Alphabeta Math
LemmaStatement: AI-adaptedProof: AI-adaptedPipeline-generatedjudge pass (gpt-5.6-terra)audited 2026-09-09
How statement and proof provenance work

The first chip identifies the source of the statement or construction; the second identifies the source of its local proof or verification.

  • Literature-sourced: the exact statement appears in a cited source; only wording and notation differ.
  • AI-adapted: a semantically identical restatement of literature-sourced material, modulo indexing, notation, and boundary cases adopted by the library.
  • AI-generated: a genuinely novel statement formulated by AI, with no source for the claim itself.

These labels describe origin, not correctness: citations and verification chips remain separate evidence.

Two finite disjoint petals can be made cross-incomparable

Statement

In ZFC, if T is an Aronszajn tree and W is an uncountable family of pairwise disjoint finite subsets of T, then distinct S,R∈W satisfy: every node in S is incomparable with every node in R.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: Such T and W; assume AC. Here a family is a set of distinct finite subsets, and “comparable” includes equality.

[F1]

Aronszajn trees have height ω1, countable levels and no cofinal branch. Aronszajn, Suslin and special trees

[F2]

On every uncountable set there is an ultrafilter all of whose members are uncountable and containing every cocountable subset. An ultrafilter containing all cocountable subsets

[F3]

If a finite union belongs to an ultrafilter, one of its terms belongs to it. Ultrafilters are prime: a union in U has a member in U

[F4]

Nodes with a common tree extension are comparable, and strict tree order strictly increases height; predecessors at a specified smaller height are unique. Tree predecessors and compatibility

[F5]

Countable unions of countable sets are countable under countable choice. Countable unions of at most countable sets, assuming ACω

[F6]

Filters are closed under pairwise intersections, omit the empty set, and are upward closed. Filter on a set

[A1]

Proof

1.1F5A1given

If ∅∈W, pair it with any other member; the conclusion is vacuous and there is another member because W is uncountable. Otherwise every member has positive size. Partition W by its finite sizes. F5 and A1 imply that some size m>0 occurs uncountably often; restrict to that subfamily, still denoted W. Use AC to fix for each S∈W an enumeration (xiS)i<m.

2.1F2F3F6step 1.1

Fix an ultrafilter U on W as in F2. Suppose the conclusion fails. For x∈T and i<m let Y(x,i)={R∈W:x is comparable with xiR}. For fixed S∈W, failure supplies a comparable pair between S and every R≠S, so the finite union of Y(x,i) over x∈S,i<m contains W∖{S}. This cocountable set belongs to U, and upward closure F6 puts the union in U. F3 gives a pair (xS,iS) with xS∈S and Y(xS,iS)∈U. Use the already fixed finite enumeration and the usual order on m×m to take its first such pair.

3.1F1F2F4F5F6A1step 1.1step 2.1

Some k<m occurs as iS on an uncountable subfamily Z: otherwise its finitely many fibers would all be countable and F5 would make W countable. For distinct S,R∈Z, F6 gives V=Y(xS,k)∩Y(xR,k)∈U, so F2 says V is uncountable. Put γ=max⁡{ht⁡(xS),ht⁡(xR)}+1<ω1. The set T<γ is countable by F1 and F5, since γ is countable. The map H↦xkH is injective on W because its members are disjoint. Consequently only countably many H∈V can have xkH∈T<γ. Choose an H outside those exceptions. Its kth node is comparable with xS,xR and strictly higher than both, so F4 forces it to extend both. Hence xS,xR are comparable.

4.1F1F4F5A1step 2.1step 3.1∎

The set C={xS:S∈Z} is therefore an uncountable chain: injectivity follows from disjointness, and comparability from step 3.1. Its heights are unbounded in ω1, since any bounded collection of levels is countable by the same F1/F5 argument. Its downward closure B={t:∃c∈C (t≤Tc)} is a chain: compare two witnesses in C and use F4 to compare both predecessors below the higher witness. It is cofinal. It is also maximal: if a node u is comparable with every member of B, take c∈C of height above u; F4 forces u<Tc, whence u∈B. Thus B is a cofinal branch, contradicting F1. The failure assumed in step 2.1 is impossible, proving the assertion.

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