Sizes and filtrations in accessible categories (Q2200036)

This article contributes further to the categorical treatment of abstract elementary classes (AEC's), exploring the path taken in [\textit{T. Beke} and \textit{J. Rosický}, Ann. Pure Appl. Logic 163, No. 12, 2008--2017 (2012; Zbl 1315.03049); \textit{W. Boney} et al., J. Pure Appl. Algebra 220, No. 9, 3048--3066 (2016; Zbl 1402.03046); \textit{M. Lieberman} et al., J. Pure Appl. Algebra 223, No. 10, 4560--4582 (2019; Zbl 1468.03041)]. More precisely the article focuses mostly on \(\mu\)-AEC's, \(\mu\) a regular cardinal, an adaptation of the notion of AEC more suitable for classes of models of \(\mu\)-ary signatures (where the Tarski - Vaught chain axiom is modified to closure under unions of \(\mu\)-directed systems and the Löwenheim-Skolem condition to the existence of models on subsets of members of the class, of cardinality bound appropriately with respect to \(\mu .\)) In the second reference above, the authors show that \(\mu\)-AEC's form accessible categories and, conversely, every \(\mu\)-accessible category with all the morphisms monos is a \(\mu\)-AEC's with suitable Löwenheim-Skolem number (determined by \(\mu\) and the size of the set of representatives of \(\mu\)-presentable objects). The authors propose an internal notion of size (modification of the presentability rank of an object) for accessible categories which specializes to standard notions of size, as cardinality in the category of sets or minimal cardinality of a dense subset in the category of complete metric spaces with contractions as morphisms. In cases where the presentability rank of an object is a successor cardinal, the size is defined as its predecessor. Their main results concerning size admit a more simplified statement if one assumes the (eventual) singular cardinal hypothesis ((E)SCH). They show that, under ESCH, in large accessible categories where all the maps are monos, for all high enough cardinals \(\lambda ,\) \(\lambda ^+\)-accessibility implies the existence of an object of size \(\lambda .\) In particular, in accessible categories where \(\mu\)-accessibility implies \(\lambda\)-accessibility for all \(\lambda > \mu\) (=well-accessible categories), such as accessible categories with directed colimits (and all the morphisms monos), the existence of objects of such sizes is guaranteed. In terms of \(\mu\)-AEC's, under SCH, in a large \(\mu\)-AEC, for every \(\lambda\) of cofinality at least \(\mu ,\) greater than the Löwenheim-Skolem number of it, there exists an object of presentability rank \(\lambda ^+ .\) They also study the existence of filtrations of objects in accessible categories: An object is called filtrable if it is the colimit of a chain of length smaller that the presentability rank of it, consisting of objects of smaller rank. A category is \(\mu\)-filtrable if every object of rank \(\mu\) is filtrable. In this connection they show, among other results, that a \(\mu\)-accessible category is \(\mu ^+\)-filtrable.