Squares and Covering Matrices

Abstract

Viale introduced covering matrices in his proof that SCH follows from PFA. In the course of the proof amd subsequent work with Sharon, he isolated two reflection principles, CP and S, which, under certain circumstances, are satisfied by all covering matrices of a certain shape. Using square sequences, we construct covering matrices for which CP and S fail. This leads naturally to an investigation of square principles intermediate between $\square_{\kappa}$ and $\square(\kappa^+)$ for a regular cardinal $\kappa$. We provide a detailed picture of the implications between these square principles.