On amalgamation in NTP\(_2\) theories and generically simple generics (Q778727)

The paper under consideration makes several provocative and promising suggestions for how one might develop a theory of NTP\(_{2}\) theories, largely based on insights drawn from earlier work on S1 ideals. The class of NTP\(_{2}\) theories contains both the NIP and simple theories. This class was isolated by \textit{S. Shelah} [Classification theory for abstract elementary classes. London: College Publications (2009; Zbl 1225.03036)], but did not become a central topic of interest until [\textit{A. Chernikov} and \textit{I. Kaplan}, J. Symb. Log. 77, No. 1, 1--20 (2012; Zbl 1251.03037)], which showed that Kim's lemma, a key tool in the analysis of simple theories, holds in some form over models in NTP\(_{2}\) theories which entails, among other things, that forking = dividing over models. This led to a considerable body of work generalizing results known for simple and NIP theories to this broader context, as well as the discovery of a stock of rich examples. It is clear, however, that, after the initial flurry of activity around NTP\(_{2}\) theories, the progress has slowed and an injection of new ideas would be a welcome contribution to the area. The results of this paper are divided between two sections. Section 2 focuses on amalgamation. Two tuples \(a\) and \(b\) are said to have the same Lascar strong type over \(A\) if there there is a sequence \(a = a_{0}, a_{1}, \ldots, a_{n} = b\) such that \((a_{i},a_{i+1})\) start an \(A\)-indiscernible sequence; the minimal possible such \(n\) is called the \emph{Lascar distance} over \(A\) from \(a\) to \(b\). It is useful to know that this number is bounded, since then the relation of having the same Lascar strong type becomes type-definable and easier to understand in the class of simple theories, it follows from the independence theorem that any two tuples with the same Lascar distance are at Lascar distance at most 2. \textit{I. Ben Yaacov} and \textit{A. Chernikov} [J. Symb. Log. 79, No. 1, 135--153 (2014; Zbl 1337.03043)] proved an analogue of the independence theorem from simple theories and deduced that, over an extension base, two tuples with the same Lascar strong type are at distance at most 4 and it was asked if this could be improved to 2 to match the bound from simple theories. Answering this question, Simon refines the independence theorem of Ben Yaacov-Chernikov to bring the bound down to 2. Section 3 studies definable groups in NTP\(_{2}\) theories. Simplicity guarantees the existence of generic types in definable groups, and this section explores various ways of recovering simplicity theory in general NTP\(_{2}\) theories. Using the notion of a generically simple type, Simon introduces the groups with generically simple generics. It is observed that having generically simple generics has a a number of strong consequences for the behavior of generic types in the group. The organizing idea of this paper is that one may gain a new perspective on NTP\(_{2}\) by focusing on S1 ideals and, in particular, those S1 ideals with amalgamation. An ideal in the Boolean algebra of definable sets, defined over a set of parameters \(A\), is called S1 if, whenever \((a_{i})_{i < \omega}\) is an \(A\)-indiscernible sequence and \(\varphi(x;a_{0}) \wedge \varphi(x;a_{1})\) is in the ideal, then so is \(\varphi(x;a_{0})\). Such an ideal is said to have amalgamation if any two types that do not concentrate on any set in the ideal may be independently amalgamated exactly as in the independence theorem. Several interesting questions about this notion are asked throughout the paper, offering encouraging ideas for where the development of NTP\(_{2}\) might go next.