Real Analysis

P. Ouwehand
Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
University of Cape Town
Note to the Student
These notes are a very rough rst draft for a short course in Real Analysis at the under-
graduate level. This is the rst time that I am teaching this particular course, and Im still
thinking hard about how to present the material; Im likely to change my mind at short
notice. At present, these notes are unnished, i.e. still being written. There is no guarantee
that you will be provided with a nished product by the end of this course, though I will
try to do so. These notes are therefore meant as a supplement to the notes you take in
class, and are not a substitute. Expect mistakes, but note that though all mistakes are my
fault, its your responsibility to nd and correct them.
How will you do that? Go to the library, which houses many books on real analysis.
Two books that you will nd particularly useful are Principles of Mathematical Analysis,
by Walter Rudin, and The Elements of Real Analysis, by Robert G. Bartle.
This course is but thirty lectures long. There is more material in the notes than can
be covered in class, and many sections can be safely ignored. (Already the preliminary
Chapter 0 is ridiculously long, and needs some serious editing.) What you need to know,
and what you can omit, will be made clear in lectures.
The content of the course remains similar to what it has been in previous years, though
the perspective has shifted slightly: More emphasis is placed on the the importance of sets
of reals, and on topological notions. Im also hoping to tackle some additional topics, such
as the RiemannStieltjes integral, if time permits.
Peter Ouwehand
June 2004
i
Contents
0 Preliminaries 1
0.1 What is Analysis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
0.2 Basic Set Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
0.2.1 Operations on sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
0.2.2 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
0.2.3 Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
0.2.4 Countable and Uncountable Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
0.3 Prelude to an Axiomatic Development of the Real Number System . . . . . 32
0.3.1 Why we need Axioms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
0.3.2 A Brief Note on the Philosophy of Mathematics

. . . . . . . . . . 35
0.3.3 Logic, Formal Languages, Quantiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
1 An Axiomatic Development of the Real Number System 45
1.1 Fields and Arithmetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
1.2 Ordered Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
1.3 The Continuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
1.4 The Completeness Axiom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
1.5 Construction of the Set of Reals

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2 The Geometry and Topology of R
n
67
2.1 The Geometry of R
n
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.2 Some Inequalities in R
n
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.3 Sets in R
n
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
2.4 Sets in R
n
: Open and Closed Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
2.5 The BolzanoWeierstrass Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
2.6 Sets in R
n
: Compact Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
A The Place of the Reals within Mathematics 93
iii
Chapter 0
Preliminaries
0.1 What is Analysis?
Roughly speaking, analysis deals with numbers, sets of numbers, and operations on num-
bers. It is particularly concerned with what happens if certain operations are performed
an arbitrarily large number of times, perhaps innitely often.
These days we perform most calculations on a computer. Now a computer can handle
only rational numbers: Each number is stored using only a nite number of bits, 0 and 1,
and thus necessarily rational. For example,
101.11
binary
= (1)(2
2
) + (0)(2
1
) + (1)(2
0
) + (1)(2
1
) + (1)(2
2
) =
23
4
It is clear, therefore, that any number expressed in nitely many bits is equal to
integer
power of 2
,
and thus necessarily rational.
Since practically all our calculations are handled by computers, and since computers
handle only rational numbers, it would seem that the set of rational numbers is suciently
rich for all our calculations. However, we can imagine an operation being performed in-
nitely often, something that a computer cannot do. Allowing the innite to creep into
our operations results in the creation of something new, namely irrational numbers.
For example, start with 1 and perform the following operations over and over: add 1,
invert the result, and then add 1, i.e.
x
0
= 1
x
n+1
=
1
x
n
+ 1
+ 1 for n 1
Each x
n
is a rational number (i.e. a ratio of integers). If we perform this operation innitely
often, we get

2, i.e. the limit of the x

n
is

2, an irrational number
1
.
1
A proof that

2 is irrational, i.e. not the ratio of two integers, will be provided shortly.
1
2 Basic Set Theory: Operations on Sets
Also consider the following pseudocode:
LET X = 1;
LET Y = 1;
FOR N = 1 TO
LET Y = Y/N;
LET X = X +Y ;

PRINT X;
Of course, the output is just

n=1
1
n!
= e Thus this algorithm starts with two rational
values for X and Y , and uses only the operations of addition and division. Both these
operations preserve rational numbers, yet the output of this algorithm is an irrational
number.
In the rst example, we took the limit of a sequence of rational numbers, and in the
second a limit of a sum of rational numbers. The concept of limit captures the notion
performing an operation innitely often. The rational numbers are not suciently rich to
handle limits, forcing us to extend the number system to also include irrational numbers.
Thus the set of real numbers is in essence obtained from the set of rational numbers by
allowing the taking limits.
The notion of limit is fundamental to analysis, and many of the results we prove in these
notes about the set of real numbers are simply not true for the set of rational numbers.
Most of the fundamental concepts of calculus involve limits.
A derivative is a limit:
df
dx
= lim
h0
f(x +h) f(x)
h
A Taylor series is a limit:
e
x
=

k=1
x
k
k!
= lim
n
n

k=1
x
k
k!
If we write p
n
(x) =

n
k=1
x
k
k!
, then each p
n
(x) is a polynomial. Thus we have here a sequence of
polynomials whose limit is not a polynomial. Again, the taking of limits has created a new kind of
object.
Similarly, every Fourier series is a limit of sums.
A denite integral is a limit: If f is continuous on the interval [a, b], then
_
b
a
f(x) dx is a limit of
lefthand sums
_
b
a
f(x) dx = lim
x0
[
ba
x
]

k=1
f(a +kx)x
Here [y] denotes the greatest integer less than or equal to y.
Continuity is dened in terms of a limit: A function f is continuous at a point x
0
if and only if
lim
h0
f(x
0
+h) = f(x
0
).
Preliminaries 3
0.2 Basic Set Theory
Because it became accepted in the 20th century that, in principle, mathematical objects
should be sets and mathematical notions should be expressible as relationships between
sets, every mathematician needs just a little set theory. The material in this section is not
dicult, and no doubt you have seen it all before. We include it merely as a reminder and
to x notation.
Intuitively, a set is just a collection of objects.
If A is a set and x is some mathematical object, we say that
x A (x is an element of A)
if x is amongst the objects collected in A, and we write
x , A
if it isnt.
The idea is that a set is characterized entirely by its elements. Thus if two sets A and B
have exactly the same elements, then we must have A = B. For example, the sets A = a
and B = a, a have the same elements, namely only a. Thus A = B. The fact that B
seems to have two copies of A is immaterial.
For the philosophically minded: This means, for example that
Evening Star = Morning Star
as both sets are equal to the planet Venus. Yet the Evening Star is seen only in the evening, whereas
the Morning Star is seen only in the morning. . .
Instead of set, we will also sometimes say class, collection or family; instead of saying
x is an element of A we will sometimes say x is a member of A or x belongs to A.
There are two ways to represent sets: (i) by listing its elements, and (ii) by some
dening property. For example, if a set A has nitely many elements a
1
, . . . , a
n
then it can
be represented by A = a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
. On the other hand if A is the set of all x having a
certain property P(x), then A can be denoted by A = x : P(x).
Example 0.2.1 The set A of all integers between -1 and 3 can be represented in two ways:
(i) A = 1, 0, 1, 2, 3
(ii) A = n : n is an integer and 1 n 3

In analysis, the following sets are important:

The set of natural numbers N = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .
The set of integers or whole numbers Z = . . . , 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, . . .
The set of rational numbers Q =
n
m
: n, m Z, m ,= 0
4 Basic Set Theory: Operations on Sets
The set of real numbers R, and the set of nonnegative real numbers is denoted by
R
+
.
The set of complex numbers C = a +ib : a, b R
Another way to represent a set is by indexing its elements using another set. This is
actually just a method of listing the elements of the set in some coherent way. We write
A = a
i
: i I. Here a
i
are the elements of A indexed by the set I. Basically, the set I
can be thought of as a set of labels attached in some way to the elements of A.
For example, dene x
n
= 2n. Then x
n
: n N is the set of even numbers, indexed by N.
Or dene, for r R
+
, I
r
to be the interval (r, r). Then I
r
: r R
+
is the set of all open intervals
centered at zero.
A set doesnt even have to have any elements:
Denition 0.2.2 We dene the empty set to be the set with no members, and denote it
by the symbol .

For example, x : x R and x

2
< 0 = . One could also dene the empty set by = x : x ,= x. The
empty set plays roughly the same role in set theory that the number zero plays in ordinary mathematics.
Denition 0.2.3 We say that a set A is a subset of another set B, and write
A B
if and only if every element of A is also an element of B.
We say that A is a proper subset of B if A is subset of B, but A ,= B.

We may also write B A instead of A B; they mean the same thing (just as x y and
y x mean the same thing).
Remarks 0.2.4 Note that A = B if and only if A B and B A.
Further note that
N Z Q R C

Exercises 0.2.5 (1) Prove that is a subset of every set.

[Hint: Give a proof by contradiction. Assume that there is a set A such that , A.]
(2) Show formally that if A B and if B C, then A C.

Preliminaries 5
0.2.1 Operations on sets
There are several ways of combining sets to form new sets. In this section we dene and
give some examples of the setoperations union, intersection, dierence, complementation,
cartesian product and power set formation.
Denition 0.2.6 (Union, intersection and dierence of two sets)
Suppose that A, B are sets.
(a) The union of A and B is the set of all elements which are either in A or in B (or both).
A B = x : x A or x B
(b) The intersection of A and B is the set of all elements which belong to both A and B.
A B = x : x A and x B
(c) The set dierence of A and B is the set of all elements which belong to A, but not to
B.
A B = x : x A and x , B

Two sets A, B are said to be disjoint if they have no members in common, i.e. if
A B = . In that case, A B = A, B A = B.
Often we work within some universe, which is just the set of all objects under consid-
eration at that time. The sets that we deal with are then typically subsets of the universe.
Which set is the universe depends very much on context. If one is dealing with real numbers, the obvious
choice of universe is R, but if one is dealing with complex numbers as well, then it would be C. If one is
trying to nd the solution of an n
th
order dierential equation, then the universe will generally be the set
of all ntimes dierentiable functions.
Given a universe, we also have a unary operation on sets, called complementation.
Denition 0.2.7 Let the universe be , and let A . The complement of A is the set
of all elements in the universe which are not in A.
A
c
= x : x , A

Note that A
c
= A. Also note that A B = A B
c
.
Exercise 0.2.8 Show that A, B are disjoint if and only if A B
c
.

