Nonequational Stable Groups

We introduce a combinatorial criterion for verifying whether a formula is not the conjunction of an equation and a co-equation. Using this, we give a transparent proof for the nonequationality of the free group, which was originally proved by Sela. Furthermore, we extend this result to arbitrary free products of groups (except $\mathbb{Z}_2*\mathbb{Z}_2$), providing an abundance of new stable nonequational theories.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

Comparing axiomatizations of free pseudospaces

Independently and pursuing different aims, Hrushovski and Srour (On stable non-equational theories. Unpublished manuscript, 1989) and Baudisch and Pillay (J Symb Log 65(1):443–460, 2000) have introduced two free pseudospaces that generalize the well know concept of Lachlan’s free pseudoplane. In this paper we investigate the relationship between these free pseudospaces, proving in particular, that the pseudospace of Baudisch and Pillay is a reduct of the pseudospace of Hrushovski and Srour

A model theoretic study of right-angled buildings

We study the model theory of countable right-angled buildings with infinite residues. For every Coxeter graph we obtain a complete theory with a natural axiomatisation, which is $\omega$-stable and equational. Furthermore, we provide sharp lower and upper bounds for its degree of ampleness, computed exclusively in terms of the associated Coxeter graph. This generalises and provides an alternative treatment of the free pseudospace.Comment: A number of small typos found by typesetter correcte

PAC structures as invariants of finite group actions

We study model theory of actions of finite groups on substructures of a stable structure. We give an abstract description of existentially closed actions as above in terms of invariants and PAC structures. We show that if the corresponding PAC property is first order, then the theory of such actions has a model companion. Then, we analyze some particular theories of interest (mostly various theories of fields of positive characteristic) and show that in all the cases considered the PAC property is first order

Stable domination and independence in algebraically closed valued fields

We seek to create tools for a model-theoretic analysis of types in algebraically closed valued fields (ACVF). We give evidence to show that a notion of 'domination by stable part' plays a key role. In Part A, we develop a general theory of stably dominated types, showing they enjoy an excellent independence theory, as well as a theory of definable types and germs of definable functions. In Part B, we show that the general theory applies to ACVF. Over a sufficiently rich base, we show that every type is stably dominated over its image in the value group. For invariant types over any base, stable domination coincides with a natural notion of `orthogonality to the value group'. We also investigate other notions of independence, and show that they all agree, and are well-behaved, for stably dominated types. One of these is used to show that every type extends to an invariant type; definable types are dense. Much of this work requires the use of imaginary elements. We also show existence of prime models over reasonable bases, possibly including imaginaries