Hereditarily countable set

In set theory, a set is called hereditarily countable if and only if it is a countable set of hereditarily countable sets. This inductive definition is in fact well-founded and can be expressed in the language of first-order set theory. A set is hereditarily countable if and only if it is countable, and every element of its transitive closure is countable. If the axiom of countable choice holds, then a set is hereditarily countable if and only if its transitive closure is countable.

The class of all hereditarily countable sets can be proven to be a set from the axioms of Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory (ZF) without any form of the axiom of choice, and this set is designated <math>H_</math>. The hereditarily countable sets form a model of Kripke–Platek set theory with the axiom of infinity (KPI), if the axiom of countable choice is assumed in the metatheory.

If <math>x in H_</math>, then <math>L_(x) subset H_</math>.

More generally, a set is hereditarily of cardinality less than κ if and only it is of cardinality less than κ, and all its elements are hereditarily of cardinality less than κ; the class of all such sets can also be proven to be a set from the axioms of ZF, and is designated <math>H_kappa !</math>. If the axiom of choice holds, then a set is hereditarily of cardinality less than κ if and only if its transitive closure is of cardinality less than κ.

See also

• Hereditarily finite set
• Constructible...
  Read More