6 Basic Set Theory: Operations on Sets

Here are some standard identities involving the operations:
Proposition 0.2.9 Suppose that A, B, C are subsets of some universe .
(a) Idempotent laws:
A A = A; A A = A
(b) Commutative laws:
A B = B A; A B = B A
(c) Associative laws:
(A B) C = A (B C); (A B) C = A (B C)
(d) Distributive laws:
A (B C) = (A B) (A C); A (B C) = (A B) (A C)
(e) Absorption laws:
A (A B) = A; A (A B) = A
(f ) Complementation laws:
A A
c
= ; A A
c
=
(A
c
)
c
= A
(g) De Morgans laws:
(A B)
c
= A
c
B
c
; (A B)
c
= A
c
B
c

Note that each of the identities remains true if

and are interchanged, and
and are interchanged.
Proof: We show how to prove one of the above laws, and leave the remainder as an
exercise. Let us prove that A (B C) = (A B) (A C).
First suppose that x A (B C). Then x A and x B C, by denition of
. Thus x A and either (1) x B, or (2) x C (or both), by denition of . Thus
either (1) x A and x B, or (2) x A and x C. It follows that either (1) x A B
or (2) x A C, and thus that x (A B) (A C). We have now shown that if
x A (B C), then also x (A B) (A C), i.e. that
A (B C) (A B) (A C) ()
Next, assume that x (AB) (AC). Then either (1) x AB, or (2) x AC.
In either case, it follows that x A. Also we must have either (1) x B, or (2) x C,
and thus x B C. We see, therefore, that we have both x A and x B C, so that
Preliminaries 7
x A(BC). It follows that whenever x (AB) (AC), then also x A(BC),
i.e. that
(A B) (A C) A (B C) ()
Putting () and () together, we obtain
A (B C) = (A B) (A C)
as required.

Exercise 0.2.10 Prove the remaining identities in the proposition above.

(By the way, drawing a Venn diagram does not constitute a proof! Venn diagrams work only when you
are dealing with a small number of sets.)

A set is completely determined by its elements. The order in which those elements
are arranged does not matter. For example, a, b = b, a. When we want the order to
matter, we have to deal with ordered tuples. An ordered pair is denoted by (a, b), and
should be thought of as a collection containing a and b, in that order. Thus (a, b) ,= (b, a).
Note that
(a, b) = (c, d) a = c and b = d
Generally, an ordered ntuple is denoted by (a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
), and should be thought of as a
collection containing a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
, in that order.
The pair (a, b) is often dened to be the set a, a, b. You can check that this denition yields the
required property that (a, b) = (c, d) i a = c and b = d.
(a, b, c) is then dened to be (a, (b, c)) (which is just the set a, a, b, b, c), etc. This is in keeping
with the notion that all mathematical objects should be sets. On rst encounter, however, you might nd
this arbitrary, clumsy, and unnecessary, and you wouldnt be far wrong: The main thing that you need to
keep in mind is that an ordered tuple is a collection in which the order matters.
Using ordered tuples, we can dene one more way of making new sets from old:
Denition 0.2.11 (Cartesian product) Suppose that A
1
, A
2
, . . . , A
n
are sets. The carte-
sian product of A
1
, . . . , A
n
is the set of all ntuples (a
1
, . . . , a
n
), with each a
k
A
k
.
A
1
A
2
A
n
= (a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
) : a
k
A
k
for k = 1, 2, . . . , n

Example 0.2.12 If A = a, b and B = 1, 2, 3, then their product is the 6element set

AB = (a, 1), (a, 2), (a, 3), (b, 1), (b, 2), (b, 3)

8 Basic Set Theory: Operations on Sets

Proposition 0.2.13 If A has n elements and B has m elements, then A B has n m
elements.

Exercises 0.2.14 (1) Prove the preceding theorem by induction.

[Hint: Let B be a xed set with m elements, and proceed by induction on the number of elements in
A. First show that if A has 0 elements, then AB has 0 m elements. Now assume that whenever A
has n = k elements, AB has km elements. Show that this implies that if A has n = k +1 elements,
then AB has (k + 1)m elements.]
(2) Prove that A(B C) = (AB) (AC)
(3) Is it true that (AB) (C D) = (A C) (B D)?

We will identify the sets (A B) C and A (B C) with A B C, although,

strictly speaking, they are not equal.
For example, ((a, b), c)) is an element of the rst set, but not of the second or third. (a, (b, c)) belongs to
the second, but not to the rst or third. (a, b, c) belongs to the third, but not to the rst two. However,
we shall simply identify (a, (b, c)), ((a, b), c) and (a, b, c), i.e. we shall not distinguish between them. After
all, all that matters is the order of a, b, c and that is the same in each of these tuples.
Example 0.2.15 The ndimensional Euclidean space, denoted by R
n
, is just the nfold cartesian product
of R:
R
n
= R R
. .
n times
= (x
1
, x
2
, . . . , x
n
) : x
i
R
We will identify the sets R
n
R
m
and R
n+m
.
Strictly speaking, the rst is the set
R
n
R
m
= ((x
1
, . . . , x
n
), (y
1
, . . . , y
m
)) : x
i
, y
j
R
whereas the second set is
R
n+m
= (x
1
, . . . , x
n
, y
1
, . . . , y
m
) : x
i
, y
j
R
but the two sets clearly have the same basic structure, in that they are made up of tuples with x
1
followed
by x
2
, . . . , followed by y
m
.

Exercises 0.2.16 (1) Draw the following sets in the xyplane (i.e. R
2
):
(i) 1, 2, 3 3, 4, 5
(ii) 1 [0, 1]
(iii) [0, 1] 1
(iv) (0, 1] [2, 3)
Preliminaries 9
(2) Describe the set [0, 1] [0, 1] [0, 1].
(3) Consider the cylinder of unit radius about the zaxis in R
3
:
c = (x, y, z) : x
2
+y
2
= 1
Represent c as a product of two sets.

Thus far, we have considered union, intersection and cartesian product as binary op-
erations, involving just two sets. Frequently, however, we may need to consider these as
innitary operations: We can, for example, take the union of innitely many sets. We
dene the union, intersection and cartesian product of a family of sets as follows:
Denition 0.2.17 (Union, intersection and product of a family of sets)
If / = A
i
: i I is a family of sets, we may dene
(a) the union
_
/ =
_
iI
A
i
= x : x A
i
for some i I
(b) the intersection

/ =

iI
A
i
= x : x A
i
for all i I
(c) the cartesian product

/ =

iI
A
i
= (a
i
)
I
: a
i
A
i
for all i I
Here (a
i
)
I
is a generalized tuple, indexed by I.
In essence, (a
i
)
I
is a function with domain I and range

iI
A
i
. We will return to this later.
We will frequently write

I
A
i
or

i
A
i
instead of

iI
A
i
. We will also write

n=1
A
n
instead
of

nN
A
n
. The same holds for

and

Remarks 0.2.18 Note that

(i)

A, B = A B
(ii)

A, B, C = AB C
(iii)

X
1
, X
2
, . . . , X
n
= X
1
X
2
X
n
etc.

10 Basic Set Theory: Operations on Sets

Exercises 0.2.19 (1) Dene A
n
= (
1
n+1
, 1] for n N. Calculate

n=1
A
n
and

n=1
A
n
.
(2) Let B
r
= x R
3
: [x[ r. Calculate

r(0,1]
B
r
and

r(0,1]
B
r
.

Denition 0.2.20 Let / = A

n
: n N be a family of sets.
(a) We dene the limit superior of the sets (A
n
) by
limsup
n
A
n
=

n=1

mn
A
m
(b) We dene the limit inferior of the sets (A
n
) by
liminf
n
A
n
=

n=1

mn
A
m

Note that a limsup A

n
if and only if a

mn
A
m
for all n, i.e. if and only if for all n there is m n
such that a A
m
. Thus a limsup
n
A
n
if and only if a belongs to innitely many of the sets A
n
.
Exercises 0.2.21 (1) Show that a liminf A
n
if and only if a belongs to almost all of the A
n
. (Almost
all mean all except possibly nitely many. Thus we are claiming that a liminf A
n
if and only if
there are at most nitely many n such that a , A
n
.)
(2) Let A
n
= [0,
1
n
] if n is even, and let A
n
= [
1
n
, 0] if n is odd. Calculate limsup
n
A
n
and liminf
n
A
n
.
(3) Let A
n
= [0, n] if n is even, and let A
n
= [n, 0] if n is odd. Calculate limsup
n
A
n
and liminf
n
A
n
.
(4) Let A
n
= (1, 1 +
1
n
) if n is even, and let A
n
= [1
1
n
, 1] if n is odd. Calculate limsup
n
A
n
and
liminf
n
A
n
.
(5) Given a sequence of sets A
n
, and a positive integer N, dene B
n
= A
N+n
. Show that limsup
n
A
n
=
limsup
n
B
n
and that liminf
n
A
n
= liminf
n
B
n
. This shows that limsup and liminf are determined
by the tail of the sequence A
n
only.

Here is another way of making new sets from old: Given a particular set, one should
be able to collect all of its subsets together into a new set, called the power set.
Denition 0.2.22 (Power set)
If A is a set, then the power set of A is the set of all subsets of A.
T(A) = B : B A

Note that , A T(A). They are, respectively, its smallest and biggest members.
Example 0.2.23 Let A = 1, 2, 3. Then the powerset of A is the 8element set
T(A) = , 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 1, 3, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3
Preliminaries 11

Proposition 0.2.24 If A has n elements, then T(A) has 2

n
elements.
Proof: We prove this proposition by mathematical induction. Firstly, the proposition is
true for all sets with 0 elements (i.e. if a set has 0 elements, then it has 2
0
subsets. To see
this, note that the only set with 0 elements is , and that has only one subset, namely
itself. Since 2
0
= 1, the proposition holds for all sets with 0 elements.)
Next assume that the proposition holds for all sets with n elements. We now want to
prove that the proposition is also true for sets with n +1 elements. So let A be a set with
n + 1 elements, and pick a A. Let B = A a. Then B has n elements, and so by
assumption, 2
n
subsets.
Now reason as follows: The subsets of A can be divided into two classes, namely (1)
those which have a as element, and (2) those which do not. It is obvious that no subset of
A belongs to both classes, and that every subset of A belongs to one of them.
(1): If C A does not have a as element, then C B. The former are just subsets of
B, and there are 2
n
of them.
(2): If C A does have a C, then C = C

a, where C

B. Since to each such

C there corresponds a C

, there are as many subsets of A containing a as there are subsets

of B, i.e. 2
n
.
Hence A has 2
n
+ 2
n
= 2
n+1
subsets. We have therefore proved the following:
(i) Every set with 0 elements has 2
0
subsets;
(ii) If every set with n elements has 2
n
subsets, then every set with n + 1 elements has
2
n+1
subsets
Thus since every set with 0 elements has 2
0
subsets, we deduce that every set with 1
element has 2
1
subsets. From that we deduce that every set with 2 elements has 2
2
subsets,
and from that, that every set with 3 elements has 2
3
subsets, etc.

Exercises 0.2.25 Prove the above proposition again, using the binomial theorem.
[Hint: Recall that the binomial coecient
_
n
m
_
=
n!
m!(nm)!
describes the number of ways in which m
objects can be chosen from a collection of n objects.For example , there are
_
20
11
_
ways of choosing a soccer
team from a group of twenty individuals. Also recall the binomial theorem:
(a +b)
n
=
n

m=0
_
n
m
_
a
m
b
nm
Use these facts to prove that if A is a set with n elements, then T(A) is a set with 2
n
elements.]

