Abelian \(C\)-minimal groups (Q5946045)

The notion of o-minimality has proved to be a key notion in model theory, e.g. in the study of expansions of the real numbers by analytic functions. \(C\)-minimality is a variant introduced by \textit{D. Macpherson} and \textit{C. Steinhorn} [``On variants of o-minimality'', Ann. Pure Appl. Logic 79, No. 2, 165-209 (1996; Zbl 0858.03039)]. The \(C\) refers to a ternary relation \(C(x;y,z)\) on the set of branches of a tree which holds when \(y\) and \(z\) branch above the point where \(x\) and \(z\) branch. It appears naturally in a field with a valuation \(v\) as \(v(x-z)>v(y-z)\), or in a group with a valuation as \(v(xz^{-1})<v(yz^{-1})\). \(C\)-minimal groups are (expansions of) groups with a \(C\)-relation which behaves well under the group law and such that in any elementary extension any definable set in one variable is quantifier-free definable from the \(C\)-relation and equality. The author suggests that \(C\)-minimal groups are built by mixing o-minimal totally ordered groups and \(C\)-minimal valued groups. He shows that for abelian valued groups satisfying a compatibility condition between the valuation and multiplication with any prime number, being \(C\)-minimal is equivalent to o-minimality of the chain of valuations equipped with the induced maps from the multiplication maps above and unary predicates wich control the cardinality of some natural residual groups. This class contains all known natural examples, and provides many new examples.