinability) in Hilbert spaces using a Galois theory for compact unitary groups.

We develop the theory of germs of generic functions in simple theories. Starting with an algebraic quadrangle (or other similar hypotheses), we obtain an "almost" generic group chunk, where the product is denned up to a bounded number of possible values. This is the first step towards the proof of the group configuration theorem for simple theories, which is completed in [3].

This paper completes the proof of the group configuration theorem for simple theories started in [1]. We introduce the notion of an almost hyperdefinable structure, and show that it has a reasonable model theory. We then construct an almost hyperdefinable group from a polygroup chunk.

In this paper we discuss several generalization of theorems from stability theory to simple theories. Cherlin and Hrushovski, in [2] develop a substitute for canonical bases in finite rank, ω-categorical supersimple theories. Motivated by methods there, we prove the existence of canonical bases (in a suitable sense) for types in any simple theory. This is done in Section 2. In general these canonical bases will (as far as we know) exist only as “hyperimaginaries”, namely objects of the forma/Ewhereais a possibly (...) infinite tuple andEa type-definable equivalence relation. (In the supersimple, ω-categorical case, these reduce to ordinary imaginaries.) So in Section 1 we develop the general theory of hyperimaginaries and show how first order model theory (including the theory of forking) generalises to hyperimaginaries. We go on, in Section 3 to show the existence and ubiquity of regular types in supersimple theories, ω-categorical simple structures and modularity is discussed in Section 4. It is also shown here how the general machinery of simplicity simplifies some of the general theory of smoothly approximable (or Lie-coordinatizable) structures from [2].Throughout this paper we will work in a large, saturated modelMof a complete theoryT. All types, sets and sequences will have size smaller than the size ofM. We will assume that the reader is familiar with the basics of forking in simple theories as laid out in [4] and [6]. For basic stability-theoretic results concerning regular types, orthogonality etc., see [1] or [9]. (shrink)

We prove that for every simple theory $T$ (or even simple thick compact abstract theory) there is a (unique) compact abstract theory $T^fP$ whose saturated models are the lovely pairs of $T$. Independence-theoretic results that were proved in [Ben Yaacov, Pillay, Vassiliev - Lovely pairs of models] when $T^fP$ is a first order theory are proved for the general case: in particular $T^fP$ is simple and we characterise independence.

We study hyperdefinable groups, the most general kind of groups interpretable in a simple theory. After developing their basic theory, we prove the appropriate versions of Hrushovski's group quotient theorem and the Weil–Hrushovski group chunk theorem. We also study locally modular hyperdefinable groups and prove that they are bounded-by-Abelian-by-bounded. Finally, we analyze hyperdefinable groups in supersimple theories.

Let be an abstract elementary class with amalgamation, and Lowenheim Skolem number LS. We prove that for a suitable Hanf number gc0 if χ0 < λ0 λ1, and is categorical inλ1+ then it is categorical in λ0.

For a supersimple SU-rank 1 theory T we introduce the notion of a generic elementary pair of models of T . We show that the theory T* of all generic T-pairs is complete and supersimple. In the strongly minimal case, T* coincides with the theory of infinite dimensional pairs, which was used in 1184–1194) to study the geometric properties of T. In our SU-rank 1 setting, we use T* for the same purpose. In particular, we obtain a characterization of linearity (...) for SU-rank 1 structures by giving several equivalent conditions on T*, find a “weak” version of local modularity which is equivalent to linearity, show that linearity coincides with 1-basedness, and use the generic pairs to “recover” projective geometries over division rings from non-trivial linear SU-rank 1 structures. (shrink)