Exercise 8.1.15

If every set is equipotent to an ordinal number, then the Axiom of Choice holds.

Answers

Proof. Let A be any set and α be an ordinal equipotent to A . Then there is a bijection f from A to α . We can then simply order A according to f , that is order it by the relation

= { ( x , y ) A × A f ( x ) f ( y ) }

Clearly then ( A , ) is isomorphic to ( α , ) so that it is a well-ordering. Hence A can be well-ordered. Since A was an arbitrary set, this shows the Well-Ordering Principle, which is equivalent to the Axiom of Choice by Theorem 8.1.13. □

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2024-07-15 11:42
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