Lemma 1. If
is an initial segment of an ordinal
then
is also an ordinal.
Proof. By Lemma 6.1.2 there is an
such that
Lemma 2. If
A
is a set of ordinals then ordinal
α
=
sup
A
if and only if
α
is the least upper bound of
A
, i.e.
α
is an upper bound of
A
and
β
is not an upper bound of
A
for any
β
/mo>
α
.
Proof. (
→
) First suppose that
α
=
sup
A
. Then by the remarks following the proof of Theorem 6.2.6 in the text
α
is an upper bound of
A
and if
β
is an upper bound of
A
then
α
≤
β
. This last statement is simply the contrapositive of the statement that
β
/mo>
α
implies that
β
is
not an upper bound of
A
and hence is logically equivalent.
(
←
) We show that an ordinal
α
with the least upper bound property for
A
is unique, which suffices to show the result since if
β
has this property then
β
=
sup
A
since
sup
A
does as well (by what was just shown above) and the ordinal having this property is unique.
So suppose that ordinals
α
and
β
both have the least upper bound property for
A
but that
α
≠
β
. Without loss of generality we can assume then that
α
/mo>
β
. But then, since
β
has the least upper bound property,
α
cannot be an upper bound of
A
, which contradicts the fact that
α
also has the least upper bound property! Hence it has to be that
α
=
β
, which shows the uniquness. □
Next we need to build up a little theory.
Definition 1. For an ordinal
α
we call a set
E
α
an embedding of
α
if it has the following properties:
-
1.
-
E
α
is a subset of
Q
.
-
2.
-
E
α
is order isomorphic to
α
under the usual ordering of the rationals.
-
3.
-
For some
a
and
b
in
𝑸
,
a
≤
x
/mo>
b
for every
x
∈
E
α
. We denote this by saying
a
≤
E
α
/mo>
b
or that
E
α
is an embedding in
[
a
,
b
)
.
We call
U
α
a unit embedding of
α
if it is an embedding of
α
in
[
0
,
1
)
.
Theorem 3. If
E
α
is an embedding of
α
in
[
a
,
b
)
then for each
x
∈
E
α
there is a
Δ
x
∈
𝑸
+
such that
x
+
Δ
x
≤
b
and if
y
∈
𝑸
and
x
/mo>
y
/mo>
x
+
Δ
x
then
y
is not in
E
α
. That is,
x
is not a limit point from the right.
Proof. Consider any
x
∈
E
α
, noting that
x
/mo>
b
.
If
x
is the greatest element of
E
α
then let
Δ
x
=
b
−
x
, noting that
Δ
x
/mo>
0
since
b
/mo>
x
. We also have
x
+
Δ
x
=
x
+
b
−
x
=
b
≤
b
.
Then consider any
y
∈
𝑸
where
x
/mo>
y
/mo>
x
+
Δ
x
so that clearly
y
∉
E
α
since otherwise
x
would not be the greatest element of
E
α
.
On the other hand if
x
is not the greatest element of
E
α
then let
f
be the isomorphism between
α
and
E
α
and let
β
=
f
−
1
(
x
)
. It follows that
β
is not the greatest element of
α
so that
β
+
1
∈
α
as well. Then let
Δ
x
=
f
(
β
+
1
)
−
x
, noting that
Δ
x
/mo>
0
since
f
(
β
+
1
)
/mo>
f
(
β
)
=
x
since
f
is an isomorphism. We also have
x
+
Δ
x
=
x
+
f
(
β
+
1
)
−
x
=
f
(
β
+
1
)
/mo>
b
since
f
(
β
+
1
)
∈
E
α
. Now consider any
y
∈
𝑸
where
f
(
β
)
=
x
/mo>
y
/mo>
x
+
Δ
x
=
f
(
β
+
1
)
. If it were the case that
y
∈
E
α
then we would have that
β
/mo>
f
−
1
(
y
)
/mo>
β
+
1
since
f
is an isomorphism, which is impossible since
β
is an ordinal. So it must be that
y
∉
E
α
as desired. □
Corollary 4. If
E
α
is an embedding and
x
and
y
are in
E
α
where
x
/mo>
y
then
x
+
Δ
x
≤
y
, where
Δ
x
∈
𝑸
+
is that guaranteed by Theorem
3
.
