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Relatively complemented, distributive lattices

Article in Algebra and Logic · November 1979

DOI: 10.1007/BF01673954

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RELATIVELY COMPLEMENTED, DISTRIBUTIVE LATTICES

Yu. L. Ershov UDC 512.565.2

This paper is devoted to an algebraic exposition of the foundations of the theory of

relatively complemented, distributive lattices. Some of the results presented here (e.g., a
description of superatomic Boolean algebras [i, 2] and a reduction of the isomorphism problem
for Boolean algebras [4]) are known, but we give purely algebraic proofs, using no topological
concepts or results. The theory of extensions for relatively complemented distributive lat-
tices was discussed by the author in 1971 at the llth All-Union Algebra Colloquium at Kish-
inev.

i. Category ~ Theory of Extensions

The most throughly studied class of distributive lattices is the class of Boolean
algebras. However, the categorical properties of Boolean algebras are not entirely satis-
factory. For example, although a homomorphic image of a Boolean algebra is completely deter-
mined by the kernel of the homomorphism, the kernel, an ideal of the Boolean algebra, is
itself not generally a Boolean algebra. Therefore, it seems advisable to consider a wider
class of distributive lattices that preserves most of the good properties of Boolean algebras
and has better closure properties.

Suppose ~= <A~U~N,0> is a distributive lattice with zero, G , ~ E A , ~ , i.e., ~ N

=5 ; an element CEAis called a complement of a relative to ~ if C m ~ = 0 and a u C = S ,

Note that if a complement exists, it is unique.

A distributive lattice £~ is called relatively complemented if for any pair of elements

O,~ ~ there exists a complement of ~ relative to g . If ~ is a relative comple-
mented, distributive lattice, the uniqueness of the complement, noted above, enables us to
define on ~ a binary operation ~ such that the following identities hold:

t.
In any relatively complemented, distributive lattice we have:

Cm g}\x =

z)= =(z-z);
6) ( ~ ) U (X\])=X.
Translated from Algebra i Logika, Vol. 18, No. 6, pp. 680-722, November-December, 1979.
Original article submitted June 6, 1979.

0006-5232/79/1806-0431507.50 © 1980 Plenum Publishing Corporation 431

 Relatively complemented, distributive lattices will be considered with signature
<~\~0> Note that a homomorphism ~ : ~ of relatively complemented, distributive
lattices with signature <U,D,0> preserves the operation ~ , i.e., it is a homomorphism
in the signature < U ~ , \ ~ 0~. Indeed, suppose ~ , o e ]~] ~ ~ = O, ~0 ~ ~ u ~, i.e.,
C=~ ; then O= ~IO) = ~ ( ~ C ) - ~ ~(~)~(0), ~]0 ~(~)=~(~U~)=~[~UC)= F ~ ) U ~(~)
and @(a)=~(6)- {(a).
The class of all relatively complemented, distributive lattices and the class of all
homomorphisms between them form the category ~ of relatively complemented, distributive
lattices. We write ~ 6 ~ to denote that ~ is a relatively complemented, distributive
lattice.

If L% 6 4 and £~ contains a largest element, then £7~ is called a Boolean algebra.

Boolean algebras are often considered with signature < U , ~ C ~ O , ¢ > , where )I,n,0 have the
same meaning as in ~o ; the value of the constant ~ is the largest element, and C is
a unary operation related to -- as follows: C~ = /~

An ideal of a lattice CLE~o is any nonempty subset 7c_IOgl such that

With any ideal J of a lattice ~ we can associate a new lattice OC/~ , the quotient
lattice of ~ modulo J .

We define on the set I~l an equivalence relation as follows: f ~ i 4 a , ~ > l a f 6 1 C ~ l ~ C e J

(~ZO~=gUC)] ; on the quotient set t ~ I / ~ we can define in a natural way the operators
U~ n , and -, so that

We obtain a lattice ~'/~7 , which also belongs to ~e ; the mapping L21 ,' [~2_]~, is a homo-
morphism (the projection) of ~ onto the quotient lattice C~/~

We now state a number of results known as the homomorphism theorems.

Suppose ~ , $ ~ ~0 and ~ : ~ --~ $ is a homomorphism. The kernel of the homomorphism

is the set ~ { L Z ] a E I ~ I ~ ~/Q)=0} It is easy to see that ~ ~ is an ideal of £~

Proposition i. Any homomorphism ~:C~ -~ ~ can factored into a product of a projection

~.~ --~ ~ / ~ ~a)----[~]~z ~ ) and an isomorphic embedding ~ : ~/~.~ ) ,,~ {~=~, ~).

Proposition 2. If ~ is an ideal of ~ , then there exists a natural one-to-one cor-

respondence between the sublattices of ~/~ and the sublattices of ~ containing ~ ; more-
over, ideals correspond to ideals.

Proof of Proposition i. We first define a homomorphism ~,:~/~ " ~. If <~a,~l~£

there exists 0 ~ such that ~=~C=~,t~6 ; then

~(ao) = t~(ao)u o = p~a,)) u p ( c ) = ~ ( a , , u , " ) - ~(a, uc) -- 9~a~)u.,~Ce) -- ~ i a , ) u o -- ~ a , ) .

432
Consequently, ~ ( ~ l ] f ~ )--{~9(a)]. Putting ~, ([~]£K~)~- ~(~), we obtain a well-defined mapping
~" ICXI/fK~[~ . It ms easy to see that ~, is a homomorphism of £~/~ into .~ . We
will show that ~ is one-to-one. If ~ ( [ Q 0 ] ) - ~ 0 ([~]), then ~(a0)=~0(Q1]-F(O~)LJ ~(~I)=
~(GoUO I) If Co~(noUal)\~o, then ~(Co)=~(EloU~21)\~Qo)~(~o),~(~o ) = 0, i.e., CoEKe~,~.
Analogously, C1=IOod~1)\a~EK#]g~ ; therefore, C ~ CodC 7 E ~ . Also, O$oLJC=iaoUCo)tiC~=
(GoUOI] UC I=- g~0LJQ1 , since C7~L7oL~O, ; analogously, STLJC=~IUICILJCo~=(EZIUCf)LJCo=(EzoLt~1)~l£o
=fToU~2 f. Since CE ~ , it follows that <~z0,~71>efK~0and [Go]= ~ ] The relation
F-~*P follows from the definitions ( ~ , p ( G ) = ~ , ( [ ~ ] ~ ) = ~ ( n 0.

The proof of Proposition 2 is a direct verification and is left to the reader.

The category 4 is obviously closed under direct (Cartesian)products, i.e., g~ZC~E 4

for any family ~, ~£I~4

In category ~0 there alsoexists thedirect sumof anyfamily ~ , ~ E I ; ~{ ~ is the

sublattice of ~fC~ i consisting of all ~E ~f I~l such that {blf(~)*0} is finite. There are
naturally defined isomorphic embeddings ~ " ~ --~{~f, namely:

{ O. f

The direct sum ~ = ~ C~ (together with the embeddings ~ . : ~ - - ~ 6 E/) is char-

acterized by the following property: for any lattice ~ e ~0 and any homomorphism ~ 6 : ~ ~
such that ~ ( ~ ) ~ . I ~ / ) - - [0} for ~,/E~r, ~ ] , there exists one and only one ~ : ~ '
such that ~ = ~ p ~ for all 6£~- .

From the algebraic point of view the category 4 is a variety, i.e., a class of algebras
defined by identities (such identities for ~ are the lattice identities, the distributivity
identity, the identity ~ 0 "- O, and the identities defining the operation -, (see the begin-
ning of this section)). It follows from general properties of varieties that in the category
there is also a free product of an arbitrary family ~*, &EZ,~ £ ~o" A free product is
a lattice ~z/7"C~,: (together with homomorphisms ~ : ~ ~ O~ ) such that for any ~£/~o and
~I
any family of homomorphisms ~'C~--~-~ there exists one and only one homomorphism ~ ' ~ •
such that ~ ~ for any ~ef It is easy to see that the ~ are then embeddings, i.e.,
we may assume that ~ ~ ~ and ~ is generated by the set U I~) -

For an element QE I~; we denote by g the principal ideal { ~ l ~ ; a } of ~ ; and by ~±

the family {~l[r~n = 0]. Instead of / ~ ( -~ 0 we will often write /~I~ and say that ~ and
are orthogonal. It is easy to see that ~ is an ideal of ~ .

Suppose ~ = ~ . ~ [ ~ I ~E%); we call ~ a filter in ~ if:

i) s

With any filter ~ in a lattice ~ we can associate a congruence relation: ~=# ~_~

433
 However, it follows from the homomorphism theorems that this congruence relation must
be defined by some ideal• It is not difficult to show that such an ideal is t/ ~£~± InE @b}.

We will now indicate a useful family of decompositions of a lattice C~4 into a

direct sum (or direct product, which is the same thing for a finite number of summands).

Proposition 3. The mapping d ~-~ <aF]~,~-~> defines an isomorphism of a lattice

into the lattice ~,-~ ~ + a ~.

Distributivity in a lattice and identities 1 and 2 show that the above mapping is a
homomorphism. Since (ggf]f)U ~ x ~ ) = I ~ n a ) u I ~ , g g ) = ~, this mapping is an isomorphic embed-
ding (only 0£% is sent into 0 ~ ' < 0 0 0 > ). It remains to show that the mapping :is onto. If
CoEgg .Cl~a"L, then for d~CoUC we have O&n~= O~n(CoUCI)- (~ZnCo)U~2R07)~ CouO=C o and
~ ( z = C I , since C1r]{;=O,C1[J~l=c1uIcouo.)=~Cot]c1)~i~Z=
~ u & g = ~ u ~ . Therefore, the image of
is <Co.O,> .

We will say that g~ is an extension of ~o by ~, if ~o is an ideal of ~ and

g~/--~Po is isomorphic to ~; Extensions will be identified with exact sequences of the form

0 ,-..~° ~',. ,~ ~,- /)~ ---,-0. (*)

E x a c t n e s s o f a s e q u e n c e o f homomorphisms ~ 2 - - ~ ~ A• ~ means that the image of homo-
morphism ~ in is the kernal of homomorphism ~ (In?=& ~).

An extension

is called equivalent to the extension (*) if there exists a homomorphism £ :~ ~=~)~ such
that the diagram

,dp I
o--- . .z),--.-o

is commutative. It is easy to show that in this case $ is an isomorphism between ~ and =~0.

The family of all extensions of ~ 0 by ~! , to within the above equivalence, is denoted

by E~ ( ~ ) We will give below a detailed description of this family, from which it
will follow, in particular, that ~ (gOo,~I) can be regarded as a set.

Suppose ~ is an ideal of ~ ! • We will call =0 1 an ideal completion of ~ if the

following condition is satisfied: if ~ and ~ } ~ - ~ is an arbitrary embedding of ~ as
an ideal of ~ , then there exists one and only one homomorphism ~'~--~ such that the
diagram

434
is commutative (the lower arrow is an embedding of ~ into ~fPt ).
! /
Proposition 4. Suppose ~0 is an ideal completion of '~'~o ' and ~ : ~ ~ / , o ~ o Then
there is a one-to-one correspondence between the homomorphisms ~ : ~ - - ~ 7 and the extensions
(*) (to within equivalence).

Given an extension (*), there corresponds a unique homomorphism ~/: ~--.-~)o that is
identical on ~ Factoring ~ and e~); by ~o , we obtain a homomorphism ~'" .~ -----.~); .
Thus, we have associated to the diagram (*) a homomorphism ~E Hof~I~1,~o ) If g:~ .
~t establishes an equivalence of extension and lJ. ~)J-~-o~; is the unique homomorphism of
into = that is identical on ~)0 , then ~u& = ~ and the induced homomorphisms
~I':~--~;,~':~I--~ 7 agree, since under factorization of ~ and g~l by ~ the
homomorphism 6 is sent into the identity mapping of ~)I onto itself. Thus• our correspon-
dence defines a mapping
.

