Cardinality Part I

Original Notes adopted from December 3, 2001 (Week 13)

c P. Rosenthal , MAT246Y1, University of Toronto, Department of Mathematics
S and T have the same cardinality if there exists f : S T one-to-one onto (i.e. a
pairing ) or one-to-one correspondence.
We showed that |N| = |E| = |Q
+
|
|S| = |N| i S is an innite set whose elements can be listed. We call such sets
countably innite, or say they have cardinality
0
.
|S| =
0
means |S| = |N| .
|[0, 1]| =
0
Proof Well show no list can contain all numbers in [0,1].
a
ij
{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ....9}
Suppose we have a list c
1
, c
2
, c
3
, , write them as
c
1
= .a
11
a
12
a
13
a
14
a
15

c
2
= .a
21
a
22
a
23
a
24
a
25

c
3
= .a
31
a
32
a
33
a
34
a
35


In ambiguous cases, pick representation with all 9s. e.g. .34999 = .3500000.
Let x = .b
1
b
2
b
3
b
4
where b
j
any digit other than 0, 9 or a
jj
Then x isnt among numbers listed for it diers from the kth number listed in its kth
place.
Therefore |[0, 1]| =
0
We say [0,1] has the cardinality of the continuum, or |[0, 1]| = c
Denition. |S| |T| (The cardinality of S is less than or equal to the cardinality
of T) if there exists T
0
T such that |S| = |T
0
| .
We say |S| < |T| if |S| |T| and |S| = |T|
Claim: |N| < |[0, 1]|. We just proved |N| = |[0, 1]| .
{0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, .010, }
This is an easier way:
Let T
0
= {1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, ...} [0, 1]
Let f : N T
0
by f(n) = 1/n.
Since f is one-to-one onto and onto, |N| = |T
0
|.
Therefore |N| |T| = |[0, 1], or | on
0
< c.
We dened |S| |T| to mean |S| = |T
0
| for some T
0
T.
Suppose that also |T| |S| . Must |S| = |T| ?
|S| |T| means there exists f : S T, f one-to-one (not necessarily onto)
|T| |S| means there exists g : T S, g one-to-one
|S| = |T| means there exists h: S T, h one-to-one and onto
Theorem. (Schroeder-Bernstein or Cantor-Bernstein Theorem)
If |S| T and |T| |S| , then |S| = |T| .
1
Theorem. If a < b and c < d, then |[a, b]| = |[b, d]| and |(a, b)| = |(c, d)|
Proof: Let f(x) = c(
xb
ab
) + d(
xa
ba
). Then
f : [a, b] [c, d] one-to-one and onto
f : (a, b) (c, d) one-to-one and onto
Eg. (,
3
2
), [0,1].
|(,
3
2
)| |[,
3
2
]| = |[ + 0.1,
3
2
0.1| |(,
3
2
)|
S-B |(,
3
2
)| = |[,
3
2
]|
Corollary. If a < b and c < d, then |[a, b]| = |(c, d)| = |[c, d)| = |(c, d]| = |[c, d]|. The
cardinalities of any intervals (closed or not) are equal.
Eg. f(x) = tanx
f : (

2
,

2
) R, one-to-one and onto
Therefore |(

2
,

2
)| = |R|
Therefore |R| = |[0, 1]| = c.
[0, 1] [0, 1] = {(x, y) : x [0, 1], y [0, 1]}
Let S = [0, 1] [0, 1] be the unit square.
To see |[0, 1]| |S|
Let S
0
= {(x, y) S : y = 0}.
Let f : [0, 1] S
0
by f(x) = (x, 0).
Therefore |[0, 1]| = |S
0
| |[0, 1]| |S|.
Is |S| = |[0, 1]| ?
Represent points in S as innite decimals:
(x, y) = (.a
1
a
2
a
3
, .b
1
b
2
b
3
)
Choose all 9s in ambiguous cases.
Let f : S [0, 1] by f(.a
1
a
2
a
3
, .b
1
b
2
b
3
) = .a
1
b
1
a
2
b
2
a
3
b
3
a
4
b
4

f is one-to-one (but not onto).
For example, .1707070707070 is not in the range of f; it would have to come from
( .10000 , .777 ), but this is written as (.0999 , .777 ).
Since f is one-to-one, |S| |[0, 1]|.
Schroeder-Berstein |S| = |(0, 1]| = c.
Theorem. If |S
i
| = c for i = 1, 2, 3, , then |

i=1
S
i
| = c.
(

i=1
S
i
= S
1

S
2

S
3
)
Proof : Clearly |

i=1
S
i
| c, since S
i

i=1
S
i
.
Write

i=1
S
i
= S
1

(S
2
\S
1
)

(S
3
\(S
1

S
2
))

(S
4
\(S
1

S
2

S
3
)) as a disjoint
union.
Can construct f :

i=1
S
i
R as follows: let f on S
1
be any one-to-one function from
S
1
to (0,1); f on S
2
\S
1
is any one-to-one function from S
2
\S
1
onto (1,2), etc.
Then f :

i=1
S
i
R is one-to-one.
Therefore |

i=1
S
i
| |R|, S-B |

i=1
S
i
| = |R| = c
In words: a countable union of sets of cardinality c has cardinality c.
Countable numbers of squares of unit sides covers R
2
, so |R
2
| = c.
2
Theorem. Let S = set of all sets of real numbers (ie. the collection of subsets of R).
Then |S| > c (ie |S| > |R|).
Proof : First, |R| |S|.
For each x R , let f(x) = {x} (singleton subset of R)
If S
0
= {all singleton subsets of R}, f : R S
0
one-to-one and onto.
|R| |S| by denition.
Must show: |S| = |R|
Suppose there exists g : R S, and show g cant be onto.
For x R , g(x) is a subset of R.
Let T = {x R : x / g(x)}.
Claim: there is no y R such that g(y) = T.
For if g(y) = T, is y g(y) or not?
If y g(y), then y / T (=g(y)). Contradiction.
Therefore y / g(y).
But if y / g(y), y T, so y g(y). Another contradiction.
Therefore there is no such y, and so g is not onto.
The cardinality of S, we call 2
c
. Therefore 2
c
> c.
3