Questions tagged [descriptive-set-theory]

Descriptive Set Theory is the study of definable subsets of Polish spaces, where definable is taken to mean from the Borel or projective hierarchies. Other topics include infinite games and determinacy, definable equivalence relations and Borel reductions between them, Polish groups, and effective descriptive set theory.

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Concerning proofs from the axiom of choice that ℝ³ admits surprising geometrical decompositions: Can we prove there is no Borel decomposition?

This question follows up on a comment I made on Joseph O'Rourke's recent question, one of several questions here on mathoverflow concerning surprising geometric partitions of space using the axiom of ...
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
24 votes
0 answers
1k views

Do all possible trees arise as orbit trees of some permutation groups?

I.Motivation from descriptive set theory (Contains some quotes from Maciej Malicki's paper.) The classical theorem of Birkhoff-Kakutani implies that every metrizable topological group G admits a ...
Mingzhi Xuan's user avatar
19 votes
0 answers
393 views

Does the pointclass of universally Baire sets always have the uniformization property?

A set of reals, or binary relation on the reals, etc., is called universally Baire if and only if every continuous preimage of it in every topological space has the property of Baire. (There is also ...
Trevor Wilson's user avatar
15 votes
0 answers
404 views

Is there a continuous map $f:\mathbb R^\omega\to\mathbb R^\omega$ with dense countable preimage $f^{-1}(\mathbb Q^\omega)$?

Let $\mathbb Q^\omega_0:=\{(x_i)_{i\in\omega}\in\mathbb Q^\omega:\exists n\in\omega\;\forall m\ge n\;\;x_m=0\}$ and observe that $\mathbb Q^\omega_0$ is a countable dense set in $\mathbb R^\omega$ (...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
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14 votes
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Which functions have all the common $\forall\exists$-properties of continuous functions?

This is an attempt at partial progress towards this question. Meanwhile, Sam Sanders pointed out that my original term was already in use, as were a couple other back-up terms, so ... oh well. For a ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
14 votes
0 answers
506 views

Is $\mathbb{Z}^{\omega}$ ever the union of a chain of proper subgroups each isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}^{\omega}$?

Recall that the covering number $cov(B)$ is the least cardinal $\kappa$ such that $\kappa$ meagre sets cover the real line. Andreas Blass and John Irwin http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~ablass/bb.pdf ...
Avshalom's user avatar
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13 votes
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335 views

Can you define a probability measure on the set of countable transitive models of ZFC?

It is well known that the set of hereditarily countable sets $H(\omega_1)$ —or, if you prefer, $H_{\omega_1}$— has cardinality $2^{\aleph_0}$, and I understand that every countable ...
Pedro Sánchez Terraf's user avatar
12 votes
0 answers
238 views

Pointwise convergence of trigonometric series

$f$ is said to have trigonometric expansion if some series $\sum_{n\in\mathbb{Z}}c_ne^{inx}$ converges pointwise to $f(x)$. On the second page of the article Trigonometric series and set theory, ...
xXF's user avatar
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A connected Borel subgroup of the plane

It is known that the complex plane $\mathbb C$ contain dense connected (additive) subgroups with dense complement but each dense path-connected subgroup of $\mathbb C$ necessarily coincides with $\...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
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12 votes
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Does each compact topological group admit a discontinuous homomorphism to a Polish group?

A compact topological group $G$ is called Van der Waerden if each homomorphism $h:G\to K$ to a compact topological group is continuous. By a classical result of Van der Waerden (1933) the groups $SO(...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
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12 votes
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428 views

Uniform closure of subspaces of Baire class 1

Describe a uniformly closed linear subspace $A \subset C([0,1])$ such that the space $B_1(A)$ is not uniformly complete. Here $B_1(A)$ is the set of all bounded functions $f$ which are pointwise ...
Fred Dashiell's user avatar
12 votes
0 answers
664 views

