Mathematical Structures in Logic

Exercise class 4
Stone, Priestley and Esakia Dualities

2 March, 2023

1. Let X be a Stone space. Consider the map ε : X → XClop(X) (where XClop(X) is the Stone
space dual to Clop(X)) defined by ε(x) = {U ∈ Clop(X) : x ∈ U }.

(a) Show that ε is well-defined.

(b) Show that ε is continuous, i.e., that for each clopen in XClop(X) its ε-pre-image is clopen
in X.
(c) Show that ε is injective.
(d) Show that ε is surjective.
(e) Deduce that ε is open (i.e. ε[U ] is open for each open set U ) and hence a homeomorphism.

(Hint for surjectivity: The following characterization of compactness might be useful: a space
T if and only if for any family C of closed sets with the finite intersection property
X is compact
we have C ̸= ∅. Note thatTC = {Ci : i ∈ I} has the finite intersection property iff for any
finite J ⊆ I the intersection {Ci : i ∈ J} ≠ ∅.)

2. Let (X, ≤) be a Priestley space. Consider the map ϵ : X → XClopUp(X) (where XClopUp(X) is
the Priestley space dual to ClopUp(X)) defined by ϵ(x) = {U ∈ ClopUp(X) : x ∈ U }.
Follow the steps of the previous exercise to show that ϵ is an order-preserving homeomorphism.

3. Prove Proposition 8.6: if f : (X, ≤) → (Y, ≤′ ) is a Priestley morphism, then f ∗ : ClopUp(Y ) →

ClopUp(X) : U 7→ f −1 (U ) is a bounded lattice morphism.

4. Prove Proposition 8.7: if h : A → B is a bounded lattice morphism, then h∗ : XB → XA :

x 7→ h−1 (x) is a Priestley morphism.

5. Prove the Exercise in the proof of Proposition 9.5: if USis a clopen subset of XA , where XA
is the Priestley dual of a Heyting algebra A, then U = ni=1 φ(ai ) ∩ φ(bi )c .

6. Prove Proposition 9.9: if f : (X, ≤) → (Y, ≤′ ) is an Esakia morphism, then f ∗ : ClopUp(Y ) →

ClopUp(X) : U 7→ f −1 (U ) is a Heyting algebra homomorphism.

7. Let (X, ≤) be a Priestley space.

(a) Let Y be a closed subset of X. Show that (Y, ≤Y ) where ≤Y is the induced order is also
a Priestley space.
(b) Suppose (X, ≤) is also an Esakia space and let Y be a closed upset of X. Show that
(Y, ≤Y ) is also an Esakia space.
(c) (*) Show that there exists an Esakia space (X, ≤) and a closed non-upset Y ⊆ X such
that (Y, ≤Y ) is not an Esakia space.

1
 (Hint: consider the Alexandroff compactification of the natural numbers, find a suitable
ordering on it so it becomes an Esakia space (there are several such orderings and not
all of them will work), and find such a Y .)

8. Let P be a poset. Recall that x ∈ P is maximal if for every y ∈ P we have x ≤ y implies

x = y. Let Max(P ) denote the set of maximal elements of P . Let A be a distributive lattice
and (X, ≤) its dual Priestley space. Define the set of dense elements of A as

D(A) = {d ∈ A | ∀a ∈ A (a ∧ d = 0 =⇒ a = 0)}.

(a) Show that D(A) is a filter.

(b) Show that every closed upset of X is an intersection of clopen upsets of X.

(c) Show that Max(X) is closed iff

∀a ∈ A. ∃b ∈ A. (a ∧ b = 0 and a ∨ b ∈ D(A)).

9. A Priestley space X is called extremally order-disconnected if, for every open up-set U in X,
the smallest closed up-set containing U is open. Prove that a bounded distributive lattice L
is complete if and only if the space D(L) is extremally order-disconnected. (Hint: use the fact
that Y is a closed up-set in X iff Y is an intersection of clopen up-sets).