Invariant Types in Model Theory

Abstract

We study how the product of global invariant types interacts with the preorder of domination, i.e. semi-isolation by a small type, and the induced equivalence relation, domination-equivalence. We provide sufficient conditions for the latter to be a congruence with respect to the product, and show that this holds in various classes of theories. In this case, we develop a general theory of the quotient semigroup, the domination monoid, and carry out its computation in several cases of interest. Notably, we reduce its study in o-minimal theories to proving generation by 1-types, and completely characterise it in the case of Real Closed Fields. We also provide a full characterisation for the theory of dense meet-trees, and moreover show that the domination monoid is well-defined in certain expansions of it by binary relations. We give an example of a theory where the domination monoid is not commutative, and of one where it is not well-defined, correcting some overly general claims in the literature. We show that definability, finite satisfiability, generic stability, and weak orthogonality to a fixed type are all preserved downwards by domination, hence are domination-equivalence invariants. We study the dependence on the choice of monster model of the quotient of the space of global invariant types by domination-equivalence, and show that if the latter does not depend on the former then the theory under examination is NIP.