Ideal Independence, Free Sequences, and the Ultrafilter Number

Abstract

We make use of a forcing technique for extending Boolean algebras. The same type of forcing was employed in [BK81], [Kos99], and elsewhere. Using and modifying a lemma of Koszmider, and using CH, we obtain an atomless BA, A such that f(A) = smm(A) < u(A), answering questions raised by [Mon08] and [Mon11].