Naive Set Theory

Mort Yao

Basic set theory, with ZF axioms:

  • Paul Halmos. Naive Set Theory.

Finite sets and infinite sets. A set is called finite if it contains finitely many elements; otherwise, it is called infinite.

Countable set and uncountable sets. A set is called countable if its elements can be enumerated; otherwise, it is called uncountable.

Clearly, all finite sets are countable. The set of natural numbers \(\mathbb{N}\), the set of integers \(\mathbb{Z}\) and the set of rational numbers \(\mathbb{Q}\) are also countable. However, the set of real numbers \(\mathbb{R}\) is uncountable.

Subset and superset. \(A\) is a subset of \(B\) (or: \(B\) is a superset of \(A\)), denoted as \(A \subseteq B\) (or: \(B \supseteq A\)), if and only if for every \(x \in A\), there is \(x \in B\).

\(A\) and \(B\) are said to be equal, denoted as \(A = B\), if and only if \(A \subseteq B\) and \(B \subseteq A\); otherwise, \(A\) and \(B\) are said to be unequal, denoted as \(A \neq B\).

\(A\) is a proper subset of \(B\) (or: \(B\) is a proper superset of \(A\)), denoted as \(A \subset B\) (or: \(B \supset A\)), if and only if \(A \subseteq B\) and \(A \neq B\).

Union. \(A \cup B = \{ x : x \in A \lor x \in B \}\).

Intersection. \(A \cap B = \{ x : x \in A \land x \in B \}\).

Difference. \(A \setminus B = \{ x : x \not\in A \land x \in B \}\).

Symmetric difference. \(A \triangle B = (A \setminus B) \cup (B \setminus A) = \{ x : x \in A \oplus x \in B \}\).

Cartesian product (cross product). \(A \times B = \{ (x,y) : x \in A \land y \in B \}\).

Power set. \(\mathcal{P}(A) = \{ X : X \subseteq A \}\).

Empty set. The empty set \(\{\}\) is denoted as \(\varnothing\). \(| \varnothing | = 0\).

Disjoint sets. Two sets \(A\) and \(B\) are said to be disjoint, if and only if \(A \cap B = \varnothing\).