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There are a number of cases where the existence of large cardinals (or even their consistency) has "positive" consequences, e.g. determinacy hypotheses or uniformity of abstract elementary classes and accessible categories.

However, one phenomenon stands out as being the opposite: several nice properties in analysis are only closed under products if the cardinality of the index set is below the least measurable cardinal. The simplest manifestation of this is probably that a discrete space $X$ is realcompact (i.e. embeds as a closed subset of a power of $\mathbb{R}$) iff there are no measurable cardinals or $|X|$ is less than the least measurable cardinal. This is very unintuitive to analysts, and occasionally published papers make the mistake of assuming this phenomenon does not exist (or know that it exists and quote it incorrectly because of changing terminology related to measurability over time).

Are there any other examples of consequences of large cardinals that stand out as being unintuitive and somewhat "negative" for ordinary mathematics?

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The group $\mathbb{Z}^\kappa$ is reflexive only if $\kappa$ is below the first measurable cardinal. This is Los theorem. See Eklof-Mekler book.

Also in set theoretic algebra the concept of a beautiful cardinal arises, which is a Ramsey like cardinal. Sometimes the result differ below this cardinal or above it. See for example Expressive Power of Infinitary Logic and Absolute co-Hopfianity.

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    $\begingroup$ What's a reflexive group? $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 11, 2025 at 8:06
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    $\begingroup$ @CalliopeRyan-Smith A group $G$ such that the evaluation mapping $G \rightarrow \mathrm{hom}(\mathrm{hom}(G,\mathbb{Z}), \mathbb{Z})$ is an isomorphism (by analogy to reflexivity for Banach spaces but without topology). See e.g. here $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 11, 2025 at 14:34
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I have two examples using measurable cardinals, and two using real-valued measurable cardinals.

Example 1. In:

Mackey, George W., Equivalence of a problem in measure theory to a problem in the theory of vector lattices, Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 50, 719-722 (1944). ZBL0060.13402.

Mackey observed that if there exists a countably-additive 2-valued measure $\mu : \mathcal{P}(X) \rightarrow \{0,1\}$, then the mapping $f \mapsto \int_X f d\mu$ is a bounded linear map $\mathbb{R}^X \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ that is not continuous for the product topology. Recall that a locally convex space $E$ is bornological iff every bounded linear map of locally convex spaces $E \rightarrow F$ is continuous (continuous always implies bounded). This shows that bornological spaces are not closed under product in the category of locally convex spaces if measurable cardinals exist. In fact, it is an iff (see Schaefer's Topological Vector Spaces, Chapter II, Exercise 19 (d)).


Example 2. A measurable space $(X,\Sigma)$ is said to be $\sigma$-perfect if the mapping from points $x \in X$ to two-valued measures $\Sigma \rightarrow 2$ provided by $x \mapsto \delta_x$ is a bijection. Being $\sigma$-perfect is the measurable-space analogue of being a sober space in topology (and $\Sigma$ separating the points of $X$ is both the analogue of being $T_0$ and Hausdorff, a disanalogy with the topological case where there are non-sober $T_0$ spaces but all Hausdorff spaces are sober).

Directly from the definition, the measurable space $(X,\mathcal{P}(X))$ is $\sigma$-perfect iff $|X|$ is less than the first measurable cardinal. It is also easily verified that the measurable space coproduct of a family $(X_i,\Sigma_i)_{i \in I}$ of non-empty $\sigma$-perfect measurable spaces is $\sigma$-perfect iff $|I|$ is less than the first measurable cardinal.


Example 3: It is well-known that every Borel probability measure on a Polish space $X$ is inner regular with respect to the compact subsets and $\tau$-additive (the latter can be proved by the former, or directly using the Lindelöfness of separable metric spaces). The question arises as to whether this can be proved for all completely metrizable spaces, of arbitrarily large density character (the smallest cardinality of a dense subset).

If $X$ is a set admitting a probability measure $\mu : \mathcal{P}(X) \rightarrow [0,1]$ vanishing on singletons, we can make it into a metrizable space with the discrete metric (and it has density character $|X|$). Since the compact subsets are the finite subsets, this measure is not Radon. Likewise the measure is not $\tau$-additive, because $$ \sum_{x \in X} \mu(\{x\}) = 0 \neq 1 = \mu(X) = \mu\left(\bigcup_{x \in X}\{x\}\right), $$ using the fact that singletons are open. So real-valued measurable cardinals provide counterexamples to the attempt to extend these properties to arbitrary metrizable spaces. In fact, we have that for a metrizable space $X$, all probability measures are $\tau$-additive iff the density character of $X$ is below the first real-valued measurable, and for a completely metrizable space $X$, this is equivalent to all probability measures being inner regular with respect to the compact sets.

