Consecutive singular cardinals and the continuum function

We show that from a supercompact cardinal \kappa, there is a forcing extension V[G] that has a symmetric inner model N in which ZF + not AC holds, \kappa\ and \kappa^+ are both singular, and the continuum function at \kappa\ can be precisely controlled, in the sense that the final model contains a sequence of distinct subsets of \kappa\ of length equal to any predetermined ordinal. We also show that the above situation can be collapsed to obtain a model of ZF + not AC_\omega\ in which either (1) aleph_1 and aleph_2 are both singular and the continuum function at aleph_1 can be precisely controlled, or (2) aleph_\omega\ and aleph_{\omega+1} are both singular and the continuum function at aleph_\omega\ can be precisely controlled. Additionally, we discuss a result in which we separate the lengths of sequences of distinct subsets of consecutive singular cardinals \kappa\ and \kappa^+ in a model of ZF. Some open questions concerning the continuum function in models of ZF with consecutive singular cardinals are posed.Comment: to appear in the Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic, issue 54:3, June 201

The singular world of singular cardinals

The article uses two examples to explore the statement that, contrary to the common wisdom, the properties of singular cardinals are actually more intuitive than those of the regular ones

Logical Dreams

We discuss the past and future of set theory, axiom systems and independence results. We deal in particular with cardinal arithmetic

Singular cardinals and strong extenders

We investigate the circumstances under which there exist a singular cardinal $\mu$ and a short $(\kappa, \mu)$-extender $E$ witnessing "$\kappa$ is $\mu$-strong", such that $\mu$ is singular in \Ult(V, E).Comment: 8 page