The Halpern–Läuchli theorem, a combinatorial result about trees, admits an elegant proof due to Harrington using ideas from forcing. In an attempt to distill the combinatorial essence of this proof, we isolate various partition principles about products of perfect Polish spaces. These principles yield straightforward proofs of the Halpern–Läuchli theorem, and the same forcing from Harrington’s proof can force their consistency. We also show that these principles are not ZFC theorems by showing that they put lower bounds on the size of the continuum.

1. (1) We show that it is possible to add $\kappa ^+$-Cohen subsets to $\kappa $ with a Prikry forcing over $\kappa $. This answers a question from [9].

2. (2) A strengthening of non-Galvin property is introduced. It is shown to be consistent using a single measurable cardinal which improves a previous result by S. Garti, S. Shelah, and the first author [5].

3. (3) A situation with Extender-based Prikry forcings is examined. This relates to a question of H. Woodin.

We continue with the study of the Katětov order on MAD families. We prove that Katětov maximal MAD families exist under $\mathfrak {b=c}$ and that there are no Katětov-top MAD families assuming $\mathfrak {s\leq b}.$ This improves previously known results from the literature. We also answer a problem form Arciga, Hrušák, and Martínez regarding Katětov maximal MAD families.

Assuming that every set is constructible, we find a ${\text{\Pi }}_1^1 $ maximal cofinitary group of permutations of $\mathbb{N}$ which is indestructible by Cohen forcing. Thus we show that the existence of such groups is consistent with arbitrarily large continuum. Our method also gives a new proof, inspired by the forcing method, of Kastermans’ result that there exists a ${\text{\Pi }}_1^1 $ maximal cofinitary group in L.

A maximal almost disjoint (mad) family ⊆ [ω]ω is Cohen-stable if and only if it remains maximal in any Cohen generic extension. Otherwise it is Cohen-unstable. It is shown that a mad family. .is Cohen-unstable if and only if there is a bijection G from ω to the rationals such that the sets G[A]. A ∈ are nowhere dense. An ℵ0-mad family, . is a mad family with the property that given any countable family ℬ ⊂ [ω]ω such that each element of ℬ meets infinitely many elements of in an infinite set there is an element of meeting each element of ℬ in an infinite set. It is shown that Cohen-stable mad families exist if and only if there exist ℵ0-mad families. Either of the conditions b = c or a < cov() implies that there exist Cohen-stable mad families. Similar results are obtained for splitting families. For example, a splitting family. . is Cohen-unstable if and only if there is a bijection G from ω to the rationals such that the boundaries of the sets G[S], S ∈ are nowhere dense. Also. Cohen-stable splitting families of cardinality ≤ κ exist if and only if ℵ0-splitting families of cardinality ≤ κ exist.

Suppose that $X$ is a Polish space which is not $\sigma$-compact. We prove that for every Borel colouring of $X^2$ by countably many colours, there exists a monochromatic rectangle with both sides closed and not $\sigma$-compact. Moreover, every Borel colouring of $[X]^2$ by finitely many colours has a homogeneous set which is closed and not $\sigma$-compact. We also show that every Borel measurable function $f:X^2 \rightarrow X$ has a free set which is closed and not $\sigma$-compact. As corollaries of the proofs we obtain two results: firstly, the product forcing of two copies of superperfect tree forcing does not add a Cohen real, and, secondly, it is consistent with ZFC to have a closed subset of the Baire space which is not $\sigma$-compact and has the property that, for any three of its elements, none of them is constructible from the other two. A similar proof shows that it is consistent to have a Laver tree such that none of its branches is constructible from any other branch. The last four results answer questions of Goldstern and Brendle. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 03E15, 26B99, 54H05.