Mathematical logic and foundations Definition
Weakly compact cardinal
Builds on Cardinal numberUncountable setInaccessible cardinal
Definition
Let be a cardinal, and write for the set of two-element subsets of . The cardinal is weakly compact if:
- is uncountable.
- For every function there is a set with such that is constant on .
Clause 2 is written .
Remarks
The cardinal satisfies clause 2 by Ramsey's theorem, and it fails only clause 1. The cardinal fails clause 2: Sierpiński's colouring compares the order of with the order of an injective family of real numbers, and it has no uncountable homogeneous set. Equivalent form: is weakly compact if and only if is inaccessible and has the tree property. The tree property says that every tree of height whose levels have size less than has a branch of length . Another equivalent form: is inaccessible, and a compactness theorem holds for the infinitary logic . It says that a set of at most sentences has a model whenever every subset of of size less than has one.
Reading path
To understand this page from the ground up, read these 4 pages in order. The foundations come first.
Show the path as a graph
- no evidence level
- Cardinal number concept
- Inaccessible cardinal concept
- Uncountable set concept
- Weakly compact cardinal definition
Further reading
About this page
| Tag | 4F1ABY39W1 |
|---|---|
| URI | m2://4F1ABY39W1 |
| Kind | definition |
| Writing | W0 stub |
| MSC | 03E55, 03E02 |
| Defines | Weakly compact cardinal |
| Uses | Cardinal number, Uncountable set, Inaccessible cardinal |
| Changed | 2 November 2026 |
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