# axiom of choice – Does ZF + BPI alone prove the equivalence between “Baire theorem for compact Hausdorff spaces” and “Rasiowa-Sikorski Lemma for Forcing Posets”?

Rasiowa-Sikorski Lemma (for forcing posets)is the statement: For any p.o. $$mathbb{P}$$ (i.e. $$mathbb{P}$$ is a reflexive transitive relation) and for any countable family of dense subsets of $$mathbb{P}$$ there is a generic filter which intersects all dense subsets of the countable family. It is well-known that this statement is equivalent to the Baire Category Theorem for Complete Metric Spaces – and thus it is also equivalent to the Principle of Dependent Choices.

A masters student of mine has found in the literature the following statement: “Rasiowa-Sikorski Lemma is equivalent to the Baire Category Theorem for Compact Hausdorff Spaces, modulo the Boolean Prime Ideal Theorem”. We understood this as the assertion that the theory ZF + BPI alone is able to prove the equivalence between the Baire Category Theorem for Compact Hausdorff Spaces and the Rasiowa-Sikorski Lemma.

Well, I asked my student to verify such claim, and at first glance I suggested him to follow the results 3.1 to 3.4 of Chapter II of Kunen’s book, where there are proofs for some equivalences of Martin’s Axiom at $$kappa$$, MA($$kappa$$): the idea was to discard the hypothesis “c.c.c.” and adapt the reasoning, arguing for $$kappa = omega$$. It turns out that it was not a good suggestion, because in 3.1 a kind of Downward-Lowenheim-Skolem argument is done, to show that it is equivalent to work with a restricted form of the forcing axiom, considering only partial orders of bounded cardinality. However, such argument seems to require the Axiom of Choice, or some part of it other than BPI.

Does any of you know if it is indeed possible to prove the equivalence between “Baire Category Theorem for Compact Hausdorff Spaces” and “Rasiowa-Sikorski Lemma for forcing posets” from ZF + BPI alone ? Any suggestions or references would be appreciated.