Beth number

In mathematics, the infinite cardinal numbers are represented by the Hebrew letter (aleph) indexed with a subscript that runs over the ordinal numbers (see aleph number). The second Hebrew letter (beth) is used in a related way, but does not necessarily index all of the numbers indexed by .

Definition

To define the beth numbers, start by letting

be the cardinality of any countably infinite set; for concreteness, take the set of natural numbers to be a typical case. Denote by P(A) the power set of A; i.e., the set of all subsets of A. Then define

which is the cardinality of the power set of A if is the cardinality of A.

Given this definition,

are respectively the cardinalities of

so that the second beth number is equal to , the cardinality of the continuum, and the third beth number is the cardinality of the power set of the continuum.

Because of Cantor's theorem each set in the preceding sequence has cardinality strictly greater than the one preceding it. For infinite limit ordinals λ the corresponding beth number is defined as the supremum of the beth numbers for all ordinals strictly smaller than λ:

One can also show that the von Neumann universes have cardinality .

Relation to the aleph numbers

Assuming the axiom of choice, infinite cardinalities are linearly ordered; no two cardinalities can fail to be comparable. Thus, since by definition no infinite cardinalities are between and , it follows that

Repeating this argument (see transfinite induction) yields for all ordinals .

The continuum hypothesis is equivalent to

The generalized continuum hypothesis says the sequence of beth numbers thus defined is the same as the sequence of aleph numbers, i.e., for all ordinals .

Specific cardinals

Beth null

Since this is defined to be or aleph null then sets with cardinality include:

Beth one

Sets with cardinality include:

Beth two

(pronounced beth two) is also referred to as 2c (pronounced two to the power of c).

Sets with cardinality include:

Beth omega

(pronounced beth omega) is the smallest uncountable strong limit cardinal.

Generalization

The more general symbol , for ordinals α and cardinals κ, is occasionally used. It is defined by:

if λ is a limit ordinal.

So

In ZF, for any cardinals κ and μ, there is an ordinal α such that:

And in ZF, for any cardinal κ and ordinals α and β:

Consequently, in Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory absent ur-elements with or without the axiom of choice, for any cardinals κ and μ, the equality

holds for all sufficiently large ordinals β (that is, there is an ordinal α such that the equality holds for every ordinal β ≥ α).

This also holds in Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory with ur-elements with or without the axiom of choice provided the ur-elements form a set which is equinumerous with a pure set (a set whose transitive closure contains no ur-elements). If the axiom of choice holds, then any set of ur-elements is equinumerous with a pure set.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 4/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.