Definable groups in dense pairs of geometric structures (Q2144611)

This paper studies tame expansions of \textit{geometric theories}, that is, first-order theories with elimination of \(\exists^\infty\) where model-theoretic algebraic closure satisfies exchange. The focus is on the effect that naming a (usually unary) predicate with certain properties has on pre-existing definable groups. The main results are that no new ``large'' definable subgroups are introduced, and that type-connected components \(G^{00}_A\) and definable amenability are preserved. More in detail, the authors work in two settings. The first is that of dense/co-dense expansions of a geometric theory satisfying a property they dub PGA. Here, an expansion of an \(\mathcal L\)-structure \(M\) by a unary predicate \(P\), considered in the language \(\mathcal L_P:=\mathcal L\cup \{P\}\), is \textit{dense/co-dense} iff every non-algebraic type over a finite-dimensional parameter set \(A\) is realised both in \(P(M)\) and in the complement of \(\operatorname{acl}(A\cup P(M))\). In this setting, the level of dependence of a tuple from the predicate is measured via \textit{large dimension}: \(\operatorname{ldim}(\vec b/\vec a)\) equals the (usual) dimension \(\operatorname{dim}(\vec b/\vec aP(M))\). The acronym PGA stands for \textit{Property of Generic \(\mathcal L\)-Approximation}; it holds iff every \(\mathcal L_P\)-definable subset of an \(\mathcal L\)-definable \(Z\) may be approximated by an \(\mathcal L\)-definable set, up to an error set of large dimension less than \(\operatorname{dim}(Z)\). The PGA is shown to hold in \textit{lovely pairs} (where \(P\) is an elementary substructure),\textit{H-structures} (where \(P\) is an acl-independent set), and \textit{\(G\)-structures} in the sense of [\textit{A. Berenstein} and \textit{E. Vassiliev}, Arch. Math. Logic 59, No. 1--2, 197--228 (2020; Zbl 1480.03017)]. This is achieved by first proving that each theory falling in one of the above cases satisfies the \emph{Type Equality Assumption (TEA)}, or at least its weak version WTEA, both introduced in the work under review. Roughly, this means that \(\mathcal L_P\)-types satisfying certain independence requirements are determined by their restriction to \(\mathcal L\). It is then proven that every dense/co-dense expansion with WTEA has PGA. Next, the authors show that, under PGA, if \(F\) is an \(\mathcal L_P\)-(type-)definable subgroup of an \(\mathcal L\)-definable group \(G\) with \(\operatorname{ldim}(F)=\operatorname{dim}(G)\), then \(F\) must be already \(\mathcal L\)-(type-)definable. This entails that the type-connected components \(G_A^{00}\) of an \(\mathcal L\)-definable group \(G\) do not change when passing from \(\mathcal L\) to \(\mathcal L_P\), that \(G\) is definably amenable in \(\mathcal L\) if and only if it is definably amenable in \(\mathcal L_P\), and that f-generic types (in the sense of [\textit{A. Chernikov} and \textit{P. Simon}, J. Am. Math. Soc. 31, No. 3, 609--641 (2018; Zbl 06870167)]) in the two languages are tightly related. In the case of lovely pairs, analogous results are also proven for \(\mathcal L_P\)-definable subsets of cartesian powers of \(P\). The second setting is that of expansions of a real closed field by a subgroup \(G\) of either the positive multiplicative group, or of the circle group, having the Mann property, in the sense of [\textit{L. van den Dries} and \textit{A. Günaydin}, ``The fields of real and complex numbers with a small multiplicative group'', Proc. London Math. Soc. 93, 43--81 (2006)]. While these expansions are also shown to satisfy TEA, they are not necessarily dense/co-dense. It is proven that definable subgroups of \(G\) are Boolean combinations of cosets of subgroups belonging to a certain family and that computing \(G/G^{00}\) in the group language, in the ordered group language or in \(\mathcal L_P\) always yields the same result. Since in this case \(G\) is abelian, it is automatically definably amenable, and explicit descriptions of \(G\)-invariant measures and of f-generic types are provided.