We will show that this mapping is onto. Suppose ~ : ~ t - - ~ 7 is a homomorphism. Con-

sider the sublattice ~, of g ~ l x ~ O, defined as follows: g~,-- ,do l¢'d! ~d~ }
where ~ : ~ - - ~ < is the factorization of ~ o by ~0 " It is easy to see that ~ E
We will prove that .~ contains the ideal Z ~ { C O , ~ > I ~ E ~ o } isomorphic to g~o [~'~
<0,~> is an isomorphism of ~Do onto _T ) and that ~ ~ a ~ I . Indeed, suppose ~ : ~ , ~
~I is the projection on the first coordinate. Clearly, the image of ~ is all of ~! ,
since the mapping ~ is onto. The kernel of the homomorphism ~ is obviously Z, since
if £ 0 , ~ I > E ~ @ ~ , then p d ~-- 0 , hence ~IE$~)0 and <O, d I > E Z . Thus, we have an exact
sequence

It is easy to see that the homomorphism of into correspondS_rig to (**) is

We will now show that if ~* corresponds to the sequence (*), then (*) and (**) are equivalent
extensions. To an element aesOP we associate the pair < ~ a , ~oa> , where ~:~--~=~; is
the homomorphism that is identical on ~ o We can show that < ~ , ~ > E ~)~, ; but ~ z = ~ 9 # ~
by definition. Denote the correspondence o, ~ < ~ , ~ > by $ This is clearly a homo-
morphism establishing the equivalence of extensions (*) and (**). It follows at once that
if to two extensions corresponds the same homomorphism ~*:~?---~ , then these two exten-
sions, being equivalent to the same extension (**), are equivalent to each other. Thus,
~ (~o,~i) can be identified with ~OITLC,,~=~o),
To complete the description of E~[g~0,-~I) it now suffices to show that for each lattice
~o~0 there exists an ideal completion (the uniqueness of which follows from the defini-
tion).

For any distributive lattice ~ (with zero, but not necessarily in ~0 ) we denote by
~) the family of all ideals ~ (including the "improper" ideal• the lattice ~ itself).
This family is again a distributive lattice under the operations ioU~--~{aU~ laE/o , ~ E77

435
 e

and /'0N/1 ~ T O N ] 1 (set-theoretic intersection). The mapping ~I , ~ is an embedding of

into <J{~),U,D,O~ Let ~/ be the family of all locally principal ideals, i.e.,
those ideals ~E ~ ) such that the intersection of 7 with any principal ideal is itself
a principal ideal (~a-~ ~/N~ = ~^)). An example of a locally principal ideal is any ideal
of the form ~m ,R£~) ; in particular, the lattice ~ itself is a locally principal ideal.
It is easy to see that ~ I is a sublattice of ~(~) containing all principal ideals, i.e.,
the image of ~ under the mapping Q~-~ ~, the set {~ I ~ E ~ } , is an ideal of ~'

Proposition 5. If ~ 6 4 , then g~)~e4 and ~ - ~ is an ideal completion of

Note that ~ contains a largest element, namely gO , since ~ =~. We will

establish the existence of a complement relative to ~ for any element j e ~ ~ Let .I

~_ {~ I~EgO, g±~ for any ~Ej J = ~.~i Clearly, 7 ~ is an ideal and 7 ~ 7 1 - - {O} We
~i ~ , ^
will show that 7Z~ Suppose G E ~ and &~j--~ Put c ~ gz-# . We will show that
71~ == ~ . If ~ E 7 , then C ~ - - ( ~ - ~ ) ~ - = ~)-~-- O, hence Ce7 i and ~i f ] ~ $ .
If ~E 7 N~Z , then ~ and ~ ' = 0 , since ~E 7 , ~ E T i ; therefore,~--~,~-~(~C)f]~
-(~F1C[)LI(Cr]~)-=O~d and ~:C • Thus, ^~ ,i~ =^ C^ and ~..Le ~ ' . We will now show that
7uji--.f~ . Suppose ~ E ~ and ~ n j = ~ o ; then 4 ~ 4 E7 i, ~ = ~ o U 4 E ~ W 7 £ and ~ U ~ "£ .
It follows that ~ ; it has also been shown that ~ is a Boolean algebra.

Suppose ~:~--~ is an embedding of =~ as an ideal in some lattice ~ E 4 For

EE~ we put ~ t ( ~ { ~ I ~ E ~ , ~ < E ~ . Clearly, ~/(E) is an ideal of ~ If aE.f) ,
let ~ E ~ be such that ~ - ~ ( g N d ; then it is easy to see that ~ I ~ ) n ~ - - ~ . Consequently,
~) E -~ and .~ _.~=~i is a homomorphism such that the diagram

Y
I~'
is commutative. It remains only to show that ~r is unique. Suppose that ~ : ~ - - ~ ) also
satisfies the condition ~ a - - ~ for all a £ ~ It follows easily from the definition of
~' and the monotonicity of ~" that ~ , I ~ for any 7 Assume that ~ ~,t~ for
some ~. Suppose ( Z E ~ x~r~ (here ~ denotes set-theoretic difference). Let ~ e ~
be such that ~ O ~ E = - ~ • Since ~ r ~ , it follows that ~ g ~ Moreover, ~ E and
En~--~ . Applying ~u to this equality, we obtain ~ n 9 9 u ~ l i ~ , i.e., ~ = f
and ~ ~11~ Contradiction.

Remark. A useful addition to the description of all extensions is the following char-
acterization of extensions that are Boolean algebras:

In an extension (*), ~ is a Boolean algebra if and only if ~ is a Boolean algebra

and the homomorphism ~I '~ corresponding to this extension is a homomorphism of Boolean
algebras, i.e., sends the largest element of ~i into the largest element of ~;

436
 Propositions 4 and 5 show that E~]~~o,,,I~1 ] can be identified with the set Horg (~I, ~ 0 )"
Note that on the set ~onl(~,~) of all homomorphisms of the lattices gf),~ in ~o we can
define a partial order by putting ~o~< 50/ ~_ ~ E ~ (~<~d) • This orderhas a smallest element
but, in general, does not define on this set the structure of a lattice, or even a semilattice.
Let us consider some examples.

Example i. Suppose ~-~)~({0,~}) is a four-element Boolean algebra, ~=~ and

~,~:~9-~) are defined so that

then ~0Fg(.~,~) contains no homomorphism ~9 such that ~>~99o,~/. Indeed, if ~>~o, ~ , then
~(~0})>~o(~O~)={O,I} ; 79({4})>~([~) = {0~(~, and ~=50(~)>~99(~0})O50(~4~)=~0~Y ~. Contradiction.

Example 2. Suppose =f? ~ /)~(~) is the lattice of all finite and cofinite (i.e., with
finite complements) subsets of a set u) Any permutation 5L:U) ---~o) induces a naturally
defined automorphism ~k of the lattice ~ Let ~o be the identity automorphism and
the automorphism defined by a permutation 7L such that the sets ~ ~{&ITL/L== n~ and
~)~4 are infinite. We will show that ~ and ~ do not have a greatest lower bound.
Suppose ~ o , ~ / ; since ~o , it follows that ~([~}) ~ { ~ ] . Let ~=[/g]~(~/~}) = { ~ .
We will show that the homomorphism ~ is uniquely determined by the set ~@ , namely, for
any ~ E . ~ we have ~(8)= ~ Indeed, if ~E$ ~-~ , then

since ~ o ; consequently, ~(S)c-lanK~ . If ~ e S O K ~ , then g(S)=gCSoia})=99(S)u

~({a})=~($)o{a} , i.e., nE~(S) Thus, ~(S) = S ~ K @ . it follows that f~ must be
finite: indeed, if f l ~ , then ~.({n})~ ~o({8J) O ~ ( { / Z } ) = ~ , since ~7({~5)= I%~} and
~g~fg $g~); hence K~ ~/9/ and ~(~))=~)oK~ = ~ ; if K~ is infinite, then ~ , ~ ~ ~0x~
is infinite, but then ~ is infinite and not cofinite, hence K@ ~ Contradiction.
Thus ~ is finite; suppose ~ ~M is finite and properly contains Kgp Putting ~ ' ( $ ) = $ ~
for 8 E ~ , we obtain a homomorphism ~' of lattice =ZP into itself. Clearly, ~',< ~o,~
0
and ~ < ~ , hence ~o and ~ do not have a greatest lower bound in ~rg(~),~),

Nevertheless, we can extract useful information from our description of E ~ We

mention some obvious consequences of this description:

(..o,/7 ) 17 ).
g,e I ~ L ¢f

The latter relation follows from the easily verified property (.~ex~i/,v__.~)~ x ~ / and
its corollary (~o~i) ~'~ 4 7 xo~7.
The above-mentioned property (~xg~)~)'--~Z)o O I is a consequence of a more precise asser-
tion.

Proposition 6. (' Z~ ~,,-)'"/7 ~)~.

437
 Assuming that ~ i ~ ] , ~)i, ~6 [ , we will show that the ideal j ~. ~)f is locally
principal if and only if j ~ ~ is a locally principal ideal of ~ for any ~ ~ Let
us prove this in the nontrival direction: suppose ~ ' ~ f is a locally principal ideal for
any L ~ f If ~ e ~. , then gg= LJ ~$ , where ~£5 ~ ~gs ~S --0, . . ~ , ~0~.... ~ , are
gel S=O • A

distinct indices in Z , and & nj -----%(gg${] j ) ; since ~S /71" -- for some ~ ~£S '

$ -0,..., fl , it follows that ~ N j -- ~0~$

=
and #is a locally principal ideal of ~;~]"
~, ~ g
Note also that if ~'6 is an arbitrary ideal of ~ f for all L~ [ , and 7 is an ideal
of the lattice , ~ f ~ , generated by the set gUf jg , then j f] $~)g--7 g for all 6~
This implies our assertion.

We give two examples of how to construct ideal completions.

Example 3. If ~ is a Boolean algebra, then ~ ) ~ = ~ .

Indeed, if ~ is the largest element and 7 ~ ) ~ ' then 7 ~ ~ =J~ =7 must be a

principal ideal, i.e., j = $ for some ~6=~) .

COROLLARY. Any extension ~) of a Boolean algebra g~0 by an arbitrary lattice ~

is split, i.e., ~ ~ ~ o +~)~"

Indeed, there always exists an extension 0 - - ~ 0 - - ~ o + ~ ) ~ - - ~ --->0. If g~)0 is a

Boolean algebra, then ~ ) ; = ~ / ~ is a zero lattice, hence there exists only one element
in = :0o ).
Example 4. Suppose ~ is an infinite set and ~,~~<P~ {~ O,n, \ ~ > is the lattice
of all finite subsets of ~ . Then =~)' is isomorphic to < P ( $ ) ~ U , ~ , \ , ~ > , the lattice of
all subsets of S

Note first that ~ ' = J C ~ ) , i.e., any ideal j of ~) is locally principal; indeed,
if for any ~ Z E ~ we put ~ ~ { S I S ~ g L ~ ~S} ~j } , then obviously 7 ~ l & - - ~ .

