The name for Kojman-Shelah collapsing function (Q5940149): Difference between revisions

For a cardinal number \(\mu\), let \({\mathcal P}_\mu (\mu)\) denote the completion of the quotient algebra of the power set \({\mathcal P} (\mu)\) modulo the ideal \([\mu]^{<\mu}\) of subsets of \(\mu\) of size \(<\mu\). For cardinals \(\kappa < \lambda\), \(\kappa\) regular, the collapse algebra Col\((\kappa, \lambda)\) is the completion of the standard poset collapsing \(\lambda\) to \(\kappa\) using partial functions of size \(< \kappa\). A complete Boolean algebra \(B\) is \((\kappa, \cdot,\lambda)\)-nowhere distributive if there are partitions of unity \(P_\alpha \subset B\), \(\alpha<\kappa\), such that for every nonzero \(b \in B\), there is \(\alpha < \kappa\) such that \(b\) meets at least \(\lambda\) many \(p\in P_\alpha\). The authors provide an elementary combinatorial argument (not hinging on pcf theory) for the result of \textit{M. Kojman} and \textit{S. Shelah} [Ann. Pure Appl. Logic 109, 117-129 (2001; Zbl 0989.03050)], reviewed above, saying that, for every singular \(\mu\) of countable cofinality, the completion of the poset of closed subsets of \(\mu\) (which completely embeds into \({\mathcal P}_\mu (\mu)\)) is \((\omega_1, \cdot, \mu^\omega)\)-nowhere distributive. This is the main step in the proof (Kojman and Shelah) showing that forcing with \({\mathcal P}_\mu (\mu)\) collapses \(\mu^\omega\) to \(\omega_1\).