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Continuum hypothesis

Independent of the axiomsFoundations of mathematicsHilbert #1
Statement

There is no set whose cardinality is strictly between that of the integers Z\mathbb{Z} and that of the real numbers R\mathbb{R}; equivalently 2ℵ0=ℵ12^{\aleph_0} = \aleph_1.

Gödel constructed the constructible universe LL in 1938–40 to show CH is consistent with ZFC; Cohen invented forcing in 1963 to build models of ZFC + ¬CH, showing CH is also independent in the other direction. Together their work settles that CH cannot be decided from ZFC.

References

  1. Georg Cantor (1878). Ein Beitrag zur Mannigfaltigkeitslehre
  2. Kurt Gödel (1940). The Consistency of the Continuum Hypothesis · DOI:10.1515/9781400881635
  3. Paul J. Cohen (1963). The Independence of the Continuum Hypothesis