Scales at \({\aleph_{\omega} }\) (Q891164)

A question of Woodin asks if it is consistent that \(\kappa\) is a singular strong limit cardinal, \(2^\kappa > \kappa^+\) and the weak square fails at \(\kappa.\) The question was answered by \textit{M. Gitik} and \textit{A. Sharon} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 136, No. 1, 311--320 (2008; Zbl 1140.03033)] in the case of \(\kappa=\aleph_{\omega^2}\), but remained open for \(\kappa=\aleph_\omega.\) In this paper, the authors prove the following theorem, which partially answers Woodin's question: Theorem. It is consistent relative to a supercompact cardinal that \(\aleph_\omega\) is a strong limit, \(2^{\aleph_{\omega}}=\aleph_{\omega+2}\) and \(\square_{\aleph_\omega, \aleph_n}\) fails for all \(n<\omega\). The main forcing construction of the paper is the one considered by the authors in their paper [Ann. Pure Appl. Logic 165, No. 4, 996--1007 (2014; Zbl 1345.03089)], in which the authors showed that \(\square^*_{\aleph_\omega}\) holds in the model. To show the failure of square principles \(\square_{\aleph_\omega, \aleph_n}, n<\omega,\) the authors analyze scales in the extension and focus on the existence or non-existence of very good scales, from which they derive the main theorem.