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Spencer Unger

Publications and source records attributed to Spencer Unger.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

$G_δ$ Circle Squaring

We show that a circle and square of the same area in $\mathbb{R}^2$ are equidecomposable by translations using $\mathbfΔ^0_2$ pieces. That is, pieces which are simultaneously $F_σ$ and $G_δ$ sets. This improves a result of Máthé-Noel-Pikhurko and is the best possible complexity in terms of the Borel hierarchy. More generally we show that bounded sets $A,B \subseteq \mathbb{R}^n$ with small enough boundaries and the same nonzero Lebesgue measure are equidecomposable with pieces that are countable unions of finite Boolean combinations of translates of $A,B$, and open sets. The improvement comes from constructions of low complexity toasts and related objects which should be independently useful within Borel combinatorics.

math.LO

The tree property on long intervals of regular cardinals

In this paper we prove that the tree property can hold on regular cardinals in an interval which overlaps a strong limit cardinal. This is a crucial milestone in the long term project, tracing back to a question raised by Foreman and Magidor in the 1980s, of obtaining the tree property at every regular cardinal above the first uncountable cardinal.

math.LO

Stationary Reflection and the failure of SCH

In this paper we prove that from large cardinals it is consistent that there is a singular strong limit cardinal $ν$ such that the singular cardinal hypothesis fails at $ν$ and every collection of fewer than $\mathrm{cf}(ν)$ stationary subsets of $ν^+$ reflects simultaneously. For $\mathrm{cf}(ν) > ω$, this situation was not previously known to be consistent. Using different methods, we reduce the upper bound on the consistency strength of this situation for $\mathrm{cf}(ν) = ω$ to below a single partially supercompact cardinal. The previous upper bound of infinitely many supercompact cardinals was due to Sharon.

math.LO

Borel factors and embeddings of systems in subshifts

In this paper we study the combinatorics of free Borel actions of the group $\mathbb Z^d$ on Polish spaces. Building upon recent work by Chandgotia and Meyerovitch, we introduce property $F$ on $\mathbb Z^d$-shift spaces $X$ under which there is an equivariant map from any free Borel action to the free part of $X$. Under further entropic assumptions, we prove that any subshift $Y$ (modulo the periodic points) can be Borel embedded into $X$. Several examples satisfy property $F$ including, but not limited to, the space of proper $3$-colourings, tilings by rectangles (under a natural arithmetic condition), proper $2d$-edge colourings of $\mathbb Z^d$ and the space of bi-infinite Hamiltonian paths. This answers questions raised by Seward, and Gao-Jackson, and recovers a result by Weilacher and some results announced by Gao-Jackson-Krohne-Seward.

math.DS

Diagonal supercompact Radin forcing

Motivated by the goal of constructing a model in which there are no $κ$-Aronszajn trees for any regular $κ>\aleph_1$, we produce a model with many singular cardinals where both the singular cardinals hypothesis and weak square fail.

math.LO

Successive failures of approachability

Motivated by showing that in ZFC we cannot construct a special Aronszajn tree on some cardinal greater than $\aleph_1$, we produce a model in which the approachability property fails (hence there are no special Aronszajn trees) at all regular cardinals in the interval $[\aleph_2, \aleph_{ω^2+3}]$ and $\aleph_{ω^2}$ is strong limit.

math.LO

Stationary Reflection

We improve the upper bound for the consistency strength of stationary reflection at successors of singular cardinals.

math.LO

The strong tree property and weak square

We show that it is consistent, relative to $ω$ many supercompact cardinals, that the super tree property holds at $\aleph_n$ for all $2 \leq n < ω$ but there are weak square and a very good scale at $\aleph_ω$.

math.LO

Baire measurable paradoxical decompositions via matchings

We show that every locally finite bipartite Borel graph satisfying a strengthening of Hall's condition has a Borel perfect matching on some comeager invariant Borel set. We apply this to show that if a group acting by Borel automorphisms on a Polish space has a paradoxical decomposition, then it admits a paradoxical decomposition using pieces having the Baire property. This strengthens a theorem of Dougherty and Foreman who showed that there is a paradoxical decomposition of the unit ball in $\mathbb{R}^3$ using Baire measurable pieces. We also obtain a Baire category solution to the dynamical von Neumann-Day problem: if $a$ is a nonamenable action of a group on a Polish space $X$ by Borel automorphisms, then there is a free Baire measurable action of $\mathbb{F}_2$ on $X$ which is Lipschitz with respect to $a$.

math.LO