Whitehead's Problem is Undecidable

Author(s): Paul C. Eklof

Reviewed work(s):
Source: The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 83, No. 10 (Dec., 1976), pp. 775-788
Published by: Mathematical Association of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2318684 .
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1976]

WHITEHEAD'S

PROBLEM

IS UNDECIDABLE

775

2. CBMS Newsletter,10 (May-June,1975) 47.

3.
, 10 (Oct.-Nov., 1975) 55.
4. Erwin H. Bareiss, The college preparationfor a mathematicianin industry,this MONTHLY, 79 (1972)
972-984.
5. R. E. Gaskell and M. S. Klamkin,The industrialmathematicianviews his profession:A reportof the
Committeeon Corporate Members,thisMONTHLY, 81 (1974) 699-716.
6. Charles A. Hall, Industrialmathematics:A course in realism,this MONTHLY, 82 (1975) 651-659.
7. Keith B. Oldham and JeromeSpanier, The FractionalCalculus, Academic Press, New York, 1974.
DEPARTMENT

OF MATHEMATICS,

CLAREMONT

GRADUATE

SCHOOL,

CLAREMONT,

CA 91711.

WHITEHEAD'S PROBLEM IS UNDECIDABLE

PAUL C. EKLOF

unlesshe is studying
thefoundations
ofmathemaThe working
mathematician,
1. Introduction.
- except
to makeexplicitreferences
to axiomsofsettheory
tics,usuallydoes notfindit necessary
As longas hisarguments
can
Hypothesis.
perhapsto invoketheAxiomofChoiceor theContinuum
set
of a commonly
acceptedsystemsuchas Zermelo-Frankel
theframework
be carriedout within
have
However,mathematicians
assumptions
can remainunexpressed.
theory
(ZF), hisset-theoretic
statements
thatare undecidable(i.e.,
knownsincetheworkof Godel thatthereare mathematical
settheory.
(In fact,any consistent
on thebasisofZermelo-Frankel
neither
provablenorrefutable)
written
downwillhave such undecidable
axiomatization
of set theorywhichcan be effectively
ofconcrete
examplesof
statements:
see,forexample,Monk[13;Thm1].) In recentyears,a number
undecidablestatements
have been discovered.Probablythe most famousis the Continuum

Hypothesis(2No= M1)provedundecidablein ZFC (= ZF + Axiom of Choice) by Godel and Cohen.

[18].)In thispaper,
Otherexamplesbelongto topology
andanalysis.(See Rudin[16]andShoenfield
whichhadresisted
thebestefforts
of
we aregoingto discussan algebraicexample:a famousproblem
inZFC. His
provedbyShelahtobe undecidable
mathematicians
formanyyearsbeforeitwasrecently
withZFC, yieldcontradictory
answers
to
methodofproofis to showthattwoaxioms,eachconsistent
theproblem.
function
on A
Let 1A denotetheidentity
In orderto statetheproblem,
we needsomedefinitions.
->
B
A is
of
abelian
A surjective
andletZ denotethegroupofintegers.
7:
groups
homomorphism
-=
B
A
is
A
such
that
An
abelian
called
a
saidtosplitifthereis a homomorphism
1A.
p:
7rp
group
ifitsatisfies
forall surjective
theproperty:
7 : B -> A, ifthekernelof 7 is
homomorphisms
W-group
isomorphic
to Z, then r splits.It is nothardto see thata freeabeliangroupis a W-group.(See
Corollary2.4.) Whitehead'sProblemasks whetherthe converseis true.In homologicalterms,
Ext(A,Z) = 0 impliesA is free(see section3).
Problemaskswhether
Whitehead's
intermsoftopological
groups:is everycompact
formulation
The problemalso has an equivalent
abeliangroupa productof copiesof the circlegroup,R/Z? The equivalence
arcwise-connected
followsfromthePontryagin
DualityTheorem.
is free.(See Theorem4.1.) Butfor
It wasprovedbySteinin 1951thateverycountableW-group
uncountable
groupsonlypartialresultshave been obtainedin ZFC.
be addedto ZF. (We shall
Set-theorists
whichmayconsistently
havestudiedvarioushypotheses
denotedV = L.
One of theseis Godel'sAxiomof Constructibility,
assumethatZF is consistent.)
a subclassL oftheclass V ofall setsandprovedthattheaxiomsofZF as wellas the
(Godeldefined
AxiomofChoiceandtheContinuum
aretruein L. The setsin L arecalledconstructible
Hypothesis
assertsthat everyset is constructible.)
Godel provedthe
sets. The Axiom of Constructibility
following:

776

P. C. EKLOF

[December

1.1 THEOREM[5]. (i) ZF + V = L is consistent;

(ii) ZF + V = L impliestheAxiomof Choiceand theContinuum
Hypothesis.

It follows
from
thetheorem
thatZFC isconsistent
(assuming,
ofcourse,thatZF is consistent).
Another
axiomthatis important
to us is Martin's
Axiom(MA),whichwasintroduced
originally
in
connection
withSouslin'sProblem(see Shoenfield
[18; ?5]). We shallstate(a weakformof)MA in
section7. Herewe stateonlytheimportant
consistency
theorem
provedbySolovayandTennenbaum
usingtheforcing
techniqueintroduced
by Cohen.
1.2 THEOREM[19]. ZFC + MA + 2o?> X, is consistent.
whichshowsthatat leastforcardinality
Now we can stateShelah'stheorem,
N, Whitehead's
Problemis notdecidableon thebasisof ZFC. (See also Section8.)
1.3 THEOREM[17]. (i) ZFC + V = L impliesthateveryW-group
ofcardinality
M,is free;
(ii) ZFC + MA + 2Mo> Ml impliesthatthereis a W-group
ofcardinality
t, whichis notfree.
Problemis consistent
It followsthateithertheaffirmative
or thenegativeanswerto Whitehead's
withZFC. The readermaystillask: whichansweris "true"?The questionpresumesa "platonist"
toaskaboutthe"truth"of
philosophy,
i.e.,thatsetsreallyexistinsomesenseso thatitis meaningful
V = L orMA + 2No> I4 is one
aboutsets(see Monk[13]).Neither
ofthehypotheses
a givenassertion
whichmathematicians
"true"aboutsets.ThusShelah'stheorem
wouldagreeis intuitively
does not
Problem.It is conceivablethatin thefuture
settlethe"truth"aboutWhitehead's
somenewaxiom
aboutsetswillcometo be as acceptedas are theaxiomsof ZFC and thatit willyielda definitive
suchas theContinuum
solutionto Whitehead's
Problem(as wellas to otherundecidable
problems,
Hypothesis).
In theremainder
ofthispaper,weshallgivethealgebraic
portion
oftheproofoftheundecidability
Problem.(The set-theoretic
ofWhitehead's
pre-requisites,
i.e.,Theorems1.1 (i), 1.2,6.1 and7.1 will
in sections6 and 7.
notbe provedhere.)The twopartsof Theorem1.3 are proved,respectively,
We beginin thenextsectionwitha studyofproperties
of freegroups.
therestof thepaper"group"willmeanabeliangroup.Functions
2. Free groups.Throughout
willbe denotedbylowercaseGreekletters,
whichare
whicharegrouphomomorphisms
andfunctions
willbe denotedbylowercase Romanletters.
simplyset mappings
set.One ofthe
Recallthata groupis freeifithasa basis,thatis,a linearly
independent
generating
whichis a specialcase ofa theorem
mostimportant
resultsaboutfreegroupsis thefollowing,
about
ideal domain.(See, forexample,Lang [11; Thm.4, p. 45].)
modulesovera principal
2.1 THEOREM.A subgroup
ofa freegroupis free.
Anotherusefulresultis theso-calledFundamental
TheoremofAbelianGroupswhichinthecase
of torsion-free
groupsmaybe statedas follows.(See, forexample,Lang [11; Thm.7, p. 49].)
2.2 THEOREM.A finitely-generated
torsion-free
groupis free.