Existence (or non) of "definable" ultrafilters

This is a question which I suspect has an absurdly easy answer, but I'm not seeing it. Let $\langle\cdot,\cdot\rangle:\omega^2\rightarrow\omega$ be your favorite pairing map (for me, this is the ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
11 votes
0 answers
142 views

Characterizing compact Hausdorff spaces whose all subsets are Borel

I am interested in characterizing compact topological spaces all of whose subsets are Borel. In this respect I have the following Conjecture. For a compact Hausdorff space $X$ the following ...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
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11 votes
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592 views

Outline of Generic Separable Banach Spaces don't have a Schauder Basis

So, I know P. Enflo showed that there is a separable Banach Space that doesn't satisfy the approximation property. My professor mentioned during class that in fact generic separable Banach Spaces don'...
Konrad Wrobel's user avatar
11 votes
0 answers
304 views

The Chang model after collapsing an inaccessible limit of Woodins

If $\kappa$ is an inaccessible cardinal and $G \subset \operatorname{Col}(\omega,\mathord{<}\kappa)$ is a $V$-generic filter, then in $V[G]$ the Chang model $L(\text{Ord}^\omega)$ satisfies "every ...
Trevor Wilson's user avatar
11 votes
0 answers
329 views

Absoluteness of "$\kappa$-homogeneously Suslin" for sets of reals

What is known about the absoluteness, or lack thereof, of the notion of "$\kappa$-homogeneously Suslin" for sets of reals? For example, if $A$ is $\kappa$-homogeneously Suslin and $\lambda > \...
Trevor Wilson's user avatar
10 votes
0 answers
310 views

Determinacy coincidence at $\omega_1$: is CH needed?

This is a follow-up to the last part of an old MSE answer of mine. Briefly, an analogue at $\omega_1$ of Steel's equivalence between clopen and open determinacy can be proved assuming $\mathsf{CH}$, ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
10 votes
0 answers
162 views

How nice can sets of reals be under $\mathsf{ZF} + \mathsf{BPI}$?

It's well known that the full axiom of choice is not needed to prove the existence of non-measurable subsets of $\mathbb{R}$. In particular, the Boolean prime ideal theorem ($\mathsf{BPI}$) is ...
James Hanson's user avatar
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What is the smallest $\sigma$-algebra of reals that is closed under addition of sets?

What is the smallest $\sigma$-algebra $\Sigma\subseteq\mathcal P(\Bbb R)$ containing the open sets and such that if $A,B\in\Sigma$, then $$A+B=\{a+b\mid a\in A,b\in B\}\in\Sigma?$$ I know that neither ...
Alessandro Codenotti's user avatar
10 votes
0 answers
288 views

Is ZF + "all sets of reals have the Ramsey property" + "there is a set without the Baire property" consistent?

A question which was mentioned in passing by Larson when discussing geometric set theory. Are there models of set theory where all sets of reals have the Ramsey property but there is a set of reals ...
Luke Serafin's user avatar
10 votes
0 answers
367 views

Concerning Luzin-(N)-property

Definition: a function $f:\mathbb{R}\to \mathbb{R}$ has Luzin-(N)-Property if $f$ maps any null set to a null set. By https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php/Luzin-N-property, it is known that ...
喻 良's user avatar
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10 votes
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491 views

Is there a model of set theory in which $\mathfrak p< \mathfrak b < \mathfrak q$?

Is there a model of set theory in which $\mathfrak p< \mathfrak b < \mathfrak q$? Here $\mathfrak p$, $\mathfrak b$, $\mathfrak q$ are small uncountable cardinals: $\mathfrak p$ is the ...
Alexander Osipov's user avatar
10 votes
0 answers
575 views

Is the Banach game quantifier "intractable"? (Becker's guess)

(This is a revised version of the original question. Below I work in $\mathsf{ZF+DC+AD}$, but I would be happy to add further axioms if appropriate: $\mathsf{ZF+DC+AD_\mathbb{R}}$, for example, seems ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
10 votes
0 answers
443 views