12 Basic Set Theory: Functions

0.2.2 Functions
Originally, a function was regarded as a rule (or a formula, or an algorithm) for associating
one real number with another. For example,
f(x) = 2x
3
explicitly shows how to calculate a number f(x) which is to be associated with x: First
cube x, and then multiply the resultant by 2. However, this original formulation proved
to be unduly restrictive. For one thing, Fourier showed that practically any continuous
curve of nite length could be give a formula as an innite trigonometric series. For
another, we may want to associate numbers with other mathematical objects, or one kind
of mathematical object with another there is no reason to restrict ourselves solely to
numbers.
For example, we may want to associate with each rectangle its area. Thus we have a function which assigns
a number to each rectangle.
Or, we may want to assign to each subset of R its power set. This yields a function which assigns a set to
each set.
Thus a general denition of function dispenses with the idea that it is a rule, but keeps
the idea of associating one object with another:
Denition 0.2.26 Let A, B be sets. A function (or map) f from A to B, written
f : A B or A
f
B
is a subset of the cartesian product A B with the following property:
for each a A there exists exactly one b B such that (a, b) f
In that case write
f(a) = b instead of (a, b) f
We call b the image (or value) of a under f, and call a a preimage of b. We also say that
a maps to b under f.
The set A is called the domain of f, and the set B is called the codomain of f
A = dom(f) B = codom(f)
The range of f is the set of all possible values of f, and denoted ran(f).

Essentially, this concept of function is arrived at by deliberately confusing a function

with its graph. For example, the graph of the function f : R R : x 2x
3
is a curve in
the cartesian plane. This curve is therefore a set of ordered pairs:
Graph(f) = (x, y) : y = 2x
3

Preliminaries 13
For example, the points (0, 0), (1, 2), (2, 16), (3, 54) belong to the graph. Now we assert
that a function is its graph. Thus the function f(x) = 2x
3
is nothing but the set (x, y) :
y = 2x
3
R R.
Youve already met more than just a few functions in your mathematical education up to date. The
most obvious ones are functions from R
n
to R
m
, such as f(x) = x
2
, g(x, y) = sin(x
3
+ y), h(x, y, z) =
(xy, xlnz), etc. Here are a few more that you might not yet have considered as functions:
Examples 0.2.27 (a) Dene Z
f
T(Z) by: f(n) = m : m divides n. Then f is a function which
maps a number to a set. For example,
f(12) = 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12 = f(12)
(b) Let c
0
(R, R) = f : f is a continuous map from R to R, and let a b R. Then
_
b
a
: c
0
(R, R) R
is a function which assigns to every continuous map its denite integral.
(c) Let c
1
(R, R) be the set of all maps from R to R which have continuous rst derivatives. Then the
derivative operator is a map D : c
1
(R, R) c
0
(R, R).
(d) curl is a map from the set of vector elds on R
3
to itself. div is a map from the set of vector elds on
R
3
to the set of functions on R
3
R. grad is a map from the set of dierentiable functions R
3
R
to the set of vector elds on R
3
.
(e) An n m matrix A can be regarded as a map from A : R
m
R
n
.
(f) Addition and multiplication are functions from R
2
to R. Addition can, in fact, be described by the
1 2matrix (1 1), for (1 1)
_
a
b
_
= a +b.
(g) If is a universal set, then union and intersection can be regarded as functions from T() T() to
T(), which map the ordered pair (A, B) to A B and A B respectively.
(h) We can also regard the bigger version

of union as a map, but this time we have

: T(T())
T(). It assigns to any family of subsets of its union. (Note that a family of subsets of is just a
set of elements of T(), i.e. it is a subset of T(), and therefore an element of T(T()).) The same
goes for intersection.

For any set A, there is an important function on A called the identity function. It is
denoted by id
A
, and is dened by
id
A
: A A id
A
(a) = a
Thus id
A
= (a, a) : a A.
Examples 0.2.28 (a) The identity function on R is just the function y = x.
(b) The identity function on R
n
is the identity matrix
I
n
=
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
1 0 0 . . . 0
0 1 0 . . . 0
0 0 1 . . . 0
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
0 0 0 . . . 1
_
_
_
_
_
_
_

14 Basic Set Theory: Functions

Denition 0.2.29 Let f : A B. If A

A, we can dene the restriction of f to A

as
follows:
f[A

is a map from A

to B, such that (f[A

)(a) = f(a) for all a A

Denition 0.2.30 Let A

f
B be a function.
(a) f is said to be one-to-one (or 1-1, or injective) if and only if the following condition
holds:
If f(a
1
) = f(a
2
), then a
1
= a
2
.
(b) f is said to be onto (or surjective) if and only if
For every b B there exists an a A such that f(a) = b.
(c) f is said to be a bijection (or a one-to-one correspondence) if it is both an injection
and a surjection.

Remarks 0.2.31 A function f : A B is injective if no two distinct members of a map to the same
b B, i.e. if every b B has at most one preimage.
f is surjective if and only if every b in B gets mapped onto by some a A, i.e. if every b B has at least
one preimage. In that case B is the range of f, i.e. ran(f) = codom(f).
f is a bijection if and only if every b B has exactly one preimage.
It should be clear that there is a bijection from a nite set A to another set B if and only if A and B
have the same number of elements.

Examples 0.2.32 (a) Let f(x) = x

2
. We would generally regard f as a function with domain R and
codomain R. The range of f is [0, +), since f takes no negative values. f is not injective, because,
for example f(1) = f(1). f is not surjective either, since 1 is not in the range of f.
(b) If we dene g(x) : [0, 1] [0, 1] by g(x) = x
2
, then we may regard g as the restriction of f to [0, 1],
i.e. g = f[[0, 1]. Now g is clearly a bijection.
(c) x
3
: R R is a bijection.
(d) Let Q
+
denote the set of all nonnegative rational numbers. The map h : Z N Q
+
dened by
h(n, m) =
n
m
is surjective, but not injective.
(e) If A B, then the inclusion f : A B dened by: f(a) = a is an injection. It is a bijection if and
only if A = B.
(f) Let A be an n nmatrix, regarded as a map from R
n
to R
n
. Then A is injective if and only if
det(A) ,= 0.

Next, we discuss how functions can be combined:

Preliminaries 15
Denition 0.2.33 If f : A B and g : B C, then g f is a function from A to C,
dened by

Note that the composition does in one step what f and g do in two:
A
f
B
g
C a
f
f(a)
g
g(f(a))
A
gf
C a
gf
g(f(a))
Also note that g f means:
Do f rst, then g
i.e. the last shall be rst.
An often used fact is that composition is an associative operation on functions, i.e.
h (g f) = (h g) f
By this equation we mean that: one side is dened if and only if the other side is dened,
and in that case they are equal.
For if A
f
B, B
g
C, and C
h
D, then h (g f) is a function from A to D which
works as follows: First do g f, then do h. But to do g f, you must rst do f, then g.
The combined result is
First do f, then g, and then h: (h (g f))(a) = h(g(f(a)))
Similarly, (h g) f is a function from A to D which works as follows: First do f, then
h g. But to do h g, you must rst do g, then h. The combined result is therefore
First do f, then g, and then h: ((h g) f)(a) = h(g(f(a)))
and thus h (g f) = (h g) f, as claimed.
Example 0.2.34 Consider the following functions (note their domains and codomains):
R
f
R
+
: x x
2
+ 1
R
+
g
R
+
: y

y
R
+
h
[1, 1] : z sin(z)
Then
R
gf
R
+
: x

x
2
+ 1
R
+1
hg
[1, 1] : y sin(

y)
and thus
R
h(gf)
[1, 1] : x sin(

x
2
+ 1)
R
(h)gf
[1, 1] : x sin(

x
2
+ 1)
16 Basic Set Theory: Functions

Exercises 0.2.35 (1) Let f : N N : n n

2
, and let g : N N : n n + 2. Calculate (f g)(5) and
g f(5).
Write down formulas for f g and g f.
(2) Suppose that f(x) = x
2
and g(x) = x + 3. Calculate g f(x) and f g(x). Note that g f ,= f g.
(3) If A is an n mmatrix, and B is an mrmatrix, then we can regard them as functions R
m
A
R
n
,
R
r
B
R
m
. The composition A B is therefore a map R
r
R
n
. It is not hard to show that the
composition is just the matrix product, i.e. that A B = AB. Do so!
(4) Suppose that g f
1
= g f
2
. Prove that if g is injective then we can cancel g to conclude f
1
= f
2
.
Give an example to show that leftcancellation may fail if g is not injective.
(5) Suppose that g
1
f = g
2
f. Prove that if f is surjective then we can cancel f to obtain g
1
= g
2
.
Show that rightcancellation may fail if f is not surjective.

Note that if f : A B, then f id

A
= f, and id
B
f = f. Thus the identity function
behaves like an identity element for the operation of composition.
The number 0 is an identity element for the operation of addition, because x + 0 = x.
The number 1 is an identity element for the operation of multiplication, because x 1 = x.
Next, we tackle the idea of inverting (or reversing) the eect of a function. Take
the function f(x) = 3x. It transforms the number x into the number 3x. To undo this
transformation, you just multiply 3x by
1
3
. The function g(x) =
1
3
x inverts the eect of f,
in that
g f(x) = x f g(y) = y
Thus applying rst f, and then g gets you back to the starting point x. The same holds
true if you apply g rst, and then f.
Can every function be inverted? No, as is easy to see: Consider the function f(x) = x
2
.
Then f(2) = 4 = f(2). Now if g is a function which reverses the eect of f, then we
cannot decide whether g(4) = 2 or g(4) = 2. The problem arises because g is not 1-1.
Lets make the preceding discussion precise:
Denition 0.2.36 Let f : A B. We say that f is invertible if and only if there is a
function g : B A such that
g(f(a)) = a for all a A, f(g(b)) = b for all b B ()
The function g, if it exists, is called the inverse of f, and denoted g = f
1
. Then ()
amounts to saying
f
1
f = id
A
and f f
1
= id
B

Preliminaries 17
Note that if f
1
exists, then
f
1
(b) = a if and only if f(a) = b
Proposition 0.2.37 A function f : A B is invertible if and only if it is a bijection.
Proof: Suppose that f is invertible, i.e. that f
1
exists. Then f
1
is a function from B
to A. We rst show that f is surjective: Let b B. Since the domain is B, f
1
(b) must
be dened, i.e. there must be some a A such that f
1
(b) = a. But then f(a) = b. Hence
every b B has a preimage.
Next we show that f is injective. For suppose that f(a
1
) = f(a
2
) = b. Then f
1
(b) = a
1
and f
1
(b) = a
2
. Since f
1
is a function, we must have a
1
= a
2
(check the denition of
function), and hence f is injective.
This proves that if f is invertible, then f is a bijection.
Now we prove the converse. If f is a bijection, then it is onto B. Hence for every b B
there is some a A such that f(a) = b. Moreover, since f is one-to-one, that a has to be
unique. So we may dene f
1
(b) to be the unique a such that f(a) = b. This makes f
1
into a welldened function f
1
: B A.

