The bounded proper forcing axiom

Abstract

AbstractThe bounded proper forcing axiom BPFA is the statement that for any family of ℵ1 many maximal antichains of a proper forcing notion, each of size ℵ1, there is a directed set meeting all these antichains.A regular cardinal κ is called ∑1-reflecting, if for any regular cardinal χ, for all formulas φ, “H(χ) ⊨ ‘φ’” implies “∃δ < κ, H(δ) ⊨ ‘φ’”.We investigate several algebraic consequences of BPFA, and we show that the consistency strength of the bounded proper forcing axiom is exactly the existence of a ∑1-reflecting cardinal (which is less than the existence of a Mahlo cardinal).We also show that the question of the existence of isomorphisms between two structures can be reduced to the question of rigidity of a structure.