Set functors and filters

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The paper continues the study of its authors on the properties of functors on the category of sets and maps (set functors). Let Card denote the class of all cardinals. A map from \(\text{Card}\) into itself is called a \textit{cardinal function}. Since set functors preserve bijections, then \(\text{card}(X)=\text{card}(X)\) implies \(\text{card}(FX)=\text{card}(FY)\) for every set functor \(F\). The \textit{cardinal set functor function} \(\mathfrak{b}_F\) of a set functor \(F\) (\(CSF\)-function) is defined by \(\mathfrak{b}_F(\text{card}(X))=\text{card}(FX)\). The paper continues the study on characterizing cardinal functions, which occur as the \(CSF\)-function of some set functor \(F\). In particular, it provides a characterization of \(CSF\)-functions, which depends on the axioms of the employed set theory. Given a filter \(\mathcal{F}\), one defines \(\|\mathcal{F}\|=\text{min}\{\text{card}(U)\mid U\in\mathcal{F}\}\). If \(\mathcal{F}\) is a filter on a set \(X\), and \(f:X\rightarrow Y\) is a map, then \(f(\mathcal{F})=\{U\subseteq Y\mid\text{there exists }Z\in\mathcal{F}\text{ such that }f(Z)\subseteq U\}\) is a filter on \(Y\). If \(\mathcal{F}\) is a filter on a set \(X\), and \(\mathcal{G}\) is a filter on a set \(Y\), then \(\mathcal{F}\cong\mathcal{G}\) means that there exists a map \(f:X\rightarrow Y\) with \(f(\mathcal{F})=\mathcal{G}\), and a set \(Z\in\mathcal{F}\) such that \(f\) is injective on \(Z\). \(\cong\) is then an equivalence relation on the class of all filters. Moreover, \(\mathcal{F}\cong\mathcal{G}\) implies \(\|\mathcal{F}\|=\|\mathcal{G}\|\). For a set \(U\), one defines \(\mathcal{F}(U)=\{\mathcal{G}\text{ is a filter on }U\mid\mathcal{F}\cong\mathcal{G}\}\). If \(X\), \(Y\) are sets with \(\text{card}(X)=\text{card}(Y)\), and \(\mathcal{F}\) is a filter, then \(\text{card}(\mathcal{F}(X))=\text{card}(\mathcal{F}(Y))\), and thus, one can define the \textit{cardinal filter function} \(\mathfrak{c}_{\mathcal{F}}\), given by \(\mathfrak{c}_{\mathcal{F}}(\alpha)=\text{card}(\mathcal{F}(\alpha))\) for every cardinal \(\alpha\). The authors then prove several formulas for cardinal functions \(\mathfrak{c}_{\mathcal{F}}\), which are similar to the formulas of cardinal arithmetic. In particular, they show that: if GCH holds, then for every filter \(\mathcal{F}\), the function \(\mathfrak{c}_{\mathcal{F}}\) is uniquely determined by \(\{\|f(\mathcal{F})\|\mid f\text{ is a map}\}\); if the Singular Cardinal Hypothesis (page~345) holds, then for all cardinals \(\alpha\) with \(\alpha\geqslant\|\mathcal{F}\|^{\|\mathcal{F}\|}\), \(\mathfrak{c}_{\mathcal{F}}(\alpha)\) is uniquely determined by \(\{\|f(\mathcal{F})\|\mid f\text{ is a map}\}\); in general, for a filter \(\mathcal{F}\), \(\mathfrak{b}_{\mathcal{F}}\) is uniquely determined by the values \(\mathfrak{c}_{\mathcal{F}}(\alpha)\) on the cardinals \(\alpha\) whose cofinality is at most \(\|\mathcal{F}\|\) (e.g., Theorem 3.2 on page 347 and Theorem 3.11 on page 351). A cardinal \(\alpha\) is called a \textit{fixed point} of a set functor \(F\) provided that \(\mathfrak{b}_{\mathcal{F}}(\alpha)=\alpha\). The authors then show that a set functor \(F\) is a quotient of a union of finite hom-functors (\(F\) is then \textit{finitary}) if an and only if either \(F\) is constant or there exists a cardinal \(\alpha\) such that every cardinal \(\beta\) greater than \(\alpha\) is a fixed point of \(F\) (e.g., Theorem 4.1 on page 356).











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