Compactness and transfer for a fragment of L2

Abstract

The language Ln is obtained from the first order predicate calculus by adjoining the quantifier Qn which binds n variables. The formula Qnυ1 … υnΨ is given a κ-interpretation for each infinite cardinal κ, namely, “there is a set X of power κ such that Ψx1 … xn holds for all distinct x1 … xn ϵ X”. L<ω is the result of adjoining all the Qn quantifiers for each n ϵ ω to the first order predicate calculus.In [4] we showed that under the assumption (cf. [3]) L<ω is countably compact under the ω1-interpretation, and that any sentence σ ϵ L<ω that has a model in some κ-interpretation where κ is a regular infinite cardinal has a model in the ω1 interpretation. However, compactness for L<ω in the κ-interpretation for κ an infinite successor cardinal other than ω1 and the transfer of satisfiability from ω1 to any higher power remain open questions under any set theoretic assumptions.Here we restrict our attention to a small fragment L2− of L2 consisting of universal first order formulas along with formulas of the kind Q2υ1υ2∀υ3 … υnΨ and ¬Q2υ1υ2∀υ3 … υnφ where Ψ and φ are open and no function symbol of arity > 1 occurs in any formula. Assuming the existence of a κ-Souslin tree, this language is λ compact in the κ-interpretation when λ < κ.