whichwill
We shallprovea characterization
of freegroupsin termsof thenotionof splitting
immediately
implythateveryfreegroupis a W-group.
First,letus calla homomorphism
p: A - B a
B
if7p = 1A. Notethatp is necessarily
sincep(a) = 0
for T-:>A
splitting
homomorphism
injective
impliesa = vp(a) = O.
ontoA splits.
2.3 THEOREM.A groupA is freeifand onlyifeveryhomomorphism
If X = {xi: i E I} is a basisofA,
Proof.SupposethatA is freeand that7r: B -> A is surjective.
chooseb,in B foreach i in I suchthat r(bi)= xi.SinceX is a basisofA thereis one andonlyone

1976]

WHITEHEAD'S

PROBLEM

IS UNDECIDABLE

777

p: A -> B suchthatp(xi) = bi foreach i E I. Clearlyp is a splitting

homomorphism
homomorphism
forv.
To provetheconverse,
consider
a freegroupF withbasisX = {Xa a E A}. Let 7 : F-> A be the
such that r(xa) = a for all a E A. By hypothesis,
unique homomorphism
thereis a splitting
->
A
F
for
Since
is
A
is
to
a
v.
ofF; therefore,
p:
p
homomorphism
injective, isomorphic subgroup
byTheorem2.1, A is free.
2.4 COROLLARY.
Everyfreegroupis a W-group.

2.5 COROLLARY.
SupposeB is a subgroup
ofA suchthatB andA /B arebothfree.ThenA isfree;
moreover,
anybasisofB extendsto a basisofA.
Proof.Let r: A --A /B be thecanonicalsurjection
(i.e., r(a) = a + B forall a E A). SinceA/B
is free,thetheorem
impliesthatthereis a splitting
homomorphism
p forv. ThenA = p(A/B) DB.
(Indeed,foranya E A, a = pir(a) + (a - pr(a)), whichis theuniquerepresentation
ofa as a sumof
If Y is a basisofA/B,thenp(Y) is a basisofp(A/B) since
elements
ofp(A/B) andB respectively.)
p is injective.Therefore,
if X is anybasisof B, thenp(Y) U X is a basisof A. Thisprovesthe
corollary.
An important
elementin theanalysisofWhitehead's
Problemis thestudyofascending
chainsof
groups.Consideran ascendingchainof sets
vA<a
AoCA1C -- CA5C
indexedby an ordinala. This chainis called a smoothchainif foreverylimitordinalA < a,

Thechainis calledstrictly
ifforeveryv < a, A,# A,+,. Finally,
thechain
AA = UV<AAV.
increasing

is a chainofgroupsifforeveryv < a, A, is a groupwhichis a subgroupof A,+,.

2.6 THEOREM.
LetA betheunionofa smooth
chainofgroups{A, I v < a} suchthatAo isfreeand

foreveryv <: a, A,+,/A, is free. Then A is free; moreover,

foreveryv < a, A/A, is free.

Proof.LetXObe a basisofAo.We shallconstruct

bytransfinite
induction
on v < a a smoothchain
of sets
v< a

XO5X1 C**C Xvc5

such thatXv is a basis of A, This will suffice

since X = Uv<aXv will be a basis of A and
{x + A, Ix E X - Xv} willbe a basisof A /A,.Supposewe have alreadyexhibited
a chain
X C XI ..

Xv

v
r</

withthe desiredproperties,
forsome At< a. We mustproduceX,L.If At is a limitordinal,let
=
X,. UX<, Xv; thenX, is a basisof U <,.A, whichequalsA,, bythedefinition
ofa smoothchain.
IfAtis a successorordinal,
sayAt= 8 + 1,thenA,,1/A,is freebyhypothesis,
so byCorollary
2.5,X8
extendsto a basisX8+?of A,,1. Thiscompletestheproof.
3. Properties
of W-groups.In thissection,andthissectiononly,weshallassumefamiliarity
with
therudiments
of homological
algebra(e.g.,Chapters1 and 3 of Jans[8]) in orderto provethree
of W-groups.
properties
threetheorems
Onlythestatements
ofthefollowing
are usedin therestof
thepaper,so thereaderwhois willing
toacceptthemon faith- oris abletosupplyhisownproofs
can skiptheremainder
of thissection.
3.1 THEOREM.
A subgroup
is a W-group.
ofa W-group
3.2 THEOREM.Every W-groupis torsion-free.

3.3 THEOREM.
butBj/Bois nota W-group,
then
IfBo is a subgroup
ofB,, suchthatB1 isa W-group

thereexistsa homomorphism
B1--> Z.
q: Bo-- Z whichdoes not extendto a homomorphism:

778

[December

P. C. EKLOF

In abeliangrouptheory,
Ext is usuallydefinedas a groupof equivalenceclassesof shortexact
sequences(see Fuchs[4; ChapterIX]) butherewe shalldefineitin termsoffreeresolutions
forthe
withan introductory
benefit
ofthosefamiliar
textinhomological
algebrasuchas Jans[8]orNorthcott
[14].
Let us recall some definitions.
If A and C are groups,Hom(A, C) is the groupof all
p :A -- C, whereadditionis definedby ('Pi+ <p2)(a).=<p,(a)+<p2(a). For every
homomorphisms
groupC, a homomorphism
o: A,--> A2 inducesa homomorphism
cr':Hom(A2,C) ->Hom(A, C)
= gpodefinedby o-'(<p)
for>,E Hom(A2,C).
Recall thata sequence
-*E Ai+, --->Ai

is exactifKeroi = Im0i?+ foreveryi.

A freeresolution
of a groupA is a shortexactsequence
(*)

FoAO>

whereFo (and henceF1) is free.Givena freeresolution

(*) of A, we define
Ext(A, C) = Hom(F1,C)IIm8'.
(Thisis calledExt1(A, C) in [8], Extl(A, C) in [14].) It maybe provedthatExt(A, C) does not
is crucial(see [8; p.
theorem
dependon thechoiceofthefreeresolution
(see [8; p. 35]).Thefollowing
41f]fora proof).
3.4 THEOREM.For anyexactsequence
0

--*A1->A2-*A3

>0

and anygroupC thereis an exactsequence

0-> Hom(A3,C)-4 Hom(A2,C) Hom (A1,C)-> Ext(A3,C)-> Ext(A2,C)-> Ext(Ai, C)->0.

