Tree-like constructions in topology and modal logic (Q2663333)

In topological semantics, the modal language is interpreted in a topological space \(X\) by evaluating propositional variables as subsets of \(X\), classical connectives as Boolean operations on the powerset of \(X\), \(\square\) as the interior operator and \(\lozenge\) as the closure operator. A formula \(\varphi\) is valid in \(X\), denoted \(X \models \varphi\), provided \(\varphi\) evaluates to \(X\) under any evaluation of the propositional variables. The logic of \(X\) is \(\mathsf{Log}(X) := \{\varphi \mid X \models \varphi\}\), and one has \(\mathsf{S4} \subseteq \mathsf{Log}(X)\). Many topological completeness results have been obtained since the creation of topological semantics. The main purpose of this paper is to provide a uniform approach to topological completeness results in modal logic for zero-dimensional Hausdorff spaces. The authors get it by developing a general technique for topologizing trees with limits, within ZFC. The technique also allows the authors to obtain new topological completeness results for non-metrizable spaces. By embedding these spaces into well-known extremally disconnected spaces then the authors also get new completeness results for logics extending \(\mathsf{S4.2}\). Specifically, the unified way of obtaining a zero-dimensional topology on an infinite tree \(T\) with limits is by designating a particular Boolean algebra of subsets of \(T\) as a basis. If \(T\) has countable branching, then the topology ends up being metrizable. If the branching is 1, then the obtained space is homeomorphic to the ordinal space \(\omega + 1\); if the branching is \(\ge 2\) but finite, then it is homeomorphic to the Pełczyński compactification of \(\omega\); and if the branching is countably infinite, then there are subspaces homeomorphic to the space of rational numbers, the Baire space, as well as to the ordinal spaces \(\omega^n +1\). Mapping theorems for these countable branching trees with limits lead to alternate proofs of some well-known topological completeness results for \(\mathsf{S4}\), \(\mathsf{S4.1}\), \(\mathsf{Grz}\), and \(\mathsf{Grz}_n\) with respect to zero-dimensional metrizable spaces. For uncountable branching, it is required to designate a Boolean \(\sigma\)-algebra as a basis for the topology. This leads to topological completeness results for \(\mathsf{S4}\), \(\mathsf{S4.1}\), \(\mathsf{Grz}\), and \(\mathsf{Grz}_n\) with respect to non-metrizable zero-dimensional Hausdorff spaces. To obtain the topological completeness results for logics extending \(\mathsf{S4.2}\), the authors select a dense subspace of either the Čech-Stone compactification \(\beta D\) of a discrete space \(D\) with large cardinality or the Gleason cover \(E\) of a large enough power of \([0, 1]\). This selection is realized by embedding a subspace of an uncountable branching tree with limits into either \(\beta D\) or \(E\). The latter gives rise to \(\mathsf{S4.2}\), while the former yields the other logics of interest extending \(\mathsf{S4.2}\).