In mathematics, Milliken's tree theorem in combinatorics is a partition theorem generalizing Ramsey's theorem to infinite trees, objects with more structure than sets.

Let T be a finitely splitting rooted tree of height ω, n a positive integer, and S T n {\displaystyle \mathbb {S} _{T}^{n}} the collection of all strongly embedded subtrees of T of height n. In one of its simple forms, Milliken's tree theorem states that if S T n = C 1 ∪ . . . ∪ C r {\displaystyle \mathbb {S} _{T}^{n}=C_{1}\cup ...\cup C_{r}} then for some strongly embedded infinite subtree R of T, S R n ⊂ C i {\displaystyle \mathbb {S} _{R}^{n}\subset C_{i}} for some i ≤ r.

This immediately implies Ramsey's theorem; take the tree T to be a linear ordering on ω vertices.

Define S n = ⋃ T S T n {\displaystyle \mathbb {S} ^{n}=\bigcup _{T}\mathbb {S} _{T}^{n}} where T ranges over finitely splitting rooted trees of height ω. Milliken's tree theorem says that not only is S n {\displaystyle \mathbb {S} ^{n}} Partition regular for each n < ω, but that the homogeneous subtree R guaranteed by the theorem is strongly embedded in T.

Strong embedding

Call T an α-tree if each branch of T has cardinality α. Define Succ(p, P)= { q ∈ P : q ≥ p } {\displaystyle \{q\in P:q\geq p\}}, and I S ( p , P ) {\displaystyle IS(p,P)} to be the set of immediate successors of p in P. Suppose S is an α-tree and T is a β-tree, with 0 ≤ α ≤ β ≤ ω. S is strongly embedded in T if:

  • S ⊂ T {\displaystyle S\subset T}, and the partial order on S is induced from T,
  • if s ∈ S {\displaystyle s\in S} is nonmaximal in S and t ∈ I S ( s , T ) {\displaystyle t\in IS(s,T)}, then | S u c c ( t , T ) ∩ I S ( s , S ) | = 1 {\displaystyle |Succ(t,T)\cap IS(s,S)|=1},
  • there exists a strictly increasing function from α {\displaystyle \alpha } to β {\displaystyle \beta }, such that S ( n ) ⊂ T ( f ( n ) ) . {\displaystyle S(n)\subset T(f(n)).}

Intuitively, for S to be strongly embedded in T,

  • S must be a subset of T with the induced partial order.
  • S must preserve the branching structure of T; i.e., if a nonmaximal node in S has n immediate successors in T, then it has n immediate successors in S.
  • S preserves the level structure of T; all nodes on a common level of S must be on a common level in T.
  • Keith R. Milliken, A Ramsey Theorem for Trees J. Comb. Theory (Series A) 26 (1979), 215-237
  • Keith R. Milliken, A Partition Theorem for the Infinite Subtrees of a Tree, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 263 No.1 (1981), 137-148.