Let ~ ( j ~ U gg e P(S) for ~(~) It is easy to see that oL is a homomorphism of

into <P(S),U,{],\,~> Let ~(4)~{~/~%EP~(S),~_So} for 4e P(S); then >(So)-
is an ideal and ~ a homomorphism from <P(~),U,~ \ ~ > into ~)i . We will show that
~']----j for any je~(~))--~) I. The inclusion j ~ ( ~ ) is obvious from the definitions.
Suppose Cgo--{S~,Sz, ,S~] E~(7), i.e., ~ 0 ~ ~ ~ ; then there exist ~4~...,~7 such
that 1 6 ~lg ~ g=~ ....,/2; since j is an ideal',~Jwe have ~I U... U ~ . ~ 6 7 ; but g g o C ~ O . . .
O ~ , hence ~o 6 j Thus, ~ ' ) - - - - 7 Analogously, oL~(~0) = 4 for any ,~o~S. Thus,
and ~ are mutually inverse isomorphisms.

With any lattice ~ in the variety ~ we can associate a construction of a ~) -power

for certain algebraic systems.

Suppose ~0}#~) ~ ~0 ; a finite family ~ - {~I,'", ~ j ~ ~) , fZ ~ ¢ , is called a

subpartition if ~ = O, ~---!....,~, and ~ . ~j' , f~6<~ . Let ~)) denote the family
of all subpartitions of ~) ; we define on ~f~)) a partial order ~ as follows: if ~ , ~ ' ~ = % ) }
then

438
It is easy to see that ~--< is indeed a partial order. Let us show that this order is directed.
I I I
Suppose ~ ={~t, ", ~ n ] , ~ = {~,...,~}; let
I

~ n <,..., ~ n ~',..., & n ~,',..., ~ n ~',

~'6d.' ' ' '" ~Y=,,(.' a.&x.

if ~ ' , ~0J , then it i s e a s y to s e e t h a t J ~ S ( ~ O ) and ~ , ~'-*~ .

Suppose 2~ is an algebraic system in some signature O" containing a single constant

0 such that 2"~ ~ {0} is a O" -subsystem of ~)Z and for any predicate symbol P a ~ O " we
have ~r~ ~:=,D.(O,.,..,O )
Suppose ~, ,,(.'63 ( ~ ) and ~2Z~ and ~i~,'~' are Cartesian powers of the algebraic system
2~ (recall that the elements of ~J~'~ are all possible functions f : ~ - - - ~ I ~ J , and the ele-
ments of 22Y x~ are the functions //:~/ ~]2"~I) . If ~ ~' , we can define a mapping
~,.~,:I~'I
---, I;~'~'1 as follows: for f:d'-""~/22~l and ~'~' we put

~, ' I ~(~). ~ .¢'~, d ~,

_%~([ ~ ) -m o , ~f cZ'n aL~
(u~ l )= O,

It can easily be shown that ~, is a homomorphism (and even an isomorphic embedding)

of 22Z~ into ~ Z ~/ It is also easy to show that if X ~-~'~6 ~t", then ~x,~. = ~.~, . ~ X , ,
hence

~{ ~ , ~', ~ " ~ ,~"3

forms a direct spectrum. The direct limit of this spectrum, which is also an algebraic
system of signature ~ , is denoted by [ ~ ~ and called the ~-power of the system ~ .
We may assume that ~ 2 Z ~ I ~ 2 2 Z ~ _ [ ~ for any ~ , ~,~'~), and then [~Z)] 2~ ----U 22~~
~S~)
Note that if ~ is a Boolean algebra, then we can define the ~ -power for any algebraic
system 22~ (without any assumptions about the signature) by restricting ourselves to parti-
tions, i.e., subpartitions o~ such that [J ~ is a unity of the Boolean algebra

Let us see what this construction yields when ~ is a lattice in ~o

Proposition 7. Suppose ~)o,~Z)~ £ Z~,0 . Then ~ is also a lattice in ~ 0 ; more

precisely, if ~ ' ~ 0 ~ ~)~'-~0 +~ is the natural epimorphism of the free product of the
lattices ~ 0 and ~ onto their direct sum, then K~z~ ~'£~)~ (in particular, ~ ) ~ ~--

f.~,] ~o ).
~ .~,~(=o~, then 2,"~ ~o ; the variety ~o is ~losed under direct l i m i t s , hence
~,~, = ~ ~,"~ 4. Consider the e~tension o~ r~,~ Z , by :% + ~ , . To each element of

439
~0+~ we associate an element of (~)0]~)~)/, i.e, somelocally principal ideal of the
lattice [ ~ ) 0 ~ , as follows.

If0#(~0 ~'~)o , we associate to it the ideal ~(~o ) generated by the sublattice

~JlI~=}~_E~)~)I (note that { ~ o ] 6 ~ { ~ ; if ~o= 0 , then )'(~o)~{0].
Suppose 0 # ~ E ~t ; if for ~ ( ~ ) o ) we have f 2 ~ ( ~ ) ~ for ~ 6 ~ , then ~{~) is
the ideal generated by the set {f2' /~ 6d(~)O)]; if ~ = 0 , then ~(~f)~ {0] •
We will show that ~(~) is a locally principal ideal for any ~ 6 ~)oU ~)I" This is
obvious if ~ = 0

Suppose 0 , ~ E ~)0 and f 6 ~ 2 ~ I ; then f 6 ~ t for some ~ 6 ~{~)0 ) . Consider

f(~) ~] ~ ; if (LJ ~ t ) ~ _ _ _ O , then this intersection is equal to {0} If ( [ J ~ / ) ~ ] ~ O ,
aY6d.. ~'6./-
put ~*ia'n~l~'ezJ,{o}. Then v,~6J'(,.~)O) and LJ ~'-- ~ ( d ~ . < . a ' ) .
d'~p
~et f ' ~ m f be defined as follows: pi")-~f~i") for * ~ , and the unique ~ " ~ such
that *'-~*" Then obviously f'~ f ,and if ~,%%/'~'~ and f" is the only possible
mapping of {d] into {~,} , then f6~£9, and f'-,< . Consequently, f'E~/~)n~ If
~6~(6~)f] t , we may assume that @ ~ ' g~6~
, ~ ~<~.

We use the following easily verified criterion:

If g o 6 ~ / ° , ~ 6 ~ ~ , and LJ~'~kJ~ ~ , then

~'~,~o d'ed,

In view of this criterion, ~ 4 ~ implies ~ -<f' . Therefore, ;ranCh"f=p and ~(~)

is locally principal.
r

Suppose Og=~,6m, and f £ ~ Z ) I ; then ~e~)fi for some ~6](~0). Let /"=fn//, ;
then it is easy to see that ~(~)[] ~=f~.

Note also that ~(~II~'}-.£(~) U F ( ~ t ) and

Thus, ~'.: ~)~; ---~(E_~,',~I')' is a homomorphism, ~=0, ~ ; these homomorphisms induce homo-
morphisms
~* : ~ ---> m * ( ~ ([.%-]~ ).
/-->
If ~o~o,~,~) f , then ~,(~o)n ~i'(~,) - ~ ~i Therefore, ~"(~o]f']~'((~,]-O • Then
~o}"
there exists one and only one homomorphism ~: ~)O +$~)I > ~Z)~ that agrees with ~ on the
summand s.

The homomorphism ~ : ~ o - k ~ 1 ~ ~'~ defines an extension of ~9 :

We will construct embeddings /I~ ~)~ "-~ ~ such that ~TLg = & ~ g , &=O,/. Recall how
is formed with respect to (Proposition 4): ~Z)~(~Do+~D,)x(~1)' and consists precise-
ly of those pairs <~,~> such that ~(~)--j~ , where j~ is the image of } under the epi-

440
morphism (~ ~i) '--~( ~ ~f. Put Xg(~) ~ < ~ , ~(~)) ~ ~6~g , ~ =O,f", since ~ : ~ - - + ( ~ Z ) ~ ) i
is a homomorphism and /~i(~) obviously belongs to ~ , it follows that ~L is a well-defined
embedding of ~ into ~ j ~=O,f . We will now show that ($~);/la,/l¢) is a free product of
~o and ~ , i.e., for any lattice ~ ~o and any homomorphisms ~ : g~)g -~ ~ , g--O, #, there
exists one and only one homomorphism ~.'~-~ ~ such that ~/I~ ~---~ , ~ =-0~4.

We now establish several auxiliary results.

LEMMA i. The lattice ~ is generated by the sublattices /~o{~o) and ~ ~(~f)~).

To prove this it suffices to show that any element of ~o(~) I) can be obtained by
means of the operations &J, ~, and \ from elements of ~o(~o)~J/11(,~
I) Suppose f 6 ~ ) ~
~ 2 3 ~ ) I ;oC=(~o,...,~l and ~ ¢ ~ for ~ < j ~ f t ; we define elements fo~...~ ftz ~ ~ q as
f(dl ) ~,
follows: fg~f{~.] ) b--O~...~ft (the elements of the form ~,< were introduced above);
then it is easy to see that f?N f~ Consider the element ~0~6f]Alf(~6] , which is equal
to <0, ~(gg)(~ ~(f(~g))> ; it was shown above that

Therefore, ~of =g.~kJrt~°f£ lies in the lattice generated by the elements ~O~o,.., a o ~ ,

LEMMA 2. Suppose a lattice ~ is generated by sublattices ~ a and ~ f . Let

~) denote the distributive sublattice generated by the set of elements [~,fT~ / 5 ~ o ,
~6~f } using only the operations kJ and ~] Then C{ ~ ) is an ideal of ~ ,~land
for any element ~6 ~ there exist elements 4~'~,~ . i:~¢:,~" ~2.# • ~
6 ~,~').f) d..o~ . . such that

We will show that t(',~, ,~) is closed under the operation \ If a., gg' # ~)~
~,~'~f~, , then (an~)~(c-'n~'~=((~.~.')~>m(~.n~ ", ~'~). ~t f o l l o w s from t h i s
relation and the fact that any element of C(~o, "~)t,) can be represented in the form Lf (aL
i.6rt
for certain o . 4,"', that ) is closed u der,
An immediate consequence of t h i s i s the f a o t that' C ( ~ , ~,)" i s an i d e a l of

To prove the last part of the lemma it suffices to show that the set ~-- ~{(~o \ g~"7 ) ~J
(~ \~e)l_J~ 2 ]~ o 6 ~o; ~.~)¢~g,dJt~L~~ ~ **~ ~(~o,~¢)~ is a sublattice of ~ Suppose

The identity (easily verified using set-theoretic representations of lattices in ~o }

(og, ~ ' ) u (aT. d.") = (a~ u d.) - ~ d ' , o~) u (d. " - c~ ) u (d.nrfr]d.'n ~'~3
and the fact that C(,,~)o, ,,~ ) is an ideal enable us to show that ~ is closed under the
operation U (note that ~ I ] ~ 6 ~ o ( ~ ~) and ~(~t\g)kJ...] 6 ff(~o,~,) ).

The identity (a~"5~/)f] (~'-~)---- ( ~ ] £ ) ~ ( ~ U ~ s u f f i c e s for showing that ~ is closed

under

If ~d-~,~)¢;,~6~.; ¢~,j6- {o.t 3 , d . ~ e C ( ~ o . ~ ) , then

441
hence ~'-(~'f706)6~. Since ~ is closed under I I and F] , it follows that (~'-~')"(~"

~)6~ . Therefore, ~ is closed under the operation \

Thus, ~ is a sublattice of ~ ; since ~ o U ~ )C ~ , it follows that ~-:~ .

