Combinatorial Aspects of the Splitting Number

This paper deals with the splitting number ${\mathfrak{s}}$ and polarized partition relations. In the first section we define the notion of strong splitting families, and prove that its existence is equivalent to the failure of the polarized relation $$\left(\begin{array}{lll}\mathfrak{s} \\ \omega \end{array} \right) \rightarrow {\left(\begin{array}{ll}\mathfrak{s} \\ \omega \end{array} \right)}^{1, 1}_{2}$$ . We show that the existence of a strong splitting family is consistent with ZFC, and that the strong splitting number equals the splitting number, when it exists. Consequently, we can put some restriction on the possibility that s is singular. In the second section we deal with the polarized relation under the weak diamond, and we prove that the strong polarized relation $$\left(\begin{array}{lll}2^{\omega} \\ \omega \end{array} \right) \rightarrow {\left(\begin{array}{ll}2^{\omega} \\ \omega \end{array} \right)}^{1, 1}_{2}$$ is consistent with ZFC, even when cf ${(2^{\omega}) = \aleph_{1}}$ (hence the weak diamond holds).