Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / iii / Paper 121 / 3

Fix a regular uncountable cardinal number $\kappa$. A club set $C\subseteq \kappa$ is unbounded in $\kappa$ and closed under suprema below $\kappa$ of nonempty increasing sequences with no last term. Equivalently, every limit ordinal $\delta <\kappa$ with $\sup (C\cap \delta )=\delta$ belongs to $C$. The club filter isIt consists of all sets containing a club set, not only the club sets themselves.

An omega-measurable cardinal is a cardinal number carrying a nonprincipal ultrafilter closed under countable intersections, that is, a countably complete ultrafilter. Such a cardinal must be uncountable: on a countable set the intersection of the complements of all singletons would be empty.

A measurable cardinal is an uncountable cardinal number $\kappa$ carrying a nonprincipal $\kappa$-complete ultrafilter. A kappa-complete filter is closed under intersections of every family of size strictly below $\kappa$. Thus for an omega-measurable cardinal the completeness required is countable completeness, not merely closure under finitely many intersections.

A uniform example is $\boxed{A=\kappa \setminus \{\omega \}}$. It contains the final segment $[\omega +1,\kappa )$, a club set. Therefore $A$ belongs to the club filter. Every two club sets in a regular uncountable cardinal intersect: alternately choose larger points from each and take the countable supremum, which remains below $\kappa$ and lies in both by closure. Hence every member of the club filter is a stationary set, so $A$ is stationary.

However, every finite ordinal belongs to $A$, and their increasing supremum $\omega$ does not. Thus $A$ is not closed and is not a club set. This is a stationary nonclosed member of the club filter for every regular uncountable $\kappa$.

The club filter completeness argument works for every regular uncountable $\kappa$. Let $\mu <\kappa$ and let $C_i$ be a club set for each $i<\mu$. Their intersection is closed. To prove it unbounded, start above any prescribed $\beta <\kappa$ and choose an increasing sequence $({\delta }_n{)}_{n<\omega }$ so that ${\delta }_{n+1}$ lies above a chosen point of every $C_i$ greater than ${\delta }_n$. $\kappa$ is a regular cardinal, so the supremum of these $\mu$ choices remains below $\kappa$. The resulting countable supremum $\delta ={\sup }_n{\delta }_n$ likewise remains below $\kappa$. For each $i$, the chosen $C_i$ points are cofinal in $\delta$, so closure gives $\delta \in C_i$. Thus the intersection is a club set. Intersecting fewer than $\kappa$ members of the club filter still contains such an intersection of clubs. In particular, $\boxed{{\mathcal{D}}_{{\omega }_2}\text{ is }{\aleph }_2\text{-complete}}$.

It is not an ultrafilter. For a regular infinite $\theta <\kappa$, the setis stationary. Given a club set $C$, build in $C$ a strictly increasing continuous sequence of length $\theta$ and take its supremum $\delta <\kappa$. Closure gives $\delta \in C$, and the cofinality of an increasing ordinal supremum gives $\mathrm{cf}(\delta )=\theta$. This proves the stationarity of ordinals of prescribed cofinality.

At $\kappa ={\omega }_2$, the disjoint sets $S_{\omega }^{{\omega }_2}$ and $S_{{\omega }_1}^{{\omega }_2}$ are both stationary. A club contained in either $S_{\omega }^{{\omega }_2}$ or its complement would miss one of these stationary sets. Thus neither $S_{\omega }^{{\omega }_2}$ nor its complement belongs to ${\mathcal{D}}_{{\omega }_2}$, and

Weakly inaccessible cardinals are unbounded below the given cardinal. In fact, they form a stationary set there. Let $\kappa$ be the weakly Mahlo cardinal, so it is a regular uncountable limit cardinal and the set $R=\{\alpha <\kappa :\alpha =\mathrm{cf}(\alpha )\}$ is stationary.

The set $C$ of uncountable limit cardinals below $\kappa$ is a club set. For unboundedness, above any starting point choose a strictly increasing countable sequence of cardinal numbers below $\kappa$; its supremum remains below $\kappa$ by regularity and is an uncountable limit cardinal. For closure, a limit of such limit cardinals is again a limit cardinal.

Every $\alpha \in R\cap C$ is an uncountable regular cardinal and a limit cardinal, hence a weakly inaccessible cardinal. The intersection of a stationary set with a club set is stationary, because its intersection with any further club is nonempty. ThereforeThis proves the stronger form of the requested conclusion.

Take the least omega-measurable cardinal $\kappa$, with a countably complete ultrafilter $U$ on $\kappa$ that is nonprincipal. We prove that $U$ is $\kappa$-complete. This will give $\boxed{\kappa \text{ is measurable}}$.

Suppose $\mu <\kappa$, $A_i\in U$ for $i<\mu$, and ${\bigcap }_{i<\mu }{A}_i\notin U$. Then $B=\kappa \setminus {\bigcap }_{i<\mu }{A}_i$ belongs to $U$. For $x\in B$ let $g(x)$ be the least $i<\mu$ with $x\notin A_i$. The pushforward ultrafilteris a countably complete ultrafilter on $\mu$; this uses $B\in U$, so $U$ restricts to an ultrafilter on $B$. For each $i$, the fibre $g^{-1}[\{i\}]$ is contained in $\kappa \setminus A_i$, hence is not in $U$. Thus $W$ is nonprincipal. If $\mu$ is finite or countable, countable completeness already rules this out. Otherwise $|\mu |<\kappa$ would be an omega-measurable cardinal, contradicting minimality of $\kappa$.

Therefore every intersection of fewer than $\kappa$ members of $U$ lies in $U$. Since $\kappa$ is uncountable, it is a measurable cardinal. This proves that the least omega-measurable cardinal is measurable, even if the originally supplied cardinal carried only a countably complete ultrafilter.