Proof. If it were the case that
x
+
Δ
x
/mo>
y
then we have that
x
/mo>
y
/mo>
x
+
Δ
x
, which is in direct contradiction to Theorem
3 since
y
∈
E
α
. □
For an embedding
E
α
consider
p
∈
𝑸
+
and
q
∈
𝑸
. We define a set denoted by
p
E
α
+
q
to be the set
{
𝑝𝑥
+
q
∣
x
∈
E
α
}
.
Theorem 5. If
E
α
is an embedding in
[
a
,
b
)
then
F
α
=
p
E
α
+
q
is also an embedding of
α
for any
p
∈
𝑸
+
and
q
∈
𝑸
. Moreover
𝑝𝑎
+
q
≤
F
α
/mo>
𝑝𝑏
+
q
.
Proof. So first consider any
y
∈
F
α
so that
y
=
𝑝𝑥
+
q
for some
x
∈
E
α
. Since
E
α
is an embedding
x
∈
𝑸
so that clearly
y
=
𝑝𝑥
+
q
∈
𝑸
as well since
p
,
q
∈
𝑸
. Hence since
y
was arbitrary we have that
F
α
⊆
𝑸
so that (1) is satisfied.
Now consider the mapping
f
:
E
α
→
F
α
defined by
f
(
x
)
=
𝑝𝑥
+
q
for
x
∈
E
α
. Clearly
F
α
=
{
f
(
x
)
∣
x
∈
E
α
}
so that
f
is onto. Consider then
x
,
y
∈
E
α
where
x
/mo>
y
so that we have
x
/mo>
y
𝑝𝑥
/mo>
𝑝𝑦
(since
p
/mo>
0
)
𝑝𝑥
+
q
/mo>
𝑝𝑦
+
q
f
(
x
)
/mo>
f
(
y
)
.
Hence
f
is an isomorphism. Thus
F
α
is isomorphic to
E
α
so that clearly it is also isomorphic to
α
since
E
α
is, thereby showing (2).
Lastly for any
y
∈
F
α
we have
y
=
𝑝𝑥
+
q
for some
x
∈
E
α
. We then have
a
≤
x
/mo>
b
𝑝𝑎
≤
𝑝𝑥
/mo>
𝑝𝑏
(since
p
/mo>
0
)
𝑝𝑎
+
q
≤
𝑝𝑥
+
q
/mo>
𝑝𝑏
+
q
𝑝𝑎
+
q
≤
y
/mo>
𝑝𝑏
+
q
.
This shows both (3) and the last statement. □
For an embedding
E
α
in
[
a
,
b
)
and a unit embedding
U
β
for ordinals
α
and
β
we define the product
E
α
⋅
U
β
=
⋃
x
∈
E
α
(
Δ
x
⋅
U
β
+
x
)
,
where
Δ
x
∈
𝑸
+
is that guaranteed to exist by Theorem 3.
Theorem 6. For an embedding
E
α
in
[
a
,
b
)
and a unit embedding
U
β
the product
E
α
⋅
U
β
is an embedding of
β
⋅
α
in
[
a
,
b
)
.
Proof. First consider any
y
∈
E
α
⋅
U
β
so that there is an
x
∈
E
α
such that
y
∈
Δ
x
⋅
U
β
+
x
. Since
y
∈
Δ
x
⋅
U
β
+
x
is an embedding by Theorem 5 it follows that
y
∈
𝑸
, which shows (1) since
y
was arbitrary.
Now since
E
α
is an embedding of
α
there is an isomorphism
f
:
α
→
E
α
. Similarly there is an isomorphism
g
:
β
→
U
β
since
U
β
is an embedding of
β
. Consider
α
×
β
with lexicographic ordering
≺
. Then define a mapping
h
:
α
×
β
→
E
α
⋅
U
β
by
h
(
δ
,
𝜀
)
=
Δ
f
(
δ
)
⋅
g
(
𝜀
)
+
f
(
δ
)
for
(
δ
,
𝜀
)
∈
α
×
β
, noting that
Δ
f
(
δ
)
is that guaranteed by Theorem 3 since
f
(
δ
)
∈
E
α
.
First we claim that
h
is surjective. So consider any
z
∈
E
α
⋅
U
β
so that there is an
x
∈
E
α
such that
z
∈
Δ
x
⋅
U
β
+
x
. By definition then there is a
y
∈
U
β
such that
z
=
Δ
x
⋅
y
+
x
. Now let
δ
=
f
−
1
(
x
)
and
𝜀
=
g
−
1
(
y
)
so that
x
=
f
(
δ
)
and
y
=
g
(
𝜀
)
, which can be done since
f
and
g
are bijections. We then have that
h
(
δ
,
𝜀
)
=
Δ
f
(
δ
)
⋅
g
(
𝜀
)
+
f
(
δ
)
=
Δ
x
⋅
y
+
x
=
z
,
which shows that
h
is surjective since
z
was arbitrary.
