Stable domination and independence in algebraically closed valued fields

We seek to create tools for a model-theoretic analysis of types in algebraically closed valued fields (ACVF). We give evidence to show that a notion of 'domination by stable part' plays a key role. In Part A, we develop a general theory of stably dominated types, showing they enjoy an excellent independence theory, as well as a theory of definable types and germs of definable functions. In Part B, we show that the general theory applies to ACVF. Over a sufficiently rich base, we show that every type is stably dominated over its image in the value group. For invariant types over any base, stable domination coincides with a natural notion of `orthogonality to the value group'. We also investigate other notions of independence, and show that they all agree, and are well-behaved, for stably dominated types. One of these is used to show that every type extends to an invariant type; definable types are dense. Much of this work requires the use of imaginary elements. We also show existence of prime models over reasonable bases, possibly including imaginaries.

Stable domination and independence in algebraically closed valued fields Journal Articles