Examples 0.2.38 (a) The function f(x) = x

3
is a bijection on the reals, and its inverse
is g(x) =
3

x.
(b) The function f(x) = x
2
does not have an inverse, since it is not a bijection. However,
if we restrict f to the nonnegative reals, then f[R
+
is a bijection. Its inverse is the
square root function.
(c) The function f : R (0, +) dened by f(x) = e
x
is bijective. Its inverse is the
natural logarithm ln x.
(d) The function sin x is neither injective, nor surjective; however, if we restrict sin x and
regard it as a function [

2
,

2
] [1, 1], then it is a bijection, and its inverse is
arcsin x.
(e) If A is an n nmatrix, regarded as a function on R
n
, then A has an inverse function
if and only if A has an inverse matrix. Since composition is just matrix multiplication,
the inverse function of A is just the inverse matrix A
1
.

Remarks 0.2.39 Note that, in general,

f
1
(x) ,=
1
f(x)
e.g.
3

x ,=
1
x
3
.
18 Basic Set Theory: Functions
The number x
1
=
1
x
is the inverse of x under the operation of multiplication, in that
x x
1
= 1 x
1
x = 1
noting that 1 is the identity for multiplication.
The function f
1
is the inverse of f under the operation of composition, in that
f f
1
= id f
1
f = id
noting that id is the identity for composition.
The same notation for inverse, i.e.
1
, refers to dierent operations, so theres no reason to believe that
there is any relationship between them.

The notion of invertibility can be rened:

Denition 0.2.40 Let f : A B and g : B A.
(a) g is called a left inverse of f if g f = id
A
.
(b) g is called a right inverse of f if f g = id
B
.

Note that if f is invertible, then f

1
is both a left and a right inverse of f, and vice versa.
Exercises 0.2.41 (1) Prove that a function f has a left inverse if and only if it is injective.
(2) Prove that a function f has a right inverse if and only if it is surjective.
(3) Prove that if a function f has a left inverse g and a right inverse h, then f is invertible, and g = h.
(4) Consider f : a, b, c 1, 2 dened by f(a) = f(b) = 1, f(c) = 2. Find two distinct right inverses
of f.
(5) Consider the inclusion : Z Q. Construct two distinct left inverses of .

We have already noted the confusion that may possibly arise by the two uses of the
symbol
1
. We have but few symbols at our disposal, and many of them must therefore
serve more than one function. Thus you must always be aware of the context in which a
particular symbol is used.
You have to do this when using ordinary language: You know in what sense the newspaper headline
School kids make great snacks at fund raiser
is meant, even though the other sense oers greater amusement value.
I say this because we are about to add to the possible confusion. With every function
f : A B (not necessarily invertible), we can associate two new functions between the
power sets of A and B
f[] : T(A) T(B) : A

b B : There is a

such that f(a

) = b where A

A
f
1
[] : T(B) T(A) : B

a A : f(a) B

where B

B
Preliminaries 19
Thus f[] assigns to each subset A

of A a subset f[A

] B. Similarly, f
1
[] transforms
each subset B

of B into a subset f
1
[B

] A.
We will, for the moment, use square brackets to distinguish the various functions, but will
drop this convention later. Which function is meant will be clear from context. We shall
also call f[A

] the direct image of A

along f, and f
1
[B

] the inverse image of B

along f.
Note that
f[A

] = set of all images of a A

whereas
f
1
[B

] = set of all preimages of b B

Remarks 0.2.42 Sometimes the notation f

is used for direct image, and f

for inverse image.

Inverse images play a very important role in mathematics. It is therefore useful to

remember the following:
a f
1
[B

] if and only if f(a) B

Similarly,
b f[A

] if and only if there is a

such that f(a

) = b
Examples 0.2.43 (a) Suppose that f : R R : x x
2
. Then
f[1, 2] = [0, 4] , f[Z] = 0, 1, 4, 9, . . . , f[4] = 16
Also
f
1
[0, 1] = [1, 1], f
1
[4] = 2, 2, , f
1
[4] =
In each case, a set is transformed into a set.
(b) Suppose that A = a
1
, a
2
, a
3
, B = b
1
, b
2
, b
3
, and that f : A B is dened by
f(a
1
) = f(a
3
) = b
1
, and f(a
2
) = b
3
. Then
f[a
1
] = f[a
3
] = f[a
1
, a
3
] = b
1
, f[a
2
] = b
3
, f[A] = b
1
, b
3
, f[] =
and
f
1
[b
3
] = a
2
, f
1
[b
2
] = f
1
[] = , f
1
(B) = f
1
[b
1
, b
3
] = A

Exercises 0.2.44 1. Let f : A B be a function, and let A

A, B

B.
(a) Show that A

f
1
[f[A

]]
(b) Show that B

f[f
1
[B

]]
20 Basic Set Theory: Relations
(c) Show that A

= f
1
[f[A

]] if and only if f is injective.

(d) Show that B

= f[f
1
[B

]] if and only if f is surjective.

[Hints: Reason along the following lines:
(b) If b f[f
1
[B

]] then b = f(a) for some a f

1
[B

]. But then f(a) B

, and so
b B

.
(c) If a f
1
[f[A

]] then f(a) f[A

]. Thus there is a

such that f(a) = f(a

).
But since f is injective, a = a

, and so a A

.]
2. Inverse images preserve the set operations: Let f : A B, and suppose that G, H are
subsets of B. Then
(a) If G H, then f
1
[G] f
1
[H];
(b) f
1
[G H] = f
1
[G] f
1
[H];
(c) f
1
[G H] = f
1
[G] f
1
[H];
(d) f
1
[GH] = f
1
[G] f
1
[H];
3. Direct images are not quite so well behaved: Let f : A B, and suppose that G, H A.
(a) Suppose that G H. Show that f[G] f[H];
(b) Show that f[G H] = f[G] f[H];
(c) Show that f[G H] f[G] f[H];
(d) Give an example to show that we may not have f[G H] = f[G] f[H];
(e) Show that f[G] f[H] f[GH] f[G];
(f) Give an example to show, in (e), that both s may fail to be =s.

We end this section with some notation: Suppose that A, B are nite sets, and that A
has n elements, and B m elements. How many functions are there from A to B?
For each a A we have m choices for the value f(a) B. Thus there are m
n
functions
from A to B. For that reason
Denition 0.2.45 Let A, B be sets. Then we dene
B
A
= set of all functions from A to B
Some authors use
A
B instead of B
A
.

Note that each function f : A B is a subset of A B. Hence B

A
is a set of subsets of
A B, i.e. B
A
T(T(A B)).
Preliminaries 21
0.2.3 Relations
We want to capture mathematically the idea that two objects are somehow related. For
example, suppose that we have two sets
M = Archie, Reggie, Forsythe W = Betty, Veronica, Ethel
and suppose that A is married to B, and that R is married to V, but that F and E remain
unmarried. The relation of being married is described by the set
R = (A,B), (R,V)
Note that R is a subset of the cartesian product MW. We will sometimes write xRy
instead of (x, y) R. Thus in this case, xRy if and only if x is married to y.
As for functions, the general denition of a relation is quite abstract:
Denition 0.2.46 A relation from a set A to a set B is just a subset of AB. If A = B,
we just say that R is a relation on A.

Thus if A = N and B = N 0, then

L = (1, 3), (2, 1), (3, 4), (4, 1), (5, 5), (6, 9) . . . A B
is a relation from A to B. Here what the relation actually is may not be obvious. Could
you have guessed that 7L2 and 8L6? In fact, nLm if and only if m is the n
th
number in
the decimal expansion of = 3.14159265 . . . . Since there may often be a relation without
you being able to see it, we have adopted a completely general denition of relation, which
does not assume any visible relationship between the objects.
Relations are ubiquitous in mathematics, and you know many already:
Examples 0.2.47 (a) Consider the relation on R:
= (x, y) R
2
: x y
(b) If A is a set, there is a similar relation on T(A):
= (X, Y ) T(A) T(A) : X Y
(c) The divisor relation on Z: We say that n[m if and only if m is a multiple of n. It is described by the
set
(n, m) Z
2
: There exists a Z such that m = an
(d) Congruency modulo n: Two integers are congruent modulo n if they leave the same remainder when
divided by n. For example 3, 8, 13, 18 . . . all leave a remainder of 3 when divided by 5, and thus they
are congruent modulo 5. Symbolically, we say that
a b mod n if n[(b a)
(e) Perpendicularity is a relation between vectors in R
3
. We have
(x
1
, x
2
, x
3
) (y
1
, y
2
, y
3
) x
1
y
1
+x
2
y
2
+x
3
y
3
= 0
22 Basic Set Theory: Relations
(f) Equality is a relation. Actually, it is several relations, all denoted by the same symbol =. Thus we
have equality of numbers, of vectors, of sets, etc. If A is a set, then the relation of equality on A is
called the identity relation. It is just

A
= (a, a) : a A

Note that function is a special kind of relation: We dened a function f : AB to be

a subset of AB with the additional property that for every a there is exactly one b such
that a f b. Instead of writing a f b, however, we write f(a) = b.
If R is a relation from A to B, then its inverse R
1
is a relation from B to A. It is
dened by:
b R
1
a aRb
i.e. (b, a) R
1
if and only if (a, b) R.
If R is a relation from A to B and S is a relation from B to C, we can dene a relation
S R from A to C as follows:
(a, c) S R b B[(a, b) R (b, c) S]
Thus
a(S R)c i there is b B such that a Rb S c
Note the change in order!!
S R is called the composition of S with R.
Exercise 0.2.48 If the relations R, S are functions, then their composition as relations is
the same as their composition as functions.
Similarly, if the relation R is a bijective function, then the inverse R
1
of R as a relation
is the same as its inverse as a function.

Examples 0.2.49 (a) If X is the set of all people, and if P is the relation parent of, then P
1
is the
relation child of.
(b) Similarly, if P is the relation parent of, then P P is the relation grandparent of: For a(P P)c
if and only if there is b such that aPb and bPc.
(c) Moreover, S = P P
1

X
is the relation sibling of: For a(P P
1
)c if and only if there is a b
such that a P
1
b Pc, i.e. i a is the child of b and b is the parent of c, i.e. i a, c have a common
parent. Thus (a, c) S implies that a, c have a common parent. Since (a, c) S implies (a, c) ,
X
,
we see that a ,= c, and thus that a, c are brother and/or sister.
(d)
1
= , since b a if and only if a b.
(e) n divides m if and only if m is a multiple of n. Thus the multiple of relation is the inverse of the
divisor of relation.
(f) Perpendicularity between vectors is its own inverse, i.e.
1
=: x y i y x.
Preliminaries 23

Exercises 0.2.50 1. Let W be the set of all women, and let S, M be relations from W to W described
as follows: aSb i a us a sister of b; aMb i a is a mother of b. Describe
(a) M S;
(b) (M S)
1
;
(c) S
1
and M
1
;
(d) S
1
M
1
2. Suppose that R is a relation from A to B and that S is a relation form B to C. Show that
(S R)
1
= R
1
S
1

There are two important classes of relations in mathematics, namely

equivalence relations and partial orderings. Equivalence relations have many of the same
properties of =, and partial orderings have similar properties to and .
Denition 0.2.51 Suppose that R is a relation from on a set A. R is said to be
(i) reexive if aRa for all a A.
(ii) symmetric if aRb implies b Ra for all a, b A.
(iii) antisymmetric if aRb and b Ra together imply a = b, for all a, b A.
(iv) transitive if aRb and bRc together imply aRc, for all a, b, c A.
An equivalence relation is a reexive, symmetric, transitive relation.
A partial ordering is a reexive, antisymmetric, transitive relation.

