Set Theory

Abstract

The chapter is a concise, practical presentation of the basics of set theory. The topics include set equivalence, countability, partially ordered, linearly ordered, and well-ordered sets, the axiom of choice, and Zorn’s lemma, as well as cardinal numbers and cardinal arithmetic. The first two sections are essential for a proper understanding of the rest of the book. In particular, a thorough understanding of countability and Zorn’s lemma are indispensable. Parts of the section on cardinal numbers may be included, but only an intuitive understanding of cardinal numbers is sufficient to follow such topics as the discussion on the existence of a vector space of arbitrary (infinite) dimension, and the existence of inseparable Hilbert spaces. Cardinal arithmetic can be omitted since its applications later in the book are limited. Ordinal numbers have been carefully avoided.