A note on \L o\'s's Theorem without the Axiom of Choice

Abstract

We study some topics about \L o\'s's theorem without assuming the Axiom of Choice. We prove that \L o\'s's fundamental theorem of ultraproducts is equivalent to a weak form that every ultrapower is elementary equivalent to its source structure. On the other hand, it is consistent that there is a structure $M$ and an ultrafilter $U$ such that the ultrapower of $M$ by $U$ is elementary equivalent to $M$, but the fundamental theorem for the ultrapower of $M$ by $U$ fails. We also show that weak fragments of the Axiom of Choice, such as the Countable Choice, do not follow from \L o\'s's theorem, even assuming the existence of non-principal ultrafilters.