In orderto makeuse ofTheorem3.4,we needto expressin termsofExttheproperty

ofbeinga
W-group.
A groupA is a W-group
3.5 THEOREM.
ifand onlyif Ext(A,Z) = 0.
Proof.Suppose A is a W-groupand considera freeresolution(*). We mustprove that
Im8'=Hom (F1,Z). Given oi:F1->Z, defineB =(Z ?DFo)/IwhereI={(>pj(y), - 8(y))|y E F1}.
Thenwe havea commutative
diagram
O-> F1

Fo
{O

(P
i

(3.5.1)
O

>Z

'>B

>0

J1A
r> A

>0

wherethehomomorphisms
r, 6 and t are defined,
respectively,
by: 7((n, x) +I)=
(0,x) + I; t(n) (n,0) + I. The bottomlineof (3.5.1)is exact.

c(x); 0(x)=

1976]

WHITEHEAD'S

PROBLEM

779

IS UNDECIDABLE

thereis a r: B -> Z suchthatrt= 1,. Ifwe let'po= rO,itis easilyverified

SinceA is a W-group,
that8'(qpo)= 'pi.Hence 8' is ontoand Ext(A,Z) = 0.
supposeExt(A,Z) = 0 and considera shortexactsequence
Conversely
O Z->Z BA

(3.5.2)

->O.

suchthat70 = E. (Notethat0
homomorphism
Let Fo be as in (*) and let 0: Fo-> B be a surjective
existssinceFo is projective;see [8; pp. 7, 8].)
Thenthereis a homomorphism
diagram(3.5.1).By
,: F1-> Z suchthatwe havea commutative
thereexists>:o:Fo-> B suchthat(poS= (p,.We claimthat'po(x)= 0 ifx E Ker0. Indeedif
hypothesis
x E Ker0,thens(x) = rO(x) = 0,so x = 8(y) forsomey E F1;therefore
'po(x)= 'poa(y) = 'p1(y)= 0,
and upi(y)= 05(y)= 0(x) = 0. Thus(poinducesa mapr: B -> Z. We claim
thelastsincet is injective
thatrt = 14. Indeed,ifn E Z, rn(n)= (po(x) where0(x) = t(n). Now?(x) = 7r0(x)= Ir(n) = 0, so by
exactness,x = 8(y) forsome y E Fl. Hence Spo(x)= 'poS(y)= 'pi(y). Moreover,qpi(y) =08(y) =
The
(3.5.2)splitsandA is a W-group.
n = Sp,(y) = nt(n).Therefore
0(x) = t(n). Sincet is injective,
theoremis proved.
of thissection.
statedat thebeginning
We are nowreadyto provethethreetheorems
Proofof 3.1. SupposeA1 is a subgroupof a W-groupA2. Thereis an exactsequence
0

->Ai- A2-4 A2/A, -O,

whereo-,is theinclusionmap.By Theorem3.4 thereis an exactsequence

Ext(A2,Z)-> Ext(A,, Z)-> 0.
Theorem3.5 impliesExt(A2,Z)
SinceA2 is a W-group,
Theorem3.5, Al is a W-group.

Ext(Al, Z) = 0. Againby
0, andtherefore

thenthereexistsa E A suchthat(a) is a non-zerofinite

Proofof 3.2. If A is nottorsion-free,
cyclicgroup.
to provethatZ/nZ is not a W-groupforany n > 0. Considerthe
By Theorem3.1 it suffices
canonicalprojection
X

: Z ->Z/nZ.

HenceZ/nZ
to Z, butclearlyir doesnotsplit(sinceZ is torsion-free).
The kernelof ir is isomorphic
is nota W-group.
Proofof 3.3. Considertheexactsequence
Bo->BB1->B/Bo->O,
whereo-,is theinclusionmap.By Theorem3.4 thereis an exactsequence
Hom(B1,Z)--4Hom(Bo,Z)-- Ext(B/Bo,Z)-> Ext(B1,Z).
and Theorem3.5, Ext(B1,Z) = 0 and Ext(B1lBo,Z)
By hypothesis
of Theorem3.3.
theconclusion
whichis precisely
surjective,

# 0.

Thereforeor is not

which
result,
4. CountableW-groups.The principal
goalofthissectionis to provethefollowing
our
but
ours
be
than
Shorter
given,
2.4
countable
may
for
proofs
groups.
is a converseof Corollary
1.3
Theorem
of
is
it
a
for
the
that
(i).
proof
paradigm
proofhas theadvantage

780

[December

P. C. EKLOF

4.1 THEOREM[20]. EverycountableW-group

is free.
Beforeembarking
on theproofof4.1 we shallprovean important
characterization
ofcountable
freegroups.A subgroup
B ofa torsion-free
groupA is calleda puresubgroup
ifA /B is torsion-free.
(A warning:
thisdefinition
is nottheproperdefinition
ofpureifA is nottorsion-free;
see Kaplansky
[10;p. 14].)IfB is a subgroup
ofA thepureclosureofB inA is thesubgroup
B' = {a E A I na E B
forsomen$ 0}. It is clearlya puresubgroup
ofA. IfA is freeandB is finitely-generated,
thenB' is
freebyTheorem2.1.ClearlyB' hasthesamedimension
as B so ifB is finitely-generated
so is B'. We
havetherefore
provedthatifA is freetheneveryfinitely-generated
subgroup
ofA is contained
in a
finitely-generated
puresubgroup
ofA. The following
resultknownas Pontryagin's
Criterion,
saysthat
theconverseis trueforcountabletorsion-free
groups.
4.2 THEOREM[15]. Let A be a countabletorsion-free
groupsuch thateveryfinitely-generated
subgroup
ofA is contained
in a finitely-generated
puresubgroup
ofA. ThenA is free.
Proof.SinceA is countablewe can enumerate
theelementsof A in a sequence:
A

= {an

jn < w}.

We definebyinduction
on n < w a (smooth)chain{B| I n < } offinitely-generated
puresubgroups
of A. Let Bo= 0. If Bn has been defined,let Bn+1be a finitely-generated
pure subgroupof A
it is
containing
BnU{a,}. The unionof thischainis clearlyA. Considerthe quotientBn+1/Bn:
torsion-free
because Bn is purein A; it is finitely-generated
because Bn+lis finitely-generated.
is free.The proofofthetheorem
is completed
Therefore,
byTheorem2.2,Bn+l/Bn
byan application
of Theorem2.6.
In section7,weshallexhibit
ofcountability.
a
Theorem4.2 is nottrueifwe removethehypothesis
which
satisfies
a
condition
even
than
the
of
torsion-free
groupofcardinality
stronger
hypothesis
Xi
Theorem4.2 and yetis notfree.
thatwhenever
Let us adopttheconvention
C is a set(orgroup)oftheformB x Z, r willdenote
therewillbe
theprojection
mapontothefirst
factor,
i.e., rr(b,
n) = b forall (b,n) E B x Z. In context
no ambiguity
as to thedomainofv. If B is a groupwe definea (B,Z)-groupto be a groupC whose
setis B x Z suchthatv-: C-> B is a homomorphism
and (0,n) + (0,m) = (0,n + m) for
underlying
all n,m in Z. The simplest
exampleis B (? Z, i.e.,thesetB x Z equippedwiththegroupoperation.
givenby(b1,n1)+ (b2,n2)= (b1+ b2,ni+ n2).Noticethatforany(B,Z)-group C, thekernelofv is Z,
so if v : C-> B does notsplitthenB is nota W-group.
butB1/Bois nota W-group.
Let
4.3 LEMMA.LetBo bea subgroup
ofB1 suchthatB1 is a W-group
isa (B1,Z)-groupC,
Cobea (B0,Z)-groupandp a splitting
homomorphism
forv : CO->Bo. Thenthere
whichisan extension
toa splitting
ofCOsuchthatp doesnotextend
homomorphism
for77: C1-> B1.
r : Bo Z-> Co givenby r(b,n)=
Proof.Since 77: Co-> Bo splits,thereis an isomorphism
p(b) + (0,n). Noticethatr-'p(b) = (b,0) forall b E Bo.Hencewe mayassumethatCO= Bo DZ and
thatp(b) = (b,0) forall b E Bo. Let Cl = B1@ Z andlet 0: Bo-> Z be thehomomorphism
givenby
Theorem3.3. Define y : CO->Cl by y(b,n) = (b,n + +(b)). Suppose that thereis a splitting
homomorphism
pl : B1 -> C1forI : Cl -> B1suchthatpl IBo= y p. Let p = v o pi : B1-> Z. Thenfor
= +f(b).Thus(pis an extension
Theorem
ofq,whichcontradicts
anyb E Bo, p(b) = rri1(b)= rryp(b)
wewouldbe done;sinceitis not,we must
3.3.We concludethatno such5l exists.Ify wereinclusion
employa littletrick.Definea set mapf: C1--B1 x Z by
f(b,n)=

