Partitions of -branching trees and the reaping number of Boolean algebras
The reaping number of a Boolean algebra is defined as the minimum size of a subset such that for each -partition of unity, some member of meets less than elements of . We show that for each , as conjectured by Dow, Steprāns and Watson. The proof relies on a partition theorem for finite trees; namely that every -branching tree whose maximal nodes are coloured with colours contains an -branching subtree using at most colours if and only if .