The tree property at double successors of singular cardinals of uncountable cofinality with infinite gaps (Q2003915)

The tree property has an intimate connection with the behavior of the continuum function. The earliest counterexample to the tree property at \(\aleph_1\) by Aronszajn essentially stands on the trivial behavior of continuum function i.e \(\mathrm{sup}(2^n:n\in\omega)=\omega\). Such a behavior was highlighted further when Specker proved that if \(\kappa^{<\kappa}=\kappa\) holds for a regular cardinal \(\kappa\), then the tree property fails at \(\kappa^+\). This leads one to consider the behavior of the continuum function as an obstacle in obtaining the tree property at a cardinal. The problem is not, nevertheless, finding all possible patterns, but identifying the real issue to open the floodgates for the global tree property: whether the tree property can hold simultaneously at all regular cardinals above \(\aleph_1\). Overall, it is natural to investigate the degree of independence of the tree property at the a given cardinal form the behavior of the continuum function. In particular, at double successor of a strong limit singular cardinal. One of the results of the celebrated work of \textit{J. Cummings} and \textit{M. Foreman} [Adv. Math. 133, No. 1, 1--32 (1998; Zbl 0949.03039)] combined the Prikry forcing and Mitchell forcing to show that starting from suitable large cardinals \(\kappa<\lambda\), one can singularize \(\kappa\) to become strong limit and of countable cofinality, and at the same time obtain the tree property at \(\kappa^{++}\). Notice that in their model \(2^\kappa=\kappa^{++}\). Since then, their technique has been serving as a prototype for tree property at double successor of singular cardinals, including for the paper under review. Their result was extended by the reviewer and the first author of the paper under review to cardinals of uncountable cofinality [Ann. Pure Appl. Logic 169, No. 2, 164--175 (2018; Zbl 1404.03041)], yet \(2^\kappa=\kappa^{++}\). However, pushing up the value of \(2^{\kappa}\) beyond \(\kappa^{++}\) requires dealing with new difficulties. In this direction, \textit{S.-D. Friedman} et al. [Ann. Pure Appl. Logic 169, No. 6, 548--564 (2018; Zbl 1387.03036)] obtained a model for the tree property at \(\kappa^{++}\) for a strong limit singular cardinal \(\kappa\) of cofinality \(\omega\), together with \(2^{\kappa}\) being arbitrarily large. The paper under review is devoted to the proof of the following theorem. Theorem: Given cardinals \(\delta<\kappa<\lambda\leq\Theta\), where \(\delta\) is regular, \(\kappa\) is strong, \(\lambda\) is weakly compact, and \(\mathrm{cof}(\Theta)>\kappa\). Assume that \(\mathrm{GCH}\) holds form \(\kappa\) on. Then there is a generic extension, where \(\kappa\) is a strong limit singular cardinal of cofinality \(\delta\), \(\mathrm{TP}(\kappa^{++})\) holds, and that \(2^{\kappa}\geq\Theta\). The authors also show that \(\square^{*}_{\kappa}\) holds in their model, which in turn implies that \(\mathrm{TP}(\kappa^+)\) fails. The above theorem extends the work of the reviewer and the first author [loc. cit.] and that of Friedman et al. [loc. cit.].