A small ultrafilter number at smaller cardinals

Abstract

It is proved to be consistent relative to a measurable cardinal that there is a uniform ultrafilter on the real numbers which is generated by fewer than the maximum possible number of sets. It is also shown to be consistent relative to a supercompact cardinal that there is a uniform ultrafilter on ${\aleph}_{\omega+1}$ which is generated by fewer than ${2}^{{\aleph}_{\omega+1}}$ sets.