We also claim that
h
is an isomorphism and therefore also injective. So consider any
(
δ
1
,
𝜀
1
)
and
(
δ
2
,
𝜀
2
)
in
α
×
β
where
(
δ
1
,
𝜀
1
)
≺
(
δ
2
,
𝜀
2
)
. By the definition of lexicographic ordering we have the following:
Case:
δ
1
/mo>
δ
2
. Then since
f
is an isomorphism
f
(
δ
1
)
/mo>
f
(
δ
2
)
, and also by Corollary 4 it follows that
f
(
δ
1
)
/mo>
f
(
δ
1
)
+
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
≤
f
(
δ
2
)
. We also have that
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
⋅
g
(
𝜀
1
)
+
f
(
δ
1
)
/mo>
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
+
f
(
δ
1
)
by Theorem 5 since
g
(
𝜀
1
)
∈
U
β
and
U
β
is a unit embedding. Also since
g
(
𝜀
2
)
≥
0
(since
g
(
𝜀
2
)
∈
U
β
) and
Δ
f
(
δ
2
)
/mo>
0
(by Theorem
3) that
f
(
δ
2
)
≤
Δ
f
(
δ
2
)
⋅
g
(
𝜀
2
)
+
f
(
δ
2
)
.
Combining all this results in
h
(
δ
1
,
𝜀
1
)
=
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
⋅
g
(
𝜀
1
)
+
f
(
δ
1
)
/mo>
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
+
f
(
δ
1
)
≤
f
(
δ
2
)
=
h
(
δ
2
,
𝜀
2
)
.
Case:
δ
1
=
δ
2
and
𝜀
1
/mo>
𝜀
2
. Then obviously
f
(
δ
1
)
=
f
(
δ
2
)
so that
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
=
Δ
f
(
δ
2
)
but also
g
(
𝜀
1
)
/mo>
g
(
𝜀
2
)
since
g
is an isomorphism. We then have
g
(
𝜀
1
)
/mo>
g
(
𝜀
2
)
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
⋅
g
(
𝜀
1
)
/mo>
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
⋅
g
(
𝜀
2
)
(since
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
/mo>
0
)
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
⋅
g
(
𝜀
1
)
+
f
(
δ
1
)
/mo>
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
⋅
g
(
𝜀
2
)
+
f
(
δ
1
)
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
⋅
g
(
𝜀
1
)
+
f
(
δ
1
)
/mo>
Δ
f
(
δ
2
)
⋅
g
(
𝜀
2
)
+
f
(
δ
2
)
(since
Δ
f
(
δ
1
)
=
Δ
f
(
δ
2
)
and
f
(
δ
1
)
=
f
(
δ
2
)
)
h
(
δ
1
,
𝜀
1
)
/mo>
h
(
δ
2
,
𝜀
2
)
.
Thus in all cases
h
(
δ
1
,
𝜀
1
)
/mo>
h
(
δ
2
,
𝜀
2
)
, which shows that
h
is an isomorphism since
(
δ
1
,
𝜀
1
)
and
(
δ
2
,
𝜀
2
)
were arbitrary. Hence
E
α
⋅
U
β
is isomorphic to the lexicographic ordering of
α
×
β
and therefore also to
β
⋅
α
by Theorem 6.5.8. This shows part (2) of the embedding definition.
Lastly consider any
z
∈
E
α
⋅
U
β
so that there is an
x
∈
E
α
such that
z
∈
Δ
x
⋅
U
β
+
x
. Then since
U
β
/mo>
1
we have that
z
/mo>
Δ
x
+
x
≤
b
by Theorems 5 and 3. Also since
0
≤
U
β
it follows from Theorem 5 that
a
≤
x
≤
z
since
a
≤
E
α
. Since
z
was arbitrary this shows that
a
≤
E
α
⋅
U
β
/mo>
b
, which shows (3). This completes the proof. □
Theorem 7. Suppose that
α
is a limit ordinal and that
{
α
n
}
is a sequence (
n
∈
ω
) of nonzero ordinals in
α
. Also suppose that
E
ω
is an embedding of
ω
in
[
a
,
b
)
and
U
α
n
is a unit embedding of
α
n
for each
n
∈
ω
. Suppose further that
α
=
sup
n
∈
ω
α
n
and that
α
n
+
α
n
+
1
=
α
n
+
1
for every
n
∈
ω
, noting that clearly
n
+
1
∈
ω
as well. Lastly, suppose that
f
is the isomorphism from
ω
to
E
ω
. Let
A
n
=
Δ
f
(
n
)
⋅
U
α
n
+
f
(
n
)
for
n
∈
ω
. Then the set
E
α
=
⋃
n
∈
ω
A
n
is an embedding of
α
in
[
a
,
b
)
.