(A little bit) Beyond the E-recursive

The E-recursive functions are a particular generalization of classical recursion theory to the entire set-theoretic universe, $V$. They are defined via a schemes: see Sacks' $E$-recursive intuitions. ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
224 views

Continuum hypothesis analogue for substructures

This question was previously asked and bountied at MSE. Throughout, "theory" means "possibly-incomplete first-order theory in a countable language." Say that a theory $T$ has CHS (...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
243 views

Another determinacy-related cardinal characteristic

This question is a kind of "dual" to an earlier one of mine. Although I don't know a reference for this, it's easy to show the following result: Suppose $G$ is a game in which neither ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
234 views

Is this cardinal characteristic trivial? (Number of strategies needed to guarantee at least one win)

(Previously asked at MSE.) Let the determinacy number, $\mathfrak{g}$ (for "game"), be the smallest cardinal such that for every (two-player, perfect-information, length-$\omega$) game on $\...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
184 views

For measure-preserving systems, is countable generatability of the invariant $\sigma$-algebra equivalent to almost all points being periodic?

Let $X$ be a second countable Hausdorff topological space, let $T \colon X \to X$ be a Borel-measurable map, define the $\sigma$-algebra $\mathcal{I}=\{A \in \mathcal{B}(X) : T^{-1}(A)=A\}$, and for ...
Julian Newman's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
246 views

Is the inverse of a measurably parametrised family of bijections between standard Borel spaces measurably parametrised?

It is known that a measurable bijection $f \colon [0,1] \to [0,1]$ has a measurable inverse. (Here, all measurability is simply with respect to the Borel $\sigma$-algebra of $[0,1]$.) Now fix an ...
Julian Newman's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
290 views

ZF + "every Suslin set of reals is ${\bf \Sigma}^1_2$"

What is known about the theory ($\ast$) ZF + "every Suslin set of reals is ${\bf \Sigma}^1_2$"? By "reals" I mean elements of the Baire space $\omega^\omega$. For a cardinal $\kappa$, a set of ...
Trevor Wilson's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
273 views

Proving regularity properties from forcing axioms

It's well known that PFA implies projective determinacy. It's also well known that PD implies that all projective sets are Lebesgue measurable, have the Baire property, etc. Is there a direct proof ...
Haim's user avatar
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8 votes
0 answers
203 views

The Hausdorff dimension of the set of reals of inner models

Suppose that both $M$ and $N$ are models of $ZFC$ with $M\subseteq N$ so that $M$ is definable in $N$. Question Can $(\mathbb{R})^M$ have Hausdorff dimension strictly between $0$ and $1$ in $N$? How ...
喻 良's user avatar
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8 votes
0 answers
184 views

Can every Borel set be partitioned into $\leq\!\aleph_1$ $F_{\sigma \delta}$ sets?

Consider the following two facts, a modified version of which appear in this paper of Arnie Miller from the early 1980's: $\bullet$ If $\mathbb R$ can be partitioned into $\aleph_1$ closed sets, then ...
Will Brian's user avatar
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8 votes
0 answers
171 views

What large cardinals are needed to imply projective sets have the perfect set property?

If there are infinitely many Woodins, then every projective set is determined, whence every projective set has the perfect set property (PSP). Since determinacy is such a stronger property than the ...
Kameryn Williams's user avatar
8 votes
0 answers
162 views

Upper-bounding determinacy

While the converse of Borel determinacy ("If a set of reals is determined, then it is Borel") is boringly disprovable, I'm curious if there is a sense in which something like it is ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
8 votes
0 answers
164 views

Does determinacy imply unravellability for the Borel sets (over a weak base theory)?

