Topics in Set Theory Lectured by O. Kolman Michaelmas Term 2012 Axiomatics. The formal axiomatic system of ordinary set theory (ZFC). Models of set theory. Absoluteness. Simple independence results. Transfinite recursion. Ranks. Reflection principles. Constructibility. [4] Infinitary combinatorics. Cofinality. Stationary sets. Fodor’s lemma. Solovay’s theorem. Cardinal exponentiation. Beth and Gimel functions. Generalized Continuum Hypothesis. Sin- gular Cardinals Hypothesis. Prediction principles (diamonds, squares, black boxes). Partial orders. Aronszajn and Suslin trees. Martin’s Axiom. Suslin’s Hypothesis. [6] Forcing. Generic extensions. The forcing theorems. Examples. Adding reals; collapsing cardinals. Introduction to iterated forcing. Internal forcing axioms. Proper forcing. [4] Large cardinals. Introduction to large cardinals. Ultrapowers. Scott’s theorem. [2] Partition relations and possible cofinality theory. Partition relations. Model-theoretic methods. Ramsey’s theorem; Erd˝os-Rado theorem. Kunen’s theorem. Walks on ordinals. Todorcevic’s theorem. Introduction to pcf theory. [4] Applications. Selection from algebra, analysis, geometry, and topology. [4] Please let me know of corrections:
[email protected] Last updated: Tue 29th Aug, 2017 Pre-requisite Mathematics Logic and Set Theory is essential. Literature Basic material † Drake, F. R., Singh, D., Intermediate Set Theory, John Wiley, Chichester, 1996. Eklof, P. C., Mekler, A. H., Almost Free Modules, rev. ed., North-Holland, Amsterdam, 2002. Halbeisen, L., Combinatorial Set Theory With a Gentle Introduction to Forcing, Springer, Berlin, 2012. Kanamori, A., The Higher Infinite, 2nd ed., Springer, Berlin, 2009. † Kunen, K., Set Theory, reprint, Studies in Logic, 34, College Publications, London, 2011. Advanced topics Burke, M. R., Magidor, M., Shelahs pcf theory and its applications, Ann. Pure Appl.