Proof. First consider any
n
and
m
in
ω
where
n
≠
m
. We can assume without loss of generality
n
/mo>
m
. Then
f
(
n
)
/mo>
f
(
m
)
since
f
is an isomorphism and, moreover, it follows from Corollary 4 that
Δ
f
(
n
)
+
f
(
n
)
≤
f
(
m
)
. Hence by Theorem 5 we have that
A
n
=
Δ
f
(
n
)
⋅
U
α
n
+
f
(
n
)
/mo>
Δ
f
(
n
)
+
f
(
n
)
≤
f
(
m
)
≤
Δ
f
(
m
)
⋅
U
α
m
+
f
(
m
)
=
A
m
since
U
α
n
and
U
α
m
are unit embeddings. Hence all the
A
n
are disjoint and moreover
A
0
/mo>
A
1
/mo>
A
2
/mo>
…
. Also clearly by Theorem
5 each
A
n
is isomorphic to
α
n
since
U
α
n
is.
Now for
p
,
q
∈
𝑸
let
[
p
,
q
)
=
{
x
∈
𝑸
∣
q
≤
x
/mo>
q
}
. We then claim that
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
for any
n
∈
ω
is isomorphic to
α
n
, which we shall show by induction on
n
. For
n
=
0
we clearly have that
a
≤
A
0
≤
Δ
f
(
0
)
+
f
(
0
)
≤
f
(
1
)
≤
A
m
for any
m
≥
1
. From this it follows that
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
=
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
1
)
)
=
A
0
, which is isomorphic to
α
0
=
α
n
by what was shown above.
Now suppose that
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
is isomorphic to
α
n
. We clearly have
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
2
)
)
=
[
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
]
∪
[
E
α
∩
[
f
(
n
+
1
)
,
f
(
n
+
2
)
)
]
and that
E
α
∩
[
f
(
n
+
1
)
,
f
(
n
+
2
)
)
=
A
n
+
1
, which is isomorphic to
α
n
+
1
by what was shown above. Then
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
2
)
)
is the sum of
E
α
∩
𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑎
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
and
E
α
∩
[
f
(
n
+
1
)
,
f
(
n
+
2
)
)
=
A
n
+
1
so that by Theorem 6.5.3, the induction hypothesis, and the given property of
{
α
n
}
it is isomorphic to
α
n
+
α
n
+
1
=
α
n
+
1
. This completes the inductive proof.
We also show that
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
is an initial segment of
E
α
for any
n
∈
ω
. So consider any such
n
, any
x
∈
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
, and any
y
∈
E
α
where
y
/mo>
x
. Since
a
≤
E
α
clearly
a
≤
y
. We also have
y
/mo>
x
/mo>
f
(
n
+
1
)
(since
x
∈
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
). Hence
y
∈
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
so that also
y
∈
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
, which shows that
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
is an initial segment of
E
α
by definition.
Now we claim that
E
α
is a well-ordered set. So consider any nonempty subset
B
of
E
α
. Then there is some
x
∈
B
and since
x
∈
E
α
there is an
n
∈
ω
such that
x
∈
A
n
. Then clearly
x
∈
B
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
]
so that
B
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
]
is a nonempty subset of
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
. It was shown above that
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
is isomorphic to
α
n
so that it is a well-ordered set. Hence
B
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
]
has a least element
y
. We claim that this is the least element of
B
, so consider any
z
∈
B
. If
z
/mo>
f
(
n
+
1
)
then clearly
z
∈
B
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
so that obviously
y
≤
z
since
y
is the least element of
B
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
. On the other hand if
z
≥
f
(
n
+
1
)
then
y
/mo>
f
(
n
+
1
)
≤
z
(since
y
∈
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
) so that again
y
≤
z
. Since
z
was arbitrary this shows that
y
is in fact the least element of
B
. Since
B
was an arbitrary subset of
E
α
this shows that
E
α
is well-ordered.