(b,n)

if b Bo

(b,n-q,(b))

if bEBo.

of BoD?Z intoB1x Z. Let C, be B1x Z withthe

Clearlyf is a bijectionandf oy is theinclusion

1976]

WHITEHEAD'S

PROBLEM

IS UNDECIDABLE

781

(i.e., for any u,v E B x Z u + v =

group structurewhich makes f a group isomorphism
+
is
and
the
ofy provedabove,thereis no
of CO
by property
f(f-1(u) f-(v)). ThenC1 an extension
->
->
B1
:
for
C1
which
extends
: Bo->Co.
B1
p
C1
r7:
splitting
homomorphism
pi
so to proveTheorem4.1 it will
Proofof 4.1. By Theorem3.2,we knowthatA is torsion-free,
Assumeitdoesnot;thatis,
thehypothesis
ofPontryagin's
Criterion.
suffice
to provethatA satisfies
pure
subgroupBo of A whichis notcontainedin a finitely-generated
thereis a finitely-generated
B is notfinitely-generated.
ofA. Let B be thepureclosureofBo in A. By ourassumption
subgroup
chainof finitely-generated
groups
Hence B is theunionof a strictly-increasing
Bo0B1" *..B

.***

n <w.

ofthepureclosure.Weshallconstruct
byinduction
groupbythedefinition
NotethatB/Bois a torsion
on n a chainofgroups
COCZCl*CZ..Cnc

n
n< ,

such that Cn is a torsion-free

(Bn,Z)-group.The union C= U nCn willthenbe a torsion-free
contradicting
(B, Z)-group.Our goal is to definetheCn'sso thatr-: C-> B does notsplit,thereby
Theorem3.1.
forBo. We claimthatifC is torsion-free,
anyhomomorphism
Let S be a finite
setofgenerators
determined
p B -> C is completely
byitsvalueson S. Indeedforanyb E B, thereis an nX 0 such
the
bythevaluesofp on S andsinceC is torsion-free,
thatnbE Bo. Nowp(nb) is clearlydetermined
equationnx= p(nb) has onlyone solutionin C, viz x = p(b).
Let {gnIn < } be a listofall the(set)mapsgn S-> S x Z suchthatign = is. (Thereareonlya
and Z is countable.)Nowwe proceedto definethe
countablenumberofsuchmapssinceS is finite
weconsider
twocases.In thefirst
to
case,ifgnextends
Cn's. Let CObe Bo ?DZ. IfCnhasbeendefined,
of Cn suchthatp does not
a splitting
p forr : Cn-> Bn,let Cn+ibe an extension
homomorphism
extendto a splitting
forr: Cn+1-> Bn+l.(NotethatCn+iexistsbyLemma4.3 since
homomorphism
is torsionandtherefore
casedoesnothold,letp
nota W-group
byTheorem3.2.) Ifthefirst
Bn+l/Bn
forr: Cn-> Bn anddefineCn+ias above.(Atleastonesuchp exists
be anysplitting
homomorphism
torsion-free
and therefore
free.)
generated,
byTheorem2.2 sinceBn is finitely
To completetheproofof4.1 we mustshowthatr7: C-> B does notsplit.If thereis a splitting
homomorp: B -> C forX thenp I S = gnforsomen. Butthenp IBn is a splitting
homomorphism
for
phismforr7: Cn-> Bn whichis an extensionof gn and extendsto a splitting
homomorphism
theconstruction
of Cn+iand hencetheproofis finished.
Cn+i- BBn,+Thiscontradicts
if
Let us call a groupA N,-free
aboutarbitrary
W-groups.
Theorem4.1 yieldssomeinformation
3.1and4.1
isfree.Putting
together
Theorems
ofcardinality
lessthanM,(i.e.countable)
everysubgroup
weobtainthefollowing
result.
is Xi-free.
4.4 COROLLARY.EveryW-group
of Pontryagin's
of the hypothesis
We shall considera generalization
5. Chase's condition.
of"torsion-free"
Criterion
(Theorem4.2).Firstofall,noticethat'"H-free"is a naturalgeneralization
is equivalentto "everyfinitely-generated
subgroupis free."
sinceby Theorem2.2 "torsion-free"
B ofA an
calla subgroup
of"pure."IfA is Xr-free,
Takingthisas ourcue,wedefinea generalization
as Chase'scondition.
We shallreferto thefollowing
X1-pure
subgroupifA/B is Xi-free.
in a countable
ofA is contained
subgroup
groupsuchthateverycountable
(5.1) A is an Xi-free
ofA.
subgroup
Xr-pure
of
We havechosenitsinceChase[1]proved,undertheassumption
is notstandard.
(Thisterminology

782

[December

P. C. EKLOF

theContinuum
Hypothesis,
thateveryW-group
satisfies
(5.1).) As we shallsee later(Theorem7.3),
Chase'scondition
does notimplythatA is free(unlessA is countable).
Butitdoesplaya central
role
in ourproofofTheorem1.3. In thissectionwe shallgivea necessary
and sufficient
condition
fora
groupofcardinality
Chase'scondition
tobe free.We beginbyexpressing
thecondition
in
Mlsatisfying
terms
ofascending
chains.(Herew,is thefirst
uncountable
ordinal,
i.e. thefirst
ordinalofcardinality
xi.)
5.2 LEMMA.
IfA is a groupofcardinality
Chase's condition
(5.1) ifand onlyifA is
X,,A satisfies
theunionofa smoothchainofcountable
freegroups
AoC ..
*C*5A, C ***,

v < ct)

suchthatAO = 0 and foreach ordinalv < w1,A,+1 is Xi-purein A.

ofA in a
Proof.SupposeA satisfies
(5.1). SinceA hascardinality
Xi we can listall theelements
sequenceof lengthw1:
<
A = {a, I V
vO.

