Related papers: A severe inconsistency of transfinite set theory
Based upon the axiom of choice it is proved that the cardinality of the rational numbers is not less than the cardinality of the irrational numbers. This contradicts a main result of transfinite set theory and shows that the axiom of choice…
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,…
The multiplicative theory of a set of numbers (which could be natural, integer, rational, real or complex numbers) is the first-order theory of the structure of that set with (solely) the multiplication operation (that set is taken to be…
This paper examines the possibilities of extending Cantor's two arguments on the uncountable nature of the set of real numbers to one of its proper denumerable subsets: the set of rational numbers. The paper proves that, unless certain…
The notions of potential infinity (understood as expressing a direction) and actual infinity (expressing a quantity) are investigated. It is shown that the notion of actual infinity is inconsistent, because the set of all (finite) natural…
We present a new fragment of axiomatic set theory for pure sets and for the iteration of power sets within given transitive sets. It turns out that this formal system admits an interesting hierarchy of models with true membership relation…
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.…
We develop an axiomatic set theory -- the Theory of Hyperfinite Sets THS, which is based on the idea of existence of proper subclasses of big finite sets. We demonstrate how theorems of classical continuous mathematics can be transfered to…
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…
We define a certain finite set in set theory $\{x\mid\varphi(x)\}$ and prove that it exhibits a universal extension property: it can be any desired particular finite set in the right set-theoretic universe and it can become successively any…
In this paper I introduce a new and intuitive first-order foundational theory (where the concept of set is not primitive) and use it to show that the power set of an infinite set does not exist. In particular, proofs of uncountability of a…
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 describe a theory of finite sets, and investigate the analogue of Dedekind's theory of natural number systems (simply infinite systems) in this theory. Unlike the infinitary case, in our theory, natural number systems come in differing…
Introducing the notion of a rational system of measure preserving transformations and proving a recurrence result for such systems, we give sufficient conditions in order a subset of rational numbers to contain arbitrary long arithmetic…
The paper introduces the notion of the size of countable sets that preserves the Part-Whole Principle and generalizes the notion of the cardinality of finite sets. The sizes of natural numbers, integers, rational numbers, and all their…
The purpose of this paper is to outline a simple set of axioms for basic set theory from which most fundamental facts can be derived. The key to the whole project is a new axiom of set theory which I dubbed "The Law of Extremes". It allows…
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 main result of this paper is to show that all binomial identities are orderable. This is a natural statement in the combinatorial theory of finite sets, which can also be applied in distributed computing to derive new strong bounds on…
Metaphysical interpretations of set theory are either inconsistent or incoherent. The uses of sets in mathematics actually involve three distinct kinds of collections (surveyable, definite, and heuristic), which are governed by three…
Contrary to popular misconception, the question in the title is far from simple. It involves sets of numbers on the first level, sets of sets of numbers on the second level, and so on, endlessly. The infinite hierarchy of the levels…