We sketch the ideas behind the use of chromatic numbers in establishing descriptive set-theoretic dichotomy theorems.

We provide a new criterion for embedding.

We show that there is an antichain basis for neither the class of non-potentially closed Borel subsets of the plane under Borel rectangular reducibility nor the class of analytic graphs of uncountable Borel chromatic number under Borel reducibility.

We provide a finite basis for the class of Borel functions that are not in the first Baire class, as well as the class of Borel functions that are not $\sigma $ -continuous with closed witnesses.

We generalize Kada’s definable strengthening of Dilworth’s characterization of the class of quasi-orders admitting an antichain of a given finite cardinality.

We show that recurrence conditions do not yield invariant Borel probability measures in the descriptive set-theoretic milieu, in the strong sense that if a Borel action of a locally compact Polish group on a standard Borel space satisfies such a condition but does not have an orbit supporting an invariant Borel probability measure, then there is an invariant Borel set on which the action satisfies the condition but does not have an invariant Borel probability measure.

We generalize the [Formula: see text] dichotomy to doubly-indexed sequences of analytic digraphs. Under a mild definability assumption, we use this generalization to characterize the family of Borel actions of tsi Polish groups on Polish spaces that can be decomposed into countably-many Borel actions admitting complete Borel sets that are lacunary with respect to an open neighborhood of the identity. We also show that if the group in question is non-archimedean, then the inexistence of such a decomposition yields a special (...) kind of continuous embedding of [Formula: see text] into the corresponding orbit equivalence relation. (shrink)

We give classical proofs, strengthenings, and generalizations of Lecomte’s characterizations of analytic ω-dimensional hypergraphs with countable Borel chromatic number.

We show that if add(null) = c, then the globally Baire and universally measurable chromatic numbers of the graph of any Borel function on a Polish space are equal and at most three. In particular, this holds for the graph of the unilateral shift on [N]N, although its Borel chromatic number is N₀. We also show that if add(null) = c, then the universally measurable chromatic number of every treeing of a measure amenable equivalence relation is at most three. In (...) particular, this holds for "the" minimum analytic graph G₀ with uncountable Borel (and Baire measurable) chromatic number. In contrast, we show that for all κ ∈ {2, 3...., N₀. c}, there is a treeing of E₀ with Borel and Baire measurable chromatic number κ. Finally, we use a Glimm—Effros style dichotomy theorem to show that every basis for a non-empty initial segment of the class of graphs of Borel functions of Borel chromatic number at least three contains a copy of (R<N, ⊇). (shrink)

We simultaneously generalize Silver’s perfect set theorem for co-analytic equivalence relations and Harrington-Marker-Shelah’s Dilworth-style perfect set theorem for Borel quasi-orders, establish the analogous theorem at the next definable cardinal, and give further generalizations under weaker definability conditions.