Representability and Compactness for Pseudopowers

Abstract

We prove a compactness theorem for pseudopower operations of the form $pp_{\Gamma(\mu,\sigma)}(\mu)$ where $\aleph_0<\sigma=cf(\sigma)\leq cf(\mu)$. Our main tool is a result that has Shelah's cov vs. pp Theorem as a consequence. We also show that the failure of compactness in other situations has significant consequences for pcf theory, in particular, implying the existence of a progressive set $A$ of regular cardinals for which $pcf(A)$ has an inaccessible accumulation point.