The motivation for this paper is the following: In [4] I showed that it is inconsistent with ZFC that the Maximality Principle for directed closed forcings holds at unboundedly many regular cardinals κ (even only allowing κ itself as a parameter in the Maximality Principle for < κ -closed forcings each time). So the question is whether it is consistent to have this principle at unboundedly many regular cardinals or at every regular cardinal below some large cardinal κ (instead of (...) ∞), and if so. how strong it is. It turns out that it is consistent in many cases, but the consistency strength is quite high. (shrink)

We generalize the result of Mekler and Shelah [3] that the existence of a canary tree is independent of ZFC + GCH to uncountable regular cardinals. We also correct an error from the original proof.

Martin's axiom is equivalent to the statement that the universe is absolute under ccc forcing extensions for Σ 1 sentences with a subset of $\kappa, \kappa , as a parameter.

Let σ(U) denote the number of automorphisms of a model U of power ω1. We derive a necessary and sufficient condition in terms of trees for the existence of an U with $\omega_1 < \sigma(\mathfrak{U}) < 2^{\omega_1}$. We study the sufficiency of some conditions for σ(U) = 2ω1 . These conditions are analogous to conditions studied by D. Kueker in connection with countable models.

Let U and B be two countable relational models of the same first order language. If the models are nonisomorphic, there is a unique countable ordinal α with the property that $\mathfrak{U} \equiv^\alpha_{\infty\omega} \mathfrak{B} \text{but not} \mathfrak{U} \equiv^{\alpha + 1}_{\infty\omega} \mathfrak{B},$ i.e. U and B are L ∞ω -equivalent up to quantifier-rank α but not up to α + 1. In this paper we consider models U and B of cardinality ω 1 and construct trees which have a similar relation (...) to U and B as α above. For this purpose we introduce a new ordering T ≪ T' of trees, which may have some independent interest of its own. It turns out that the above ordinal α has two qualities which coincide in countable models but will differ in uncountable models. Respectively, two kinds of trees emerge from α. We call them Scott trees and Karp trees, respectively. The definition and existence of these trees is based on an examination of the Ehrenfeucht game of length ω 1 between U and B. We construct two models of power ω 1 with 2 ω 1 mutually noncomparable Scott trees. (shrink)

In this paper, following an idea of Christophe Chalons. I propose a new kind of forcing axiom, the Maximality Principle, which asserts that any sentence varphi holding in some forcing extension $V^P$ and all subsequent extensions $V^{P\ast Q}$ holds already in V. It follows, in fact, that such sentences must also hold in all forcing extensions of V. In modal terms, therefore, the Maximality Principle is expressed by the scheme $(\lozenge \square \varphi) \Rightarrow \square \varphi$ , and is equivalent to (...) the modal theory S5. In this article. I prove that the Maximality Principle is relatively consistent with ZFC. A boldface version of the Maximality Principle, obtained by allowing real parameters to appear in φ, is equiconsistent with the scheme asserting that $V_\delta \prec V$ for an inaccessible cardinal δ, which in turn is equiconsistent with the scheme asserting that ORD is Mahlo. The strongest principle along these lines is $\square MP\!_{\!\!\!\!\!\!_{\!\!_\sim}}$ , which asserts that $MP\!_{\!\!\!\!\!\!_{\!\!_\sim}}$ holds in V and all forcing extensions. From this, it follows that $0^\#$ exists, that $x^\#$ exists for every set x, that projective truth is invariant by forcing, that Woodin cardinals are consistent and much more. Many open questions remain. (shrink)

We study Σ1-definable sets 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 Σ1-definable, the set of all stationary subsets of ω1 is not Σ1-definable and the complement of every Σ1-definable Bernstein subset of ${}_{}^{{\omega _1}}\omega _1^{}$ is not Σ1-definable. In contrast, we show that the existence of a Woodin cardinal is compatible with the existence of a Σ1-definable well-ordering (...) of H and the existence of a Δ1-definable Bernstein subset of ${}_{}^{{\omega _1}}\omega _1^{}$. We also show that, if there are infinitely many Woodin cardinals and a measurable cardinal above them, then there is no Σ1-definable uniformization of the club filter on ω1. Moreover, we prove a perfect set theorem for Σ1-definable subsets of ${}_{}^{{\omega _1}}\omega _1^{}$, assuming that there is a measurable cardinal and the nonstationary ideal on ω1 is saturated. The proofs of these results use iterated generic ultrapowers and Woodin’s ℙmax-forcing. Finally, we also prove variants of some of these results for Σ1-definable subsets of κκ, in the case where κ itself has certain large cardinal properties. (shrink)

