Math 2.0

Proposition

The axiom of choice implies a group structure

Statement

Any nonempty finite set has a group structure as a cyclic group generated by any element. Under the assumption of the axiom of choice, every infinite set XX is equipotent with a unique cardinal number ∣X∣\lvert X\rvert which equals an aleph. Using the axiom of choice, one can show that for any family SS of sets ∣⋃S∣≤∣S∣×sup⁡{∣s∣:s∈S}\lvert \bigcup S\rvert \le \lvert S\rvert \times \sup \{ |s| : s \in S\} (A). Moreover, by Tarski's theorem on choice, another equivalent of the axiom of choice, ∣X∣n=∣X∣\lvert X\rvert^{n} = \lvert X\rvert for all finite nn (B).

Let XX be an infinite set and let FF denote the set of all finite subsets of XX. There is a natural multiplication ∙\bullet on FF. For f,g∈Ff, g \in F, let f∙g=fΔgf \bullet g = f \Delta g, where Δ\Delta denotes the symmetric difference. This turns (F,∙)(F, \bullet) into a group with the empty set, Ø\text{Ø}, being the identity and every element being its own inverse; fΔf=Øf \Delta f = \text{Ø}. The associative property, i.e. (fΔg)Δh=fΔ(gΔh)(f \Delta g) \Delta h = f \Delta (g \Delta h) is verified using basic properties of union and set difference. Thus FF is a group with multiplication Δ\Delta.

Any set that can be put into bijection with a group becomes a group via the bijection. It will be shown that ∣X∣=∣F∣\lvert X\rvert = \lvert F\rvert, and hence a one-to-one correspondence between XX and the group (F,∙)(F, \bullet) exists. For n=0,1,2,...n = 0,1,2, ..., let FnF_{n} be the subset of FF consisting of all subsets of cardinality exactly nn. Then FF is the disjoint union of the FnF_{n}. The number of subsets of XX of cardinality nn is at most ∣X∣n\lvert X\rvert^{n} because every subset with nn elements is an element of the nn-fold cartesian product XnX^{n} of XX. So ∣Fn∣≤∣X∣n=∣X∣\lvert F_{n}\rvert \le \lvert X\rvert^{n} = \lvert X\rvert for all nn (C) by (B).

Putting these results together it is seen that ∣F∣=∣⋃n∈ωFn∣≤ℵ0⋅∣X∣=∣X∣\lvert F\rvert = \lvert \bigcup_{n \in \omega}F_{n}\rvert \le \aleph_{0} \cdot \lvert X\rvert = \lvert X\rvert by (A) and (C). Also, ∣F∣≥∣X∣\lvert F\rvert \ge \lvert X\rvert, since FF contains all singletons. Thus, ∣X∣≤∣F∣\lvert X\rvert \le \lvert F\rvert and ∣F∣≤∣X∣\lvert F\rvert \le \lvert X\rvert, so, by the Schröder–Bernstein theorem, ∣F∣=∣X∣\lvert F\rvert = \lvert X\rvert. This means precisely that there is a bijection jj between XX and FF. Finally, for x,y∈Xx, y \in X define x∙y=j−1(j(x)Δj(y))x \bullet y = j^{-1}(j(x) \Delta j(y)). This turns (X,∙)(X, \bullet) into a group. Hence every set admits a group structure.

Further reading

  1. Wikipedia, page 37039918, revision 1336022484, Group structure and the axiom of choice, section The axiom of choice implies a group structure. adopted
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