Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2010/iii/paper-9/4/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 9 4 Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-14
Write for the space of infinite subsets of the natural numbers, and for all infinite subsets of an infinite . A family is a Ramsey set of infinite subsets if for every infinite there is an infinite with either or .
A non-Ramsey set of infinite subsets is obtained by finite-symmetric-difference parity colouring. Declare when their symmetric difference is finite, and use the axiom of choice to select a representative for each equivalence class. PutFor every infinite , both and belong to and have the same representative. Toggling one element changes the parity of the finite symmetric difference, so these two sets have opposite colors. Thus no is homogeneous, and is not a Ramsey set of infinite subsets. Only finite differences are counted; no parity is being assigned to an infinite cardinal.
We use the Ellentuck topology for the star notation. Its basic neighborhoods arewhere is a finite stem (the initial segment of each member of the neighborhood) and every element of the infinite reservoir exceeds ; the empty stem is allowed. A star-nowhere dense set has star-closure with empty star-interior; a star-meagre set is a countable union of star-nowhere dense sets.
We need the following stem-preserving open-set conclusion: a star-open set has, in every , an infinite such that or . Here is the fusion proof for open Ellentuck sets, so that the precise form being used is explicit. A reservoir accepts a finite extension of when , and rejects it when no infinite subreservoir accepts it. Every reservoir can be thinned to decide a prescribed stem: take an accepting subreservoir if one exists, and otherwise it already rejects. Acceptance and rejection are hereditary under further infinite thinning.
First thin to decide . If it accepts, we have finished. Otherwise, choose successive points , thinning the unused tail after each selection to decide every stem with a subset of the finitely many points already selected. Each stage requires only finitely many decisions. The final set therefore decides every such finite extension, using the tail above its largest point. It rejects .
For any rejected stem , only finitely many possible next points of have accepting tails for . Otherwise collect infinitely many such points into . Every member of starts with some such , and its remaining points lie in the accepting tail above . Hence , contradicting rejection. A second selection now gives all of whose finite extensions of are rejected: at each stage avoid the finitely many forbidden next points for each subset of the chosen prefix. Previous rejections persist on thinning. If , star-openness gives an initial stem of and an infinite tail of whose entire neighborhood lies in . This is an accepting subreservoir for a stem we made rejected, a contradiction. Thus , proving the needed open-set conclusion.
Apply this conclusion to when is star-nowhere dense. This is star-open and star-dense. The alternative would give a nonempty star-open set inside , contradicting empty interior. Consequently every star-nowhere dense set can be avoided without extending the finite stem.
Now let , each star-nowhere dense, and fix . Construct with nested infinite unused reservoirs. At stage , let . For every , in turn, thin the current reservoir using the preceding avoidance property untilThere are only finitely many such , and subsequent thinning preserves all previous avoidances. Choose and retain the part of above for the next stage. Put . For any and any , the finite part is one of the stems tested at stage , and the rest of lies in . Hence and . This proves .
The final is star-open and disjoint from , so it is also disjoint from the star-closure of . Every basic neighborhood therefore has a nonempty open refinement missing that closure. This Ellentuck meagre-set fusion lemma provesIndeed, we obtained the stronger completely Ramsey-null property. Testing all subsets of the selected prefix was essential; testing just the entire prefix would not cover every infinite subset of .
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