Atomless forcing order 2026-10-05
An order is atomless if it has no forcing atom, equivalently every condition has a pair of incompatible forcing conditions below it. For a fixed order belonging to a transitive model, this property is absolute because its quantifiers range over the unchanged set of conditions. Infinite-domain Fn forcing with at least two possible values is atomless: prescribe different values at one fresh coordinate.
Generic coordinate reals for finite-function forcing Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
For Fn forcing on with values in , the generic filter union is total by the dense coordinate-domain requirements. For each pair of distinct rows, the set of conditions giving them opposite bits at some column is dense: choose a column untouched in both finite rows. Thus the rows are distinct subsets of and provide an injective function from the ground-model ordinal into the extension's power set of . This construction alone does not prove preservation of its ground-model cardinal number status.
The Fn forcing here is ; larger partial functions are stronger conditions. This translates the inclusion description into standard notation for forcing as when . Compatible members of the generic filter agree wherever both are defined, so
is a function. For every , the conditions whose domains contain that coordinate form a dense subset of a forcing order. This requirement belongs to , and the generic filter meets it. Consequently is total.
Define the generic coordinate reals for finite-function forcing by
For distinct , the conditions assigning opposite bits to those rows at some column form a dense subset of a forcing order. Given any finite condition, choose a column absent from both rows and extend by assigning zero to one coordinate and one to the other. Genericity supplies such a condition in , so .
The function is formed inside by separation and replacement from . Hence
This constructs an injective function on the ground-model ordinal ; preservation of its cardinal status is a separate issue.
The two-argument version of Fn forcing consists of finite partial functions:
Thus a stronger condition specifies more values. The empty partial function is the greatest condition. Two conditions are compatible forcing conditions exactly when they agree on their common domain; if they do, their set union is a common strengthening. This is in the three-argument convention for Fn forcing. If or is empty, only the empty condition exists. For infinite and at least two elements in , assigning two different values at a fresh coordinate proves that this is an atomless forcing order.
Put and let . Conditions from Fn forcing agree on common coordinates because is directed, so is a function. For each , the ground-model set
is dense: add a value at that coordinate if necessary. The generic filter meets all these sets, making total.
For distinct , the ground-model set
is dense. Choose fresh for both rows of a finite condition and assign and there. Genericity therefore makes the rows pairwise different. The generic coordinate reals for finite-function forcing are , and in the generic extension
The family is a set in , for example by collecting the ground-model names and evaluating the corresponding name for their indexed family. This argument only needs as the specified ground-model ordinal; it does not silently assume a cardinal preservation by chain-condition forcing result.
The Fn forcing order is
It is ordered by reverse inclusion:
so a stronger condition specifies more values. Its maximal, or weakest, element is the empty function .
The Fn forcing consists of partial functions such that
It is ordered by reverse inclusion: exactly when , so a stronger condition supplies more values.