On Poset Boolean Algebras

Abstract

Let (P,≤) be a partially ordered set. The poset Boolean algebra of P, denoted F(P), is defined as follows: The set of generators of F(P) is {x _p  : p∈P}, and the set of relations is {x _p ⋅x _q =x _p  : p≤q}. We say that a Boolean algebra B is well-generated, if B has a sublattice G such that G generates B and (G,≤^B|G) is well-founded. A well-generated algebra is superatomic.

THEOREM 1. Let (P,≤) be a partially ordered set. The following are equivalent. (i) P does not contain an infinite set of pairwise incomparable elements, and P does not contain a subset isomorphic to the chain of rational numbers, (ii) F(P) is superatomic, (iii) F(P) is well-generated.

The equivalence (i) ⇔ (ii) is due to M. Pouzet. A partially ordered set W is well-ordered, if W does not contain a strictly decreasing infinite sequence, and W does not contain an infinite set of pairwise incomparable elements.

THEOREM 2. Let F(P) be a superatomic poset algebra. Then there are a well-ordered set W and a subalgebra B of F(W), such that F(P) is a homomorphic image of B.

This is similar but weaker than the fact that every interval algebra of a scattered chain is embeddable in an ordinal algebra. Remember that an interval algebra is a special case of a poset algebra.