Since
E
α
is a well-ordered set it is isomorphic to some ordinal
γ
by Theorem 6.3.1. We then claim that
γ
=
α
. Letting
C
=
{
α
n
∣
n
∈
ω
}
, we show this by showing that
γ
is the least upper bound of
C
, which shows that
γ
=
α
by the least upper bound property (Lemma 2) since
α
=
sup
C
by definition. So first consider any
α
n
∈
C
. It was shown above that
α
n
is isomorphic to
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
, and this was shown to be an initial segment of
E
α
, which itself is isomorphic to
γ
. Thus it follows that that
α
n
/mo>
γ
so that
α
n
≤
γ
is true. Since
α
n
was arbitrary this shows that
γ
is an upper bound of
C
.
Now consider any ordinal
δ
/mo>
γ
so that
δ
∈
γ
. Let
g
be the isomorphism from
γ
to
E
α
since it has been shown that they are isomorphic. Then since
g
(
δ
)
∈
E
α
so that there is an
n
∈
ω
such that
g
(
δ
)
∈
A
n
. Then also
g
(
δ
)
∈
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
. Since
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
is an initial segment of
E
α
(just shown above) it follows that
g
−
1
[
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
]
is an initial segment of
γ
. Since
γ
is an ordinal it follows from Lemma
1 that
g
−
1
[
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
]
is an ordinal. Since
g
−
1
↾
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
is an isomorphism (since
g
is) and
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
is isomorphic to
α
n
(shown above), it follows that
g
−
1
[
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
]
is in fact
α
n
! Then, since
g
(
δ
)
∈
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
we have that
δ
∈
g
−
1
[
E
α
∩
[
a
,
f
(
n
+
1
)
)
]
=
α
n
so that
δ
/mo>
α
n
. Hence
δ
is not an upper bound of
C
. Since
δ
was arbitrary this shows that
γ
is in fact the least upper bound of
C
so that
γ
=
α
.
Parts (1) and (3) of the definition of an embedding are trivial to show by the same arguments as those used in the proof of Theorem 6. Hence
E
α
is an embedding of
α
in
[
a
,
b
)
. □
Main Problem.
(a) Define
f
:
ω
→
𝑸
by
f
(
n
)
=
1
−
1
n
+
1
=
n
n
+
1
for
n
∈
ω
. Then let
U
ω
=
{
f
(
n
)
∣
n
∈
ω
}
. We claim that
U
ω
is a unit embedding of
ω
.
Proof. Clearly
U
ω
⊆
𝑸
so that (1) is satisfied. To show (2) let
g
:
ω
→
U
α
be defined by
g
(
n
)
=
f
(
n
)
=
1
−
1
∕
(
n
+
1
)
, which is clearly onto based on the definition of
U
α
. We also claim that
g
is an isomorphism. To this end consider any
n
,
m
∈
ω
where
n
/mo>
m
. We then have
n
/mo>
m
n
+
1
/mo>
m
+
1
n
+
1
m
+
1
/mo>
1
(since
m
+
1
≥
1
/mo>
0
since
m
≥
0
)
1
m
+
1
/mo>
1
n
+
1
(since
n
+
1
≥
1
/mo>
0
since
n
≥
0
)
−
1
m
+
1
/mo>
−
1
n
+
1
1
−
1
m
+
1
/mo>
1
−
1
n
+
1
g
(
m
)
/mo>
g
(
n
)
g
(
n
)
/mo>
g
(
m
)
.
Hence
g
is an isomorphism so that
U
ω
is indeed isomorphic to
ω
, which shows (2).
Lastly consider any
x
∈
U
ω
so that
x
=
f
(
n
)
=
1
−
1
∕
(
n
+
1
)
for some
n
∈
ω
. Then we have
n
≥
0
/mo>
−
1
n
+
1
≥
1
/mo>
0
1
≥
1
n
+
1
/mo>
0
(since
n
+
1
≥
1
/mo>
0
)
−
1
≤
−
1
n
+
1
/mo>
0
0
≤
1
−
1
n
+
1
/mo>
1
0
≤
x
/mo>
1
.
Since
x
was arbitrary this shows that
0
≤
U
ω
/mo>
1
so that (3) holds and
U
ω
is a unit embedding.
