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Garrett Ervin

Publications and source records attributed to Garrett Ervin.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

The Additive Arithmetic of Linear Orders

We present a systematic development of the arithmetic of the class of linear orders under the ordered sum $(LO, +)$ and prove a number of new results. Our approach is based on a Euclidean algorithm for pairs of linear orders that almost additively commute. Among our results: (i.) We generalize and give unified proofs of the main classical theorems for $(LO, +)$, including Lindenbaum's division theorem for $(LO, +)$ and a representation theorem for additively commuting pairs of linear orders due to Aronszajn. (ii.) We solve the following problem, posed by Tarski in 1956: is it true that for every pair of linear orders $A, B$ and quadruple of natural numbers $n, m, k, l \geq 1$, if $nA + mB \cong kB + lA$ then $A + B \cong B + A$? Tarski and Chang showed the answer is yes for certain choices of the coefficients $n, m, k, l$. We show the answer is yes in general. (iii.) We prove the following characterization of the additively commuting pairs in $LO$: $A + B \cong B + A$ if and only if $\omega A$ embeds initially in $\omega B$ and $\omega^* A$ embeds finally in $\omega^* B$, or vice versa. We show this can be viewed as a correctly revised version of a refuted conjecture of Tarski. (iv.) We characterize the commutative semigroups $(S, \oplus)$ that can be represented in $(LO, +)$ and show in particular they are all subsemigroups of naturally totally ordered semigroups in the sense of Clifford.

math.LO↗
arXiv2026

Untranscendable order types

We introduce and study a multiplicative analogue of additive indecomposability for linear order types that we call untranscendability, as well as a strengthening that we call $s$-untranscendability. We show that, with the unique exception of the two-point type, every untranscendable type is additively indecomposable, and every $\sigma$-scattered untranscendable type is strongly indecomposable. Under the Proper Forcing Axiom, every untranscendable Aronszajn type is strongly indecomposable. We also show that a theorem of Hagendorf and Jullien, that every strictly additively indecomposable type must be strictly indecomposable to either the left or right, has a natural analogue for $s$-untranscendable types.

math.CO↗
arXiv2025

Generalized sums of linear orders

We study generalized sums of linear orders. These are binary operations that, given linear orders $A$ and $B$, return an order $A \oplus B$ that can be decomposed as an isomorphic copy of $A$ interleaved with a copy of $B$. We show that there is a rich array of associative sums different from the usual sum $+$ and its dual. The simplest of these sums arise from what we call sum-generating classes of linear orders. These classes determine canonical decompositions of every linear order into left and right halves. We study the structural and algebraic properties of these classes along with the sums they generate. We then turn our attention to commutative sums on various subclasses of the linear orders. For this, we introduce the notion of a complicated class of linear orders and show that over such classes sums can be constructed in a very flexible way. Using this construction, we prove the existence of associative sums lacking the structural properties of the usual sum. Along the way, we characterize the associative and commutative sums on the ordinals.

math.LO↗
arXiv2023

Left absorption in products of countable orders

We classify the countable linear orders $X$ for which there is an order $A$ with at least two points such that the lexicographic product $AX$ is isomorphic to $X$. Given such an $X$, we determine every corresponding order $A$, and identify when $X$ is isomorphic to its square. More generally, we characterize the countable orders that embed at least two disjoint convex copies of themselves.

math.LO↗
arXiv2023

Decomposing the real line into everywhere isomorphic suborders

We show that if $\mathbb{R} = A \cup B$ is a partition of $\mathbb{R}$ into two suborders $A$ and $B$, then there is an open interval $I$ such that $A \cap I$ is not order-isomorphic to $B \cap I$. The proof depends on the completeness of $\mathbb{R}$, and we show in contrast that there is a partition of the irrationals $\mathbb{R} \setminus \mathbb{Q} = A \cup B$ such that $A \cap I$ is isomorphic to $B \cap I$ for every open interval $I$. We do not know if there is a partition of $\mathbb{R}$ into three suborders that are isomorphic in every open interval.

math.LO↗
arXiv2016

Every linear order isomorphic to its cube is isomorphic to its square

In 1958, Sierpinski asked whether there exists a linear order $X$ that is isomorphic to its lexicographically ordered cube but is not isomorphic to its square. The main result of this paper is that the answer is negative. More generally, if $X$ is isomorphic to any one of its finite powers $X^n$, $n>1$, it is isomorphic to all of them.

math.LO↗