Chains, Antichains, and Complements in Infinite Partition Lattices

TL;DR

This paper explores the properties of the partition lattice on infinite sets, revealing how maximal chains, antichains, and complements behave differently from finite cases, especially under the Axiom of Choice and GCH.

Contribution

It provides new results on the cardinalities of chains, antichains, and complements in infinite partition lattices, including explicit constructions and formulas, extending finite lattice theory.

Findings

Maximal well-ordered chains have cardinality exactly κ.

Existence of chains with cardinality greater than κ.

Characterization of antichain sizes between κ and 2^κ.

Abstract

We consider the partition lattice $\Pi_\kappa$ on any set of transfinite cardinality $\kappa$ and properties of $\Pi_\kappa$ whose analogues do not hold for finite cardinalities. Assuming the Axiom of Choice we prove: (I) the cardinality of any maximal well-ordered chain is always exactly $\kappa$; (II) there are maximal chains in $\Pi_\kappa$ of cardinality $> \kappa$; (III) if, for every cardinal $\lambda < \kappa$, we have $2^{\lambda} < 2^\kappa$, there exists a maximal chain of cardinality $< 2^{\kappa}$ (but $\ge \kappa$) in $\Pi_{2^\kappa}$; (IV) every non-trivial maximal antichain in $\Pi_\kappa$ has cardinality between $\kappa$ and $2^{\kappa}$, and these bounds are realized. Moreover we can construct maximal antichains of cardinality $\max(\kappa, 2^{\lambda})$ for any $\lambda \le \kappa$; (V) all cardinals of the form $\kappa^\lambda$ with $0 \le \lambda \le \kappa$ occur as the number of complements to some partition $\mathcal{P} \in \Pi_\kappa$, and only these cardinalities appear. Moreover, we give a direct formula for the number of complements to a given partition; (VI) Under the Generalized Continuum Hypothesis, the cardinalities of maximal chains, maximal antichains, and numbers of complements are fully determined, and we provide a complete characterization.