Implementation of mathematics in set theory: Difference between revisions

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This article examines the implementation of mathematical concepts in [[set theory]]. The implementation of a number of basic mathematical concepts is carried out in parallel in [[ZFC]] (the dominant set theory) and in [[New Foundations|NFU]], the version of Quine's [[New Foundations]] shown to be consistent by [[R. B. Jensen]] in 1969 (here understood to include at least axioms of [[Axiom of infinity|Infinity]] and [[Axiom of choice|Choice]]).

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In ZFC, some relations (such as the general equality relation or subset relation on sets) are 'too large'

to be sets (but may be harmlessly reified as [[proper class]]es). In NFU, some relations (such as the membership relation) are not sets because their definitions are not stratified: in <math>\{(x,y) \mid x \in y\}</math>, <math>x</math> and <math>y</math> would

need to have the same type (because they appear as projections of the same pair), but also

successive types (because <math>x</math> is considered as an element of <math>y</math>).

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The '''downward closure''' of a member <math>x</math> of the field of <math>R</math> is the smallest set <math>D</math> containing <math>x</math>, and containing each <math>zRy</math> for each <math>y \in D</math> (i.e., including the preimage of each of its elements with respect to <math>R</math> as a subset.)

The '''[[relation composition|relative product]]''' <math>R|;S</math> of <math>R</math> and <math>S</math> is the relation <math>\left\{\left(x, z\right) : \exists y\,\left(xRy \wedge ySz\right)\right\}</math>.

Notice that with our formal definition of a binary relation, the range and codomain of a relation are not distinguished. This could be done by representing a relation <math>R</math> with codomain <math>B</math> as <math>\left(R, B\right)</math>, but our development will not require this.

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In NFU, <math>x</math> has the same type as <math>F\!\left(x\right)</math>, and <math>F</math> is three types higher than <math>F\!\left(x\right)</math> (one type higher, if a type-level ordered pair is used). To solve this problem, one could define <math>F\left[A\right]</math> as <math>\left\{y : \exists x\,\left(x \in A \wedge y = F\!\left(x\right)\right)\right\}</math> for any set <math>A</math>, but this is more conveniently written as <math>\left\{F\!\left(x\right) : x \in A\right\}</math>. Then, if <math>A</math> is a set and <math>F</math> is any functional relation, the [[Axiom of replacement|Axiom of Replacement]] assures that <math>F\left[A\right]</math> is a set in [[ZFC]]. In NFU, <math>F\left[A\right]</math> and <math>A</math> now have the same type, and <math>F</math> is two types higher than <math>F\left[A\right]</math> (the same type, if a type-level ordered pair is used).

The function <math>I</math> such that <math>I\!\left(x\right) = x</math> is not a set in ZFC because it is "too large". <math>I\!\left(x\right)</math> is however a set in NFU. The function (predicate) <math>S</math> such that <math>S\!\left(x\right) = \left\{x\right\}</math> is neither a function nor a set in either theory; in ZFC, this is true because such a set would be too large, and, in NFU, this is true because its definition would not be [[Stratified formula#In set theory|stratified]]. Moreover, <math>S\!\left(x\right)</math> can be proved not to exist in NFU (see the resolution of [[Cantor's paradox]] in [[New Foundations]].)

=== Operations on functions ===

Let <math>f</math> and <math>g</math> be arbitrary functions. The '''[[function composition|composition]]''' of <math>f</math> and <math>g</math>, <math>g \circ f</math>, is defined as the relative product <math>f\,|\,g</math>, but only if this results in a function such that <math>g \circ f</math> is also a function, with <math>\left(g \circ f\right)\!\left(x\right) = g\!\left(f\!\left(x\right)\right)</math>, if the range of <math>f</math> is a subset of the ___domain of <math>g</math>. The '''[[inverse function|inverse]]''' of <math>f</math>, <math>f^\left(-1\right)</math>, is defined as the [[inverseconverse relation|converse]] of <math>f</math> if this is a function. Given any set <math>A</math>, the identity function <math>i_A</math> is the set <math>\left\{\left(x, x\right) \mid x \in A\right\}</math>, and this is a set in both ZFC and NFU for different reasons.

=== Special kinds of function ===

A function is an '''[[injective]]''' (also called '''[[bijection|one-to-one]]''') if it has an inverse function.

A function <math>f</math> from <math>A</math> to <math>B</math> is a:

* '''[[Injective function|Injection]]''' from <math>A</math> to <math>B</math> if the [[image (mathematics)|image]]s under <math>f</math> of distinct members of <math>A</math> are distinct members of <math>B</math>.

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(But note that this style of definition is feasible for the ZFC numerals as well, but more circuitous: the form of the [[New Foundations|NFU]] definition facilitates set manipulations while the form of the ZFC definition facilitates recursive definitions, but either theory supports either style of definition).

The two implementations are quite different. In ZFC, choose a [[representative (mathematics)|representative]] of each finite cardinality (the equivalence classes themselves are too large to be sets); in NFU the equivalence classes themselves are sets, and are thus an obvious choice for objects to stand in for the cardinalities. However, the arithmetic of the two theories is identical: the same abstraction is implemented by these two superficially different approaches.

== Equivalence relations and partitions ==

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Cardinal numbers are defined in [[New Foundations|NFU]] in a way which generalizes the definition of natural

number: for any set ''A'', <math>|A| =_\,\overset{\mathrm{def}}{=} \left\{B \mid B \sim A\right\}</math>.

In [[ZFC]], these equivalence classes are too large as usual. Scott's trick could be used (and indeed is used in [[Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory|ZF]]), <math>|A|</math> is usually defined as the smallest order type (here a von Neumann ordinal) of a well-ordering of ''A'' (that every set can be well-ordered follows from

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*Tourlakis, George, 2003. ''Lectures in Logic and Set Theory, Vol. 2''. Cambridge Univ. Press.

== External links ==

* [http://us.metamath.org/ Metamath:] A web site devoted to an ongoing derivation of mathematics from the axioms of ZFC and [[first-order logic]].

* [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]:

** [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/quine-nf Quine's New Foundations]—by Thomas Forster.

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* Randall Holmes: [https://randall-holmes.github.io/nf.html New Foundations Home Page]

{{Mathematical logic}}

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