Let $a$ and $b$ are filters. The product $a\times b$ is defined as the filter (on the set of pairs) induced by the base $\{ A\times B | A\in a, B\in b \}$.


It is simple to show that product of a non-trivial ultrafilter with itself is not an ultrafilter (as it is not finer than the principal filter corresponding to the identity relation).


My question: Is product of every two (different) non-trivial ultrafilters always not an ultrafilter?


Note: *non-trivial ultrafilter* is the same as *non-principal ultrafilter*.



Product of ultrafilters, is it an ultrafilter?
The product $a\times b$ of two ultrafilters is an ultrafilter if and only if, for every function $f$ from the underlying set of $a$ into $b$ (that's not a typo for "into the underlying set of $b$"), there is a set $A\in a$ such that $\bigcap\_{x\in A}f(x)\in b$. One way for this to happen is for the underlying set of $a$ to be small enough and $b$ to be complete enough, as in Joel's answer. Notice, though, that the condition is, despite its appearance, symmetrical between $a$ and $b$. In particular, if $b$ lives on $\omega$ while $a$ is countably complete, then the condition is satisfied because $f$ will be constant on some set in $a$ (because countably complete ultrafilters are closed under intersection of continuum many sets). [Archaeologists may be interested to know that this characterization of ultrafilters whose product is ultra occurs on page 22 of my 1970 Ph.D. thesis, which is, thanks to patient scanning, available from my web page.]


