Dilworth's decomposition theorem for posets in ZF (Q2338588)

Dilworth's theorem (DT) is the following statement: If the maximum number of elements in an antichain of a poset \(P\) is a finite number, then it is equal to the minimum number of pairwise disjoint chains into which \(P\) can be decomposed. DT for finite posets is a theorem of ZF. DT is valid in ZFC, but DT does not imply AC in ZF. The Boolean prime ideal theorem (BPI) implies DT in ZF but BPI is strictly weaker than AC in ZF. In this paper, the author shows DT using the propositional compactness theorem which is equivalent to BPI. Further on, he shows that BPI \(\rightarrow\) DT is not reversible in ZFA. The author is interested in the strength of DT with respect to variants of AC. He proves that the axiom of choice for well-ordered families of non-empty sets does not imply DT in ZFA. This is done by introducing a new Fraenkel-Mostowski model.\par He also shows that DT does not imply Marshall Hall's theorem in ZFA.