Mathematical logic and foundations Definition
Inaccessible cardinal
Builds on Cardinal numberRegular cardinalUncountable setPower set
Definition
Let be a cardinal. The cardinal is (strongly) inaccessible if:
- is uncountable.
- is regular: is not the union of fewer than sets each of size less than .
- is a strong limit: for every cardinal , where is the cardinality of the power set of a set of size .
The cardinal is weakly inaccessible if it satisfies clauses 1 and 2 and is a limit cardinal: for every cardinal .
Remarks
The cardinal satisfies clauses 2 and 3, since a union of finitely many finite sets is finite and is finite; it fails only clause 1.
The cardinal is regular but not inaccessible: it fails clause 3, since .
Every inaccessible cardinal is weakly inaccessible, and under the generalized continuum hypothesis the two notions agree.
If is inaccessible, then , the set of sets of rank less than , is a model of ZFC.
By Gödel's second incompleteness theorem, ZFC therefore cannot prove that an inaccessible cardinal exists, if ZFC is consistent.
In Mathlib the notion is Cardinal.IsInaccessible.
Reading path
To understand this page from the ground up, read these 5 pages in order. The foundations come first.
Show the path as a graph
- no evidence level
- Cardinal number concept
- Power set concept
- Regular cardinal concept
- Uncountable set concept
- Inaccessible cardinal definition
Further reading
About this page
| Tag | 2ENTSSHEPZ |
|---|---|
| URI | m2://2ENTSSHEPZ |
| Kind | definition |
| Writing | W0 stub |
| MSC | 03E55 |
| Defines | Inaccessible cardinal |
| Uses | Cardinal number, Regular cardinal, Uncountable set, Power set |
| Changed | 2 November 2026 |
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