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Halpern–Läuchli and BPI Without Choice — Examples
1 · Prerequisites
- Arithmetization, Incompleteness, and Relative Consistency
- Binary Operations, Monoids, Groups and Subgroups
- Boolean Algebras, Stone Duality, and the Prime Ideal Theorem
- Boolean Prime Ideal Theorem in the Basic Cohen Model
- Cardinal Arithmetic, Cofinality and the Alephs
- Condensation, GCH, and Diamond in L
- Construction of the Natural Numbers
- Construction of the Real Numbers via Cauchy Sequences
- Construction of the Real Numbers via Dedekind Cuts
- Countability and Uncountability
- Deduction, Soundness, Completeness, and Compactness
- Filters and Ultrafilters
- Finite Counting, Factorials and Binomial Coefficients
- Forcing Orders, Names, and Generic Extensions
- Formal Set-Theoretic Syntax, Structures, and Satisfaction
- Foundations of the Real Numbers for Analysis
- Graphs, Walks and Connectivity
- Group Actions, Orbits, Stabilisers and Cayley's Theorem
- Group Homomorphisms and the Isomorphism Theorems
- Halpern–Läuchli and BPI Without Choice
- Inclusion–Exclusion, the Pigeonhole Principle and Double Counting
- Order, Zorn's Lemma, and the Axiom of Choice
- Ordinal Arithmetic and the First Uncountable Ordinal
- Ordinals, Cardinals, and Transfinite Recursion
- Permutation Models and Transfer to ZF
- Preservation, Cohen Forcing, and the Continuum
- Ramsey Theory
- Reflection, Absoluteness, and Elementary Submodels
- Relations, Functions, and Quotients
- Roots, Rational Powers, and Classical Inequalities
- Set-Theoretic Trees, Delta Systems, and Diamond
- Suprema and Infima
- Symmetric Extensions and Basic Choice-Failure Models
- The Arithmetical Hierarchy and Post's Theorem
- The Constructible Hierarchy and Inner Models
- The Forcing Theorem and Formal Consistency Transfer
- The ZFC Axioms and the Basic Set Constructions
- Weak Choice Principles and Sierpiński's Theorem
- Well-Founded Relations, Rank, and the Cumulative Hierarchy
2 · Summary
The examples compute the distinctions among common-level products, full products, dense matrices, and unequal cone heights. The dimension-two word calculation displays every legal rearrangement, while the finite--cofinite algebra makes the compactness-tree prime ideal concrete.
The final countermodel explains why BPI does not well-order every set. In the basic Cohen model its infinite Dedekind-finite set of reals cannot be well-ordered, since repeatedly taking the least unused member would enumerate infinitely many distinct elements.
3 · Logical flowchart
4 · Definitions, theorems and proofs
A two-tree level product and dense matrix
Example
Let , ordered by extension. The level product, the full product, and a dense matrix can be seen explicitly and are not the same notion.
Facts & Assumptions
Given: The two full binary trees in the example.
The local definition distinguishes common-level products, full products, and coordinatewise -matrices. Finitistic trees, level products, density, and matrices
Verification
Since , its level-2 product consists of the sixteen pairs . Every pair has common coordinate height .
For , use roots and and put and . The height-3 frontier above is ; the listed members of respectively dominate those four nodes. The height-3 frontier above is exactly . Thus both factors are -dense, and is a -matrix.
The pair belongs to the full product , but its coordinate heights are and , so it belongs to no common-level product.
This matrix is a subset of the full product but not of the level product: it contains , whose heights are and . Hence the level product imposes equal heights, the full product imposes none, and being a matrix imposes coordinatewise domination rather than equal height.
The common-height cone repair in the complement case
Example
In two binary trees, take cone roots of heights and . Extending the first root to the common height before restricting the dense frontiers produces a genuine common-height matrix.
Facts & Assumptions
Given: , the roots and , and a finite .
Common-height cone extension and restriction preserve the adjusted density parameters. Finitistic trees, level products, density, and matrices
Verification
The roots have heights and , so they cannot themselves witness one -matrix. Put , extend to , and take .
Let and . Then is -dense. Set and . Each is exactly the height- frontier above , hence is -dense, and is a -matrix.
For example, when , and . Each listed set dominates all four height-5 nodes above its height-3 root; when , the calculation instead gives the singleton sets and .
More generally, if is merely -dense rather than the whole level, the same restrictions remain -dense: a height- extension of is dominated by some member of , and that member automatically lies above . This is the exact common-height repair used in the complement case.
A dimension-two Halpern–Läuchli word rearrangement
Example
For , the two endpoint words admit the following complete derivation:
Facts & Assumptions
Given: Dimension and the endpoint words above.