Exercises 0.2.52 1. = is an equivalence relation on any set.

2. is a partial ordering on the set of reals.
3. is a partial ordering on T(A).
4. Congruency modulo n is an equivalence relation on Z. (Recall that a b mod n if and only if a, b
leave the same remainder when divided by n, if and only if a b is divisible by n.)
5. The divisor relation n[m on Z is reexive and transitive, but not symmetric, nor antisymmetric.
6. Dene a relation L
1
on R by:
xL
1
y if [x[ [y[
Is L
1
is a partial ordering?
7. Is an equivalence relation or a partial ordering (on R
3
)?
8. Let R be a relation on a set A.
24 Basic Set Theory: Countable and Uncountable Sets
(a)
A
R i R is reexive.
(b) R = R
1
i R is symmetric.
(c) R R
1
=
A
if and only if R is antisymmetric.
(d) R R R if and only if R is transitive.

Lets take a look at equivalence relations from another angle: They are very closely related to partitions.
Denition 0.2.53 Let A be a set. A family / = A
i
: i I is called a partition of A provided that
(i) The A
i
are mutually disjoint, i.e. if i ,= j, then A
i
A
j
= for all i, j I.
(ii)

I
A
i
= A

Thus A
i
: i I is a partition of A provided that every element of A belongs to exactly one A
i
. If
A
i
: i I is a partition of A, then we can dene an equivalence relation on A by:
a b a, b belong to the same A
i
Exercise 0.2.54 Prove that is an equivalence relation.

On the other hand, if is an equivalence relation on A, then behave roughly like =. When we lump
together all elements that are the same under , we get an equivalence class.
Denition 0.2.55 Let be an equivalence relation on A. For each a A, dene the equivalence class
E(a) of a as follows:
E(a) = b A : a b

Note that E(a) = E(b) if and only if a b. If a , b, then E(a) E(b) = . Thus the sets E(a) are
either equal or disjoint. Hence the set E(a) : a A is a partition of A.
Exercise 0.2.56 Verify the above statements.

Examples 0.2.57 (a) If is the identity relation on A, then the equivalence classes are singletons:
E(a) = a.
(b) Suppose that is congruency modulo 3. Then the equivalence classes are A
1
= . . . , 6, 3, 0, 3, 6, . . . ,
A
2
= . . . , 5, 2, 1, 4, 7, . . . and A
3
= . . . , 4, 1, 2, 6, 8, . . . . The elements of A
1
leave remainder
0 when divided by 3, those of A
2
leave remainder 1, and those of A
3
leave remainder 2. Note that
A
1
, A
2
, A
3
are mutually disjoint, and that A
1
A
2
A
3
= Z.
(c) Let be the equal length relation L
2
on R
3
. The equivalence classes are spheres centred at the
origin.

Preliminaries 25
0.2.4 Countable and Uncountable Sets
In this section, we investigate the idea of the size or cardinality of a set. For nite sets,
we can determine the size of a set by counting its elements. Thus for example, the set
a, b, c has cardinality 3 (it has 3 elements). We are going to extend this idea of counting
to obtain the size to innite sets, and we will show that innity comes in many sizes.
Lets explore the idea of counting: For the moment, let n = 1, 2, . . . , n be the set
of the rst n natural numbers. To say that A = a, b, c has 3 elements is equivalent to
saying that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the sets A and 3. Indeed, this is
the heart of the idea of counting: When we count the elements of A, we are setting up a
bijection between A and 3. We go a rst, b second, c third. This is equivalent to a map
f : A

= 3 dened by f(a) = 1, f(b) = 2, f(c) = 3. Thus the idea of counting the elements
of a nite set X involves nding a bijection between X and some n. If there is a bijection
from X to n, then X has n elements.
Now for some reason, mathematicians often like to start counting at zero. In the
mathematical literature, the sets n are therefore often dened as
n = 0, 1, 2, . . . , n 1
This is the convention that we shall adopt henceforth.
It is obvious that two nite sets A and have the same size if and only if there is a
one-to-one correspondence f : A

= . We dont even have to count A and to know that
they have the same number of elements. If A = a, b, c, d and = , , , , then the
existence of the bijection f : A

= given by
f(a) = , f(b) = , f(c) = , f(d) =
is sucient to show that A and have the same number of elements. It doesnt tell us
that this number is 4.
Thus two sets have the same size if and only if there is a bijection between them; we can
bypass the idea of number. This is important, because we cannot actually count innite
sets. But we can establish bijective correspondences between innite sets. We shall adopt
this idea as our basic idea of size.
Denition 0.2.58 We dene an equivalence relation between sets as follows: If A, B
are sets, we say that A B if and only if there is a bijection from A to B. If A B,
we say that A and B have the same cardinality. We may also indicate this by saying
[A[ = [B[.

Note that having the same cardinality is an equivalence relation between sets, i.e. that
(i) [A[ = [A[ (Reexivity)
(ii) If [A[ = [B[, then [B[ = [A[ (Symmetry)
26 Basic Set Theory: Countable and Uncountable Sets
(iii) If [A[ = [B[ and [B[ = [C[, then [A[ = [C[ (Transitivity)
Exercise 0.2.59 Prove this assertion. (Note that the assertion is not obvious: When we
say that [A[ = [B[, we are not actually claiming that there are two equal numbers. What
we are saying is that there is a bijection from A to B. To prove (i), for example, you have
to nd a bijection from A to A.)

Examples 0.2.60 (a) Two nite sets have the same cardinality if and only if they have
the same number of elements.
(b) For nite sets, if A is a proper subset of B, then [A[ < [B[. This breaks down completely
for innite sets. Consider, for example, the sets N and Z. It is certainly true that
N Z. However, the map N
f
Z dened by
f(n) =
_
_
_
n
2
if n is even

n 1
2
if n is odd
is a bijection: f(1) = 0, f(2) = 1, f(3) = 1, f(4) = 2, f(5) = 2, f(6) = 3 . . . . (Note
that we are zigzagging from the positive integers to the negative integers.) Thus N
and Z have the same cardinality, even though N seems to contain fewer elements than
Z.
(c) We also have [Q[ = [N[. This can be seen as follows. Put the set of strictly positive
rational numbers Q
+
in an array
1/1 2/1 3/1 4/1 5/1 . . .
1/2 2/2 3/2 4/2 5/2 . . .
1/3 2/3 3/3 4/3 5/3 . . .
1/4 2/4 3/4 4/4 5/4 . . .
1/5 2/5 3/5 4/5 5/5 . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
We can then trace a zigzag path that moves through all the rational numbers as
follows. Start at the top line and move diagonally down to the left until you reach the
leftmost line. Repeat. We thus obtain a sequence
1
1
,
2
1
,
1
2
,
3
1
,
2
2
,
1
3
,
4
1
,
3
2
,
2
3
,
1
4
,
5
1
. . .
All of the strictly positive rational numbers occur in this sequence, and they all occur
innitely many times. For example,
1
1
,
2
2
,
3
3
. . . lie along the diagonal, and they are all
equal. To obtain a bijection from N to Q
+
, we follow the above sequence of rationals,
Preliminaries 27
but we omit any number that has already occurred to ensure that the function is
one-to-one, i.e. we prune away the repeated values. We therefore dene the function
N
f
Q
+
by
f(1) =
1
1
, f(2) =
2
1
, f(3) =
1
2
, f(4) =
3
1
, f(5) =
1
3
, f(6) =
4
1
, . . .
Note that f(5) ,=
2
2
, which is after f(4) =
3
1
in the sequence, because
2
2
=
1
1
has already
occurred as f(1). Then f is a bijection from N to Q
+
. Now even though we havent
found a formula for f, it is nevertheless a perfectly good function, and all its values
can be calculated. Can you see that f(16) =
2
5
?
In the same way, we can set up a bijection g from N to the negative rationals. Just put
g(n) = f(n). Finally, we can dene a bijection h : N Q using f, g and another
zigzag: We dene
h(1) = 0, h(2) = f(1), h(3) = g(1), h(4) = f(2),
h(5) = g(2), h(6) = f(3), h(7) = g(3), . . .
Again, we have no formula for h, but it is certainly a welldened function, and all its
values can be calculated. Check that h(23) =
1
5
.
(d) If A is any set, nite or innite, then T(A) 2
A
.(Recall that 2
A
is the set of all
functions from A to 2 = 0, 1). This can be seen as follows: If B A, dene the
indicator function (or characteristic function) I
B
: A B by
I
B
(a) =
_
1 if a B
0 else
Clearly I
B
= I
C
if and only if B = C, and so the map 1 : T(A) 2
A
dened by
1(B) = I
B
is an injection. Now suppose that 2
A
, i.e. A

0, 1. Dene a
subset B A by
a B (a) = 1
It is clear that 1(B) = I
B
= , and thus that 1 is surjective as well. This proves that
[T(A)[ = [2
A
[.

Denition 0.2.61 A set A is said to be countable if it is either nite or can be put

into a one-to-one correspondence with the natural numbers, i.e. if [A[ = n for some n
N, or [A[ = [N[.

28 Basic Set Theory: Countable and Uncountable Sets

Remarks 0.2.62 (a) Basically a set A is countable if its elements can be indexed by the
natural numbers, i.e. if it can be written as A = a
n
: n N. For if A is countable and
not nite, then there is a bijection N
f
A, and we can take a
n
= f(n). Conversely,
if A = a
n
: n N is innite, we can dene a bijection from N to A by letting
f(n) = a
n
(although here some pruning is necessary if the a
n
arent all distinct; see
Example 0.2.60(c)).
(b) In Example 0.2.60, we proved that the sets Z and Q are countable sets.
(c) The zigzag technique, used above to prove that the rational numbers are countable,
is often very useful.