For a proof see Fremlin's Measure Theory 438J (c) for the fact about $\tau$-additivity for a metrizable space and 438H for inner regularity in the case of a completely metrizable space. (In each case to get to the statement I used you need the fact that the weight (minimal cardinality of a base) and density character are the same for a metrizable space.) These results are also contained in some editions of Billingsley's Convergence of Probability Measures, but not others.

It's should be mentioned that since $\mathfrak{c}$ can be real-valued measurable, these things can fail for $\ell^\infty(\mathbb{N})$, $L^\infty([0,1])$ or $B(\ell^2)$ in the norm topology, i.e. they can have non-Radon probability measures.


Example 4. Consider two measure spaces $(X,\Sigma_X,\mu_X)$ and $(Y,\Sigma_Y,\mu_Y)$ such that $L^\infty(X)$ and $L^\infty(Y)$ are W$^*$-algebras (equivalently, von Neumann algebras when represented in $L^2$). Such measure spaces are called localizable (sometimes an equivalent condition is used as the definition). Given a null-set reflecting measurable map $f : X \rightarrow Y$, we always get a $\sigma$-normal *-homomorphism $L^\infty(f) : L^\infty(Y) \rightarrow L^\infty(X)$, where $\sigma$-normal means that for every countable disjoint family of projections $(p_i)_{i \in I}$ in $L^\infty(Y)$ we have $$ L^\infty(f)\left(\bigvee_{i \in I}p_i\right) = \bigvee_{i \in I} L^\infty(f)(p_i). $$ We might wonder if it's always a normal *-homomorphism, where the analogous fact holds for disjoint families of projections of arbitrary cardinality (often authors restrict to $\sigma$-finite measures to simplify this away). Well, if $X$ admits a probability measure $\mu : \mathcal{P}(X) \rightarrow [0,1]$ vanishing on singletons, the answer is no. We just take $\nu$ to be the counting measure on $X$, whose only null-set is $\emptyset$, and then $\mathrm{id}_X : (X,\mathcal{P}(X),\mu) \rightarrow (X,\mathcal{P}(X),\nu)$ is null-set reflecting and gives us a non-normal map, as the join of the family of of projections $(\chi_{\{x\}})_{x \in X}$ in $L^\infty(X,\nu) = \ell^\infty(X)$ is not preserved by $L^\infty(\mathrm{id}_X)$.

In fact, every $\sigma$-normal *-homomorphism between commutative W$^*$-algebras is normal iff there are no real-valued measurable cardinals. As far as I know this was first shown by Fremlin in his chapter on Measure Algebras in Volume III of the Handbook of Boolean Algebras, Remark 4.13 (b).

This example is the cause of this answer existing, as my independent re-discovery of Fremlin's argument, for commutative W$^*$-algebras instead of measure algebras, led to me learning what a measurable cardinal was at all. I originally made a counterexample under the assumption that all subsets of $\mathbb{R}$ were Lebesgue measurable, and then tried to find a suitable alteration of that assumption that would be compatible with the axiom of choice, which led to measurable cardinals.


I will also mention that the first place the mistake mentioned in the question occurred was as early as possible, in Hewitt's paper:

Hewitt, Edwin, Rings of real-valued continuous functions. I, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 64, 45-99 (1948). ZBL0032.28603.

It is stated that every discrete space is realcompact in Theorem 52 on p. 87 (p. 43 of the pdf). The implicit assumption of no measurable cardinals occurs in the "proof" that $\bigcap_{n = 0}^\infty C_n = \emptyset$.

This error is not mentioned by Dieudonné in his famous review* that points out many of the errors - but of course he couldn't provide a counterexample.

*This should be visible to MathSciNet subscribers.

