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CorollaryStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedPipeline-generatedprecheck passjudge pass (gpt-5.6-terra)audited 2026-09-14
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The first chip identifies the source of the statement or construction; the second identifies the source of its local proof or verification.

  • Literature-sourced: the exact statement appears in a cited source; only wording and notation differ.
  • AI-adapted: a semantically identical restatement of literature-sourced material, modulo indexing, notation, and boundary cases adopted by the library.
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The Ultrafilter Lemma and BPI are not theorems of ZF

Statement

Assuming Con⁡(ZF), neither the set Ultrafilter Lemma nor the Boolean Prime Ideal Theorem is provable in ZF.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: Con⁡(ZF) for the fixed formalization.

[F1]

Relative consistency of no free ultrafilter on omega over ZF proves the consistency of T=ZF+“every ultrafilter on ω is principal”+¬BPI.

[F2]

BPI and the set ultrafilter lemma are equivalent proves in ZF that BPI is equivalent to the set Ultrafilter Lemma (UFL).

Proof

technique · contradiction by adjoining a hypothetical ZF proof to the consistent countertheory
1.1F1assume-contradischarge-contradiction

By F1, T is consistent. Suppose for contradiction that ZF⊢BPI. Because every axiom of ZF is an axiom of T, the same finite derivation is a T-derivation of BPI. But ¬BPI is an axiom of T, so T would be inconsistent, contradicting F1. Thus ZF⊬BPI.

2.1F2step 1.1assume-contradischarge-contradiction

Suppose instead that ZF⊢UFL. The UFL-to-BPI implication in F2 is itself a ZF theorem, so concatenating the two finite proofs would give ZF⊢BPI, contradicting step 1.1. Hence ZF⊬UFL.

3.1step 1.1step 2.1discharge-contradiction: steps 1.1 and 2.1∎

Both nonprovability conclusions use the stated consistency hypothesis. They are syntactic consequences of a consistent countertheory; no completeness theorem, countable transitive model, or assertion of absolute truth is used.

Depends on

Used by

Nothing in the library uses this result yet.

Dependency tree · two levels

9 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.

Sources