Let us return to the proof of Proposition 7. Suppose ~Z)oU ~ Z ) ~ and ~ is a free

product of ~ o and ;Z)~ Then for Ag: ;~)~---~SZ)~ ~=0~ i, there exists a homomorphism
~:;Z) >~ such that ~ ) g = } t 6 ~ ~=0,~ ; since $~) is generated by the sublattices
%g($~)&) , it follows that ~ is an epimorphism. We will show that ~ g Z ~ ={0]; it will
follow that ~ is an isomorphism and that ~ is a free product of ~o($Oo) and ~(~)~)
If ~ ) , then, by Lemma 2, there exist elements ~o6~o~d~ and 6~,o,6g~,~z~(@o,~)~)
such that & ~ = ~ o \ ~ f ) [ J ( ~ " ~ * ) [ J £z. Since ~(~) obviously belongs to ~ for
e ~(~O~,~ ), we have ~ - - - ~((~0", ~6go')l I ( ~ g ~ ' , ~ ) l l ~ Z ) ' - ~ ( ~ o ~ o \ ~ o ) U ( A ~
- )u = "-: ) Therefore, if
~£Kg%~ , then ~ 0 ~ = 0, i.e., ~ 6 ( ( ~ 0 ; ~ ) . Thus, if ~ K £ % ~ - O ( ~ O , ~ I ) , then ~ can
be represented in the form U ( g t g n 4 ) j (~o~'" O ~ e ~ 0 • 4~ < 6 m I . Let ~ be the

(finite) sublattice of ~ generated by g~,...,~Z~ ; suppose 0o,...~£~ are the atoms of $

If we represent each element gg~ as a join of elements ~. , then after trivial transforma-
tions we obtain ~ in the form ~.[]{£jfT~) for certain ~,...,~6~ . If & ~ O , then
not all (g£=O,j=O~.. ~ . Suppose ~-~{£o,...,£~]; f;~--~ ~)f is defined as follows: f(~)-~. ,
j = O .... ,.~.. ; then f 6 ~ , ~ ) t . , f ~ o , and

i.e., ~6~# O Contradiction. Therefore, ~:~=0, /fgZF={O7 and ~ is an isomorphism of

and

Remark. A free product of two Boolean algebras ~o and ~ is again a Boolean algebra;
however, it is not a free product of Boolean algebras in the variety of Boolean algebras
(i.e., in the signature <II rl ~,0,~ >), since in the latter case the unities of ~o and ~f
must be identified. A free product of ~ and ~ in the variety of Boolean algebras is,
one can show, simply the Boolean algebra ~J ~ (see [5]).

2. Isomorphism Problem for Countable Lattices in

In this part of the paper we give an algebraic account of the theory of superatomic
lattices; we solve the isomorphism problem for such lattices and, using the concepts of Sec.
i, reduce the isomorphism problem for arbitrary countable lattices to another classicication
problem. Such a reduction for the case of Boolean algebras was made in [4] and proved very
useful there.

442
 Suppose ~e~ ; a nonzero element ~ e~,) is called an atom of ~ if, for any C ~ I D ,
£ ~ implies C=G or £=~ A lattice ~ ) is called atomic if for any ~ Z ) .~ O,
there exists an atom C of ~ such that C~<~ • An element ~$~) is called atomic if the
lattice ~ is atomic. An element ~ is called atomless if the lattice ~ has no atoms.
A lattice ~) ~ ~ is called atomless if each of its elements is atomless. Note that the zero
of a lattice is both an atomic and an atomless element.

A nontrivial example of an atomless lattice is a free lattice f ~ o ° n a countable set of

free generators. Indeed, if dZo,~1,.., are free generators of ~ o , then the sequence of
elements ~o, g2"ol-]gb1~ g~'of-TgL1 l'qgl.~.....7 L~=oCg~,...is strictly decreasing and, for any non-
£z
zero element ~ of the lattice, there exists ~ G ~ such that ~o~g.= ~ ~.

If ~ E ~ , we denote by ~($~)) the sublattice of ~ generated by all atoms of ~) ;

clearly d~(~) is an ideal of $~) , called the Frechet ideal of the lattice ~Z)

We now define a transfinite sequence of iterated Freehet ideals: put ~ ) ~ O } ,

~(~)~P(~Z)~ ; if ~ ) has been defined for an ordinal ~ , then ~÷~(~) is defined
to be the complete preimage of the ideal ~ / ~ ) ) ) under the natural epimorphism ~--~
~)i~(~) ; if ~ is a limit ordinal and ~(~Z)) has been defined for all ~ ~ , then
put ~(~)~UC~{~) (it follows easily from the definitions that ~ implies
~))~(~))). We denote the quotient lattice ~/~(~9) by ~
_¢
Remark. If ~:~--~ ~)'~ is the natural projection, then ~ ~ ( ~ ) ~ ) ) ----~ , ~ ~)), hence

It is clear from cardinality considerations that for some ordinal ~ we have ~ ( ~ ) ----
~,f£~) ; the smallest such ordinal is called the atomic rank of ~ and is denoted by
~o(~Z)) ; instead of ~o(~)(~)~ we will write ~{~)) .

A lattice ~ is called superatomic if ~ ( ~ ) = ~ for some ordinal ~ (in particular,

if ~ ( ~ ) = ~ ).

We mention a useful heredity property of iterated Fre~chet ideals.

LEMMA i. If J is an ideal of a lattice ~ , then ~ { ~ ) -- ~ ~{~) for any

ordinal

It suffices to show that ~{OJ----~(~)) and use transfinite induction. To prove that
~D(~)=~f]~D(~) it is enough to note this obvious fact: an element gge ~ is an atom of
if and only if ~ is an atom of

COROLLARY i. For ~ o ~ '~0 we have ~ ( ~ o + ~ ) i ) = ~o) +~(~).

COROLLARY 2. For ~ g ~ g ' 6 ~ , we have ~(~f~g) ----~ ~ ) g ) .

COROLLARY 3. For any lattice ~e ~ , the lattice ~ ( ~ ) ) is superatomie.

LEMMA 2. If ~' ~o---~ ~ is an epimorphism, then ~{~{~o~ ~ ~_ i ~')~) for any ordinal

443
 It suffices to show that ~(~)o)) ~dP(o~)~) and use transfinite induction. If ~ E ~ o
is an atom, then ~((g) is either 0 or an atom of ~){ Indeed, if O ~< ~-< ~(~) , then
=~(£) for some 06~ o Then (~(Cl-~C~)=~(~)l-I~(gg)--~fT~a(O~)={)
and O-<cndL_< & ; therefore,
either cf]gg=O and ~ ~(cn 0~)=~(0~0. or else Cr]O~=gl and #=F(Cf70-) = ~((g). It follows that

COROLLARY. An epimorphic image of a superatomic lattice is a superatomic lattice.

LEMMA 3. If ~ O ~ ~)~ , then C/D~(,~o)~_f]~)oF]C/Od(,,'Z)I)

for any ordinal

We will first show that 9(.~o)~_,~of](4)(~d){).Suppose d L 6 ~ o 6 ] @ > ( ~ ) ; since ~ = { ~ 1 6 6

~ 6 & gb ] is finite, it follows that ~ ~ ~0 is also finite, hence g~ 6 ~(~o) • Suppose
for an ordinal 0% we have ~ ( ~ o ) ~ o (] ~(~)~). Suppose ~ ~9~-- ~9~ /qD(@) and ~ o is the
image of ~ o in ~,~--f
(~o ~-~o/~'~)Of]qPd~(~) By what was proved above, ~(~o)~ ~9(~](] ~ o •
Suppose ~o--=~~ : =o~)a/(P~(~o) and ~o--~ ~ is the epimorphism existing by virtue of the
inclusion ~ ( ~ o ) ~ f ] ~ 9 ~ ( / ~ { ) " . Since the image ~D(~o) is contained in ~D(~o), forany ele-
ment S e ~ O f]~÷,(~) we can say the following: if ~ is the image of &L in ~ (and ~ ) ,
then ~ 60/)(,~,)f]~o~_q9(~o) ; therefore, the image ~ of ~ in ~ o lies in ~(~0); hence
6~ lies in the preimage of the ideal ~ ( ~ 0 ) under the epimorphism ~ o - - * ~ o = ~/~D(~.
i.e., ~ _ ~ D , f ( ~ ) . Consequently, ~÷ff,~)~)~o~_~D~+{(~#). If 04 is a limit ordinal and
C~(,,~){)~)O~_&~(i~)
O) for all A < ~ , then obviously Ot)~{..~){)(']~)oCC~(,~)o).
The proof
is completed by transfinite induction.

COROLLARY. A sublattice of a superatomic lattice is superatomic.

We will now indicate rather powerful tools for solving the isomorphism problem for count-
able lattices.

Suppose ~ d~ ; a linearly ordered subset ~2) that contains 0 and generates

is called a linear basis of ~)

The following assertions can be proved without much difficulty.

Proposition i. If ~ ) , ~ E ~o , L is a linear basis of ~ , and ~ : ~ - - + ~ is a monotone

mapping that preserves 0 , then there exists one and only one homomorphism ~ :~ •
such that ~ = ~ ; if ~ one-to-one, then ~ is an isomorphic embedding.

Proposition 2. Any at most countable lattice ~ 4 possesses at least one linear

basis.

Proposition 2 is a consequence of the proof of the following proposition, suggested by

a theorem of Vaught in [3].

Suppose ~,)0,~).I~ ~ ; a set C~-~)o ~)~ is called a weak semicorrespondence between

~ o and ~4 if the following conditions are satisfied:

(i) o,6>e C ;6 =o;

(2) i f < a , 3 > E ' C , C6:,,~ 0 , then there exist C~a,d, 6,.~ 7- such that <.o..r'l¢., bf"ld-.o> , <o..

444
 Proposition 3. Suppose 0 ~ - ~ o ' ~ , is a weak semicorrespondence between ~ O and ~, ,
where ~ is at most countable. Then there exists a homomorphism ~7~°--~i such that
for any element ~£~o there are elements ~, ~...~ ~ 6~O such that;

i) all pairs <~L,~'~g > belong to O,L - ~ ;

3) ~ , , . . . , ~ t are pairwise orthogonal and g = ~ <

SupPose Co = 0 , ¢t,.-- is a s e q u e n c e of a l l elements of ~o We will construct finite,
l i n e a r l y ordered subsets ~o~-~~, ~-- ... and monotone mappings ~o : Lo--* ~O,, ~, : L, ' ~ , , . . .
such that for any ~ 6 L o the following conditions are satisfied:

1) if ~ -- {~'o, LZ, .... , ~"~.}, ~'o ~ ~, <"" ~ g~'~, 4 ~t~(~2i)~i"~' then 4 ~ , ~ >6 C and

2) Cn÷,t /'n -- ~ ;
3) Ca,...,C. n6{'/.~)~Do(gL~ ° is the sublattice of ~ 0 generated by L, )-
Put Lo-.m /0], ~a,,¢o) ~ o
Suppose /'m and ~m, ~ <- Iz , have already been defined and satisfy conditions i)-
3)', let L n :: {~o~6bf, . ~
. (Z~,
. . ~.
o < ~.2 ~ <6t~'j -~n(6gi)~-<~. Put ~.i=+&6i~~ & ~ ' J ~i*i
~' ~
(Ctt+tf'7 aZ, &~ ~ , and CL2~,1~Ca.,.,LJL2.~ ; then ff+O~t
~ - _~ "" -<~"~J2~+~'" Note that
"CLZL=C~{-](~]= and ~&Zl~ (~÷~ (6~f÷ I ~g)"~/~d.<l~'~ff~.2~+'~=~,~'-Ll~[ Using
condition (2) in the definition of a weak semicorrespondence, we can find elements &~f16~,

I l I l

, -" o ... i,," = ( - )n~;) ~' \~'

---4 . , " 4 ~d.~ i < ~7 4 , , , \ 4 ~ = ~ "~ By construction, £ ~ , x % ., ., x 6 : > E C for
j ~ Z J• + f and ~ 6L£~÷f,
' ~ ÷~>~£ • It follows from condition (i) for a weak semicorrespondence
that if ~ ,
-----~',~
,
, then ,t7
= -,~ . Putting

~- ' (L' ') ~ :

-- I 9~,, ,7~z ,1,
we see that conditions I) and 2) are satisfied; condition 3) follows from the obvious relation
Cn ÷ , = m ( ¢~. , n(~z~, ,-- a.~ ) ) u ( e,~ . , . . ~z~ ) .