A very basic question that arises is the following: Are all innite sets countable? The
answer is No!
Example 0.2.63 We show that the unit interval I = [0, 1] is uncountable, i.e. that we
cannot nd an enumeration
I = x
n
: n N
The proof is by contradiction: Suppose that we can nd such an enumeration I = x
1
, x
2
, x
3
, x
4
, . . . ,
i.e that every real number in [0, 1] is equal to x
n
for some n. Now every number x
n
has a
decimal expansion of the form
x
n
= 0.x
n1
x
n2
x
n3
x
n4
x
n5
. . .
where x
nm
is the m
th
number in the decimal expansion of x
n
. Of course some real numbers
have two distinct decimal expansions, a terminating one and a nonterminating one. For
example, 1.0000 = 0.9999 . . . . We will choose the nonterminating decimal expansions
for our x
n
.
We now create a new real number x from the x
n
by a process called diagonalization.
We choose a
n
1, 2, . . . , 9 such that the following hold:
a
1
,= x
11
, a
2
,= x
22
, a
3
,= x
33
, . . . , a
n
,= x
nn
, . . .
To avoid a situation where we obtain a number x with a terminating decimal expansion,
we havent permitted a
n
= 0; this is just a technicality. We can now dene x: Put
x = 0.a
1
a
2
a
3
a
4
. . .
Here comes the heart of the argument: Clearly x I = [0, 1]. Now if I can be written as
a list x
1
, x
2
, x
3
, . . . , then there must be some n such that x = x
n
. But the rst decimal
place of x diers from the rst decimal place of x, since a
1
,= x
11
; hence x ,= x
1
. Similarly,
the second decimal place of x diers from the second decimal place of x
2
, since a
2
,= x
22
;
Preliminaries 29
hence x ,= x
2
. We can continue in this way to show that x ,= x
n
for any n N, i.e. x is
not on the list x
1
, x
2
, x
3
, . . . .
This proves the result! Given any list x
1
, x
2
, x
3
, . . . of real numbers in [0, 1], we now
have a technique for producing a new real number x that is not on the list. It thus follows
that no such list can contain all the real numbers in [0, 1], i.e. there is no bijection from N
to [0, 1].

Remarks 0.2.64 Cantor, who discovered the above argument for the uncountability of the reals, wrote
to a friend
I see it, but I dont believe it.

Hence there are uncountable sets. Clearly R is also uncountable, because otherwise we
could nd an enumeration r
1
, r
2
, r
3
, . . . of R. By omitting any reals which are not in
[0, 1], we could prune this into an enumeration of [0, 1].
The fact that R is uncountable causes much trouble in analysis. We shall see some
more examples of uncountable sets later on.
Denition 0.2.65 If A, B are sets, we say that the cardinality of A is less than or equal to the cardinality
of B, and write
[A[ [B[
if there is an injection from A into B. We write [A[ < [B[ if [A[ [B[, but [A[ ,= [B[, i.e. if there is an
injection from A to B, but no bijection.

The idea is that [A[ < [B[ if and only if A has fewer elements than [B[. Clearly the following holds:
Proposition 0.2.66 (a) If A B, then [A[ [B[.
(b) If [A[ [B[ and [B[ [C[, then [A[ [C[.
(c) If [A[ [B[, then [T(A)[ [T(B)[.
(d) If [A[ [B[, then [C
A
[ [C
B
[

Exercise 0.2.67 Prove the above proposition.

In fact, the relation is a partial ordering between sets: Reexivity is obvious, and transitivity was
left to the exercise above. The main thing that needs to be shown is antisymmetry:
Theorem 0.2.68 (SchroderBernstein Theorem) Suppose that [A[ [B[ and that [B[ [A[. Then
[A[ = [B[.

30 Basic Set Theory: Countable and Uncountable Sets

We will omit the proof. It can be found in any textbook on set theory. Again, I must stress that this
result is not obvious, because [A[, [B[ arent really numbers. What we have to do is show that if there
exists an injection from A to B, and an injection from B to A, then there exists a bijection from A to B.
Proposition 0.2.69 (a) If A is countable, and if B is a subset of A, then B is countable.
(b) If A, B are countable, then AB is countable.
(c) If A, B are countable, the A B is countable.
(d) If / = A
n
: n N is a family of countable sets, then

n
A
n
is countable.
Proof: (a) If a
n
: n N is an enumeration of A, we can obtain an enumeration of B by pruning the
elements of A which are not in B. This can be accomplished inductively as follows. Let b
1
= a
n
, where n
is the least positive integer such that a
n
B. Suppose now that b
m
has been dened and that b
m
= a
i
.
Then let b
m+1
= a
j
, where j is the least positive integer > i such that a
j
B. Clearly b
m
: m N is an
enumeration of B.
(b) One can easily prove that N N is countable by copying Example 0.2.60(c). Just form an array
(1, 1) (2, 1) (3, 1) (4, 1) . . .
1, 2) (2, 2) (3, 2) (4, 2) . . .
(1, 3) (2, 3) (3, 3) (4, 3) . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
and zigzag your way across this array. Let A
f
N and B
g
N be bijections. Then the map h :
AB NN dened by h(a, b) = (f(a), g(b)) is clearly a bijection. Hence [AB[ = [NN[ = [N[ as
required.
(c) follows from (d).
(d) Again we use a zigzag: Let a
n1
, a
n2
, a
n3
, . . . be a listing of the elements of A
n
. Form an array
a
11
a
12
a
13
. . .
a
21
a
22
a
23
. . .
a
31
a
32
a
33
. . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
and take a path which goes through each element once, pruning duplications.

This proposition shows that you cant make uncountable sets using nite products and countable
unions. You can, however, make uncountable sets using innite products and the powerset operation.
Proposition 0.2.70 Let A be a set. Then [A[ < [T(A)[ = 2
A
.
Proof: We know that for any set A, T(A) 2
A
, by Example 0.2.60(d). So it suces to show that
[A[ < [T(A)[. Now it is obvious that there is an injection from A into T(A): The map a a will do
the trick. Hence certainly [A[ [T(A)[. Suppose now that there is a bijection A
f
T(A), and dene
A
a
A by A
a
= f(a). Since a bijection is surjective, we must have T(A) = A
a
: a A. We shall now
show that this is impossible.
Note that A
a
A and that a A. Thus it may happen that a A
a
, or it may not. Dene B to be
the set of all a for which it does not happen, i.e. let
a B a , A
a
Preliminaries 31
The B A. Since the listing A
a
: a A is supposed to be a complete list of all the elements of T(A),
there must be some b A such that B = A
b
. However, if b B, then b , A
b
, and if b , B, then b A
b
.
Hence B cannot equal A
b
, since b belongs to one set, but not the other. The assumption that A
a
: a A
is a complete list of all the subsets of A therefore leads to a contradiction.

The following proposition is very useful:

Proposition 0.2.71 Suppose that A, B are innite sets, and that [A[ [B[. Then:
(a) [A B[ = [B[
(b) [AB[ = [B[
(c) [A
B
[ = [2
B
[.

We omit the proof, which can be found in almost any textbook on set theory.
Exercises 0.2.72 (1) Prove that if A is uncountable and B is countable, then AB is uncountable.
(2) Prove that R [0, 1]. (Hint: Note that all non-empty nite intervals have the same cardinality as [0, 1].
First prove that all closed intervals have the same cardinality. If I is any nite interval, whether open,
closed, or halfopen, we can nd closed intervals I
1
, I
2
such that I
1
I I
2
. The SchroderBernstein
Theorem then implies that they all have the same cardinality. Now dene a map Z [0, 1)
f
R as
follows: If n Z and if x [0, 1), then dene
f(n, x) = n +x
This is clearly a bijection. Now [Z[ [[0, 1][ = [[0, 1)[, and therefore R Z [0, 1) [0, 1].)

Example 0.2.73 R 2
N
. Heres a clever way of seeing this: Every real number has a dyadic or binary
expansion, as opposed to a decimal expansion. The dyadic expansion uses only the numbers 0 and 1. For
example, if we have a dyadic number 101.011, this is
101.011
. .
dyadic
= 1 2
2
+ 0 2
1
+ 1 2
0
+ 0 2
1
+ 1 2
2
+ 1 2
3
= 5.375
. .
decimal
Hence every real number can be turned into a sequence of zeroes and ones, and vice versa. Now such a
sequence is essentially just a map from N to 2. For example, the sequence 1011001 . . . can be thought of as
the function f : N 2 which has f(1) = 1, f(2) = 0, f(3) = 1, f(4) = 1, f(5) = 0, f(6) = 0, f(7) = 1 . . . .
There are only two problems: (i) Where to put the decimal point, and (ii) Some real numbers have two
distinct dyadic expansions. For example,
1
2
= 0.1000 = 0.01111 . . . . However, if a real number has two
dyadic expansions, it is easy to see that the one must eventually end in all 0
s
, and the other must end in
all 1
s
. We call the former expansion terminating, and the latter expansion nonterminating.
We now overcome the two problems as follows: Since R [0, 1), it suces to show that 2
N
[0, 1).
Now given any x [0, 1), its nonterminating dyadic expansion x = 0.x
1
x
2
x
3
. . . will give us a sequence
x
1
, x
2
, x
3
. . . of zeroes and ones. This clearly gives us an injective map F : [0, 1) 2
N
. It is, however,
not a surjective map. But only the sequences that eventually end in all zeroes have been missed out, and
there are only countably many such. To be precise, if A = range F, then = 2
N
A is countable. Hence
[2
N
[ = [A [ = [A[ = [(0, 1][ = [R[.
32 Prelude to an Axiomatic Development of the Real Number System

Example 0.2.74 (The Cantor set) The Cantor set is a subset of [0, 1] which is constructed as follows:
Let C
0
= [0, 1]. It is a single interval of length 1. Now let C
1
be C
0
with its middle third removed, i.e.
C
1
= [0,
1
3
] [
2
3
, 1]. Thus C
1
consists of two disjoint intervals, each of length
1
3
. Now remove the middle
thirds of these two intervals to form C
2
, i.e. C
2
= [0,
1
9
] [
2
9
,
1
3
] [
2
3
,
7
9
] [
8
9
, 1]. Then C
2
is a disjoint union
of 4 intervals, each of length
1
9
. Continue in this way, removing the middle thirds of each of the intervals
comprising C
n
to form C
n+1
. It follows that C
n
consists of 2
n
intervals, each of length (
1
3
)
n
, and thus that
(C
n
) = (
2
3
)
n
. Finally, let C =

n=0
C
n
. C is the Cantor set.
How much of [0, 1] did we remove when we created C? First we removed an interval of length
1
3
, then
we removed 2 intervals, each of length
1
9
. After that, we removed 4 intervals, each of length
1
27
, etc. Thus
we have removed disjoint sets with a total length
2
0
3
1
+
2
1
3
2
+
2
2
3
3
+ =
1
3

k=0
_
2
3
_
k
which is a geometric series with sum
1
3

1
1
2
3
= 1. It seems, therefore, that we have removed the entire
length of the unit interval [0, 1]. There is no length left.
Nevertheless, C is not empty; in fact, C is uncountable. Here is one way to see this: Every real number
a [0, 1] can be written as an innite sum

i=1
a
i
3
i
, where a
i
= 0, 1 or 2. Thus the ternary expansion (as
opposed to decimal expansion) of a is 0.a
1
a
2
a
3
. . . . For example,
1
3
= 0.1000 . . . ,
5
9
=
1
3
+
2
9
= 0.1200 . . . ,
etc. A little thought will reveal that the Cantor set is formed by removing all numbers which have a 1
occurring in their ternary expansion. Thus C
1
is formed by removing all numbers which have a 1 in the
rst decimal place, C
2
is formed by removing all numbers in C
1
which have a 1 in the second decimal
place, and so on. Thus the Cantor set is just the set of all numbers a in [0, 1] which can be written as a
sum

i=1
a
i
3
i
, where a
i
= 0 or 2, but not 1. There is a bijection : 2
N
C dened as follows: If f 2
N
,
then (f) is the number with decimal expansion 0.a
1
a
2
a
3
. . . , where a
n
= 0 if f(n) = 0, and a
n
= 2 if
f(n) = 1. Hence [C[ = [2
N
[ = [R[.

