Fallen cardinals (Q5940148)

For a cardinal number \(\mu\), let \({\mathcal P}_\mu (\mu)\) denote the completion of the quotient algebra of the power set \({\mathcal P} (\mu)\) modulo the ideal \([\mu]^{<\mu}\) of subsets of \(\mu\) of size \(<\mu\). For cardinals \(\kappa < \lambda\), \(\kappa\) regular, the collapse algebra Col\((\kappa, \lambda)\) is the completion of the standard poset collapsing \(\lambda\) to \(\kappa\) using partial functions of size \(< \kappa\). A complete Boolean algebra \(B\) is \((\kappa, \cdot,\lambda)\)-nowhere distributive if there are partitions of unity \(P_\alpha \subset B\), \(\alpha<\kappa\), such that for every nonzero \(b \in B\), there is \(\alpha < \kappa\) such that \(b\) meets at least \(\lambda\) many \(p\in P_\alpha\). Distributivity properties of \({\mathcal P}_\mu (\mu)\) have been investigated by Balcar, Simon, Vopěnka and others since the 1970's, as has the question of which collapse algebras completely embed into \({\mathcal P}_\mu (\mu)\). For example, a result due to \textit{B. Balcar} and \textit{P. Simon} [Commentat. Math. Univ. Carol. 29, 631-646 (1988; Zbl 0675.03029)] says that \({\mathcal P}_\mu (\mu)\) is \((\omega_1, \cdot, \mu^\omega)\)-nowhere distributive for every singular \(\mu\) of countable cofinality. The authors strengthen this by proving that for such \(\mu\), Col\((\omega_1, \mu^\omega)\) completely embeds into \({\mathcal P}_\mu (\mu)\) (or, equivalently, forcing with \({\mathcal P}_\mu (\mu)\) collapses \(\mu^\omega\) to \(\omega_1\)). They also show the Baire number of the space of uniform ultrafilters over such \(\mu\) is equal to \(\omega_2\), thus answering two questions of Balcar and Simon. The former result is obtained by showing that the completion \(B\) of the poset of closed subsets of \(\mu\) (which completely embeds into \({\mathcal P}_\mu (\mu)\)) has density \(\mu^\omega\) (this uses club guessing from pcf theory) and is \((\omega_1, \cdot, \mu^\omega)\)-nowhere distributive (this uses the trichotomy theorem from pcf theory; see \textit{B. Balcar} and \textit{P. Simon} [Ann. Pure Appl. Logic 109, 131-137 (2001; Zbl 0989.03051)], reviewed below, for an elementary proof), and then appealing to a result of \textit{B. Balcar} and \textit{P. Simon} [in: D. Monk and R. Bonnet (eds.), Handbook of Boolean algebras, Vol. 2, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 333-386 (1989; Zbl 0671.06001)] entailing that \(B\) must be isomorphic to Col\((\omega_1, \mu^\omega)\).