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The continuum hypothesis states that the set of real numbers has minimal possible cardinality which is greater than the cardinality of the set of integers. That is, every set, S, of real numbers can either be mapped one-to-one into the integers or the real numbers can be mapped one-to-one into S.
Forcing was first used by Paul Cohen in 1963, to prove the independence of the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis from Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory. It has been considerably reworked and simplified in the following years, and has since served as a powerful technique, both in set theory and in areas of mathematical logic such as ...
It is the algebra of the set-theoretic operations of union, intersection and complementation, and the relations of equality and inclusion. For a basic introduction to sets see the article on sets, for a fuller account see naive set theory, and for a full rigorous axiomatic treatment see axiomatic set theory.
Forcing adjoins to some given model of set theory additional sets in order to create a larger model with properties determined (i.e. "forced") by the construction and the original model. For example, Cohen's construction adjoins additional subsets of the natural numbers without changing any of the cardinal numbers of the original
Set theory as conceived by Georg Cantor assumes the existence of infinite sets. As this assumption cannot be proved from first principles it has been introduced into axiomatic set theory by the axiom of infinity, which asserts the existence of the set N of natural numbers. Every infinite set which can be enumerated by natural numbers is the ...
Referring to a set whose complement in a larger set is finite, often used in discussions of topology and set theory. Cohen 1. Paul Cohen 2. Cohen forcing is a method for constructing models of ZFC 3. A Cohen algebra is a Boolean algebra whose completion is free Col collapsing algebra
A choice function (also called selector or selection) is a function f, defined on a collection X of nonempty sets, such that for every set A in X, f (A) is an element of A. With this concept, the axiom can be stated: Axiom— For any set X of nonempty sets, there exists a choice function f that is defined on X and maps each set of X to an ...
In set theory, a standard model for a theory is a model for where the membership relation is the same as the membership relation of the set theoretical universe (restricted to the domain of ). In other words, is a substructure of . A standard model that satisfies the additional transitivity condition that implies is a standard transitive model ...