Related papers: An alternative foundation and the generalized cont…
This article critically reappraises arguments in support of Cantor's theory of transfinite numbers. The following results are reported: i) Cantor's proofs of nondenumerability are refuted by analyzing the logical inconsistencies in…
The uncountability of the reals was first established by Cantor in what was later heralded as the first paper on set theory. Since the latter constitutes the official foundations of mathematics, the logical study of the uncountability of…
We present a new topological proof of the infinitude of prime numbers with a new topology. Furthermore, in this topology, we characterize the infinitude of any non-empty subset of prime numbers.
Transfinite set theory including the axiom of choice supplies the following basic theorems: (1) Mappings between infinite sets can always be completed, such that at least one of the sets is exhausted. (2) The real numbers can be well…
It is shown that the pillars of transfinite set theory, namely the uncountability proofs, do not hold. (1) Cantor's first proof of the uncountability of the set of all real numbers does not apply to the set of irrational numbers alone, and,…
Cantor's famous proof of the non-denumerability of real numbers does apply to any infinite set. The set of exclusively all natural numbers does not exist. This shows that the concept of countability is not well defined. There remains no…
We apply an inductive argument to three theorems of Cantor on (1) the uncountability of infinite binary sequences, (2) the uncountability of real numbers, and (3) the non-equinumerosity of sets with their powersets. This technique proves…
Recently, in Axioms 10(2): 119 (2021), a nonclassical first-order theory T of sets and functions has been introduced as the collection of axioms we have to accept if we want a foundational theory for (all of) mathematics that is not weaker…
This thesis presents an alternative to Cantor's theory of cardinality, insofar as that is understood as a theory of set size. The alternative is based on a general theory, ClassSize. ClassSize contains all sentences in the first order…
A new axiom is proposed, the Ground Axiom, asserting that the universe is not a nontrivial set forcing extension of any inner model. The Ground Axiom is first-order expressible, and any model of ZFC has a class forcing extension which…
Classical set theory constructs the continuum via the power set P(N), thereby postulating an uncountable totality. However, constructive and computability-based approaches reveal that no formal system with countable syntax can generate all…
We introduce the notion of limiting theories, giving examples and providing a sufficient condition under which the first order theory of a structure is the limit of the first order theories of a collection of substructures. We also give a…
When a proposition has no proof in an inference system, it is sometimes useful to build a counter-proof explaining, step by step, the reason of this non-provability. In general, this counter-proof is a (possibly) infinite co-inductive proof…
The uncountability of $\mathbb{R}$ is one of its most basic properties, known far outside of mathematics. Cantor's 1874 proof of the uncountability of $\mathbb{R}$ even appears in the very first paper on set theory, i.e. a historical…
In 1891 Cantor presented two proofs with the purpose to establish a general theorem that any set can be replaced by a set of greater power. Cantor's power set theorem can be considered to be an extension of Cantor's 1891 second proof and…
We present a system of axioms motivated by a topological intuition: The set of subsets of any set is a topology on that set. On the one hand, this system is a common weakening of Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory ZF, the positive set theory GPK…
It is well known that ZFC, despite its usefulness as a foundational theory for mathematics, has two unwanted features: it cannot be written down explicitly due to its infinitely many axioms, and it has a countable model due to the…
We study the existence of uncountable first-order structures that are homogeneous with respect to their finitely generated substructures. In many classical cases this is either well-known or follows from general facts, for example, if the…
In previous papers on this project a general static logical framework for formalizing and mechanizing set theories of different strength was suggested, and the power of some predicatively acceptable theories in that framework was explored.…
G\"odel's first and second incompleteness theorems are corner stones of modern mathematics. In this article we present a new proof of these theorems for ZFC and theories containing ZFC, using Chaitin's incompleteness theorem and a very…