A Decomposition Theorem for Aronszajn Lines
We will prove that under the proper forcing axiom, the class of all Aronszajn lines behave like σ-scattered orders under the embeddability relation. In particular, we show that the class of better quasi order labeled fragmented Aronszajn lines is itself a better quasi order. Moreover, we show that every better quasi order labeled Aronszajn line can be expressed as a finite sum of labeled types which are algebraically indecomposable. By encoding lines with finite labeled trees, we are also able to deduce a decomposition result, that for every Aronszajn line L, there is an n∈ω such that for any finite colouring of L, there is a subset L′ of L isomorphic to L which uses no more than n colours.