Whitehead's problem and condensed mathematics

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Bergfalk, Jeffrey, Lambie-Hanson, Chris, Šaroch, Jan
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
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_version_ 1866912760414076928
author Bergfalk, Jeffrey
Lambie-Hanson, Chris
Šaroch, Jan
author_facet Bergfalk, Jeffrey
Lambie-Hanson, Chris
Šaroch, Jan
contents One of the better-known independence results in general mathematics is Shelah's solution to Whitehead's problem of whether $\mathrm{Ext}^1(A,\mathbb{Z})=0$ implies that an abelian group $A$ is free. The point of departure for the present work is Clausen and Scholze's proof that, in contrast, one natural interpretation of Whitehead's problem within their recently-developed framework of condensed mathematics has an affirmative answer in $\mathsf{ZFC}$. We record two alternative proofs of this result, as well as several original variations on it, both for their intrinsic interest and as a springboard for a broader study of the relations between condensed mathematics and set theoretic forcing. We show more particularly how the condensation $\underline{X}$ of any locally compact Hausdorff space $X$ may be viewed as an organized presentation of the forcing names for the points of canonical interpretations of $X$ in all possible set-forcing extensions of the universe, and we argue our main result by way of this fact. We show also that when interpreted within the category of light condensed abelian groups, Whitehead's problem is again independent of the $\mathsf{ZFC}$ axioms. In fact we show that it is consistent that Whitehead's problem has a negative solution within the category of $κ$-condensed abelian groups for every uncountable cardinal $κ$, but that this scenario, in turn, is inconsistent with the existence of a strongly compact cardinal.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_09122
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Whitehead's problem and condensed mathematics
Bergfalk, Jeffrey
Lambie-Hanson, Chris
Šaroch, Jan
Logic
Group Theory
03E35, 03E40, 03E05, 13C10, 20J05
One of the better-known independence results in general mathematics is Shelah's solution to Whitehead's problem of whether $\mathrm{Ext}^1(A,\mathbb{Z})=0$ implies that an abelian group $A$ is free. The point of departure for the present work is Clausen and Scholze's proof that, in contrast, one natural interpretation of Whitehead's problem within their recently-developed framework of condensed mathematics has an affirmative answer in $\mathsf{ZFC}$. We record two alternative proofs of this result, as well as several original variations on it, both for their intrinsic interest and as a springboard for a broader study of the relations between condensed mathematics and set theoretic forcing. We show more particularly how the condensation $\underline{X}$ of any locally compact Hausdorff space $X$ may be viewed as an organized presentation of the forcing names for the points of canonical interpretations of $X$ in all possible set-forcing extensions of the universe, and we argue our main result by way of this fact. We show also that when interpreted within the category of light condensed abelian groups, Whitehead's problem is again independent of the $\mathsf{ZFC}$ axioms. In fact we show that it is consistent that Whitehead's problem has a negative solution within the category of $κ$-condensed abelian groups for every uncountable cardinal $κ$, but that this scenario, in turn, is inconsistent with the existence of a strongly compact cardinal.
title Whitehead's problem and condensed mathematics
topic Logic
Group Theory
03E35, 03E40, 03E05, 13C10, 20J05
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.09122