DefineA. byinduction
on v < wi. Let AO be 0. If A,1 has beendefinedforall ,u< v considertwo
cases. First,if v is a limitordinal,let A. = U,1<VA,!. (A countableunionof countablesets is
countable.)
Second,ifv is a succossor
ordinal,
sayv = ,t + 1,letAD be a countableX,-pure
subgroup
in thisfashionclearlysatisfies
ofA whichcontainsA,1U {a,}. The chainconstructed
theproperties
ifA is theunionofa smoothchainofthetypedescribed,
statedin thelemma.Conversely,
thenA
satisfies
Chase'scondition
becauseanycountablesubgroupB of A is containedin A,+1 forsome
v < wl. Thiscompletestheproofof thelemma.
tothenotation
ofthelemma,letE be thesetofall limitordinals
Referring
A < W1suchthatA, is
in A. We shallprovethatthe"size" ofE determines
notXi-pure
whether
or notA is free.Firstwe
need somedefinitions.
A function
f: w1-> w1is callednormalifit is strictly
(i.e., ,u< v impliesf(Au)< f(v))
increasing
andcontinuous
(i.e.,foranylimitordinalA,f(A)= supff(v)Iv < A}). Noticethatiff is normalthen
inw,sincetheimageis uncountable.
theimageoff is unbounded
A subsetS ofw,is calledstationary
ifthe imageof everynormalfunction
has non-empty
intersection
withS. Examplesof stationary
subsetsofw,are: S = w1;S = thesetofall limitordinals< w1; S = thesetofall limitordinals< w1
whicharenotoftheforma + w; S = anysetwhichcontains
theimageofa normalfunction.
(We use
onlythefirsttwoexamples.)
Makinguseofthesamenotation
as inLemma5.2 andthecomments
thelemma,wecan
following
statethemaintheoremof thissection.
5.3 THEOREM[2]. ThegroupA is freeifand onlyifE is nota stationary
subsetofw1.
Proof.SupposeE is notstationary
in wi.Let f: w1-> w1be a normalfunction
whoseimagedoes
notintersect
E, andletA. = Af(). Thensincef is an unbounded
continuous
function,
{ADIv < wil is
a smoothchainwhoseunionis A. Sincetherangeoff does notintersect
E, A. is Xi-purein A for
is freeforeveryv < wi, by the definition
of Xi-pure.Therefore
everyv < wi. Hence A+1I/AD
Theorem2.6 impliesthatA is free.
Conversely,
supposethatA isfreeandletX be a basisofA. We assertthatthereis a smoothchain
{XDI v < wl} ofsubsetsofX, anda normalfunction
f: w- > w,suchthatforeveryv < wi, X. is a basis
ofAf(g).If thisis thecase,thenE is notstationary
in wi. Indeed,foreveryv < wi, f(v) is notin E
sinceA lAft()isisomorphic
tothefreegroupgenerated
byX - XDandhenceAf(,)is xi-pureinA.
We defineX. andf(v) byinduction
on v. Let XO= 0 and f(0) = 0. SupposeX,. andf(,) have
been definedforall ,u < v. If v is a limitordinal,let X. = U<.<X, and f(v) = sup{f(,
()I , < v}.
ThenXDis a basisofAf(,)sinceAf(,)= U,,<,Af(!,).If v = ,u+ 1, let YObe a countablesubsetofX

1976]

WHITEHEAD'S

PROBLEM

IS UNDECIDABLE

783

properly
containing
subsetofX
X,. andleto-obe an ordinalsuchthatYOC A r, Let Y, be a countable
suchthatA lo iscontained
in(Y,). Byinduction
on n weobtaina chainofcountable
subsetsofX
XiY, C C Y1C"

C YnC

n<w

and a sequenceof ordinals

f(tt< o-o

0-nc

n <Ct)

suchthatforeveryn < ,
YnCA_, C(Y+).

Ifwe letX. = Un<c,Ynandf(v)= sup{o-n n < w}, thenXDis a basisofAf(). Thiscompletes

the
proofof thetheorem.
We shall make use of the following
ratheramazingconse6. The axiomof constructibility.
we cannotgivethe
quenceof Godel'saxiomV = L whichwas discovered
byJensen[9]. (Although
proofhere,thisresultis a relatively
easyconsequenceoftheformal
definition
andsomeelementary
properties
of L. We couldhavesimplytakenthisconsequenceof V = L as ouraxiom- replacing
V =L in 1.3 (i) - but we preferred
to indicateits relationto the well-known
Axiom of
Constructibility.)
AssumeV = L. LetC bea setwhichis theunionofa strictly
6.1 THEOREM.
smooth
increasing
chain
subsetof w1. Thenthereis a sequence
of countablesets {C. I v < wid,and letE be a stationary
{S. I v E E} suchthatS. C C. forall v E E and suchthatforanysubsetX ofC, thesetofv inE with
in w1.
x n CD= SDis stationary
We actuallymakeuse of thefollowing
of thetheorem:
corollary
6.2 COROLLARY.
AssumeV = L. Let B be a setwhichis theunionofa strictly
snmooth
increasing
chainofcountable
sets{B. I v < w1} and letY beanycountable
subsetofw1.
set.LetE bea stationary
Then thereis a sequenceof functions{g :B
R-> BR x Y v E E} such thatfor any function
toB. isgv.
h(B.) C B. x Yforall v,there
isan v inE suchthath restricted
h: B -> B x Ysatisfying
Proof.To provethecorollary
fromthetheorem
letC. = B. X(B. X Y) andC = B X(B X Y). Let
v
E
be
the
the
conclusion
of Theorem6.1. Note thatS. is a subsetof
E}
{S, I
sequencegivenby
If
is
a
from
let
letg. be anyfunction
function
to
from
x
x
x
B. B. Y, g. = S.. Otherwise
BD (B. Y). SD
If
h
is
B
B
Y
h
B
function
from
to
we
as
a
subset
of
to
x
x (B x Y). By
BD B. x Y.
any
mayregard
Theorem6.1 thereis an v (in facta stationary
set of them)suchthath n CD= S.. Becauseof the
thath(BD,)C B. x Y,wesee thath n CDequalsh restricted
toB., which,
hypothesis
therefore,
equals
gv.Thiscompletestheproofof thecorollary.
The following
theorem
is thekeyto thesolutionofWhitehead's
Problemundertheassumption
V = L. It is provedbytechniques
likethoseusedin theproofofTheorem4.1. In theproofof4.1 we
did not need anyspecialassumptions
becauseeverypotentialsplitting
for r was
homomorphism
=
B
B.
its
In
the
where
thesituation
of following
theorem
alreadydetermined
by valueson
U.<,, B.
is uncountable,
we needCorollary
6.2 in orderto obtaina listofhomomorphisms
on theB.'s which
forV.
of everypotentialsplitting
includesa restriction
homomorphism
6.3 THEOREM.Assume V = L. Let B be theunionofa strictly
increasingsmoothchain {B. Iv < W1}

is notfree}is stationary
inwi. ThenB is nota
suchthatE = {v < w1IBD+1/BD
ofcountable
freegroups
W-group.

a smoothchainof groups
Proof.Justas in theproofof Theorem4.1 we defineby induction
<
v
is
a
is
and
the
union
C
such
that
a
{C. I
C.
(B., Z)-group
(B,Z)-groupsuchthatiT: C-> B
wil

784

P. C. EKLOF

[December

does notsplit.By Corollary

6.2 thereis a set of functions
{IgD

B.

