Prove that if A &#x2286;<!-- ⊆ --> B , and A is uncountable, then B is uncountable" I t

Paul Duran

Paul Duran

Answered question

2022-05-14

Prove that if A B, and A is uncountable, then B is uncountable"
I think that for an answer we could reason with cardinality as follows Suppose that B is countable, then B N .
But if A B, then | A | | B | | N that is untrue if A is uncountable, since any uncountable set should have higher cardinality then natural numbers.

Answer & Explanation

lutzantsca885

lutzantsca885

Beginner2022-05-15Added 15 answers

Step 1
A B
Then the inclusion map I : A B defined by I ( a ) = a for all a A is an one-to-one map.
Hence, c a r d ( A ) c a r d ( B )
Step 2
Given, A is uncountable i.e 0 < c a r d ( A )
Hence, 0 < c a r d ( A ) c a r d ( B )
So, 0 < c a r d ( B ) implies B is also uncountable.
Note: 0 = c a r d ( N )
Kaiden Wilkins

Kaiden Wilkins

Beginner2022-05-16Added 3 answers

Step 1
Right, starting from "Suppose (for contradiction) that B is countable" is a good start. Now what do we mean by "countable"? Perhaps this means | B | | N | , it depends on the definitions that your class uses, but then what does THAT mean?
Step 2
One way or another, I think the best place to get to from here, is the fact that there exists an injective (a.k.a. "one-to-one") function f : B N . From here, can you build an injective function A N ? If so, this would mean A is countable, and there's your contradiction.
(Note: all of what you wrote is basically right, but without talking about injective functions, it may not be adequately rigorous.)

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