Volume 13, 1988 Pages 17{72 http://topology.auburn.edu/tp/ AN INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATIONS OF ELEMENTARY SUBMODELS TO TOPOLOGY by Alan Dow Topology Proceedings Web: http://topology.auburn.edu/tp/ Mail: Topology Proceedings Department of Mathematics & Statistics Auburn University, Alabama 36849, USA E-mail:
[email protected] ISSN: 0146-4124 COPYRIGHT °c by Topology Proceedings. All rights reserved. TOPOLOGY PROCEEDINGS Volume 13 1988 17 AN INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATIONS OF ELEMENTARY SUBMODELS TO TOPOLOGY Alan Dow Introduction This paper is an expanded version of the author's talk given at the Spring Topology Conference in Gainesville. The main purpose of both the talk and the paper is to give examples to demonstrate the usefulness of elementary sub models to set-theoretically oriented topologists. The author is not alone in believing that elementary sub~ models should become as familiar a part of the language of set-theoretic topology as is the pressing-down lemma for example. I believe that, for set-theoretic topologists, elementary submodels provide: (1) a convenient shorthand encompassing all standard closing-off arguments; (2) a powerful technical tool which can be avoided but often at great cost in both elegance and clarity; and (3) a powerful conceptual tool providing greater insight into the structure of the set-theoretic universe. I hope to convince some readers of the validity of these points simply by (over-)using elementary submodels in proving some new and old familiar results. This paper 18 Dow is not a survey of their use nor an adequate (or even rigorous) introduction to the concept--it is intended solely as a demonstration of how useful they can be even in some rather unexpected applications.