B. X Z

IV C E}

suchthatforeveryh: B -B x Z with7rh= 1B, thereis a ,uin E suchthath I B,, = g.

forall ,u< v.Ifv is a limitordinal,
Let CObe any(Bo, Z)-group.SupposethatC, hasbeendefined
let C. = U,<D C,. If v is a successorordinal,say v = ,u+ 1,considertwocases.First,if, E E and
for7r:C, -> B/, letC. be an extension
ofC, suchthat
homomorphism
gB!, -*B, > B,. x Z is a splitting
-*
for
that
does
not
extend
to
a
exists
v:
C.
B,
C.
(Note
homomorphism
gl.
splitting
byLemma4.3,
In thesecondcase,if
sinceB,.+1/B,,
is notfreeand therefore,
byTheorem4.1,is nota W-group.)
forv: C, -> B, let C. be any(BD, Z)-groupextending
homomorphism
, 0 E or gl, is nota splitting
C, (cf.proofof 4.1).
Let C be theunionofthechain{C. I v < wl}. Ifthereis a splitting
p: B -> C for
homomorphism
caseofthedefinition.
v C-> B thenthereis a ,uE E suchthatp I B, = g,. We areclearlyinthefirst
ofourconstruction
of C, +,. Hence v
Butthen,justas in theproofof4.1,we obtaina contradiction
does notsplitand thetheoremis proved.
ofcardinality
A is freeintwo
ProofofTheorem
1.3(i).LetA be a W-group
Xi.We shallprove'that
Chase'scondition
steps.FirstweshallprovethatA satisfies
(5.1)andthenweshalluseTheorem5.3to
provethatA is free.
this
SinceCorollary
4.4saysA is Xi-free,
thatA doesnotsatisfy
Chase'scondition.
Suppose,first
C ofA which
means:(*) thereis a countable
subgroup
subgroup
Bo ofA suchthatforanycountable
C suchthatC'/C is notfree.It followsthat
containsBo thereis a countablesubgroupC' containing
thereis a strictly
smoothchain{B. I v < w1} ofcountable
ofA suchthatforeach
increasing
subgroups
v < w1, BD+1IBDis notfree.(The chainis constructed
bytransfinite
induction
using(*).) If B is the
= w1).Wehavethus
E
this
B
is
not
in
this
case
unionof chainthen,byTheorem6.3,
a W-group
(since
condition.
obtaineda contradiction
of Theorem3.1. Hence A mustsatisfy
Chase's
By Lemma5.2,A is theunionofa smoothchain{AD I v < w1} suchthatforeach v < w1,A,+1 is
inA. Let E = {A < w1 I A, is notHt1-pure
inA} andletE' = {A < w1 I AA+1/A,is notfree}.We
r1-pure
ifA is notinE', thenforeveryv > A,Au/A, is free
E' C E. Conversely,
assertthatE = E'. Certainly
by Corollary2.5 since
(AD/AAx)/(AA
+1/AAk
)- A. /AA+1.

It followsthatA/Akis Xi-free
sinceeverycountablesubgroup
ofA/Ak is containedin AD/Akfor
some v > A.Thus A is notin E and theassertionis proved.
By Theorem6.3,E' is nota stationary
subsetofw1becauseA is a W-group.
SinceE equalsE',
Theorem5.3 impliesthatA is free.The proofof Theorem1.3(i)is complete.
7. Martin'saxiom.We shallstatea specialcase ofMartin'saxiomintheformofa theorem.
The
withthegeneralformofMA (see Shoenfield
reader,ifhe is familiar
[18];also Martin-Solovay
[12])
shouldfindit easyto supplya proofof thetheorem.Otherwise,
he maytakeit as an axiom.
< 2Moand letP be a familyof
7.1 THEOREM.
AssumeMA. Let A and B be setsof cardinality
with
the
functions
following
properties:
(7.1.1) foreveryf in P, f is a function
froma subsetofA intoB;
a inA andevery
(7.1.2) forevery
finP, there
exists
g inP suchthatfC g anda isinthedomainofg;
and
uncountable
subsetP' ofP, there
(7.1.3) forevery
existfl,f2inP' andf, inP suchthatf'X f2andf,
extendsbothf' and f2.
Thenthere
exists
a function
F ofA there
subset
exists
g : A -* B suchthatforevery
finite
finP withF
contained
in thedomainoff and g IF = f IF.

1976]

WHITEHEAD'S

PROBLEM

IS UNDECIDABLE

785

- is
(An examplewhichshowsthatcondition
(7.1.3)- calledthecountable
antichain
condition
is: P = thesetofall one-onefunctions
necessary
froma finite
subsetofan uncountable
setA intoa
countableset B.)
We shalluse Theorem7.1 to provethefollowing:

I4 whichsatisfies
7.2 THEOREM.
AssumeMA + 2Mo> X4.LetA beanygroupofcardinality
Chase's
ThenA is a W-group.
condition.
7.2 letus see thatitimpliesTheorem1.3 (ii). The following
is provedin
Beforeproving
theorem
ZFC.
I4 whichsatisfies
7.3 THEOREM
[6]. Thereis a group
A ofcardinality
Chase's condition
butis not
free.
a smoothchain{A. Iv < wdofcountable
Proof.We shalldefinebyinduction
groupssatisfying
the
threeproperties:
following
(i) foreveryv < w, A. is free;
(ii) foreveryA < v < w1, AI/A,,,+1
is free;and
(iii) foreverylimitordinalA < w1, AA+1/AAis notfree.
IfA is theunionofsucha chain,A satisfies
therequirements
ofthetheorem.
Indeed,A satisfies
is
Chase'scondition
by Lemma5.2 and properties
(i) and (ii). (NoticethatforeveryA < W1,A,,+1
inA becauseeverycountable
is contained
inA,/A,+1forsomev < w,.)
ofA/A,,+1
N1-pure
subgroup
By (iii)thesetoflimitordinalsA suchthatAA is notN1-pure
inA equalsthesetofall limitordinals,
whichis clearlya stationary
set.Therefore
byTheorem5.3, A is notfree.
Now let us definethe chain.Let Ao = 0 and supposethatforsome 8 < wi, a smoothchain
whichsatisfies
(i), (ii) and(iii).We mustdefineAS andverify
thethree
{A. Iv < 8} has beendefined
forthechain{A, : v < 8 + 1}. Thereare threecases.
properties
Case 1: 8 = v + 1,wherev is nota limitordinal.LetA, = A. E Z. Thethreeproperties
areeasily
verified.
(Property
(ii) uses Corollary
2.5.)
Case 2: 8 = A, a limitordinal.Let AA = UV<A.A. Choose a strictly
increasingsequence
ordinalforeveryn.ThenAA = Un<wA<n
and
{on I n < w} whoselimitis A suchthato-nis a successor
by(ii),AO,n+I/AO,nis freeforeveryn < w. By Theorem2.6,AA is free,and A/AI, is freeforevery
n < w. Hence(i) holds;and(ii) follows
fromCorollary
2.5 sinceifA < A,A,+1is contained
inAc, for
some n < w. Property
(iii) is obviousin thiscase.
Case 3: 8 = A+ 1,whereA is a limitordinal.Thisis themostdifficult
case.Let {on I n < } be as
in Case 2, exceptthatforconvenience
we requireaO= 0. By theproofofTheorem2.6 we knowthat
thereexistsa smoothchainofsets{XnI n < } suchthatXnis a basisofA,. Foreach n > 1,choose
of AA generated
by
xnE Xn- Xn_1.Let Yn= Xn- {xnlforeach n > 1 and let B be thesubgroup
P=
Let
Define
be
P
to
the
of
AA
and
subgroup
generated
by
UnYn.
ln=l(xn).
AA+,
BE[
{Zm: 1 -<m < w}, whereZmistheelement
ofP represented
sum
(intheobvioussense)bytheformal

Zm=

> (n!/m!)xn.

n m

It is an easyexerciseto verify
thatUn YnU {Zm:1 C m < } is a basisofAA+,. Thus(i) holds.For
each k < w, AA+l/A,kis isomorphic
to thesubgroupof AA+l generated
by

n>k

(Yn

Yk)U{

zm:k + 1m

<}.

