Alphabeta Math
TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedprecheck passjudge pass (gpt-5.6-terra)audited 2026-08-26
How statement and proof provenance work

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.
  • AI-generated: a genuinely novel statement formulated by AI, with no source for the claim itself.

These labels describe origin, not correctness: citations and verification chips remain separate evidence.

Assuming the real line can be well ordered, a Bernstein set exists

Statement

Assume the real line can be well ordered. Then there exists a Bernstein set B⊆R.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: A well-order ≺ of R.

[F1]

A Bernstein set is a subset of R that meets every nonempty perfect subset of R, and whose complement does too (Bernstein subset of R).

[L1]

Every nonempty perfect subset of R has the cardinality of the continuum, equivalently is equinumerous with R (Every nonempty perfect subset of R has the cardinality of the continuum).

[L2]

The Cantor-set ternary-description theorem gives a bijection between {0,1}N and a subset of R (The Cantor set is exactly the set of ∑k≥1ak3−k with every ak∈{0,2}, and this gives a bijection with {0,1}N, claim 3), and Q≈N with rationals dense in R (Q is countably infinite, The rationals embed densely in the reals).

[L3]

If there are injections both ways then the two sets are equinumerous; a set equinumerous with a well-orderable set is well-orderable and has the same cardinality, and that cardinality is a cardinal (The Schröder-Bernstein theorem, A set equinumerous with some ordinal has a least such ordinal, that ordinal is a cardinal, and equinumerous sets get the same one; no choice principle is used, Cardinal (initial ordinal) and cardinality).

[L5]

Transfinite recursion along a well-order is available in ZF (Transfinite recursion, Well-order and well-ordered set).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1givenL1L2L3L4construct

Let Pperf be the family of nonempty perfect subsets of R. Every such set is closed, so it is determined by the set of rational open intervals disjoint from it; since rational intervals are countably coded, [L2] gives an injection Pperf→R. Conversely the map a↦[a,a+1] is an injection R→Pperf, because each interval [a,a+1] is nonempty and perfect in the sense of Perfect subset of R: closed with no isolated points. Hence [L3] gives Pperf≈R. Let κ:=∣R∣. The given well-order of R makes R well-orderable, so [L3] gives ∣Pperf∣=κ and shows that κ is a cardinal. The interval [0,1] is a nonempty perfect subset of R, so [L1] shows κ is infinite; therefore [L4] gives ∣Pperf×2∣=κ. Fix a bijection e:κ→Pperf×2.

2.1step 1.1L1L3L5construct

For α∈κ, write e(α)=(Pα,εα) with εα∈2. Suppose zβ has been defined for every β<α, and put Zα:={ zβ:β<α }. By construction each new zβ is chosen outside the earlier set Zβ, so the map β↦zβ is a bijection from α onto Zα. Hence ∣Zα∣=∣α∣<κ, because α∈κ and κ is a cardinal. The set Pα is nonempty perfect, so [L1] and [L3] give ∣Pα∣=κ; therefore Pα∖Zα is nonempty. Let zα be the ≺-least point of Pα∖Zα. By transfinite recursion [L5], this defines a function α↦zα on κ.

3.1step 2.1F1∎

Put B:={ zα:α∈κ and εα=0 }. Let P be any nonempty perfect subset of R. Since e is onto, there exist α,β∈κ with e(α)=(P,0) and e(β)=(P,1). Step 2.1 gives zα∈P and zβ∈P. Moreover zα∈B by definition, while zβ∉B because εβ=1. Thus every nonempty perfect subset of R meets both B and R∖B, so [F1] makes B a Bernstein set.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

98 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