The preceding definition gives all legal Rule 1, Rule 2, and Rule 3 moves in . The finite word calculus for the Halpern–Läuchli argument
The general endpoint rearrangement holds for every positive dimension. Finite word-calculus rearrangement
Verification
Start with .
Commute the universal symbols by Rule 1: .
Apply Rule 2 to the adjacent coordinate-1 pair: .
Apply Rule 3 with and permutation : .
Commute the adjacent universal symbols by Rule 1: .
Apply the reverse direction of Rule 2 to coordinate 1: .
Apply Rule 2 to coordinate 2: .
Commute the adjacent existential symbols by Rule 1: .
Apply Rule 3 with and : .
Apply Rule 2 to coordinate 1 and then commute the two existential symbols by Rule 1: . Every displayed word contains, for each coordinate, exactly one legal ordered pair, so all lie in ; this is the instance of F2.
A prime-ideal compactness tree for the finite–cofinite algebra
Example
For the finite–cofinite Boolean algebra on , the canonical compactness-tree branch which always selects the cofinite remainder has the finite-set ideal as its zero fibre.
Facts & Assumptions
Given: with union, intersection, and complement.
Finite partial prime-ideal diagrams identifies a finite partial prime-ideal diagram with a homomorphism on its whole finite generated subalgebra and identifies the nonzero Boolean cells as its atoms.
The compactness tree yields a prime ideal for an enumerated Boolean algebra proves that an enumerated nontrivial Boolean algebra has a prime ideal; the explicit levels and branch below are computed directly rather than attributed to this Statement.
Verification
Enumerate the finite subsets as by increasing binary code, and enumerate by , . This is onto, including repetitions such as and .
At levels the generated algebra is and has its unique homomorphism to . At level , after appears, the generated algebra has atoms and and hence two homomorphisms, with respective values and on . Level adds only its complement and has the same two nodes.
At level , the generators include and ; the atoms are , , and . The three homomorphisms select these atoms and have value pairs on the two singletons. The last node restricts to the value- node at level .
At any finite stage let be the finite union of all finite generators seen so far. The generated algebra has the finitely many atomic pieces inside and the single cofinite remainder . Evaluation at is the unique level node assigning to every finite member of that subalgebra and to every cofinite member. These nodes restrict coherently, so they form the branch illustrated by steps 2.1 and 3.1.
The union homomorphism is when is finite and when is cofinite. Its zero fibre is therefore . This is proper and prime: if are both cofinite then is cofinite, so can be finite only when at least one of is finite. This explicit prime ideal agrees with F2's existence conclusion.
BPI well-orders every set
False statement
The Boolean Prime Ideal Theorem implies that every set can be well-ordered.
Why this is false
Whenever the basic Cohen symmetric construction in F1 is supplied, its model satisfies BPI and contains an infinite Dedekind-finite set of reals, which cannot be well-ordered. Independently, F2 gives the exact syntactic nonimplication conditional on .
Facts & Assumptions
Given: Assume for the conditional nonimplication.
The basic Cohen model satisfies BPI and fails Choice supplies the basic Cohen model and its infinite Dedekind-finite symmetric set .
Relative consistency of BPI without Choice over ZF supplies the exact syntactic consistency implication from ZF to ZF+BPI+AC.
The Axiom of Choice defines AC as the assertion that every family of nonempty sets has a choice function.
Proof
In the F1 model, suppose had a well-order. Recursively choose the least member not chosen earlier. If the recursion stopped, would be finite; if it did not, it would inject into . Both alternatives contradict that is infinite and Dedekind-finite. Hence is not well-orderable although BPI holds.
Universal well-orderability implies F3 directly. Given a family of nonempty sets, well-order and assign to every its least member; Replacement produces the resulting choice function. Therefore, if ZF+BPI proved universal well-orderability, it would prove AC. This contradicts the consistency of ZF+BPI+AC supplied by F2 and gives the syntactic conditional counterexample.
5 · Examples, counterexamples and false statements
None yet.
Sources
- Halpern–Läuchli, A partition theorem (1966), §1 definitions, pp. 360–361; explicit binary-tree instance
- Halpern–Läuchli, A partition theorem (1966), complement case in the proof of Theorem 1, p. 367; explicit binary-tree calculation
- Halpern–Läuchli, A partition theorem (1966), Lemma 1 specialized to d=2, pp. 364–365
- Standard finite–cofinite Boolean algebra; explicit instance of the local countable compactness tree
- J. D. Halpern and A. Lévy, The Boolean prime ideal theorem does not imply the axiom of choice, pp.83-134