Putting L ~9~; ~--~?,em , we see that /- is a linear basis of the lattice m O and
is a monotone mapping of ~ into ~ ; by Proposition i, there exists a homomorphism
~;~o---~ such that ~#/.----~ That F satisfies the conclusion of the proposition is
evident from the construction of L~ and ~ , , ~ W .

The proposition is proved.

If a weak semicorrespondence C between ~ o and ~ also satisfies condition (i*):

,~,0 > 6C~=~ = 0 , then C is called a semicorrespondence.

COROLLARY. If, in the hypothesis of Proposition 3, C is a semicorrespondence, then the

homomorphism ~ is an isomorphic embedding.
445
 A semicorrespondence C between ~o and ~ is called a correspondence between -~o
and ~4 if the following condition is satisfied:

(3) if ~(Zj~>E£, 6 ~ f , then there exist CO,£¢6~ O such that ~ ( ~ F ] C 0 , ~ n ~ > , < ~ - C o ,

Proposition 4. If C~_.,~o" ~)~ is a correspondence, and ~ o and ~)4 are at most

countable, then ~o and ~ are isomorphic.

The proof is analogous to that of Proposition 3.

We give some applications of Propositions 3 and 4.

I. If ~ I is an atomless nonzero lattice, then any at most countable lattice ~90 @ %

is isomorphically embedded in ~

Indeed, let C~[<o,o>J[J{<~:~>I 0~.~o~ 0 ~ d ~/ and ~ is not the largest

element in ~} It is easy to verify that C is a semicorrespondence between ~ o and ~
By the Corollary of Proposition 3, ~ O is isomorphically embeddable in ~4

2. If ~o ' ~/ are countable atomless lattices having no largest element, then ~ 0

and ~ / are isomorphic.

The set Cc-~-~)0 ×0"~),/ defined above is a correspondence between ~)0 and ~ f

3. If ~ O ~ ) ~ are countable atomless Boolean algebras, then ~ o and ~ f are isomorphic.

Suppose £g is the largest element of ~i ; if we put

C{<o,o>, eo, e,>] U :<a,6> laEmo, #O,

then C is a correspondence between '~)o and ~9,

We now turn to superatomic lattices.

Proposition 5. For a lattice ~ ~ the followin Z assertions are equivalent:

l) ~ is superatomic;

2) each epimorphic image of ~ is atomic;

3) each sublattice of ~ is atomic.

The Corollaries to Lemmas 2 and 3 show that assertions 2) and 3) follow from i).

Consider the epimorphism ~ --~L~)/~(Ag~; the lattice .,~)./C~{/~)) cannot contain atoms.
If 2) holds, then ~9/~(~9) must be atomic. This is possible only if ~ 9 / ~ ( ~ ) = f O ] , i.e.,
~=~O~{'~)) ; therefore, in this case ~ is superatomic. Thus, 2) ~ i).

We will prove the implication 3 ) ~ 1 ) by contradiction. If ~ is not superatomic, then

~/~(~9) is a nonzero atomless lattice. As was noted above, any at most countable lattice
is isomorphically embeddable in it. Suppose ~:Y~o---~/~(~) is an isomorphic embedding
of a free lattice with a countable set of free generators {O.v~g~,...~. Suppose 4,4,"" E m
are such that the image of ~ in ~/~(~ is ~(~.m]~ fg ( ~ . The mapping ~.~--*~, f Z ~ ,
can be extended to a homomorphism ~:y~o---+~ of the free lattice; since the mapping ~ is

446
obviously the composition of W and the p r o j e c t i o n ~ --~)/~(~, it follows that F must
be an isomorphic embedding. Consequently, ~{j~o ) is a sublattice of ~ isomorphic to J ~
As was noted above, ~ o is an atomless lattice, hence ~ does not satisfy condition 3).

We will define the concept of atomic type for elements of a superatomic lattice ~)
If O#O~,Z), then ~ is a superatomic lattice; let ~ = J ~ { ~ ) be the atomic rank of
Note that ~ cannot be a limit ordinal. Indeed, if ~ were a limit ordinal, then £,~/~)~

^
6o for all ~ , i .e. , d h / ~ ( ~ ) , and then ~ ( ~ ) = ~ ( ~ ) and ~ D ( ~ ) ~ Let

^
be the predecessor of ~ , i.e., ~ = ~ * f , so that ~(~)#~ and ~ { & ) = ~ ; since
~D(~) = ~ , the image ~,* of ~ in ~/~*(~) lies in ~ ( ~ / ~ ( ~ ) , i.e., OJ is the join
of a finite number of atoms; let ~ be the number of different atoms less than ~' ; /%~ 0 ,
since g g ~ # O [ ~ # ~ ( ~ . The triple ~ ( ~ } = ~ ; 0 2 / z > is called the atomic type of & ;
we now define the atomic type of a superatomic lattice ~ as follows: suppose ~ o - ~ ( ~ ) . ~,
is the smallest ordinal such that the lattice ~ / ~ J has a largest element. Clearly,
~/~g~o. If o/,=~o , then by the atomic type of ~ we mean the t r i p l e ~ ( ~ J ~ o ~ L o ~ O%.
If ~I <~£o , then, as above, we can prove that 0(0 cannot be a limit ordinal; if ~ ~ is the
ordinal such that ~ +¢=~o, then ~, g ~ and the Boolean algebra ~/~(~) is finite
and different from zero. Let ~ be the number of different atoms of this algebra; then the
atomic type of the lattice ~ is defined to be the triple ~ ( ~ J ~ ~ , 2 1~>. Note that
¢(~) : ~C~) for 0~6~)

LEMMA 4. Suppose /DO; ~ are superatomic lattices, T{~Z)o) = ~o;,/3o2 /1.0>, ~{,x~9,) =
~,4~,~,~ ; let ~ - - , ~ {~o,~I~,
,'Zo , if °(t < ~o ~,

/Z0+gI, if o4-o = 0¢.~j

then ~(~9o +~t) = <~,~, ~ > •

This lemma follows immediately from Corollary i to Lemma I.

"A partial converse of Lemma 4 in some sense is:

Proposition 6. Suppose ~ is a superatomic lattice, ~ ( ~ ) = <~,~,~> ; suppose also

that <~(0,~g0> and ~o~i,~,~l> are triples such that:

i) ~o,~j are ordinals, ~ - - n z a ~ { ~ o , ~ 1 ] , ~ 7 ~ ; ~ o , n 1 ~ , ~o>~;

2) if ~,-0 , then ~ --# ;

3) if ~ i < ~ 0 , then N o - ~ ;

4) if ~ 0 < ~ i , then ~ = g ;

5) if ~ o = ~ 7 , then ~o4~ ~

Then there exists an element a 6 ~ such that ~a)-= < ~o, O , ~ 0 > and Z'Ca±)--~7,p,~1> .

447
 Consider the lattice ~ 0 = ~/~r ~) Since ~0 < ~ or ~ o = ~ and ,~0~/Z , it
follows that ~ o contains /Z0 different atoms ~ ....,~7~ . Suppose ~-~/~, and ~E~ is
one of the preimages of ~ Then it is clear from the' choice of ~z that ~gZ) "= < ~ , O, /go>.
If ~ o ~ c or ,q~/7, then the triple <~g~,~,~ is uniquely defined (if ~ = ~ , then o~ = ~ ,
N~ = ~ ; if ~0=~ and ~0<~ , then ~ = o ~ and /7~'=~-~o ) , hence gg is the desired ele-
ment. We now consider the case where ~o=~ and ~/o-~ ; then either ~ = ~ and fg~= (7 , or
else ~ < ~ . If ~ = ~ c and ~ - - O , then ~ = ~ = ~ and the element ~ satisfies the con-
clusion of the proposition. Suppose ~ and ~ = ~ (and then ~/=~ ); the lattice ~ P
is a Boolean algebra and we can let ~E-~ be one of the preimages of the unity of g~#under
the projection ~:.~)---~/~ • Then ~ ) = <o~,0,,I~ and ' ~ ( ~ I ) = < ~ , / 3 ~ , hence ~ is the
desired element in this case. If ~ < ~ and IZl~O , then in the Boolean algebra ~w' (since
~>~ ) there exist infinitely many atoms; choose a, different atoms ~ ...., ~ ; suppose
~II...IIC-~, and ~ is the complement of ~ in the algebra o~ ~, ; if CE~ is one of
the preimages of ~ , then ~C)= <~,£~ and ~(C ~ ) = < ~ g 1 , ~ > , since .~%=~O) ~+~C~) ~ and
{Ci) % is the Boolean algebra ~ containing exactly R1 atoms. Therefore, g-(g±)-- <~,~p, ~, ~
and C is the desired element.

We can now completely characterize isomorphism types for countable superatomic lattices.

Proposition 7. Two at most countable superatomic lattices are isomorphic if and only
if they have the same atomic type.

Necessity is obvious and is true without the countability assumptions.

Let us prove sufficiency. Suppose ~0'4 E ~o are at most countable superatomic lattices
having the same atomic type. We construct the correspondence C between ~ and ~/ as
follows :

Let us show that C is indeed a correspondence between ~o and 4

Since the atomic type <0,0,0> has only zero lattices, conditions (i) and (i*) of a
correspondence hold for C

Let us check condition (2) for C Suppose ¢dT,~>E $ ,CC~ 0 . Since f($)=~'(f), it
follows from Proposition 6 that the lattice ~ contains an element d0 such that ~NC)-=
~) = 6"~f~d0) and g'fQ'.C)= rg(~.,dO) . since (gt,c) =(G,c)+ and (~n~o)~--(~0)+ Sm,
the equalities g'(g2".C)=eg(("~o), ~ g Z ± ) - ~ f i) and Lemma 4 imply that ~I~aRc) a ) = ~((~N~)I) ;
therefore, < a N B , ~ N ~ 0 > E ~ ; analogously, C((a,C) ±)= ~ \ ~ 0 ) i ) , hence <a-C, ~X~o> E £ •
Since ~ ( ~ z ) = 6-C~z) , it follows from Proposition 6 that ~i contains an element ~ such
that g'(g-gg)-~g'{~1) and g'(CC~gg)iN~Z ") -----g'I~/~O~±) (note that (~-~Z)iogZ i is the family
of all elements of the lattice ~i that are orthogonal to the element C~gb of this lattice,
and ~7 N is the family of all elements of the lattice that are orthogonal to the
element 4 ). Since ~ E ~" , we have ~ r = ~ ' ~ ; consequently, C(C\O~)-= ~'~dr-~) and, by

Lemma 4, '~(~U C ) = ~ ' ~ W ~C'~I))--" ~'((U (~/x~))=~fll~ I) , since ~ I I ~ C ~ Z ) = ~ + ~C,O~) and 00L/('Q~--~)
=~+(~). Now observe that # C ~ ) t = ( ~ C ' ~ ) i N ~ ) -bggl and ~ = (~/-~)l~(d~i~[~)-~ f ; using

448
the equalities Z-~Z)=~'~D and ~£,~? ~ggz)= ~ ( ~ ~ ~±) , we see by Lemma 4 that ~'(~C-~)~)=
~(~s~)=~((~-~) ~ ) Therefore, ~Cx~l,d~'.~> ~C. Analogously, ~((~uc)±)=~f~d~)~ ) ,
hence < ~ C , ~U~> ~. Condition (2) is satisfied.

