Alphabeta Math
TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedPipeline-generatedjudge 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.
  • 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.

Every countable linear order embeds in the rationals

Statement

Every at most countable linear order (L,≤L) admits a strictly order-preserving injection into the rational order: there is a function f:L→Q such that

x<Ly⟹f(x)<f(y).

This includes finite and empty linear orders. No choice principle is used.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: An at most countable set L carrying a linear order ≤L; write <L for its associated strict order.

[F1]

A linear order is a partial order in which every pair is comparable, and x<y means x≤y and x≠y. Partial order and partially ordered set

[F2]

A nonempty set is at most countable if and only if it is the range of a surjection from N. Finite, countably infinite, countable, uncountable, A nonempty set is at most countable iff it is a surjective image of N

[F3]

There is a bijection ρ:N→Q. Q is countably infinite, Injection, surjection, bijection

[F4]

The rationals form a totally ordered field. In particular, if a<b then a<(a+b)/2<b, and a−1<a<a+1. The rationals form a totally ordered field

[F5]

Recursion holds on N. The recursion theorem

[F6]
[F7]

Every nonempty subset of N has a least element. The well-ordering principle

Proof

technique · finite-stage recursion
1.1givenF2F3

If L=∅, the empty function is the required injection. Hence assume L≠∅; by [F2] fix a surjection e:N→L, and by [F3] fix a bijection ρ:N→Q. These are two witnesses to two existential statements, not a simultaneous choice from a family.

1.2F1F4F6assume-hyp

Put Ln=e[{k:k<n}]. Suppose fn:Ln→Q is strictly order preserving and put x=e(n). If x∉Ln, the already placed points below and above x have finite image sets Bn={fn(y):y∈Ln, y<Lx} and Cn={fn(y):y∈Ln, x<Ly}. Induction on the finite list e(0),…,e(n−1) and totality give a maximum b of Bn when it is nonempty and a minimum c of Cn when it is nonempty; strict preservation gives b<c when both exist. Thus the set In of rationals strictly above b and below c, with either missing constraint omitted, is nonempty: use (b+c)/2 when both exist, b+1 or c−1 when just one exists, and 0 when neither exists. Every old point is below or above x by linearity, so every member of In is outside fn[Ln].

2.1step 1.2F3F5F6F7

Apply recursion to states (n,fn), starting with (0,∅) and incrementing the first coordinate at each transition. Given fn, leave it unchanged when e(n)∈Ln, and otherwise let mn=min⁡{m:ρ(m)∈In} and put fn+1=fn∪{(e(n),ρ(mn))}. The set minimized over is nonempty by step 1.2 and surjectivity of ρ, so [F7] makes the state transition single-valued. Induction using step 1.2 shows that every fn is a function with domain Ln, extends every earlier fk, and is strictly order preserving.

3.1step 2.1F1F2F7

Let f=⋃n∈Nfn. Coherence makes f a function. For each x∈L, surjectivity of e makes {n:e(n)=x} nonempty, so its least member k exists by [F7] and x∈Lk+1; hence dom⁡(f)=L. If x<Ly, choose stages containing both; a later common stage exists and its strict preservation gives f(x)<f(y). Thus f is strictly order preserving, and therefore injective: for distinct x,y, linearity gives one of x<Ly or y<Lx, so their images are distinct.

4.1step 1.1step 2.1step 3.1∎

The empty case and step 3.1 prove the theorem for every at most countable linear order. The only selections were the two fixed existential witnesses e,ρ; every later rational was determined by a least natural index, so the construction is valid in ZF and uses no form of the Axiom of Choice.

Remarks

  • Allowing repetitions in e is essential for the library's convention: a nonempty finite set is at most countable and has a surjection from N, but need not be bijective with it. The “already placed” branch in step 2.1 handles repetitions.
  • Monk's proof chooses a rational in each finite gap. Taking the least index in a fixed enumeration of Q implements that instruction without a countable choice function.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

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Sources