Additivity of the ideal of microscopic sets (Q272843)

A subset, \(M\), of the real line is microscopic if for each \(\varepsilon>0\) there is a sequence \(\langle I_n\rangle_{n\in\omega}\) of intervals that covers~\(M\) and is such that \(I_n\) has length at most~\(\varepsilon^{n+1}\) for all~\(n\). Thanks to the universal quantifier binding the~\(\varepsilon\), the set \(N=\{n:I_n\neq\emptyset\}\) is quite thin, say of the form \(\{kn:n\in\omega\}\) for some~\(k>0\). The author provides an example of a microscopic set where for \(\varepsilon=1/7\) no sequence of intervals exists such that \(N\)~has lower asymptotic density~\(0\). The second major result computes the additivity of the ideal of microscopic sets: it is~\(\aleph_1\) in~ZFC.