Condition (3) is symmetric to (2), so we omit the verification.

To prove the proposition it now suffices to invoke Proposition 4.

To consider the isomorphism problem for arbitrary countable lattices in 4 we must

study several technical concepts.

Suppose ~ E ~ ; by the atomic type of the lattice ~ we mean the triple T~)~(~(~)),
and by the atomic type of an element ~ ~~ we mean the triple ~(~)~-~ ~'I~n ~ (~)). We
denote by ~ I ~ (~{~) the middle term of the triple ~(=.~) (~(d)); we call ~(~)(~(~)) the
special rank of the lattice ~ (the element ~ ).

Proposition 8. If g~)~0 , ~ = ~ ( ~ ) ' then 6:~i • @(~), ~ £ ~ , is a mapping of

into ~+/ such that
6(o):o,
It is clear that 6(0)=0 and m f d ) ~ D ( o ~ ) = ~ for any ~e~ Suppose @~o)~D(~#) ;
then the ideal ( ~ o ~ # ) f ] ~ ~) can be represented in the form (~(~))÷], where
]~_~{] ~ (~) , hence, by Lemma 4,

Consequently, ~ ( ~ ) > ~ f N ~ { ~ d 0 , ~ ; if J~---~(do)(~(d~)) , then in D#--- ~)/@j[~) the

images of the ideals ~i~90~(~)~ b=G,/ , are principal, hence the image of the ideal
~ ^
(~o~ ~ ) { ] ~ ( g ~ ) ) = ( ~ o ~ (~))~ ( ~ ~(~)) is also principal; therefore, @ ( ~ ) ~ =
~ t~4,~#} ; it follows that ~ ( ~ 0 ~ ) = ~ 2 5 g t~o,~l~
A function Z:~--~=f+/ , where ~ is an ordinal, that satisfies the condition of
Proposition 8 (for @ ) is called additive.

A superatomic lattice ~ is called special if its type is <~I~9), @(-~),0> •

LEMMA 5. If ~ is a special lattice and ~6.~ , then ¢(~)- @(~)

This follows easily from Lemma 4.

COROLLARY. If ~ is a special lattice, then d ± is also a special lattice for any

element d~ and ~ ( ~ ) = ~(d±) •
LEMMA 6. If ~o,~; are special lattices and ~I, ~ / are arbitrary lattices in ~ ,
then it follows from @ ( ~ o ) = ~ ( ~ : ) ~ i ) - - - ~('~/~ and ~'(~o+~'= ~(~-~/) that ~(~i)

Remark. If ~, and ~ are special lattices, then ~,+~'Pl is also a special lattice
and @(.,f~o+,,~#)--m~2~{@("~o),~(~,)} •

449
 Proposition 9. If ~ is a superatomic lattice, then ~@ is either special or represent-
able in the form =~==o~ o + ~ , where ~ 0 is a Boolean algebra of atomic type < ~ 0 , fg > ,
and ~7 is a special lattice such that ~ oC~)(=@I~I) .

Indeed, suppose the atomic type of ~ is <0~,~,,7> If ~=0 , then ,~ is a special

lattice Co~-~) If N ~ O , consider the Boolean algebra ~P--~/qb CA) and choose in o~
an element ~ that is a preimage of the unity of ~P (under the natural projection
~:~-~). Then, as is easily seen, the decomposition ~=Tq-~ ~ is the desired one.

We will now prove a technical lemma that is important for what follows.

LEMMA 7. Suppose ~ is a lattice in ~o, ~(o.~ ---<~,~7,~> ; let ae~,6(a)=~ ,6(~t)=~

(so that ~ = ~0~,~,~ t ). Suppose <~o,~,~> , <0~7, ~ ~ > a r e triples such that:

1)

2) if ~; <~o , then nl= ~ ; if ~o<~i , then ~=~ ; if ~ o = o ~ , then ra+~ = rb;

3) if r~== 0 , then o£o--~ ; if ~ = 0 , then ~ = ~

Then there exists an element ~ . ~ such that the images of ~Z and f in ~/~,(=~) are equal
and 'T~') ----<=~o,~,rR>, ~'(~)=<~I,£ ~

Let ~ N ~, (~) be represented (in accordance with Proposition 9) in the form ~o+7o,
e
where ~0 is a special lattice ~o)=-6~QJ==f ; let n ± N ~ b (=~)be represented in the form
~ # + ~#
"
where 7f is
,
special lattice ~(71 ) O(a ±) = ~.
a
Then ~ (~)=7o+~ +(~oL~)
== .

Consider first the case f~O ; then clearly ~(~)--<o~,Oifl> for ~ = 4 ~ / ^. Assum-
ing that /~O and ~ 0 , by Proposition 6 there exist elements Co and C# in ~ such
that Ce±Cl, CotJC#-C/ and ~'(Co)=<~o,O,r/?>,~(c~)== <~,0,~>. If r ~ = O , put ~ - ~ 0 , ~ / ~ - ~
(note that in this case <~1,O,~>=<o~O~/Z> ); if f - O , put Co#d ,C?~ Now put
[~I~-~a)UCo ; then ~ (~) = Co-~7o and ~ ± ~ ( ~ ) = = 6 + i ~ ; also, it is easy to see that
~i£)=<~o,f,~>,~[±) =<~,~,~>. since ~ o , C o E ~ ( = ~ ) , the images of (~ and ~ in
~ (~ are equal.

Now consider the case ~ = O ; then ~ = ~ and ~ ) is a special lattice; we may assume
that ~ o = 4 = '0 (indeed, if ~ 0 ~ ~ and ~ ( ~ = < i~,/~,~ , then =g1<o~ ; if j = ~ , then
instead of G we can take QU~ ; if ~ = ~ , then instead of O~ we can take G ' ~ o ).
If / ~ = ~ = 0 , then in the role of ( we can simply take ~ If / ~ O , then we must have
o~o<~=~ and ~==O ; we choose in 7! an element C such that ~ C ) = < ~ o , O ~ r ~ (which is
possible by Proposition 6), and then ~----OUO satisfies the conclusion of the lemma.

If ~~ 0 , we must have ~f~<f== o~ and ~Z~=~ ; we choose in j= an element C such

that ~ ) = ~ f , O , ~> ; then ~ - £ Z ~ C satisfies the conclusion of the lemma.

Proposition i0. Suppose ~ is a countable special lattice.

i) If ~ ) = ~+I , then -~ is representable in the form = ~ ~= , where ~=

is a superatomic Boolean algebra of atomic type <~,0,~>"

2) If ~0<=c#<.., is a sequence of ordinals such that ~[~)==~r~o~ , then ~ is repre-

450
sentable in the form ~ --E ~ , where ~ is a superatomic Boolean algebra of atomic
type <o~a,~,#>, ~ .

Since ~ is countable, the elements of ~ can be arranged in a sequence ~ o ~ ' ....

We begin with the first case. Suppose ~(~) ----~ + / and ~ : ~--~ ~< = ~ 4 ( ~ ) " is
the natural epimorphism; instead of ~ ) we will write d when ~ We will construct
a sequence 4,4,''" of pairwise orthogonal elements of ~ such that: a) for any ~£~ there
exists ~,g0 such that ~ < ~ ; b) ~ is an atom of the lattice o~ °c, ~ J .

We carry out the construction in steps.

Step 0. Consider an element ~ 6~ ~ . Since ~(~)=~ , there exists a nonempty

finite family of atoms ~,o.., ~ of this lattice such that ~o ~<~.~olj

~ . Let ~0,.~ ~ be
elements of ~ such that ~ =~ ~ b-/- ~o • For * ~ ~o we put d~.-d~ - d~ d.)
~, (in particular,
if ,~o>0 , then ~O~do ~ and ~ o~- ( ~% LICZo)'(~
d' < ~~:) ; then it is clear from the construction
that ~ = ~ , ~-< ~0~ ~o,',..~ko are pairwise orthogonal and ~o~< ~ ~ .
&G
This completes Step 0 of the construction.

Suppose that at step fg we have already constructed a family of pairwise orthogonal

elements ~o,.,.,d/~ such that ~ is an atom of ~ for ~-<~ and a ~ ~ for any agog

Step ~+/ Consider the element G ~ d Z ~ ' , ( ~ ~ ) and its image ~ in the lattice
..d g~t2
~'~ We can find a family
g ~7" .., Ce ,~>,/ of atoms of ~0¢ different from the atoms
such that G-~< .LJ~ Let C~.....C £ ~ be such that ~ = ~./-~ 0-<~; for / - < b ~
g ~ " "" 7 /~ b=q

0 C~=~4a+d ~o,,..: ~ , where ~a+i~a~- ~, are pairwise orthogonal, ~,...,

are atoms of ~ and ~a,f~ ~ gfd . +!

This completes step a+[ of the construction.

After performing ~ step of the construction we obtain a sequence of elements ~o,~I,.,.

satisfying the conditions stated before the construction. If we put g ~ a , ~6~, then it
follows at once from properties of the sequence ~o,4 .... that ~ F ~ and $[~)==<~c,O,f>

Let us now consider the second case, where O~) is a limit ordinal and ~o<~i<.., is
a sequence of ordinalsconverging to 6~ . We will construct a sequence ~0,4 .... of pair-
wise orthogonal elements such that: a) for any ~ e ~ there exists ~£ such that ~.~d~ ;
b) the atomic type of ~ is < ~ , !>,aE~

We carry out the construction in steps.

Step O. Suppose the atomic type of ~o is <~,O,n> Choose the smallest 4 e ~ such
that p ~ Using Proposition 6 and Lemma 5, we can find a sequence of elements ~ol,...,dh_
such that ~]~(' ~. d; )z and ~1~/.I),=~,0,#>,/~o . Putting 4-~' for /~<~. and ~, ~-~.--~
A/
4o
LI (Oo'Z~o~} , we see that 4,"',~. are pairwise orthogonal; ~(4)=<'~$,,0,].~, d~'~o] ao~Ui,4r,~,,d'.6

451
 This completes step 0 of the construction.

Suppose that at step tg we have already constructed a family of pairwise orthogonal

elements do,"',~ such that ~(~)=-<~L,0,/> , b , < ~ , and ~ I I ~ for any ~ .

Step ~+/ -~
Consider the element C~-~+~ "-(~
. ~) and its atomic type < ~ 0 , ~ > .
Choose the smallest ~+i greater than ~ such that ~ < ~ ; we can find elements
~' ' .... ~' I such that ~.6 ( I ~ ) , ~'~gt.)"<~.: 0, t>, ~ ~ + , ; we then choose an
~21 ~,~-. .~ ~ ~j . V ~ , -
element ~ ( U ~; ) such that ~ - ~ ) = { ~ ,q ~> ; putting d, ~-~ ~ l J ( C " ~ ~ ) , we have
. ~-~.~.,.t . ~ ~',~.~

This completes step ft+f' of the construction.

After performing ~ steps of the construction we obtain a sequence of elements ~o ~I~...

satisfying the conditions stated before the construction. If we put ~ n , ~ , then
it is clear from properties of the sequence 4,4,... that ~ - - ~ . ~ and ~ ( ~ ) = ~ , 0 , 4 > , ~E~.

Suppose ~ is a countable special lattice and ~ = ~ , ~ is the decomposition described

/tE~
in Proposition i0. Then the ideal completion of o~ is (according to the results of the
-T"
first section) the Boolean algebra ~I__~ ~ We define in ~ ' a chain of ideals ~ ,
/5~d('~) , as follows: for ~ 5 ~)we put

Remark. If is identified with the family of locally principal ideals of ~ , then

] %
It follows at once from this remark that the definition of the ideals ~ is actually
independent of the choice of the decomposition ~ ~

Let g ~ - - ~ •=/7,,~
~ -~" ; for ~ ~d(,,,~)
/~,JU~ we define the ideal ~ of the Boolean
~£~ ~ ~ .

algebra ~ to be the image of the ideal ~ Suppose a mapping ~;.~--~)+ / ~s

defined as follows: for ~ d ~ we put

•Remark. If ! e O' (J is viewed as a locally principal ideal of ~ ) and d ~ F is

its image in ~)" then ~(d)= 6(d).