As far as I know, the only way we currently know how to prove Borel determinacy in $\mathsf{ZFC}$ is to go through unravelability (a rather technical property whose definition can be found in Martin's ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
8 votes
0 answers
437 views

When is the sigma-algebra generated by closed convex sets the same as the Borel sigma-algebra

For which topological vector spaces $E$ do we have the equality between the sigma algebra generated by the closed convex subsets of $E$ and the Borel sigma algebra of $E$ ? More precisely, do we have ...
LCO's user avatar
  • 496
8 votes
0 answers
398 views

The cone property in the enumeration degrees

A Borel partial order is the partial order corresponding to a Borel preorder of some Polish space. For example, the Turing and enumeration degrees, $\mathcal{D}$ and $\mathcal{E}$ respectively, are ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
8 votes
0 answers
528 views

A Banach-Tarski game

This is partially inspired by the question https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1383397/cutting-a-banach-tarski-cake, which I find intriguing if unclearly written. A paradoxical family of subsets ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
8 votes
0 answers
187 views

How about the Wadge rank of A union B when A and B are Wadge equivalent?

Hello, We know that A is Wadge reducible to B if there is a continuous map $f$ such that A is the preimage of B via $f$, and the Wadge order is defined by $A\leq_{w}B$ if $A$ is Wagde reducible to $B$...
Grace's user avatar
  • 121
7 votes
0 answers
365 views

Is Borel cardinality the same as cardinality under determinacy?

Suppose $E,F$ are Borel equivalence relations on Polish spaces $X,Y$, respectively. Under strong enough determinacy axioms, is it true that $E$ Borel reduces to $F$ iff there is an injective map from ...
new account's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
225 views

Is this equivalent to (some version of) Hechler forcing?

Let $\omega^{<\omega}$ be the set of finite strings of naturals, and let $\omega^{<\omega}_{\not=\emptyset}$ be the set of nonempty finite strings of naturals. Consider the following forcing ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
293 views

Which countable ordinals are "Barwise compact" for $\mathcal{L}_{\infty,\omega_1}$?

Barwise compactness says (as a special case) that whenever $\alpha$ is countable and admissible, $T\subseteq\mathcal{L}_{\infty,\omega}\cap L_\alpha$ is $\alpha$-c.e., and every subset of $T$ which is ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
453 views

Infinite time Turing machines, semi-decidable sets and descriptive set theory

Definition A set of reals $A$ is said to be ittm-eventually-semi-decidable if there is an Infinite Time Turing Machine programme $P_e$ so that $x\in A$ iff $P_e(x)$ has converged on “1” on its ...
Philip Welch's user avatar
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7 votes
0 answers
143 views

Non-compact dynamical systems

In topological dynamics, most of the time, we consider the continuous action of a (semi)group $G$ on a compact Hausdorff space $X$. In this context, we can envelop the group in a compact left ...
tomasz's user avatar
  • 1,204
7 votes
0 answers
273 views

Co-cones in the Turing degrees

Let the cocone of a Turing degree ${\bf d}$ be the set $cc({\bf d}):\{{\bf c}: {\bf c}\not\ge_T {\bf d}\}$. I'm curious what's known about the various partial orders (isomorphic to ones) of the form $...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
273 views

A strange planar set and the Continuum Hypothesis

Call a number abnormal if its decimal expansion doesn't feature every digit an infinite number of times. Call a triangle in ${\Bbb R}^2$ abnormal if at least one of its angles spans an abnormal ...
David Feldman's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
166 views

Choice and the Baire property in non-separable complete metric spaces

It's known to be consistent with ZF+DC that every subset of $\mathbb{R}$ has the Baire property (BP). (E.g. Shelah's model). If so, then every subset of every complete separable metric space has ...
Nate Eldredge's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
281 views

A jump operator for Borel equivalence relations

It is well-known that with respect to Borel reducibility the class of Borel equivalence relations on a standard Borel space does not admit a maximal element. We can use the well-known Friedman-Staley ...
Burak's user avatar
  • 4,115
7 votes
0 answers
853 views

Uniformization/measurable selection theorems

Let $X,Y$ be measurable spaces and $F\subseteq X\times Y$. We say that $f:X\to Y$ is a uniformization map for $F$ if $(x,f(x))\in F$ for each $x\in \pi_X(F)$ where $\pi_X$ is the left projection map. ...
SBF's user avatar
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