1. Cardinality with Applications to Computability
Lecture 33
Section 7.5
Thu, Mar 17, 2005

2. Cardinality of Finite Sets
For finite sets, the cardinality of a set is the number of elements in the set.
For a finite set A, let |A| denote the cardinality of A.

3. Cardinality of Infinite Sets
We wish to extend the notion of cardinality to infinite sets.
Rather than talk about the “number” of elements in an infinite set, for infinite sets A and B, we will speak of
A having the same cardinality as B, or
A having a lesser cardinality than B, or
A having a greater cardinality than B.

4. Definition of Same Cardinality
Two sets A and B have the same cardinality if there exists a one-to-one correspondence from A to B.
Write |A| = |B|.
Note that this definition works for finite sets, too.
Theorem: If |A| = |B| and |B| = |C|, then |A| = |C|.

5. Example: Equal Cardinalities
Theorem: |2Z| = |Z|, where 2Z represents the even integers.
Proof:
Define f : Z  2Z by f(n) = 2n.
Clearly, f is a one-to-one correspondence.
Therefore, |2Z| = |Z|.

6. Cardinality of Z+
Theorem: |Z+| = |Z|, where Z+ represents the positive integers.
Proof:
Define f : Z  Z+ by
f(n) = 2n if n > 0
f(n) = 1 – 2n if n  0.
Verify that f is a one-to-one correspondence.
Therefore, |Z+| = |Z|.

7. Definition of Lesser Cardinality
Set A has a cardinality less than or equal to the cardinality of a set B if there exists a one-to-one function from A to B.
Write |A|  |B|.
Then |A| < |B| means that there is a one-to-one function from A to B, but there is not a one-to-one correspondence from A to B.

8. Order Relations Among Infinite Sets
Corollary: If |A|  |B| and |B|  |C|, then |A|  |C|.
Corollary: If A  B, then |A|  |B|.
Proof:
Let A  B.
Define the function f : A  B by f(a) = a.
Clearly, f is one-to-one.
Therefore, |A|  |B|.

9. Definition of Greater Cardinality
We may define |A|  |B| to mean |B|  |A| and define |A| > |B| to mean |B| < |A|.

10. Definition of Greater Cardinality
Theorem: |A|  |B| if and only if there exists an onto function from A to B. A B

11. Definition of Greater Cardinality
Theorem: |A|  |B| if and only if there exists an onto function from A to B. f A B

12. Definition of Greater Cardinality
Theorem: |A|  |B| if and only if there exists an onto function from A to B. g A B

13. Definition of Greater Cardinality
Theorem: |A|  |B| if and only if there exists an onto function from A to B. g A B

14. Order Relations Among Infinite Sets
Corollary: If |A|  |B| and |B|  |C|, then |A|  |C|.
Corollary: If |A|  |B| and |B|  |A|, then |A| = |B|.

15. Cardinality of the Interval (0, 1)
Theorem: The interval (0, 1) has the same cardinality as R.
Proof:
The function f(x) = (x – ½) establishes that
|(0, 1)| = |(–/2, /2)|.
The function g(x) = tan x establishes that
|(–/2, /2)| = |R|.
Therefore, |(0, 1)| = |R|.

16. Countable Sets
A set is countable if it either is finite or has the same cardinality as Z+.
Examples: 2Z and Z are countable.
To show that an infinite set is countable, it suffices to give an algorithm for listing the elements in such a way that each element appears exactly once in the list.

17. Example: Countable Sets
Theorem: The number of strings of finite length consisting of the characters a, b, and c is countable.
Correct proof:
Group the strings by length: {}, {a, b, c},
{aa, ab, …, cc}, …
Arrange the strings alphabetically within groups.

18. Canonical Ordering This gives the canonical order
, a, b, c, aa, ab, ac, ba, …, cc, aaa, aab, …, ccc, aaaa, aaab, …, where  denotes the empty string.
Consider the string bbabc.
How do we know that it will appear in the list?
In what position will it appear?

19. Incorrect Proof Incorrect Proof:
Group the strings by their first letter {a, aa, ab, …}, {b, ba, bb, …}, {c, ca, cb, …}.
Within those groups, group those words by their second letter, and so on.
List the a-group first, the b-group second, and the c-group last.
In what position will we find the string bbabc? the string abc? the string aaaab?