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    $\begingroup$ Examples like this have led me to take the point of view that what we want is for there to be large cardinals in inner models, but not in the real universe. I believe the ur-example of this phenomenon is the theorem that the perfect set property for coanalytic sets implies $\aleph_1$ (of $V$) is inaccessible in $L$. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 11, 2025 at 14:40
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    $\begingroup$ Nice examples. I find the ones involving real-valued measurability to be even more counterintuitive somehow. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 11, 2025 at 20:54
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I would probably only call this "unintuitive" on even days, but the category $\mathrm{Set}$ has a small codense subcategory if and only if there do not exist a proper class of measurable cardinals.

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This is both a ruthless self-plug and a little more on the philosophical side, but I've argued that under a formal understanding of "restrictiveness" (given by Penelope Maddy) large cardinal axioms come out as restrictive:

Neil Barton, Are Large Cardinal Axioms Restrictive?, Philosophia Mathematica, Volume 31, Issue 3, October 2023, Pages 372–407, https://doi.org/10.1093/philmat/nkad014

More controversially, you can push this further by showing that the existence of uncountable sets is restrictive relative to theories of ZFC - Powerset + "Every set is countable". (Note that "$\omega_1$ exists" behaves rather like a large cardinal axiom relative to ZFC - Powerset.)

https://philarchive.org/rec/BARIUR

Of course, in all these frameworks, you can have very many large cardinals in inner models, and many of the "nice" determinacy consequences they yield ($PD$ etc.).

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Theorem

A functor $F : C \to \mathbf{Set}$ from cocomplete category $C$ preserves arbitrary coproducts if and only if it preserves countable ones.

holds if and only if there are no uncountable measurable cardinals. This is Theorem 1.2 (along with the discussion right after it) in "Coproducts and Ultrafilters", Reinhard Börger (1987).

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Probability theory is often done in the settings of Polish spaces (i.e., complete separable metric spaces), on which all Borel measures are Radon. However, it may sometimes happen that a probabilistic statement we know to be true in the setting of Polish spaces might be true more generally if we restrict our attention to Radon measures.

A recent example of this phenomenon was uncovered in my generalization of de Finetti--Hewitt--Savage theorem to the setting of exchangeable sequences of random variables taking values in any arbitrary Hausdorff space, with the constraint that their (common) distribution should be assumed to be Radon. (Link to my preprint, which has been updated to a shorter and corrected submitted version available on my website, currently undergoing review.) This proof used nonstandard analysis which is done within the framework of ZFC.

The theorem being generalized above was previously known for random variables taking values in Polish spaces, and a counterexample had been found in the 1970s by Dubins and Freedman (link to their paper), in which their random variables took values in a separable but not complete metric space. My generalization thus implied that the counterexample constructed by Dubins and Freedman must have a non-Radon distribution.

A non-Radon measure was able to be constructed in this manner by Dubins and Freedman because their separable metric space was not complete. Within ZFC, the existence of a non-Radon measure on a complete metric space is known to be equivalent to the existence of a real-valued measurable cardinal, and hence cannot be proved. Thus the non-existence of large cardinals has the benefit of ensuring that de Finetti's theorem, a foundational result relevant for the philosophy of Bayesian statistics, holds true in the setting of random variables taking values in complete metric spaces.

My work has spurred some investigation into other probabilistic results that require only Radonness of the distributions of the random variables considered. Towsner, also using nonstandard analysis, generalized the Aldous--Hoover theorem for exchangeable arrays by again assuming the underlying distribution of the random variables in the array to be Radon. (Link to Towsner's preprint.) Potaptchik, Roy, and Schrittesser have generalized the conditional form of de Finetti's theorem to the same setting as well. (Link to Potaptchik, Roy and Schrittesser's preprint.)

These recent works suggest that perhaps a reason a lot of probability theory is done in the setting of Polish spaces is out of convenience, as that ensures all measures that we encounter are Radon. It seems (at least in the case of these recent results) that the nature of the space itself does not matter much when it comes to the truth of many foundational results in probability theory as long as we restrict to random variables whose distributions are Radon. Thus the non-existence of large cardinals might be something that empowers probability theorists.

However, it must be pointed out that it is possible (although unknown at the moment) that some (or all) of these recent results mentioned above can be directly proved in the setting of complete metric spaces (without assuming anything about the distributions being Radon). That said, since more research is needed in this direction, it might very well turn out that the statements of these results are actually undecidable in ZFC, in which case the non-existence of large cardinals would definitely empower probability theorists. Regardless of how this research evolves, the current-state-of-the art is definitely in a direction that seems to indicate that probability theorists might benefit from the non-existence of large cardinals in the context of at least some of their foundational results.

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