ThusAA+11A,kisfree;property
fromCorollary
2.5(cf.Case 2). As forproperty
(ii)follows
(iii),notice
thatm!zm- z1E AA foreverym -' 1. Thus z1+ AA is a non-zeroelementof AA+,/AA
whichis
divisible
ofthistype,property
byn foreveryn > 0. Sincea freegroupdoesnothaveanyelements
(iii)
and thetheorem
are proved.

786

P. C. EKLOF

[December

Chase'scondition
andlet7r:B -* A be a
Proofof7.2.LetA be a groupofcardinality
N,satisfying
surjective
withkernelZ. (Allwe reallyneedis thatthekernelis countable.)
homomorphism
We shall
Theorem7.1tothesetP ofall homomorphisms
ep:S -* B satisfying:
provethat7rsplitsbyapplying
(7.2.1)

= ls; andS is a finitely-generated

puresubgroup
ofA.
7r(p

If we provethatP satisfies
(7.1.1),(7.1.2) and (7.1.3),thenby Theorem7.1 thereis a function
subsetofA. It followsthatg is a
g: A -* B whichagreeswitha memberof P on anygivenfinite
homomorphism
and thatirg= 1A. Hence 7rsplits.
Since (7.1.1) is obviousfor P, it remainsto verify(7.1.2) and (7.1.3). Property(7.1.2) is a
consequenceof thefollowing
lemma.
7.4 LEMMA.If epis in P and F is a finite
subsetofA, thenthereis a function
ep'inP suchthatep'
extends
epand F is contained
in thedomainofso'.
Proof.Let S be thedomainofq'.SinceA is K,-free,
thereis a finitely-generated
puresubgroup
S'
ofA whichcontainsS U F (cf.theremarks
Theorem4.2). Now S'/Sis finitely-generated
preceding
andtorsion-free
(sinceS is purein A) andtherefore',
byTheorem2.2, S'/Sis free.By Corollary
2.5
thereis a basisofS'of theformX U Y whereX is a basisofS. Ifx E X, define( '(x) = qp(x). Ify E Y
= y.Thisdefines
defineep'(y)= by,wherebyis someelementofB suchthat1r(by)
a homomorphism
thusthelemmais proved.
(P': S'--* B whichhas thedesiredproperties;
Theproofofproperty
a littlemorework.Let usfirst
(7.1.3)requires
proveitundertheassumption
thatP' is an uncountable
subsetof P suchthatthereis a puresubgroup
A' ofA whichis freeand
whichcontains
thedomainsofall theelements
ofP'. Choosea.basisX = {x, Iv < W1}ofA'. Because
ofLemma7.4 we mayassumethatthedomainofeach epin P' is generated
subsetofX.
bya finite
sincea countableunionofcountablesetsis countable,
Moreover,
P' byan
we mayassume(replacing
uncountable
subsetif necessary)thereis an m suchthatforeveryepin P', the domainof epis
generated
byexactlym elements
ofX. Let P' = {ep,I v < w1}andlet Y, C X be a basisofthedomain
ofqp,.SinceY, hascardinality
m forv,thereis a subsetT ofX whichis maximal
withrespectto the
property
thatT is containedin Y, foruncountably
manyv. (PossiblyT = 0.) Noticethatsincethe
kernelof 7ris countablethereareonlycountably
on T whichbelongto P. Hencewe
manyfunctions
loss of generality
mayassumewithout
thatep,and ep,agreeon T wheneverT C Y_ and T C Yr.
we mayassumethatT C YO.For each y E YO- T, thereare onlycountably
Renumbering,
manyv
suchthaty E Y, (bythemaximality
of T). Hencethereexistsv7 0 suchthatY, f Yo= T. Sinceepo
and ep, agreeon T theyhave a commonextension0 :(Yo U Yr,)-* B. Now (Y0 U Y,) is a pure
subgroupof A' sinceit is generatedby a subsetof a basis of A'. Therefore
(YOU Y,) is a pure
subgroupof A since
(A/(YoU Y,))/(A'/(YoU Y,))

A A'.

(We makeuse oftheeasilyprovedfactthatifAIB and B are torsion-free,

thenA is torsion-free.)
Hencedfis an elementofP andproperty
(7.1.3)is provedunderthespecialassumption.
Thegeneral
case of (7.1.3)followsfromthenextlemma.(Recallthatwe are assuming
thatA satisfies
Chase's
condition.
Here we finally
use thathypothesis!)
7.5 LEMMA.Foranyuncountable
P' ofP there
subset
isa freesubgroup
A' whichispureinA andan
uncountable
subsetP" ofP' suchthatdom(so)C A' foreveryepin P".
Proof.SupposeP' = {Sp,
Iv < wo}wherep Sv,-* B. ReplacingP' by an uncountablesubsetif
we mayassumethereis an m suchthatS, hasa basisofcardinality
necessary,
m forall v < w0.There
is a puresubgroupT ofA maximalwithrespectto theproperty
thatT is contained
in uncountably
manyS,. We mayassumethatT iscontained
inS, forall P.ByTheorem2.2andCorollary
2.5wemay
assumethereis a (finite)
basisofS, oftheformX U Y, whereX is a basisofT.

1976]

WHITEHEAD'S

PROBLEM

IS UNDECIDABLE

787

We shallconstruct
A' as theunionofa smoothchain{A, I v < w} suchthatforeach v < w1,A, is
A' willbe
a puresubgroup
ofA andA,+,/A,is free.ThenA' willbe freebyTheorem2.6; moreover,
of A.
purein A sinceit is a unionof puresubgroups
Let Ao = T Supposewe havedefined{A,,I A < } and a strictly
increasing
sequenceofordinals
< } suchthatY,+l CA,+,. If v is a limitordinallet A, = U, <,A,. If v is a successor
fo-, IA,u
ofA whichcontains
ordinal,v = 8 + 1,letC, be a countableMi-pure
subgroup
A,. (Herewe usethe
hypothesis
thatA satisfiesChase's condition.)There existso, > O>+ forall A <v such that
sinceC, is countabletherewouldbe an elementc E C8 anduncountably
(YeV)n c8 = 0. (Otherwise,
manyT < wlsuchthatc E (YT); butthenthepureclosureof T + (c) wouldcontradict
themaximality
of T.) Let A, be thepureclosureofA, + (Y0). Since(Y,) n c, = 0, itfollowsthatA, n C. = A8.
Hence A,/A, is isomorphic
to a countablesubgroupof A/C, and is therefore
free- sinceC, is
inA. Ifwe letP" =
A < wo} we see thattheconclusions
ofthelemmaaresatisfied
and
N1-pure
henceTheorem7.2 is proved.
> X1,for
Theorem1.3(ii) maybe generalized
as follows.
MA + 2Mo
8. Generalizations.
Assuming
becauseifA
cardinalK, thereis a non-free
ofcardinality
K. Thisfollows
everyuncountable
W-group
is a non-free
becausein
W-group
ofcardinality
MlthenthedirectsumofK copiesofA is a W-group,
general
Ext (

Ai,C) =HExt

(Ai,C).

