English

Keisler's order has infinitely many classes

Logic 2015-08-21 v2

Abstract

We prove, in ZFC, that there is an infinite strictly descending chain of classes of theories in Keisler's order. Thus Keisler's order is infinite and not a well order. Moreover, this chain occurs within the simple unstable theories, considered model-theoretically tame. Keisler's order is a central notion of the model theory of the 60s and 70s which compares first-order theories (and implicitly ultrafilters) according to saturation of ultrapowers. Prior to this paper, it was long thought to have finitely many classes, linearly ordered. The model-theoretic complexity we find is witnessed by a very natural class of theories, the nn-free kk-hypergraphs studied by Hrushovski. This complexity reflects the difficulty of amalgamation and appears orthogonal to forking.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1503.08341,
  title  = {Keisler's order has infinitely many classes},
  author = {M. Malliaris and S. Shelah},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1503.08341},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

Minor edits, updated cross-references

R2 v1 2026-06-22T09:04:36.989Z