Embeddings, ultrapowers and direct powers
We study when embeddings lift from structures to their ultrapowers, and when an ultrapower embeds into its direct power. We offer a refinement of Blass's theorem on the Rudin-Keisler order and introduce cardinal invariants $τ_\mathcal{A}$ which imply the embeddability $\mathcal{A}^I / \mathcal{U} \hookrightarrow \mathcal{A}^I$.