0.3 Prelude to an Axiomatic Development of the Real

Number System
0.3.1 Why we need Axioms
Consider the following questions:
Question 1: Many years ago, you were taught the following algorithm for multiplying
Preliminaries 33
two numbers:
23
17
161
230
391
Why does this algorithm work?
Question 2: Why is 1 1 = 1? Alternatively, why is the product of two negative
numbers a positive number?
If you think that these are silly questions, think again. The answers to these questions are
not obvious. You are merely so used to the answers that the questions never occur to you.
An explanation for why the multiplication algorithm works might go along the following
lines:
23 17 = 23 (7 + 10)
= 23 7 + 23 10
= (20 + 3) 7 + (20 + 3) 10
= [20 7 + 3 7] + [20 10 + 3 10]
= [140 + 21] + [200 + 30] = 161 + 230
= 391
To do this calculation, we performed the following operations:
(i) We used the fact that a (b +c) = a b +a c several times.
(ii) We retrieve certain results, like 3 7 = 21, from memory. Such results were learnt by
rote, in the form of multiplication tables. Thus all the values of ab for 1 a, b 10
are stored in a mental lookup table.
The values in the lookup table were determined empirically, i.e. by observation. To
see that 7 8 = 56, take 8 small bags, each containing 7 stones, and empty them
into a big bag. If you now count the number of stones in the big bag, you will get 56.
Thats just a fact thats been observed over and over again, in many dierent places
and at many dierent times.
(iii) We use the fact that multiplying a number by 10 is accomplished by adding a zero
to the end of that number. Thus 20 10 = 200.
(iv) To calculate the value of a term such as 20 7 (which is not in the mental lookup
table), we have to argue that 20 7 = 7 20 = 7 (2 10) = (7 2) 10 = 14 10 = 140.
Thus, in addition to the lookup table and the multiplybyten rule, we also used
the following facts about multiplication: a b = b a, and a (b c) = (a b) c.
(v) We used another algorithm (also learnt long ago) for adding numbers, such as 161 +
230. Try and justify that algorithm yourself.
34 Prelude to an Axiomatic Development of the Real Number System
As you can see, in order to explain why the multiplication algorithm works, you need
to invoke quite a few simpler results about addition and multiplication. Question 1 is not
as obvious as it looks! As for Question 2, you should be able to explain why 1 1 = 1
by the end of this chapter.
Now note the following (empirically veriable) facts: Human beings have a certain
intuition (or idea) about nonphysical objects called numbers. These numbers can be
combined in various ways to form new numbers, e.g. they can be added and multiplied.
Moreover, there are some simple rules which govern the combination of numbers, e.g.
(i) The product of two numbers does not depend on where or when the multiplication is
performed.
(ii) a +b = b +a ab = ba
(iii) a + (b +c) = (a +b) +c a(bc) = (ab)c
(iv) a(b +c) = ab +ac
et cetera. Our aim is now to nd a set of rules, or axioms, which completely captures our
intuition about the arithmetic of the reals. In other words, we seek a set of rules which
(1) is in accord with our intuition about arithmetic, and (2) is suciently rich that any
informal, intuitive arithmetic argument can be made formal, i.e. we can reach the same
conclusion by applying no intuition at all, but just the axioms.
Why do we need axioms? For several reasons.
Axioms tend to be simple, and most people will accept them as in agreement with
their intuition. Thus the axioms are a common starting point for all people. People
who disagree on the axioms are probably talking about dierent things.
The agreedupon rules can be applied over and over again, to arbitrary levels of
complexity. Any two people who agree on the (simple) axioms will also agree on
the (complicated) conclusions that may be reached by formal application of those
axioms.
On the other hand, intuition becomes less and less reliable as we increase the level
of complexity, and thus conclusions obtained solely by a intuition are more suspect.
For example, you and I may agree that Euclids 5 axioms for geometry are in accordance with our
intuition of space. These axioms are simple, and dicult to disbelieve. You may have a powerful
intuition, however: You intuit that the square of the (length of) the hypotenuse of a rightangled
triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. But my intuition is far less
developed than yours: I just dont see it, and so I dont believe you. Should you provide a step
bystep argument, starting from our common ground (the 5 axioms), using only commonly agreed
rules, I will be forced to admit that your intuition is correct. In this way, I can verify the truth of
your assertion myself, and dont just have to take your word for it.
Preliminaries 35
If we use the axiomatic method, we are constantly aware of our assumptions. It
therefore becomes much simpler to discern similarities and dierences between var-
ious mathematical objects and operations. This will make the arguments portable
(in the Computer Science sense arguments (computer code) can easily be moved
from one problem to (platform) to another).
For example, the rules a (b+c) = a b+a c and a (b c) = (a b) c apply not only to multiplication
of numbers, but also to multiplication of matrices. Thus any proposition that can be proved about
numbers, using just those rules, will also be true for matrices. However, the rule a b = b a does
not hold for matrices.
Finally, axioms allow us to circumvent metaphysical speculation about the nature
and existence of mathematical objects. What, for example is a real number? Is
it an irreducible, or is it made up of simpler things? This question was rst given
a satisfactory answer in 1872. Indeed, it was given two dierent but satisfactory
answers in that year, by Dedekind and Cantor. In each case, the real numbers are
constructed from some previously constructed, simpler, objects, e.g. the rational
numbers.
And the rational numbers are in turn constructed from the positive integers, which are constructed
from the empty set Well go into a bit more depth later in this chapter, but for a proper
explanation, you will need to read a book on set theory.
Thus there is no single answer to the question: What is a real number?. But the
exact nature of the reals is unimportant for mathematical purposes. What is impor-
tant is how they behave, i.e. how they can be recombined, using various operations, to
form new numbers. The axioms are essentially just a description of such behaviour,
and though the three constructions disagree about the essential nature of the reals,
they do agree on how they behave.
(i) George Cantor held that a real number is a set of sequences of rational numbers. Thus, for example,

2 is just the set of all rational sequences that converge to

2. (This denition may seem circular,
but the apparent circularity can be removed.)
(ii) For Richard Dedekind, a real number is an ordered pair of sets of rational numbers. Thus,

2 = (q Q : q
2
2, q Q : Q
2
> 2)
(iii) John Horton Conway regards a real number as a game played by two individuals. I wont elaborate.
0.3.2 A Brief Note on the Philosophy of Mathematics

In the previous section, we got quite philosophical. Before we continue, its a good idea to
have a look at the main mathematical schools of thought. Our main concern is with the
schools of Platonism and Formalism. For completeness, I present brief and oversimplied
caricatures of these and other leading schools below. If you want an honest exposition,
youd better consult a book on the philosophy of mathematics.
36 Prelude to an Axiomatic Development of the Real Number System
Platonism: The belief that mathematical objects, though not part of the physical
universe, nevertheless have an existence which is independent of the human mind.
We speak of making mathematical discoveries, which suggests that we are somehow
able to observe mathematical objects.
Some people also speak about mathematical creations. Did da Vinci have the freedom to create a
Mona Lisa with a grimace, rather than a smile? Probably. He preferred a smile. But did Pythagoras
have the freedom to create a rightangled triangle for which his theorem that the square of the
hypotenuse is the sum of the squares on the rightangle sides fails?
Logicism: An attempt to reduce mathematics to logic. Frege and Russell are the
main protagonists. The fourvolume Principia Mathematica, by Russell and White-
head, is the most wellknown exposition of this school.
Constructivism: Constructivists require that, in order to show that a mathematical
object exists, one must explicitly show how to construct it. This leads them to reject
of the Law of the Excluded Middle, which states that for any statement , either is
true, or not- is true, i.e. theres no middle between and not-. It also leads to
the rejection of proofs by contradiction. There are many varieties of constructivism;
the most wellknown is Intuitionism, whose main proponent was Brouwer.
For example, suppose that S is a set, and that is a property. In classical logic, the following
statement is true:
Either there is a member of S that has property ,
or every member of S has property not-. ()
For example, consider the Riemann Hypothesis, which states that all the (complex) roots of the
Riemann function have a real part equal to
1
2
:
1 +
1
2
z
+
1
3
z
+ = 0 = Re(z) =
1
2
This is currently the unsolved problem in mathematics. For the classical logician, the Riemann
Hypothesis is either true or false we just dont know which. Not so for the constructivist: To
say that it is either true or false, we must either prove that it is true, or show that it is false. So
the constructivist does not accept (). For this statement to hold, we must either show how to
construct a member of S with the property , or we must show that each member of S has the
property not-.
If S is a nite set, we could, in principle, look at each of the elements of S in turn, to see if it satises
. If S is innite, however, this is generally not possible. Constructivists are happy to apply the
Law of the Excluded Middle to nite sets; its application to innite sets they regard as a colossal
mistake an unwarranted and unjustiable extrapolation of methods of reasoning designed for the
nite to the innite. Indeed, some constructivists deny the existence of innite objects altogether.
As another example, suppose that we want to prove that every real cubic polynomial p(x) =
x
3
+ax
2
+bx+c has a real root. One way to do it is to appeal to the Intermediate Value Theorem:
We see that p(x) > 0 for all suciently large positive x, and thus that p(x) lies above the Xaxis,
for all suciently large positive x. Similarly, p(x) < 0 for all suciently large negative x, so that
p(x) lies below the Xaxis, for all suciently large negative x. Hence, since p(x) is continuous,
Preliminaries 37
there must be a place where p(x) cuts the Xaxis, and that place would be a root of p(x). This
proof is nonconstructive: Weve shown that there is a root, but we havent shown how to nd it.
Formalism: This school of thought dates back to Hilbert in the late 19
th
century.
At that time, certain paradoxes in set theory shook the foundations of mathematics,
and mathematicians were suddenly confronted with the possibility that their subject
is inconsistent, i.e. selfcontradictory.
The most famous of these is Russells paradox. If we admit a naive concept of set a set is any
old collection of objects then it is possible for a set to belong to itself. For example if
A = The set of all objects that can be dened in English using fewer than twenty words
then A A, because weve just dened A using fewer than twenty words. Now consider a set of
sets R, dened as follows:
A R i A , A
Since R is a set, we may legitimately ask if it belongs to itself. By denition of R, we see that
R R i R , R
If R belongs to R, then it doesnt; and if R does not belong to R, then it does! This paradox,
usually credited to the logicist Russell in 1899??, but already noted by Zermelo in 1896?? caused
quite a lot of concern.
Hilbert, the most powerful mathematician of his era, set up a programme aimed at
proving the internal consistency of mathematics by socalled nitist means. The
formalist regards mathematics as a oneplayer game, rather like Patience (or Free-
cell). A proof of a statement , for example, is merely a sequence of statements

