Tie-points and fixed-points in \(\mathbb N^*\) (Q946584)

A point \(x\) is a tie-point (a.k.a. butterfly point, a.k.a. bow tie point) in \(X\) iff \(X \setminus \{x\} = H \cup K\), \(H, K\) are clopen in \(X \setminus \{x\}\), and \(x\) is in the closure of both \(H\) and \(K\). Tie-points in \(\beta(\mathbb N) \setminus \mathbb N = \mathbb N^*\) have been extensively studied for the information they give about \(\mathbb N^*\). This paper generalizes the notion of tie-point to tie-set: A set \(K\) is a tie-set in a space \(X\) iff \(X = A \cup B\) where \(A, B\) are closed, \(K = A \cap B\), \(A =\) cl(\(A \setminus K\)), and \(B =\) cl(\(B \setminus K\)). Tie-sets are then categorized according to types, roughly as follows: Define the ideal \(\mathcal I_A = \{a \subset \mathbb N: a \subset^* A\}\). If \(K\) is a tie-set via \(A, B\), then the \(\mathfrak b\)-type of \(K\) is the pair \((\mathfrak b(\mathcal I_A), \mathfrak b(\mathcal I_B))\), and so on for various cardinal invariants and combinations thereof. The main result is to define a forcing extension over GCH in which there are many nonisomorphic (because of different types) tie-sets \(K_{\lambda}\) in \(\mathbb N^*\) and a single tie-set \(K\) in \(\mathbb N^*\) so that \(K \cap K_{\lambda}\) is a tie-point of \(K_{\lambda}\). For which \(\lambda\) is \(K_{\lambda}\) defined? For those \(\lambda\) for which the ground model has a \(\lambda\)-closed \(\lambda^+\)-Souslin tree. In the final model, certain other types of tie-sets in \(\mathbb N^*\) are precluded. This result is then strengthened so that an involution exists on each tie-set \(K_{\lambda}\) with the singleton \(K \cap K_{\lambda}\) the fixed-point set of the involution.