On hereditarily odd-even isols and a comparability of summands property (Q1069929)

Most papers dealing with isols are very hard to read because of the use of techniques such as priority methods and frames to obtain results. The author, on the other hand, shows that it is still possible to obtain many interesting and surprising results by methods which are pleasant and easy to read. The present paper is an example of this kind. The main definitions are as follows. An isol has parity if it is even or odd. (It is known that there are isols that are neither.) An isol is hereditarily odd-even if all its predecessors have parity. An isol Y is CS if whenever \(Y=A+B\) either \(A\leq^*B\) or \(B\leq^*A\). An isol Y has HCS if A has CS for all \(A\leq Y\). The paper deals with various relations between these concepts. Hereditarily odd-even isols are of interest because, according to work by Ellentuck, they lead to certain collections of isols that have desirable model-theoretic properties. One sample result says that if Y is odd then the following are equivalent: (1) Y has CS, (2) Y has HCS, (3) Y is hereditarily odd-even.