Indeed, if 7 = d 0 + ~ , then '7=/o ' since 2 belongs to the kernel of the projection
~I_~ and 6~)16(~'o) . Therefore, using Proposition 9, we may assume that j is special.
If 7 is special and 6 ~ ) ~ , then j ~ ,J~ and ~ - - f ~ ; consequently, ~d)~
If £1d)<p , were would exist a locally principal ideal /o~d such that ~ - ~ and
7o~ ~j c , hence 6(~o)<~ ; but, on the other hand, jo=~ implies that 7-/o+~ for
a suitable de7 and, by Lemma 5, 6(7) = dC~'o )..

Proposition ii. The mapping ~ : ~ --~6(~)+/ has the following properties:

1. pCd,,~d,)=,~a~L,odo,.,o~}; p~d~=o ~ d - - - o;
2 for any / 3 ~ 5 ~ ) there exists d£~ ~ such that ~ = p ,

452
 3. if ~ .~ p(~) , then there exists ~ such that ~ o ~ ,£(~o~=~ , a n d £ ( ~ , ~ o ) = do6~l/).
Property i, which says, in particular, that the function ~ is additive, is obvious.

Property 2 will follow from property 3 if we can establish that there exists an element
~.fP" such that ~ ( ~ ) = ~ ( ~ ) .

Let us prove property 3. Choose a sequence of nonlimit ordinals ~.~1~... converging

to ~ Suppose 7 ~-~(~) and IE / ~ . ~ is such that ~ is the image of P under the
natural epimorphism. We may assume that f(~)E~ (~) for any ~£u) ; the condition i = ~ ( ~ )
also implies that for any ~<~ the set {~ I f ( ~ ) ¢ ~$ (~)} is infinite. Then we can
choose a sequence ffo<ff~<.., of numbers such that ¢~(f(ff~)~-~,O,/~> , the atomic type of i(/zf) ,
is such that ~ ~--~g , ~ E ~ Consequently, there exist elements ~£~. such that ~ f ( ~ )
and the atomic type of ~ is ~ , O , # > • Put

1_ o ,¢{¢,,.,:,,',+,...};
then /'~<f ," and if ~' is the image of f' , then it is easy to see that / ( ~ ) = ~ (since
the sequence ~o-~2.<...~ ~2g~... converges to ~ ). If ~ 7 , then it follows from property
1 that y ( ~ - ~ / ) ~ ; if ~ = ~ then the element ~g that is the image of the function fw

t .

.... } ,

is such that ~ --~-~ ~ d'~<~/-d/; consequently, F ~ d - d / ) =f

It remains to prove the existence of ~ such that yC~) = ~ ( ~ ) ; but it is obvious that
the largest element of the Boolean algebra ~ ~ is such an element.

The proposition is proved.

Suppose ~:g~0--~+ / is an additive function on some lattice ~oe~ ; an accompanying

function (for the function ~ and ordinal ~ ) is any function ~t:,~o--~+/ satisfying
the following conditions:

i) ~ a ~ { ~ , ~ l ~ ] for any d~ ;

2) if ~ 7 , then~'~o)~t~R~{~C4"~o).~#(4)$.
For any additive function ~ there exists a trivial accompanying function ~# defined
as follows: ~t(d)~ for all ~e~

Proposition 8 provides an example of an additive function ~ on an arbitrary lattice

.~ For the function ~ there exists a natural accompanying function different, in general,
from the trivial one, as is shown by the following proposition, the proof of which we leave
to the reader.

453
 Proposition 8' If ~ 6 ~o, oc~ ~ (~), then the mapping ~':d, , ~ I ) , de~, is an
accompanying function for ~ and

We will now give a complete description of all possible accompanying functions for a
fixed additive function Z;~0 ~ ~+i and ordinal ~c .

Proposition 12. i) If 61 is a nontrivial accompanying function, then there exists an

ordinal ~1~ such that Iz' is the smallest value of the function ~' ; the set /IP,~
{~I~£o~o,~IIdl=f~, ~ is a filter in ~ ;~,_c{~J~{~=~} and ~Ido,,~/1)~fz, for any

2) For any filter Pc_{~I¢{~)=~ ~ and any ~ < ~ such that Z{~o'd,)~< i for any d0.~ , EP
there exists one and o n l y one accompanying function such t h a t V=P , and

Let j~, be the s m a l l e s t element o f the nonempty s e t of o r d i n a l s {~'[&ld~,.~ot; since

g I is nontrivial, /~,<~ Put ~ , _ { d / d E ~ o , g ' ( d j = / g , ] Since is a decreasing func-
tion and 7~' is the smallest value of ~' , it follows that ~, is closed under extensions.
Suppose ~'(~oI=41 and ~1(~)==~1 , and assume that ~l(~o~g)=i~f{, Then, by condition
2), ~1(~on4)=~t~Z{Z(~o'~oN~), ~i(~f)] ; consequently, Z{~o~(~or]4))= ~ . If we now con-
sider the pair of elements ~;.~otj~ , then ~'(4)--rr~{z((~olld~),~),{~(~,)I; but (~o~d~)
-4=~0-(4~4] and Z(~ota~)'~)=/ ; therefore, z l ( ~ ) = f > ~ z , Contradiction. Therefore,
~ o r ] ~ E ~ z, and &, is a filter in ~o • The inclusion ~z,-~{~I~(~)=o~] follows at once
from condition i) (=£=~I~{~, q~'d1 ) and the fact that 7~' <oc Suppose ~0,4E~zl ; if
~(~o~)=j>~,, then g.'(dt)=~o.~tg.~[~oLid~),,d;) , qs~(~otl~)t=rrgc~{~(~o,~),~z,~=~ > ~ ,
Contradiction. Therefore, Z(<'d)(~,, •

Suppose P is a filter in ~o' ~7~{~l~E~o,~=°g], and 7 ~ is an ordinal such that

g(do-~).< ~ for any ~o,~/ ~ P Suppose ~,~E~ 7 are arbitrary fixed elements; we define
functions ae and ~/ as follows : 'go
will show that Z; = Z, Suppose &~o is arbitrary and Z(~o-d)=.g> ~ (then gl(d)= ~ )
Note that ~o-~ (~ot]~)-~---((4U~U~)~(4U~))II(I~U~ox(gU~)LJ(4~); consequently,
~=~(~xd],< {([~o\(~u~))U(~\~))=r~£ {{ (do~ [< u~]), {(~,ol)}=~{(~/) , since ~ u ~ E 7!~ and E ( ~ ' g u ~ l ) ~ .
f !
Then ~oI(~) =~IQ~{Z[<~d)~] ~rrE~a~{z(~-~],~]=z~ (~) ; symmetrically, ~! (~)~ ~0(d} and
/ !
Zo[~)=~ z (~) ; if ~(~o~)~;~ , then Zo'{OO=y and ~; [~)= j , since, assuming Z ( 4 " ~ ) = ~ > / ,
we see that ~(~0-dl= ~ . Thus, ~'-----{~ We will denote this function, which does not
depend on ~o~/~ , simply by {1 We will show that {' is an accompanying function. Let
us verify condition i). Suppose ~ ) = ~ If ~=~ , there is nothing to check. If
#<o~ and ~oE~) , then ~ o ~ ) ~ ~ta2~{Z(~o~),/]= ~(~)= ~<o~, hence ~= ~ ( ~ U ~ o ) = ~ { ~ ( ~ ) ,
Z(4"d)]={(~) This takes care of i). Let us verify condition 2). Suppose do~4 and
~£~ is such that ~ Then ~ / ~ o ) = t r t ~ { ~ ( ~ . ~ o ) , ~ = f R ~ { ~ ( ~ 4 ) , ~ ( 4 ~ ; ~ i ~ { ~ (d-
d~),~}= ~I (4) ; therefore, ~ l ( ~ o ) = r ~ £ { ~ , ~ o ) , ~ g { ~ . d ~ ) , f } ~ = r r t ~ { ~ ( < , ~ o ) , ~{~1/)~.
This takes care of 2). Suppose g H ~ o _ _ + ~ + / is an accompanying function and j~==~,
~----~ We will show that %1= ~" Suppose ~e~ o and ~e/~ is such that ~ 0 •
Then, according to 2), for g" we have

454
but O[oEP=P~, and ~"(d,)=M,= t, hence GSt(d)=ri'l~{~o.d)~ ~ P J = ~ t ( d ) .
We now use P r o p o s i t i o n 3 to p r o v e a c e r t a i n universality of the p a i r <~)~ p > for a
special lattice gO ; here ~ : ~ )6(~) + ! is the additive function on ~ defined before
Proposition ii.

Proposition 13. Suppose ~ is a countable special lattice, ~ ~ (~) ; ~0 is an at

most countable lattice, ~:AQo ~ oc+[ is an additive function, and ~t ~ o - - ~ ~ + ] is an
accompanying function. Then there exists a homomorphism ~: ~ o )" ~ ~uch that ~ ( = ~
and ~ ' ( f ~ ( £ ~ ) for any ~ 6 ~ 0

We construct a weak semicorrespondence ~ between ~ o and ~ as follows:

0 ~ [<a,[> i a ~ o , o~o~ " ,

Clearly, <0,O>E C ; if <O,[>E 0 , then pff=~(7=O and, by property 1 of Proposition ii,

Let us verify conditions (2) in the definition of weak semicorrespondence. Suppose

<Q,~>E O,C~ 0 , and let ~gb=~, ~(at]C)-f, ~(~,£)-~ Since ~=~Z=y~ and ~ { f , ~ } = ~ ,
it follows from property 3 of Proposition ii that there exists an element ~o~ such that
y~o=t .p(f'~o)=Y. Note that

= {pf (, o4 ), pf D } :

=72(ogudo )=cnaz {pdo,2o(J)}=ma~ {#. ~'a} = rrm~ [~(arTe~,z'a } = rr~a~ [,~ (a-Ca,c)), ~'(a~ t = z' (a,.e).
Consequently, <(iV)C,~io> , .Q.,C. ~.o{o>~C,
Let ~ = # , {(C-.a) = / , ~'(aUC)=8 Then ~'&-.~a~[~(c,a),~'(a~c)] implies p=r~oz
{y,~]~U~=$'~'=p , hence, by property 3 of proposition ii, there exists an element ~ < C ~
such that y ~ t = t , j~(COP',gf,)=Y As above, it is easy to see that < C - ~ , ~ t \ ~ > , <aJI£,
~LJ~ > ~ C , i.e., condition (2) holds.

We now use Proposition 3 to construction a homomorphism ~: gOo - - ~ * relative to the

weak semicorrespondence ~ Suppose ~ E ~9o and d# ...., ~ are pairwise orthogonal ele-
ments such that ~ = ~ i and ~ , ¢~ >~, o=/,,. ~ ; since ~ = ~ t ~ { ~ I/=l,,..)~})

it follows that . Suppose d0 Z is such that d--do and <do, Cdo> O. Then

We now turn directly to the isomorphism problem for countable l a t t i c e s in 4 Suppose

mE~ The lattice m/c~w{m) cannot contain atoms, otherwise ~O(m/@O ( m ) ) ~ {0}
Consequently, the lattice ~ can be viewed as an extension of a superatomic lattice by an
atomless lattice:

455
 To within isomorphism there are only three at most countable atomless lattices: the
zero lattice, the free lattice ~o with a countable set of free generators, and the free
Boolean algebra ~ with a countable set of free generators. The atmost countablesuperatomic
lattices have already been described to within isomorphism (by the atomic type). Thus, we
need only classify extension of superatomic lattices by ~o or

A countable lattice ~ will be called normalized if ~ ) is a special lattice,

~/~, ~) is isomorphic to ~o or ~ , and .~ is a Boolean algebra when ~ / ~ (~) ~'~ ~ .

