The axiom of determinacy, forcing axioms, and the nonstationary ideal (Q1305164)

In this book the author describes a canonical model in which CH is false. This is done assuming the existence of large cardinals. This model can be described as a forcing extension of \(L(\mathbb{R})\) but also by its absoluteness properties. By varying the forcing he obtains a wide class of similar models with many interesting properties. His constructions are quite different from the usual forcing constructions and essentially use large cardinals and determinacy. The author began in 1992 with the writing of his book. It gives a deep insight into the relationship between large cardinals, descriptive set theory and forcing axioms. It is a great pleasure that his results are now available in a book. Now to the contents of the book. It is organized in 11 chapters. In the first chapter the author gives an overview of the results he presents. Chapter 2 reviews the basic concepts which are required. So weakly homogeneous trees and scales are introduced, followed by stationary towers. Then forcing axioms such as proper forcing and Martin's Maximum are described. Chapter 3 deals with the ideal of nonstationary subsets of \(\omega_1\). So it is shown that the assumption that this ideal is \(\omega_2\)-saturated together with the existence of a measurable cardinal imply the negation of CH. This result is a special case of a more general covering lemma. The author studies models which are iterable with respect to the process of forming generic ultrapowers. Whereas it is not known whether CH implies that the nonstationary ideal on \(\omega_1\) is not \(\omega_2\)-saturated, Shelah showed that CH implies that the nonstationary ideal on \(\omega_1\) is not \(\omega_1\)-dense. Here the author gives a generalization of this result. In Chapter 4 the author defines the partial order \(\mathbb{P}_{\max}\). The starting point is the following result: If the nonstationary ideal on \(\omega_1\) is \(\omega_2\)-saturated, then every subset of \(\omega_1\) appears in an iteration of a countable iterable model. Chapter 5 starts with the definition of Axiom (*): AD holds in \(L(\mathbb{R})\) and \(L({\mathcal P}(\omega_1))\) is a \(\mathbb{P}_{\max}\)-generic extension of \(L(\mathbb{R})\). It is shown that (*) implies that \(L({\mathcal P} (\omega_1)) \models AC\). Further on it is shown that Martin's Maximum implies the same statement. Next a reformulation of (*) is given. This reformulation uses neither the partial ordering \(\mathbb{P}_{\max}\) nor iterable structures. The author investigates the factor algebra of \({\mathcal P}(\omega_1)\) modulo the nonstationary ideal. He gives a condition that implies that the nonstationary ideal on \(\omega_1\) is quasihomogeneous. In Chapter 6 the author deals with variations of \(\mathbb{P}_{\max}\). He investigates the following problem: It is known that in the generic extension of \(L(\mathbb{R})\) with respect to \(\mathbb{P}_{\max}\), the ideal of nonstationary sets is saturated. Does it follow that this ideal is saturated in \(V\) too? The author defines the variation \(^2\mathbb{P}_{\max}\) in order to answer this question. Next he defines the variation \(\mathbb{Q}_{\max}\). Assuming the existence of a huge cardinal, he shows that it is consistent that the nonstationary ideal on \(\omega_1\) is \(\omega_1\)-dense. A further variation allows it to show that the assumption can be weakened to \(L(\mathbb{R})\models \text{AD}\). This implies the consistency of the existence of an \(\omega_1\)-dense ideal on \(\omega_1\) with \(\neg\text{CH}\). It is shown that in the generic extension of \(L(\mathbb{R})\) by \(\mathbb{Q}_{\max}\), there is a weak Kurepa tree. Next he produces a model in which the nonstationary ideal on \(\omega_1\) is \(\omega_1\)-dense and in which there are no weak Kurepa trees on \(\omega_1\). Chapter 7 starts with variations of \(\mathbb{P}_{\max}\). So the author defines \(\mathbb{S}_{\max}\), which is a refinement of \(\mathbb{P}_{\max}\). He gives a condition \(\Phi_S\) which implies that in the resulting generic extension of \(L(\mathbb{R})\), Souslin trees exist. He defines the partial order \(\mathbb{B}_{\max}\) and obtains the consistency of the Borel conjecture with a large fragment of Martin's Axiom. In Chapter 8 the author deals with various versions of the combinatorial principle \(\clubsuit\). Chapter 9 deals with \(\mathbb{P}_{\max}\)-extensions, this time for inner models larger than \(L(\mathbb{R})\). It is required that a special form of AD holds in the inner model. The author obtains extensions in which Martin's Maximum holds for partial orders of cardinality \(c\) (Martin's Maximum(\(c\))). He obtains a model in which Borel's Conjecture holds together with the largest possible fragment of Martin's Maximum. In Chapter 10 the author investigates the possible relationship between Martin's Maximum and his axiom (*). He shows that under the existence of large cardinals, axiom (*) is equivalent with a very strong form of a bounded version of Martin's Maximum. Chapter 11 closes with some questions.