Let $\kappa$ be an uncountable regular cardinal and let $[\kappa]^{\aleph_0}$ be the set of all countably infinite subsets of $\kappa$. A (proper) ideal $I$ on $[\kappa]^{\aleph_0}$ is then a non-empty collection of subsets of $[\kappa]^{\aleph_0}$ such that
- $[\kappa]^{\aleph_0}\notin I$
- If $X\in I$ and $Y\subseteq X$ then $Y\in I$
- If $X,Y\in I$ then $X\cup Y\in I$.
My question is then what normality of $I$ means, as I've stumbled across two ostensibly different definitions. Recall that a set $X\subseteq [\kappa]^{\aleph_0}$ is $I$-positive if $X\notin I$.
Definition 1. $I$ is normal if whenever $X$ is $I$-positive and $f:X\to\kappa$ is a function satisfying that $f(\sigma)\in\sigma$ then there's an $I$-positive $Y\subseteq X$ on which $f$ is constant.
Definition 2. $I$ is normal if whenever $X$ is $I$-positive and $f:X\to\kappa$ is a function satisfying that $f(\sigma)<\sup(\sigma)$ for all $\sigma\in X$, then there's an $I$-positive $Y\subseteq X$ on which $f$ is constant.
So it boils down to what a regressive function in this context is. Are these definitions equivalent? For the sake of argument we can also assume that $I$ is fine, meaning that $\{\sigma\in[\kappa]^{\aleph_0}\mid\xi\notin\sigma\}\in I$ for every $\xi<\kappa$, and countably complete, meaning that it's closed under countable unions.
Here's an answer. The argument for the 'only if' direction is due to Stamatis Dimopoulos.