In set theory, the aleph numbers are a sequence of numbers used to represent the cardinality (or

size) of infinite sets. They are named after the symbol used to denote them, the Hebrew letter
aleph ( ).
The cardinality of the natural numbers is
(read aleph-naught; also aleph-null or aleph-zero),
the next larger cardinality is aleph-one , then and so on. Continuing in this manner, it is
possible to define a cardinal number
for every ordinal number , as described below.
The concept goes back to Georg Cantor, who defined the notion of cardinality and realized that
infinite sets can have different cardinalities.
The aleph numbers differ from the infinity () commonly found in algebra and calculus. Alephs
measure the sizes of sets; infinity, on the other hand, is commonly defined as an extreme limit of
the real number line (applied to a function or sequence that "diverges to infinity" or "increases
without bound"), or an extreme point of the extended real number line.

Contents
[hide]

1 Aleph-naught
2 Aleph-one
3 The continuum hypothesis
4 Aleph-
5 Aleph- for general
6 Fixed points of omega
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Aleph-naught
is the cardinality of the set of all natural numbers, and is the first transfinite cardinal. A set
has cardinality if and only if it is countably infinite, which is the case if and only if it can be
put into a direct bijection, or "one-to-one correspondence", with the natural numbers. Such sets
include the set of all prime numbers, the set of all integers, the set of all rational numbers, the set
of algebraic numbers, the set of binary strings of all finite lengths, and the set of all finite subsets
of any countably infinite set.
If the axiom of countable choice (a weaker version of the axiom of choice) holds, then
smaller than any other infinite cardinal.

[edit] Aleph-one

is

is the cardinality of the set of all countable ordinal numbers, called 1 or (sometimes) .
Note that this 1 is itself an ordinal number larger than all countable ones, so it is an uncountable
set. Therefore is distinct from . The definition of implies (in ZF, Zermelo-Fraenkel set
theory without the axiom of choice) that no cardinal number is between
and
. If the axiom
of choice (AC) is used, it can be further proved that the class of cardinal numbers is totally
ordered, and thus is the second-smallest infinite cardinal number. Using AC we can show one
of the most useful properties of the set 1: any countable subset of 1 has an upper bound in 1.
(This follows from the fact that a countable union of countable sets is countable, one of the most
common applications of AC.) This fact is analogous to the situation in
: any finite set of
natural numbers has a maximum which is also a natural number; that is, finite unions of finite
sets are finite.
1 is actually a useful concept, if somewhat exotic-sounding. An example application is
"closing" with respect to countable operations; e.g., trying to explicitly describe the -algebra
generated by an arbitrary collection of subsets. This is harder than most explicit descriptions of
"generation" in algebra (vector spaces, groups, etc.) because in those cases we only have to close
with respect to finite operationssums, products, and the like. The process involves defining,
for each countable ordinal, via transfinite induction, a set by "throwing in" all possible countable
unions and complements, and taking the union of all that over all of 1.

[edit] The continuum hypothesis

Main article: Continuum hypothesis
See also: Beth number
The cardinality of the set of real numbers (cardinality of the continuum) is
. It is not clear
where this number fits in the aleph number hierarchy. It follows from ZFC (ZermeloFraenkel
set theory with the axiom of choice) that the celebrated continuum hypothesis, CH, is equivalent
to the identity

CH is independent of ZFC: it can be neither proven nor disproven within the context of that
axiom system (provided that ZFC is consistent). That it is consistent with ZFC was demonstrated
by Kurt Gdel in 1940 when he showed that its negation is not a theorem of ZFC. That it is
independent of ZFC was demonstrated by Paul Cohen in 1963 when he showed, conversely, that
the CH itself is not a theorem of ZFC by the (then novel) method of forcing.

[edit] Aleph-
Conventionally the smallest infinite ordinal is denoted , and the cardinal number
upper bound of

is the least

among alephs.
Aleph- is the first uncountable cardinal number that can be demonstrated within ZermeloFraenkel set theory not to be equal to the cardinality of the set of all real numbers; for any
positive integer n we can consistently assume that
, and moreover it is possible to
assume
is as large as we like. We are only forced to avoid setting it to certain special
cardinals with cofinality , meaning there is an unbounded function from to it.

[edit] Aleph- for general

To define
for arbitrary ordinal number , we must define the successor cardinal operation,
which assigns to any cardinal number the next larger well-ordered cardinal +. (If the axiom of
choice holds, this is the next larger cardinal.)
We can then define the aleph numbers as follows

and for , an infinite limit ordinal,

The -th infinite initial ordinal is written . Its cardinality is written

In ZFC the

. See initial ordinal.

function is a bijection between the ordinals and the infinite cardinals. [1]

[edit] Fixed points of omega

For any ordinal we have

In many cases is strictly greater than . For example, for any successor ordinal this holds.
There are, however, some limit ordinals which are fixed points of the omega function, because of
the fixed-point lemma for normal functions. The first such is the limit of the sequence

Any weakly inaccessible cardinal is also a fixed point of the aleph function.

[edit] References

Notes
1. ^ aleph numbers at PlanetMath.

[edit] External links

Weisstein, Eric W., "Aleph-0" from MathWorld.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleph_number"

Categories: Cardinal numbers | Infinity