Essential Kurepa trees versus essential Jech–Kunen trees

AbstractBy an ω1-tree we mean a tree of cardinality ω1 and height ω1. An ω1-tree is called a Kurepa tree if all its levels are countable and it has more than ω1 branches. An ω1-tree is called a Jech–Kunen tree if it has κ branches for some κ strictly between ω1 and 2ω1. A Kurepa tree is called an essential Kurepa tree if it contains no Jech–Kunen subtrees. A Jech–Kunen tree is called an essential Jech–Kunen tree if it is no Kurepa subtrees. In this paper we prove that (1) it is consistent with CH and 2ω1 #62; ω2 that there exist essential Kurepa trees and there are no essential Jech–Kunen trees, (2) it is consistent with CH and 2ω1 #62; ω2 plus the existence of a Kurepa tree with 2ω1 branches that there exist essential Jech–Kunen trees and there are no essential Kurepa trees. In the second result we require the existence of a Kurepa tree with 2ω1 branches in order to avoid triviality