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Infinite Ramsey theorem on : every finite colouring of has an infinite monochromatic set, in ZF
Statement
For every positive natural and every colouring of by a nonempty finite colour set, there is an infinite monochromatic subset of in the sense of Finite colourings of -element subsets, monochromatic sets, and the arrow notations and and Finite, countably infinite, countable, uncountable. The construction uses natural recursion (The recursion theorem) and induction (The principle of mathematical induction) but no form of choice.
Facts & Assumptions
Given: A positive natural , a nonempty finite colour set , and a colouring .
Every finite colouring of has an infinite colour class, in ZF (Every finite colouring of has an infinite colour class, in ZF).
Every nonempty subset of has a least element (The well-ordering principle).
Proof
For , [L1] is exactly the assertion. The one-colour case is immediate for every .
Assume the result for and consider a colouring of -subsets. Whenever the induction hypothesis produces an infinite homogeneous subset of a set of naturals, make one output canonical as follows. Among the -subsets whose colours admit an infinite homogeneous set, choose the lexicographically least subset and use its colour. Then recursively choose the least next natural that extends the current finite prefix to some infinite homogeneous set of that colour. The candidate sets are nonempty, so [L2] and natural recursion define a unique increasing enumeration without ordering the arbitrary colour set and without choice.
Set . Given the infinite reservoir , let be its least element and transfer the colouring on along that set's unique increasing enumeration from . Apply the induction hypothesis and the canonical rule of step 1.2, then transfer back to obtain an infinite homogeneous reservoir ; let be its colour. Natural recursion performs this construction for all .
Apply [L1] to . Let be the least index whose colour class is infinite, and put . If lie in , then by nestedness, so . Hence is infinite and monochromatic.
The base and the induction step establish the theorem for every positive , and every selection made in the construction was the least member of a nonempty subset of .
Depends on
- Finite colourings of $k$-element subsets, monochromatic sets, and the arrow notations $N\to(s,t)^2$ and $N\to(r)^k_c$
- Every finite colouring of $\mathbb N$ has an infinite colour class, in ZF
- The principle of mathematical induction
- The recursion theorem
- The well-ordering principle
- Finite, countably infinite, countable, uncountable
Used by
- Infinite Ramsey holds for every set equipped with an injection from ℕ Corollary
- The finite uniform Ramsey theorem follows a second time from the infinite theorem by a finitely branching tree of bad finite colourings Corollary
- Infinite Ramsey fails with infinitely many colours: colour {i,j} by min{i,j} Counterexample
- Infinite Ramsey for pairs gives a nondecreasing or nonincreasing subsequence of every real sequence Example
- Infinite Ramsey for triples gives a convex or concave subsequence of every real sequence in general position Example
- Canonical Ramsey theorem for pairs: on an infinite subset a colouring is constant, injective, left-dependent, or right-dependent Theorem
Dependency tree · next 3 levels
Direct dependencies and their dependencies through the next three levels: 51 results over 20 levels. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, and this result sits at the bottom with a heavier outline. Click the chart to enlarge it.
Sources
- R. Diestel, Graph Theory, 6th ed., Theorem 9.1.2 (standard reference, not scraped)
- I. B. Leader, Ramsey Theory, Theorems 1-2 (standard reference, not scraped)