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A bijective function, f: X → Y, from set X to set Y demonstrates that the sets have the same cardinality, in this case equal to the cardinal number 4. Aleph-null, the smallest infinite cardinal. In mathematics, a cardinal number, or cardinal for short, is what is commonly called the number of elements of a set.
Cardinal functions are widely used in topology as a tool for describing various topological properties. [2] [3] Below are some examples.(Note: some authors, arguing that "there are no finite cardinal numbers in general topology", [4] prefer to define the cardinal functions listed below so that they never taken on finite cardinal numbers as values; this requires modifying some of the ...
In modern set theory, we usually use the Von Neumann cardinal assignment, which uses the theory of ordinal numbers and the full power of the axioms of choice and replacement. Cardinal assignments do need the full axiom of choice, if we want a decent cardinal arithmetic and an assignment for all sets.
The von Neumann cardinal assignment is a cardinal assignment that uses ordinal numbers. For a well-orderable set U , we define its cardinal number to be the smallest ordinal number equinumerous to U , using the von Neumann definition of an ordinal number.
The use of Scott's trick for cardinal numbers shows how the method is typically employed. The initial definition of a cardinal number is an equivalence class of sets, where two sets are equivalent if there is a bijection between them.
In set theory, one can define a successor operation on cardinal numbers in a similar way to the successor operation on the ordinal numbers.The cardinal successor coincides with the ordinal successor for finite cardinals, but in the infinite case they diverge because every infinite ordinal and its successor have the same cardinality (a bijection can be set up between the two by simply sending ...
The continuum hypothesis says that =, i.e. is the smallest cardinal number bigger than , i.e. there is no set whose cardinality is strictly between that of the integers and that of the real numbers. The continuum hypothesis is independent of ZFC , a standard axiomatization of set theory; that is, it is impossible to prove the continuum ...
Cardinal functions are widely used in topology as a tool for describing various topological properties. [4] [5] Below are some examples.(Note: some authors, arguing that "there are no finite cardinal numbers in general topology", [6] prefer to define the cardinal functions listed below so that they never take on finite cardinal numbers as values; this requires modifying some of the definitions ...