On the set‐theoretic strength of the existence of disjoint cofinal sets in posets without maximal elements

Abstract

In set theory without the Axiom of Choice , we study the deductive strength of the statements (“Every partially ordered set without a maximal element has two disjoint cofinal subsets”), (“Every partially ordered set without a maximal element has a countably infinite disjoint family of cofinal subsets”), (“Every linearly ordered set without a maximum element has two disjoint cofinal subsets”), and (“Every linearly ordered set without a maximum element has a countably infinite disjoint family of cofinal subsets”). Among various results, we prove that none of the above statements is provable without using some form of choice, is equivalent to , + (Dependent Choices) implies , does not imply in (Zermelo‐Fraenkel set theory with the Axiom of Extensionality modified in order to allow the existence of atoms), does not imply in (Zermelo‐Fraenkel set theory minus ) and (hence, ) is strictly weaker than in .