Failure of Approachability at the Successor of the first Singular for any Cofinality

Abstract

We solve two long-standing open problems regarding the combinatorics of $\aleph_{\omega+1}$. We answer a question of Shelah by showing that it is consistent for any $n\geq 1$ that $\mathsf{GCH}$ holds and there is a stationary set of points of cofinality $\aleph_n$ which is not in the approachability ideal. As a corollary, we obtain a model where the notions of goodness and approachability are distinct for stationarily many points of cofinality $\aleph_1$, answering an open question of Cummings, Foreman, and Magidor.