Finite cutsets and finite antichains (Q802580)

The paper investigates, in an ordered set, antichains and cutsets which are subsets meeting all maximal chains. Let n be the least cardinal such that every element x of any ordered set P having the m cutset property belongs to some maximal antichain A with \(| A| <n\). The central problem studied in the paper is how n depends on the cardinal m. The results obtained are as follows: If \(m=1,2\) then \(n-1=m=width P\). If \(m=3\), \(n=5\). If \(m\geq 4\), \(n\geq \aleph_ 1\). Furthermore, with the added hypothesis that P is conditionally chain complete, \(n=\aleph_ 0\) for \(4\leq m\leq \aleph_ 0\). That is, if P has the finite cutset property, every finite antichain can be extended to a finite maximal one.