In mathematics, particularly in set theory, if κ is a regular uncountable cardinal then
, the filter of all sets containing a club subset of κ, is a κ-complete filter closed under diagonal intersection called the club filter.
To see that this is a filter, note that
since it is thus both closed and unbounded (see club set). If
then any subset of κ containing x is also in
, since x, and therefore anything containing it, contains a club set.
It is a κ-complete filter because the intersection of fewer than κ club sets is a club set. To see this, suppose
is a sequence of club sets where α < κ. Obviously
is closed, since any sequence which appears in C appears in every Ci, and therefore its limit is also in every Ci. To show that it is unbounded, take some β < κ. Let
be an increasing sequence with β1,1 > β and
for every i < α. Such a sequence can be constructed, since every Ci is unbounded. Since α < κ and κ is regular, the limit of this sequence is less than κ. We call it β2, and define a new sequence
similar to the previous sequence. We can repeat this process, getting a sequence of sequences
where each element of a sequence is greater than every member of the previous sequences. Then for each i < α,
is an increasing sequence contained in Ci, and all these sequences have the same limit (the limit of
). This limit is then contained in every Ci, and therefore C, and is greater than β.
To see that
is closed under diagonal intersection, let
, i < κ be a sequence, and let C = Δi < κCi. Since the diagonal intersection contains the intersection, obviously C is unbounded. Then suppose
and
. Then
for every
, and since each Cβ is closed,
, so
.