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> Is $[0,1]$ a disjoint union of $\aleph\_1$ compact subsets with empty interior?
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The answer is obviously yes assuming the continuum hypothesis. Also, by [Baire's lemma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baire_category_theorem), the answer is negative if one replaces $\aleph\_1$ with $\aleph\_0$.


Does anybody know if this question has a definite answer or whether this is independent of ZFC?



Is $[0,1]$ a disjoint union of $\aleph_1$ compact subsets with empty interior?
It is independent of ZFC. As you mention, CH implies the answer is yes. A different axiom, MA+$\neg$CH, implies the answer is no.


A little more precisely, there is a cardinal number denoted $\mathrm{cov}(\mathcal M)$, one of the so-called ``small cardinals'', that is defined to be the smallest number of meager sets needed to cover $[0,1]$. MA implies this cardinal is equal to the continuum, and if that is the case (and CH fails) then the answer to your question is no, because a partition of $[0,1]$ as you describe is also a covering of $[0,1]$ with meager sets.


But this is not the end of the story. There is a difference between covering and partitioning, and in general it seems harder to partition $[0,1]$ into copies of the Cantor space than to cover it with copies of the Cantor space. I have a paper with Arnie Miller ([link](https://wrbrian.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/ucr.pdf)) where we look at this question (and some similar ones), and show that it is consistent with the continuum being very large that for every $\kappa < \mathfrak{c}$ there is a partition of $[0,1]$ into exactly $\kappa$ copies of the Cantor space.


**EDIT:** I just realized that Taras Banakh has asked a very similar question [here](https://mathoverflow.net/questions/285780/are-the-sierpi%C5%84ski-cardinal-acute-mathfrak-n-and-its-measure-modification). The statement of his question actually contains an answer to your question, and you can learn a lot more about this question by looking at his question, the comments under it, and the answer I posted there.