1
,
2
, . . . ,
n
, ending with
n
= . Each
k
must either be an axiom, or must be
obtained from previous
j
by certain permitted moves, or rules of deduction.
For example, a commonly used rule of deduction is Modus Ponens:
From and deduce
The mathematician seeking to prove the statement is like the player of Patience,
trying out permitted sequences of moves until she hits upon a sequence that works.
The idea behind the Hilbert Programme is to formalize mathematics:
Write all mathematics in a formal language;
Reduce all proofs to formal deductions;
Show that no contradictions can be derived within this formal system.
Hilbert had hoped that it would be possible to show that all of mathematics could
be thus reduced, and proved consistent. Thus commenced a massive attempt to
formalize and axiomatize all of mathematics, and the way that we now do and see
mathematics has been heavily inuenced by the Hilbert programme.
One of the rst branches of mathematics to be formalized was set theory, where the paradoxes had
been found. The ZermeloFraenkel axioms of set theory banish Russells paradox, but at a costs: It
38 Prelude to an Axiomatic Development of the Real Number System
is no longer possible for a set to belong to itself, and the intuition of a set as just any old collection
of objects had to be abandoned. It was found possible to squeeze nearly all of mathematics inside
the formal system of axiomatic set theory. Unfortunately, Hilberts student Godel proved in 1931
that the Hilbert programme was doomed to failure. In a paper entitled On formally undecidable
statements in Principia Mathematica and related systems he showed that in any formalist reduction
of mathematics there would be statements that are true, but unprovable. He also showed that no
such reduction is capable of proving its own consistency. This proved the death knell for the Hilbert
programme, though not for the Formalist school. (Godel himself was a Platonist.) With hindsight,
it is remarkable how close the Hilbert programme came to succeeding.
Platonism and Formalism disagree (quite violently) about the nature of mathematical
objects: For the Platonist, these have an existence independent of the human mind; by the
mysterious faculty of intuition we apprehend basic truths (axioms) about mathematical
objects, and then use reason to deduce ever more complex truths (theorems). For the
Formalist, there are no mathematical objects, just rules for transforming one string of
symbols into another.
Nevertheless, both schools of thought agree on what constitutes a valid mathematical
proof. The average practicing mathematician has been described as a Platonist on week-
days, and a Formalist on Sundays. That is, when he is doing mathematics he is convinced
hat he is dealing with an objective reality whose properties he is attempting to determine.
But then, when challenged to give a philosophical account of this reality, he nds it easiest
to pretend that he does not believe in it after all.
And thats what our position will be. To begin with, we will be rm Platonists: We
will believe in the objective existence of the real number system, and use our intuition to
apprehend basic truths. Recognising that our intuition is fallible, however, we wont let
it stray to far. Instead, we opt soon to formalise our intuitions into a system of axioms.
After that, intuition is only allowed to make suggestions, and only those statements that
can be seen to admit a formal proof will be admitted to the status of theoremhood.
0.3.3 Logic, Formal Languages, Quantiers
The aim of this section is to cover the bare minimum about formal theories just enough
to make our construction of the real number system intelligible.
A formal language is a collection of L whose logical symbols include
Logical Connectives
and
or
implies
if and only if
not
Preliminaries 39
It is enough to use just two connectives, e.g. and . We can then dene the remainder by
( )

( ) ( )
Just a reminder: is inclusiveor: p q is true if and only if at least one of p, q is true, possibly
both.
Quantiers
For all
There exists
We have
x x() x x()
Variables
x, y, z, x
1
, x
2
, x
3
. . .
Identity relation
A special binary relation symbol denoted =.
Logical symbols have the same meaning, regardless of context. L also has nonlogical
symbols, whose meaning depends on context:
Relation symbols
For example, if we want to talk about partial orderings, we will want a symbol ; if
we want to talk about sets, we will want symbols and .
Function symbols
For example, if we want to talk about arithmetic, we will want binary function
symbols +, . We may want unary function symbols ,
1
. If we want to talk about
sets, we will want binary function symbols , , unary function symbols
c
, T;
Constant symbols
These are specially named elements, and are often regarded as nullary function sym-
bols. For example, if we want to talk about addition, a distinguished element denoted
by 0 plays an important role. If we want to talk about sets, the set deserves its
own name.
A formal language will generally not contain all of the above nonlogical symbols, only
those needed to talk about the domain of discourse. L will also have brackets (, ), [, ], etc.
The symbols of a formal language may be strung together to form two types: terms
and formulas.
Terms are dened as follows:
40 Prelude to an Axiomatic Development of the Real Number System
(i) Every variable and every constant is a term;
(ii) If t
1
, . . . , t
n
are terms, and if F is an nary function symbol, then F(t
1
, . . . , t
n
)
is a term;
(iii) A string is a term only if it can be shown to be so by a nite number of
applications of (i) and (ii);
Formulas are dened as follows:
(i) If t
1
, . . . , t
n
are terms, and if R is an nary relation symbol, then R(t
1
, . . . , t
n
) is
a formula. (This includes the case where R is the logical binary relation symbol
=).
(ii) If , are formulas, then so are ( ), ( ), ( ), ( );
(iii) If is a formula, then so is ;
(iv) If is a formula and x is a variable, then x and x are formulas;
(v) A string is a formula only if it can be shown to be so by a nite number of
applications of (i)-(iv).
We often omit brackets when there is no danger of confusion. Moreover, we may also
abbreviate xy by x, y.
If is a formula, we write (x, y, z) to show that the variables of are (amongst)
x, y, z.
Example 0.3.1 Partial orderings
Consider the following language L: In addition to the logical symbols, L has a single binary relation
symbol . There are no function and constant symbols. Thus the only terms of L are the variables. Some
example of formulas are
x y, x(x y y z) z((z x))
The theory of partial orderings has the following axioms
(i) x(x x);
(ii) x, y(x y y x x = y);
(iii) x, y, z(x y y z x z).
This theory has many interpretations. One is the twoelement chain C
2
= 0, 1 with 0 1. This is a
linear ordering, i.e. it satises the axiom x, y(x y y x). Another example is the powerset T(A) of
a set A, where is interpreted as subset. This ordering is nonlinear if A has more than one element.
Thus dierent structures may satisfy the same axioms.

Example 0.3.2 Peano Arithmetic

We give here another example of a formal theory. In addition to the logical symbols, L has the following
nonlogical symbols:
Binary function symbols + and .;
A unary function symbol S;
Preliminaries 41
A constant symbol 0.
Some examples of terms are:
x, S(x), 0, S(S(S(0))), x +y, (x +S(y)) z, (y S(z)) +w
Some examples of formulas are:
x +y = 0, xy(x +S(S(0)) = y), x(x = S(y) (S(x) = y))
Peano arithmetic is a formal theory in the language L. The axioms are:
(i) x[(S(x) = 0)];
(ii) xy(S(x) = S(y) x = y);
(iii) x(x + 0 = x);
(iv) xy(x +S(y) = S(x +y));
(v) x(x 0 = 0);
(vi) xy(x S(y) = x y +x);
(vii) For every formula (x
0
, . . . , x
n
), we have
x
1
. . . x
n
[((0, x
1
, . . . , x
n
) (x
0
((x
0
, x
1
, . . . , x
n
) (S(x
0
), x
1
, . . . , x
n
))
x
0
(x
0
, x
1
, . . . , x
n
)]
We will now show that in this system we can prove the following identity:
x, y[x +y = y +x]
We rst show that for all x, 0 +x = x. Let (x) be the formula
0 +x = x
Then certainly (0) is true, because 0+0 = 0 by (iii). Now suppose that (x) is true. Then by (iv)
0 +S(x) = S(0 +x) = S(x)
and so (S(x)) is also true. We have thus shown that (0) holds, and that if (x) holds, then so
does (S(x)). Axiom (vii) allows us to deduce that x(x).
Next, let (y, x) be the formula
x +S(y) = S(x) +y
Then x +S(0) = S(x +0) = S(x) = 0 +S(x), by (iv) and what weve just shown. Hence (0, x) is
true, for every x. Next, suppose that (y, x) is true for every x. Then
x +S(S(y)) = S(x +S(y)) by (iv)
= S(S(x) +y) because (y, x)
= S(x) +S(y) by (iv)
so that (S(y), x) is true, for every x.
By (vii), it follows that (y, x) is true for all y and all x.
42 Prelude to an Axiomatic Development of the Real Number System
Finally, let (y, x) be the formula
x +y = y +x
Then we know that (0, x) is true, for all x, because (x) is true for all x. Assume now that (y, x)
is true for all x. Then
S(S(y) +x) = S(y) +S(x) by (iv)
= y +S(S(x)) because (S(x), y)
= S(S(x)) +y because (y, S(S(x)))
= S(x) +S(y) because (y, S(x))
= x +S(S(y)) because (S(y), x)
= S(x +S(y)) by (iv)
Thus by (ii), S(y) +x = x+S(y). Hence (y, x) (S(y), x), so that by (vii) we can conclude that
(y, x) is true for all x, y.
Right now, you probably dont know what S(x) actually means. Like good formalists,weve proved the
commutativity of the binary operation + by playing a game of deduction from the axioms. We invoked
the mysterious symbol S in several places, without knowing its meaning.
The meaning, or natural interpretation, or canonical model of the Peano axioms is as follows: The
axioms are about the natural numbers N = 0, 1, 2, . . . . The binary function symbol +, are to be
interpreted, respectively, as addition and multiplication. The unary symbol S is to be interpreted as
successor: S(x) = x + 1. (However, there is no constant symbol 1.) The constant symbol 0 is to be
interpreted as the number zero. Thus S(0) = 1 (1 is the successor of 0), S(S(0)) = 2, etc.
The rst axiom says that 0 is not the successor of any other number. The second axiom says that if
x, y have the same successor, then x, y are equal. You can interpret the other axioms yourself. Just note
that (vii) is not a single axiom, but an innite set of axioms, one for every formula . The axiom schema
(vii) formalizes mathematical induction: If 0 has property , and if whenever x
0
has property , then also
S(x) has property , then we can conclude that every number x
0
has property .
Just like the axioms for partial orderings, the Peano axioms have many other interpretations as well.
These are the socalled nonstandard models of arithmetic.

In this section, I have presented the briefest possible introduction to formal theories,
and Ive taken numerous short cuts. If you want more extensive (and more accurate)
coverage, you will have to consult a text on mathematical logic. We end this section with
some brief comments on quantiers and negation.
Consider the following formulas:
xy(y > x)
To check the truth of such a statement, it is convenient to regard it as a game between
two players, and . In this game, opens play and chooses and x. If can nd a y such
that y > x, then wins the game. If she cant, wins. The formula is true if can always
win, i.e. if has a winning strategy; else, the formula is false.
Whether or not the formula is true or false depends on where it is played. If we play it
on the natural numbers N, then has a winning strategy: If chooses x, the can choose
y = x +1. Then y > x. This works for any x that might choose. Hence has a winning
strategy: The formula is true for N.
Preliminaries 43
Suppose, however, that the game is played not in N, but on the twoelement chain
C
2
= 0, 1. Then if chooses x = 1, cannot nd a y C
2
with y > x. Hence has a
winning strategy, and the statement is false for C
2
.
Exercise 0.3.3 Give a similar analysis for the statement
yx(y > x)

Finally, a note about negating quantiers: A negation sign can creep past a quantier,
but it ips the quantier in the process:
x x() x x()
For example,
[xy(y > x)] x[y(y > x)]
xy(y ,> x)