Proposition 14. Any countable nonsuperatomic lattice ~ can be represented in the

form ~o# ~ , where:

I) "~o' is a normalized lattice;

2) ~ is a superatomic lattice of atomic type < ~ , ~ , ~ > ;

3) if ~o a Boolean algebra, then ~ ( ~ o ) or ~ is a special lattice;

4) if of~0 is not a Boolean algebra, then ~ is a Boolean algebra and ~ m~{~o) or

is a zero algebra.

Case i. Suppose ~ / ~ is a Boolean algebra. Let ~ be the smallest ordinal such

that ~/- ~/~(~) is a Boolean algebra. Let ~ be the unity of the Boolean algebra ~ J
and ~a~ an arbitrary preimage of ~ under the epimorphism ~£:~--~f. Then ~ = ~ + ~±
and ~± is a special lattice of special rank ~ ASuppose the atomic type of the element
is equal to <~,~> If ~= 0 , i.e if ~n.~zS' (o~) is special, then ~ o ~- ~ ~-~
yield the desired decomposition. If g@O , then, by Proposition 6, Gb~(~# contains an
A
element do such that ~[do)=K~,~n> and ~ Id) is representable in.~..theform ~ o + 7 , where
7 is a special lattice of special rank ~ ; then, putting ~ o ~ ~ ' ~ ) i ~ 4 # ~ we ob-
tain the desired decomposition.

Case 2. Suppose ~ ) / ~ C~) is not a Boolean algebra. Suppose the atomic type of
~$ C~# is <~,~ n> If ,"Z=O , then ~ C~) is special and ~ is a normalized lattice;
~ and ~1 ~ {0} yield the desired decomposition. If ~ 0 , then ~ C~# contains
an element ~ such that ~[~--<~,0, fl> and ~ ) f ] ~ is a special lattice (of special
rank ~ ); putting ~o ~ ~z'~! ~ d , we obtain the desired decomposition.

Remark. It will be proved below that the decomposition indicated in Proposition 14 is

' / / I I
unique to within isomorphism, i.e . , if ~=~o+~I=~;-~)I and ~o,~ I~,~o,~, ) satisfy con-
ditions 1)-4) of Proposition 14, then ~0 is isomorphic to ~ ; , and ~f is isomorphic to
~9~'.
We now study types of isomorphisms of normalized lattices• We consider in detail the
case of normalized lattices that are not Boolean algebras. The case of Boolean algebras is
handled analogously (and more simply), hence for this case we will state only the final result.

Suppose "~o is a countable special lattice of special rank ~ . Suppose

0 .o, (*)

456
 0 ' , Ao---,-0 (**)

are two extensions of "~o by ~o We want to know when the lattices .~ and ~f~ are iso-
morphic. By Proposition 8, the mappings @: ~ - ~ + 4 ~: " "~+/ are additive functions.
Since ~(~) for a superatomie element ~ of the lattice ~ ) is obviously equal to O ,
the epimorphisms ~ and ¢ induce functions ~ ; ~ 0 --+ ~ / and ~ : ~ o '~+/ such that
for any ~£~2~ we have ~ o ~ " ~ , and for any ~ E ~ ~ we have ~ / ~ ~6~ / . Clearly, ~o
and ~ are additive functions. By Proposition 8', the mappings @~: .~)--~+/ and ~:~'
--+~+4 are accompanying functions for the mappings 0 ; since for any ~e.~) and ~ ( . ~ ) ,
we obviously have ~'~)= 6(~ ~ ) =~[[OU~) ~) - ~ / ( 0 ~ ) it follows that the functions 6' in-
duce mappings ~0:~0- - ~ + ~ : ~ ~o --~ ~ + / which are obviously accompanying functions for ~o
and ~ respectively.
I
Proposition 15. The lattices o~ and ~ (defined in the extensions (*) and (**)) are iso-
I
morphic if and only if the triples <~o,~0,~o > and ~ o , ~ , ~ > are isomorphic, i.e., if
and only if there exists an antomorphism ~ of the lattice ~o such that ~ f~, ~o~ ~;/~ .

Suppose ~:~ ---~ is a lattice isomorphism. Since ~ o = ~ A D ) - ~ ( ~ ) ~) ~ ~ ~ it

follows that ~(~o)=~ and % induces an automorphism ~o'-+~o of the lattice Ao
Since ~ is an isomorphism, ~d:~--~%~} ~; and % 61{~-..-~~ ( ~ ) are also iso-
morphisms for any ~ ; consequently, 6(~)-~(%(;)), ~±)--6~%~)±), and for ~ e ~ o
we have ~g~C and ~C~'~C , i.e., ~ is an isomorphism of the triples ~ 4 , ~ o >
and <~o~,~'> Necessity is proved.

Let us prove sufficiency. Suppose is an automorphism of ~o establishing an iso-

I
morphism of ~ o , ~ , ~ o > onto We construct a correspondence ~ between ~ and
~ as follows:

Recall that ~[O). ( ~ O x)) is the atomic type of the lattice ~ f3 q~ (~) (~f3 9~. (-~))).

We will show that ~ is indeed a correspondence. Conditions (i) and (i*) are obviously
satisfied.

Let us verify condition (2). Suppose < a , g > £ C , C~ ; and let ~ ~ r I C ) ; we will
find an element d0~;g such that ,~'(ODC).-~'~o)
~= g , and ~(O,C),=~(~\do)(it will then
follow that ~ C ) ~ ) =~ ~(~0/) , ~ I I ~ \ C ) ~ ) - - ~ \ ~ o ) ± ) ). Since ~-=~(anC), ~.=/.Z~Z , we
have ~o~(~rlC)=$~ and ~o~(a,C)..~f(~..)'.~l Choose any element ~le~ such that ~
We now apply Lemma 7 to the lattice ~ , the element ~', and the triples ~(Qt~C) and ~'(9-C) .
Since ~ ' - - ~ i ~ ,~6 (OF;C)and ~ (~,~') = ~! ( ~ , g ) - = ~o(~ (O,C)) --6(a,C),the conditions of the
lemma are satisfied; consequently, there exists an element $ ~ such that ~'{~)-~(a,C),
~(~'4)-~,c), and ~--#~/--~ ; then < ~ N C , ~ f T ~ o > , ~gT.xC,~o)~.

Let ~ - ~ ( C , ~ } ; we will find an element ~ . ~ x such that ~ = ~ , ~'iC-~Z) - ~'[~,

~-(~UC) ~) -- ~(aJ'N (£,a~)-~f~zn~:~'((~u~) ~ ) (it will then follow that ~ , ~ C ) z ~(D~I.I£)
and ~'((¢,D)±)-¢~:)). Choose any element ~'~ ~± such that #O('-- ~ , and apply Learns 7

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to the lattice 6 ~ , the element ~ ' , and the triples ~(C,a) and £({OUC) ~) Since
~Ca~) = ~C~), ~ = ~,~, = ~ , ~ e , ~ ) - ~o~~e,a ~=~(e,a)~ ~ ~d'# ~ ~ )=~((B~d')~)= ~'~ (~,,~') =
$/(~Ud~)=ZoC~U ~ {C..~))--Z'~P(OLIC)-~Cc(IUC.)
"L), the conditions of the lemma are satisfied.
Consequently, there exists an element d,e~ ± such that £~d,)--~ (G"a ), ~ d t ~ ~ ± ) - 6-([=UC) ~ ),
and @d,--i~dLd'],
; then <C-a, d,,~>,<gluo,~ud~b e C This takes care of condition (2).

The verification of condition (3) is analogous.

Thus, ~ is a correspondence between ~ and

~' ; ~4~ and
ag' are obviously countable,
hence , by Proposition 4, ~Z) and ~' are isomorphic. Sufficiency is proved
I
Using Proposition 12, instead of the functions ~o and ~/ we can consider the correspond-
ing filters ~o and ~ and ordinals /o, ~ Then Proposition 15 can be reformulated as
follows :

Proposition 15' The lattices ~ and ~ ' are isomorphic if and only if ~ =~ and

there exists an automorphism ~ of the lattice J0 such that Zo = ~ and ~ = ~

Proposition 15 can be augmented by the following existence result.

Proposition 16. Suppose ~0 is a countable special lattice, ~(~)0)=°g ; then for any
additive function ~:~o---~+ / and any accompanying function ~': A 0 --~ ~ + / there exists an
extension (*) such that ~0= ~ and ~ ; = l

By Proposition 13, there exists a homomorphism # :~0--~&fPo such that ~ = ~ and

~=~I£#~) for any ~E~ 0 . By Proposition 4 of Sec. i, with such a homomorphism ~ : ~ o - - ~ 7
is associated some extension (*). A routine verification shows that for this extension we
have ~0= ~ and ~;= ~'
We will now state without proof the results characterizing isomorphism types for normal-
ized Boolean algebras.

Suppose g~)o is a countable special lattice of special rank ~g . Suppose

0 ,~o ,~ -_.t_* _/1_ .-.~o, (+)

o ,.,,~o , ~ ' . ~ , A. .~o (++)
are two extensions of ~0 by J[ that are Boolean algebras. Let ~o: ~ - + ~ + / and ~I: A --~ o~+/
be the additive functions on ~ induced by the additive functions ~" ~ --~ ~ + f and
@:~t---+.c+/

Proposition 17. The Boolean algebras ~ and ~t are isomorphic if and only if there
exists an automorphism ~ of the Boolean algebra ~ such that ~ = ~I~

Proposition 18. For any additive function ~: ~ - ~ - ~ + f such that ~e} = ~ there
exists a (Boolean) extension (+) such that ~0=

To conclude this section we will prove the uniqueness of the decomposition in Proposition
14 asserted in the remark following its proof. Suppose ~ = ~ o + ~ is a decomposition of a
countable nonsuperatomic lattice satisfying the conditions of Proposition 14. Then ~ / ~ { - ~ )

458
is naturally isomorphic to ~ o / ~ , (~o) (since ~I is superatomic) and the additive function
on this atomless lattice induced by the mapping 6 is the same as for another decomposi-
i I
tion ~ = ~ 0 + ~ If ~ is not a Boolean algebra, then it follows from the conditions of
Proposition 14 that ~! {~I) must be a Boolean algebra, hence an accompanying function for
/~, (~0) is the same---as for ~ o / ~ { ~ ). It follows from these observations and
Propositions 15 and 17 that ~o and ~! are isomorphic. The isomorphism of ~I and ~
follows from the fact that the conditions of Proposition 14 imply equality of the atomic
types of the superatomic lattices ~I and ~ ' .

LITERATURE CITED
i. R. Sikorski, Boolean Algebras [Russian translation], Mir, Moscow (1969).
2. G.W. Day, "Superatomic Boolean algebras," Notices Am. Math. Sot., 8, 279, 602 (1961).
3. W. Hanf, "Primitive Boolean algebras," Proc. Symp. Pure Math., 25 (Tarski Symposium),
75-90 (1974).
4. J. Ketonen, "The structure of the countable Boolean algebras," Ann. Math., 108, No. i,
41-89 (1978).
5. R.W. Quackenbush, "Free products of bounded distributive lattices," Algebra Univers.,
2, No. 3, 393-394 (1972).

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