In mathematical set theory, the Sacks property holds between two
models of
Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory
In set theory, Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, named after mathematicians Ernst Zermelo and Abraham Fraenkel, is an axiomatic system that was proposed in the early twentieth century in order to formulate a theory of sets free of paradoxes such ...
if they are not "too dissimilar" in the following sense.
For
and
transitive models of set theory,
is said to have the Sacks property over
if and only if for every function
mapping
to
such that
diverges to infinity, and every function
mapping
to
there is a
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
such that for every
the
level of
has cardinality at most
and
is a branch of
.
The Sacks property is used to control the value of certain
cardinal invariants in
forcing
Forcing may refer to: Mathematics and science
* Forcing (mathematics), a technique for obtaining independence proofs for set theory
*Forcing (recursion theory), a modification of Paul Cohen's original set theoretic technique of forcing to deal with ...
arguments. It is named for
Gerald Enoch Sacks.
A
forcing notion is said to have the Sacks property if and only if the forcing extension has the Sacks property over the ground model. Examples include
Sacks forcing In mathematics, forcing is a method of constructing new models ''M'' 'G''of set theory by adding a generic subset ''G'' of a poset ''P'' to a model ''M''. The poset ''P'' used will determine what statements hold in the new universe (the 'extension') ...
and
Silver forcing.
Shelah proved that when proper forcings with the Sacks property are
iterated
Iteration is the repetition of a process in order to generate a (possibly unbounded) sequence of outcomes. Each repetition of the process is a single iteration, and the outcome of each iteration is then the starting point of the next iteration. ...
using countable supports, the resulting forcing notion will have the Sacks property as well.
The Sacks property is equivalent to the conjunction of the
Laver property and the
-bounding property.
References
{{reflist
Forcing (mathematics)