Alphabeta Math
TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedprecheck passaudited 2026-08-17
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 countable choice, every infinite sigma-algebra contains a copy of the power set of the natural numbers

Statement

Assume ACω. If A is an infinite sigma-algebra on X, then there is an injection P(N)→A. Consequently A is uncountable (Finite, countably infinite, countable, uncountable).

Facts & Assumptions

Given: The Axiom of Countable Choice and an infinite sigma-algebra A on X.

[L1]

Countable choice selects one member from every sequence of nonempty sets (The Axiom of Countable Choice (ACω)).

[L2]

A sigma-algebra with an injective sequence of members contains a sequence of pairwise disjoint nonempty members (A sigma-algebra with a listed infinite subfamily contains a disjoint sequence of nonempty members).

[L3]

A sigma-algebra is closed under countable unions (Sigma-algebras).

[L4]

The power set of a set is strictly larger than the set itself (Cantor's theorem: A≺P(A)), with domination expressed by injections (Equinumerous sets, A≈B and A⪯B).

[L5]

An at most countable set is finite or equinumerous with N, and in either case it injects into N (Finite, countably infinite, countable, uncountable).

[L6]

Under ACω, a countable union of at most countable sets is at most countable (Countable unions of at most countable sets, assuming ACω).

Proof

technique · constructive
1.1L1L5L6construct

For each m≥1, let Im be the nonempty set of injections m→A. By [L1] choose fm∈Im. By [L6], the union of the finite ranges fm[m] is at most countable. It is infinite because it has subsets of every finite size, so [L5] makes it countably infinite; a bijective listing is therefore an injective sequence in A.

2.1step 1.1L2L3construct

By [L2], fix pairwise disjoint nonempty Dn∈A. For S⊆N, define Φ(S):=⋃n∈SDn, which lies in A by [L3].

3.1step 2.1L4L5discharge-construct∎

If S≠T, the least index in S△T belongs to exactly one of them, and its nonempty Dn is contained in exactly one of Φ(S),Φ(T) by disjointness. Thus Φ is injective. If A were at most countable, [L5] would give an injection j:A→N; the map that sends j(Φ(S)) to S and every natural number outside j[Φ[P(N)]] to ∅ would then be a surjection N→P(N), contrary to [L4]. Hence A is uncountable.

Depends on

Used by

Nothing in the library uses this result yet.

Dependency tree · two levels

19 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