Now let
E
1
=
{
1
}
. Clearly this is an embedding of the ordinal 1. Moreover we have
0
≤
U
ω
/mo>
1
≤
E
1
/mo>
2
so that
U
ω
and
E
1
are disjoint. Then clearly
U
ω
∪
E
1
is the sum of
U
ω
and
E
1
so that it is isomorphic to
ω
+
1
by Theorem 6.5.3 and thus an embedding of
ω
+
1
since it is trivial to show that
0
≤
U
ω
∪
E
1
/mo>
2
. □
(b) Now consider the same
U
ω
from part (a) and let
E
ω
=
1
⋅
U
ω
+
1
so that by Theorem 5 this is another embedding of
ω
and
1
≤
E
ω
/mo>
2
. Hence we have that
0
≤
U
ω
/mo>
1
≤
E
ω
/mo>
2
so that
U
ω
and
E
ω
are disjoint. Also clearly
E
ω
⋅
2
=
U
ω
∪
E
ω
is the sum of
U
ω
and
E
ω
so that it is isomorphic to
ω
+
ω
=
ω
⋅
2
by Theorem 6.5.3. Hence since also
0
≤
E
ω
⋅
2
/mo>
2
(it is trivial to show) it is an embedding of
ω
⋅
2
as desired.
(c) Considering the same
E
ω
⋅
2
from part (b) let
F
ω
=
1
⋅
U
ω
+
2
so that it is yet another an embedding of
ω
and
2
≤
F
ω
/mo>
3
by Theorem
5. Then by the same arguments as in part (b) it follows that
E
ω
⋅
2
∪
F
ω
is an embedding of
ω
⋅
2
+
ω
=
ω
⋅
2
+
ω
⋅
1
=
ω
⋅
(
2
+
1
)
=
ω
⋅
3
as desired.
(d) We first aim to construct a unit embedding of
ω
n
for any
n
∈
ω
. We do this recursively. For
n
=
0
clearly
U
ω
0
=
{
0
}
is a unit embedding of
ω
0
=
1
. We have also already constructed
U
ω
as a unit embedding of
ω
in part (a). Now suppose we have constructed
U
ω
n
, a unit embedding of
ω
n
. Then we let
U
ω
n
+
1
=
U
ω
⋅
U
ω
n
so that
U
ω
n
+
1
is a unit embedding of
ω
n
⋅
ω
=
ω
n
+
1
by Theorem 6.
Clearly then
{
ω
n
}
is a sequence of ordinals in
ω
ω
and by definition
ω
ω
=
sup
n
∈
ω
ω
n
. We also have in hand the embedding
U
ω
and
U
ω
n
for each
n
∈
ω
as just constructed recursively. Now consider any
n
∈
ω
so that we have we have
ω
n
+
ω
n
+
1
=
ω
n
⋅
1
+
ω
n
⋅
ω
=
ω
n
⋅
(
1
+
ω
)
=
ω
n
⋅
ω
=
ω
n
+
1
.
We can therefore apply Theorem 7 to construct a unit embedding
U
ω
ω
of
ω
ω
.
(e) Here we use the operation of tetration, which we define recursively for all ordinals. So for all ordinals
β
we define:
-
1.
-
0
β
=
1
-
2.
-
α
+
1
β
=
β
α
β
for all
α
-
3.
-
α
β
=
sup
{
γ
β
∣
γ
/mo>
α
}
for all limit
α
≠
0
.
Thus we have
1
ω
=
ω
,
2
ω
=
ω
ω
,
3
ω
=
ω
ω
ω
, etc. We then have that
𝜀
=
ω
ω
=
sup
n
/mo>
ω
n
ω
by definition.
Despite working and thinking about this problem for weeks I have been unable to come up with a way to embed
𝜀
. To be sure we can easily construct embeddings of ordinals larger than
ω
ω
, for example we can embed
ω
ω
⋅
ω
ω
=
ω
ω
+
ω
=
ω
ω
⋅
2
by simply applying Theorem 6 to our just-constructed embedding of
ω
ω
. However, I could think of no way to get to
𝜀
easily using this approach. Ideally what we would have is a way to construct an embedding of
ω
α
for any ordinal
α
for which we already have an embedding. This would easily lead to an embedding of
𝜀
using Theorem 7 after constructing the embeddings for
n
ω
recursively. However, I was unable to think of how to construct this and eventually had to admit defeat and move on.