20. Example: Countable Sets
Theorem: Q is countable.
Proof:
Arrange the positive rationals in an infinite two-dimensional array.
1/1
1/2
1/3
1/4 …
2/1
2/2
2/3
2/4
3/1
3/2
3/3
3/4
4/1
4/2
4/3
4/4 :

21. Proof of Countability of Q
Then list the numbers by diagonals
1/1
1/2
1/3
1/4 …
2/1
2/2
2/3
2/4
3/1
3/2
3/3
3/4
4/1
4/2
4/3
4/4 :

22. Proof of Countability of Q
We get the list
1/1, 2/1, 1/2, 3/1, 2/2, 1/3, 4/1, 2/3, 3/2,
1/4, 5/1, 4/2, 3/3, 2/4, 1/5, …
Then remove the repeated fractions, i.e., the unreduced ones
1/1, 2/1, 1/2, 3/1, 1/3, 4/1, 2/3, 3/2, 1/4,
5/1, 1/5, …
In what position will we find 3/5?

23. False Proof of the Countability of Q
Incorrect listing #1
List the rationals from in order according to size.
Incorrect listing #2
List all fractions with denominator 1 first.
Follow that list with all fractions with denominator 2.
And so on.

24. Uncountable Sets A set is uncountable if it is not countable.
Theorem: R is uncountable.
Proof:
It suffices to show that the interval (0, 1) is uncountable.
Suppose (0, 1) is countable.
Then we may list its members 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on.

25. Proof, continued Label them x1, x2, x3, and so on.
Represent each xi by its decimal expansion.
x1 = 0.d11d12d13…
x2 = 0.d21d22d23…
x3 = 0.d31d32d33…
and so on, where dij is the j-th decimal digit of xi.

26. Proof, concluded Form a number x = 0.d1d2d3… as follows.
Define di = 0 if dii  0.
Define di = 1 if dii = 0.
Then x  (0, 1), but x is not in the list x1, x2, x3, …
This is a contradiction.
Therefore, R is not countable.

27. Functions from Z+ to Z+ Theorem: The number of functions
f : Z+  Z+ is uncountable.
Proof:
Suppose there are only countably many.
List them f1, f2, f3, …

28. Proof, concluded Define a function f : Z+  Z+ as follows.
f(i) = 0 if fi(i)  0.
f(i) = 1 if fi(i) = 0.
Then f(i)  fi(i) for all i in Z+.
Therefore, f is not in the list.
This is a contradiction.
Therefore, the set is uncountable.

29. Number of Computer Programs
Theorem: The number of computer programs is countable.
Proof:
Once compiled, a computer program is a finite string of 0s and 1s.
The set of all computer programs is a subset of the set of all finite binary strings.

30. Proof, concluded This set may be listed Therefore, it is countable.
, 0, 1, 00, 01, 10, 11, 000, 001, 010, …, 111,
0000, 0001, 0010, 0011, …, 1111, …
Therefore, it is countable.
As a subset of this set, the set of computer programs is countable.

31. Computability of Functions
Corollary: There exists a function f : Z+  Z+ which cannot be computed by any computer program.

32. Cardinality of the Power Set
Theorem: For any set A,
|A| < |(A)|.
Proof:
There is a one-to-one function f : A  (A) defined by f(x) = {x}.
Therefore, |A|  |(A)|.
We must prove that there does not exist a one-to-one correspondence from A to (A).

33. Proof, continued
That is, we must prove that there does not exist an onto function from A to (A).
Suppose g : A  (A) is onto.
For every x  A, either x  g(x) or x  g(x).
Define a set B = {x  A | x  g(x)}.
Then B  (A), since B  A.
So B = g(a) for some a  A (since g is onto, by assumption).

34. Proof, continued Is a  g(a)? Case 1: Suppose a  g(a).
Then a  B, by the definition of B.
But B = g(a), so a  g(a), a contradiction.
Case 2: Suppose a  g(a).
Then a  B, by the definition of B.
But B = g(a), so a  g(a), a contradiction.

35. Proof, concluded Either way, we have a contradiction.
Therefore, no such one-to-one function exists.
Thus, |A| < |(A)|.

36. Hierarchy of Cardinalities
Beginning with Z+, consider the sets
Z+, (Z+), ((Z+)), …
Each set has a cardinality strictly greater than its predecessor.
|Z+| < |(Z+)| < |((Z+))| < …
These cardinalities are denoted 0,1,2, …(aleph-naught, aleph-one, aleph-two, …)