Shelah(Is. J. Math.,21 (1975)319-349)has shownthatTheorem1.3 (i) generalizes

also, i.e.,
is free.Theproofis byinduction
assumingV = L, everyW-group
on thecardinality
oftheW-group.
At singular
cardinalities
theproofrequiresthefollowing
resultofShelah's:ifA is a groupofsingular
K
< K is free,thenA is free.
such
that
cardinality
everysubgroupof A of cardinality
Shelahhas provedthata negativeanswerto Whitehead's
Also, recently
problemforgroupsof
withZFC + 2o = _l.This together
cardinality
withTheorems1.3 (i) and 1.1 (ii)
Ml is consistent
impliesthatWhitehead's
problemis undecidable
in ZFC + 20o= N1.(An assertion
to thecontrary
in
Math.Reviews,vol. 50 # 2362is in error.)
The proofof7.3canbe generalized
to provethatthereare2', pairwisenon-isomorphic
groupsof
cardinality
NI whichsatisfy
Chase'scondition.
The proofofTheorem1.3whichwe havegivenis somewhat
in detailfromthatin [17],
different
thekeyideasare thesame.The advantageoftheproofgivenhereis thatitmayeasilybe
although
to obtainotherundecidability
generalized
results.See [3] fortheseas wellas relatedresults.
Work on this paper was partiallysupportedby NSF grantGP-43910.
I wish to thank ProfessorsS. Feferman,U. Felgner and R. Solovay fortheirhelpfulcomments.
References
1. S. U. Chase, On groupextensionsand a problemof J. H. C. Whitehead,pp. 173-193 in Topics in Abelian
Groups, Scott-Foresman,Glenview, Ill., 1963.
2. P. C. Eklof, On the existenceof K-freeabelian groups,Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 47 (1975) 65-72.
, Homological algebra and set theory,to appear in Trans. Amer. Math. Soc.
3.
4. L. Fuchs, InfiniteAbelian Groups, Vol. I, Academic Press, New York, 1970.
5. K. Godel, The Consistencyof the ContinuumHypothesis,PrincetonUniversityPress, 1940.
A note on a theoremof Hill, Pac. J. Math., 29 (1969) 279-284.
6. P. Griffith.
7. P. Hill, New criteriafor freenessin abelian groups II, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 196 (1974) 191-201.
8. J. P. Jans,Rings and Homology,Holt-Rinehartand Winston,New York, 1964.
9. R. B. Jensen,The finestructureof the constructiblehierarchy,Ann. of Math. Logic, 4 (1972) 229-308.
10. I. Kaplansky,InfiniteAbelian Groups (rev. ed.), Univ. of Michigan Press, 1969.
11. S. Lang, Algebra, Addison-Wesley,Reading, Mass., 1971.
12. D. A. Martinand R. M. Solovay, InternalCohen extensions,Ann. of Math. Logic, 2 (1970) 143-178.

788

[December

MORRIS MARDEN

13. J. D. Monk, On the foundationsof set theory,thisMONTHLY,77 (1970) 703-711.

14. D. G. Northcott,An Introductionto Homological Algebra, CambridgeUniversityPress, 1960.
15. L. S. Pontryagin,The theoryof topologicalcommutativegroups,Ann. of Math., 35 (1934) 361-388.
16. M. E. Rudin, Souslin's conjecture,this MONTHLY,76 (1969) 113-119.
17. S. Shelah, Infiniteabelian groups- Whiteheadproblemand some constructions,
Is. J. Math., 18 (1974)
243-256.
18. J. R. Shoenfield,Martin'sAxiom, this MONTHLY, 82 (1975) 610-617.
19. R. M. Solovay and S. Tennenbaum,Cohen Extensionsand Souslin's problem,Ann. of Math., 94 (1971)
201-245.
20. K. Stein, Analytische Funktionen mehrerer komplexer Verainderlichen zu vorgegebenen
Periodizitaitsmoduln
und das zweite Cousinsche Problem,Math. Ann., 123 (195.1)201-222.
DEPARTMENT

OF MATHEMATICS,

UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA,

IRVINE,

CA 92717

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

MORRIS MARDEN

titleforthistalk.EversinceI havebeen
myuse oftheShakespearean
Let mebeginbyexplaining
havepokedfunat meas being
friends
someofmynon-mathematical
studying
thezerosoffunctions,
years
As I havebeentheinnocent
victim
ofthispunforalmostfifty
theworld'sexperton nothing.
ofthetitleis obvious.
during
whichI havetriedmybestto do muchaboutzeros,theappropriateness
Of course,Shakespeareappliedhistitleto a comedy,so I hope thatI have notmisledanyoneto
buta veryseriousmathematical
talktoday.
expectanything
on someofmypast
on arrangements*,
thistalkis to be a retrospect
By requestofthecommittee
ofRolle's
I shalllimititto a singletopic:theextension
In orderto givethetalksomeunity,
research.
whichstatesthatbetweenanypairof
to thecomplexplane.Thisis,ofcourse,thetheorem
theorem
thatis,at leastone
function
f liesat leastonezeroofitsderivative;
realzerosofa realdifferentiable
whichone meetsin anyintroductory
coursein thecalculus.Yet its
critical
pointoff.It is a theorem
to thecomplexplaneis by no meanstrivial.In factRolle's theoremdoes notholdfor
extension
of a complexvariableas is shownby theexamplef(z) = ezi - 1. This
arbitrary
analyticfunctions
f'(z) = jezi has no zeroswhatsoever.
has zerosat z = 0 and z = 2- butitsderivative
function
ofa complexvariablesomeanaloguesto Rolle's
functions
However,forcertainclassesofanalytic
I shall
functions.
entireandmeromorphic
forpolynomial,
rational,
theorem
havebeenfound;namely,
In generalI shallomitproofsbutgive
myowncontributions.
describetheseanaloguesincluding
fallintotwotypes.
wherepossible.Now,theseanaloguesofRolle'stheorem
physical
interpretations
The
forwhichthelocationofall thezerosandpolesis prescribed.
Thefirst
to functions
typepertains
the
forwhichthelocationofonlysomezerosandpolesisprescribed,
secondtypepertains
tofunctions
remaining
ones beingunspecified.
thatanyinterval
to Rolle'stheorem
thecorollary
ofthefirst
The theorems
typeaimto generalize
P alsocontains
all thecritical
pointsofP.
allthezerosofa givenpolynomial
oftherealaxiscontaining
The initialcomplexvariablediscovery
alongtheselinesgoes back to theearliestdaysof coniplex
of
in getting
thegeometric
representation
variablesand in factto themanwhowas mostinfluential
to Gausswhoin 1836statedthatthecritical
pointsofa polynomial
complexvariablesaccepted.I refer
atthezeros
P arethemultiple
zerosofP andtheequilibrium
pointsina fieldofforcedueto particles
to theinversedistancelaw.Gauss'mechanical
maybe easily
interpretation
ofP, attracting
according
* Lecturegivenon May 9, 1975 as partofthe Colloquium at the Universityof Wisconsin-Milwaukee
honoring
the author's retirementfromthe UWM.