Let k be an infinite cardinal. A subset of $(^k k)^n $ is a $\Sigma _1^1 $ -subset if it is the projection p[T] of all cofinal branches through a subtree T of $(lt;kk)^{n + 1} $ of height k. We define $\Sigma _k^1 - ,\Pi _k^1 $ - and $\Delta _k^1$ subsets of $(^k k)^n $ as usual. Given an uncountable regular cardinal k with k = k (...) there is a shrink)

We extend Solovay’s theorem about definable subsets of the Baire space to the generalized Baire spaceλλ, whereλis an uncountable cardinal withλ<λ= λ. In the first main theorem, we show that the perfect set property for all subsets ofλλthat are definable from elements ofλOrd is consistent relative to the existence of an inaccessible cardinal aboveλ. In the second main theorem, we introduce a Banach–Mazur type game of lengthλand show that the determinacy of this game, for all subsets ofλλthat are definable from (...) elements ofλOrd as winning conditions, is consistent relative to the existence of an inaccessible cardinal aboveλ. We further obtain some related results about definable functions onλλand consequences of resurrection axioms for definable subsets ofλλ. (shrink)

We study descriptive set theory in the space $^{\omega_1}\omega_1$ by letting trees with no uncountable branches play a similar role as countable ordinals in traditional descriptive set theory. By using such trees, we get, for example, a covering property for the class of $\Pi^1_1$-sets of $^{\omega_1}\omega_1$. We call a family $\mathscr{U}$ of trees universal for a class $\mathscr{V}$ of trees if $\mathscr{U} \subseteq \mathscr{V}$ and every tree in $\mathscr{V}$ can be order-preservingly mapped into a tree in $\mathscr{U}$. It is well (...) known that the class of countable trees with no infinite branches has a universal family of size $\aleph_1$. We shall study the smallest cardinality of a universal family for the class of trees of cardinality $\leq\aleph_1$ with no uncountable branches. We prove that this cardinality can be 1 (under $\neg$CH) and any regular cardinal $\kappa$ which satisfies $\aleph_2 \leq \kappa \leq 2^{\aleph_1}$ (under CH). This bears immediately on the covering property of the $\Pi^1_1$-subsets of the space $^{\omega_1}\omega_1$. We also study the possible cardinalities of definable subsets of $^{\omega_1}\omega_1$. We show that the statement that every definable subset of $^{\omega_1}\omega_1$ has cardinality $<\omega_n$ or cardinality $2^{\omega_1}$ is equiconsistent with ZFC (if $n \geq 3$) and with ZFC plus an inaccessible (if $n = 2$). Finally, we define an analogue of the notion of a Borel set for the space $^{\omega_1}\omega_1$ and prove a Souslin-Kleene type theorem for this notion. (shrink)

We study descriptive set theory in the space ω1 ω 1 by letting trees with no uncountable branches play a similar role as countable ordinals in traditional descriptive set theory. By using such trees, we get, for example, a covering property for the class of Π 1 1 -sets of ω1 ω 1 . We call a family U of trees universal for a class V of trees if $\mathscr{U} \subseteq \mathscr{V}$ and every tree in V can be order-preservingly mapped (...) into a tree in U. It is well known that the class of countable trees with no infinite branches has a universal family of size ℵ 1 . We shall study the smallest cardinality of a universal family for the class of trees of cardinality ≤ℵ 1 with no uncountable branches. We prove that this cardinality can be 1 (under ¬CH) and any regular cardinal κ which satisfies ℵ 2 ≤ κ ≤ 2 ℵ 1 (under CH). This bears immediately on the covering property of the Π 1 1 -subsets of the space ω1 ω 1 . We also study the possible cardinalities of definable subsets of ω1 ω 1 . We show that the statement that every definable subset of ω1 ω 1 has cardinality $ or cardinality 2 ω1 is equiconsistent with ZFC (if n ≥ 3) and with ZFC plus an inaccessible (if n = 2). Finally, we define an analogue of the notion of a Borel set for the space ω1 ω 1 and prove a Souslin-Kleene type theorem for this notion. (shrink)

We provide a list of open problems in the research area of generalised Baire spaces, compiled with the help of the participants of two workshops held in Amsterdam (2014) and Hamburg (2015).