Lecture 1 A Friendly Introduction To Countable Sets

Lecture 1: A friendly introduction to Countable sets
Aritra Dey
October 8, 2024
1 Introduction
In mathematics, a set is simply a collection of objects. These objects could be numbers,
shapes, or any other type of mathematical object we are studying. Some sets are finite,
meaning they have a limited number of elements. However, many sets are infinite, and
the purpose of this document is to explore different types of infinite sets, particularly
countable and uncountable sets.
Understanding the difference between countable and uncountable sets is crucial in
understanding different “sizes” of infinity. Yes, not all infinities are the same!
2 Definitions
2.1 Countable Sets
Heristically A set is called countable if we can list its elements in a sequence without
missing any. See when we count some object we naturally say “one”,“Two”, “Three”
that is we can index the set the whole game of countability is just indexing the set , more
formally we are going to create a bijection between our set and the set of natural number
N
Definition (a) A set S is said to be denumerable (or countably infinite) if there exists
a bijection of N onto S.
(b) A set S is said to be countable if it is either finite or denumerable.
(c) A set S is said to be uncountable if it is not countable.
2.2 Uncountable Sets

A set is uncountable if it cannot be listed in a sequence. This means that even if we
try to list all the elements of the set, we will always miss some. The set of real numbers
between 0 and 1 is an example of an uncountable set (though we won’t focus on this
proof here).
3 Examples of Countable Sets

3.1 Example 1: Natural Numbers N
The set of natural numbers N = {1, 2, 3, . . . } is countable because we can list its elements
one after the other. The identity function f (n) = n is a bijection from N to itself.
1
Lecture 1 2
3.2 Example 2: Even Numbers

The set of even numbers E = {2, 4, 6, 8, . . . } is also countable. The function f (n) = 2n
assigns each natural number to a unique even number, making it a bijection. Therefore,
the even numbers are countable.
3.3 Example 3: Prime Numbers

The set of prime numbers P = {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, . . . } is countable because we can list all
the prime numbers in a sequence. Even though they are spread out among the natural
numbers, we can define a bijection between the primes and N.
4 Theorems on Countable Sets

4.1 Theorem 1: N × N is Countable
Statement: The set of ordered pairs of natural numbers, N × N, is countable.
Proof: To prove this, we can arrange all pairs of natural numbers in a grid. Each
element of N×N can be thought of as a point (m, n) in the grid, where m is a row number
and n is a column number. The key idea is to “zigzag” through the grid, as shown in the
diagram below:
We can list the pairs in the following order:

(1, 1), (1, 2), (2, 1), (1, 3), (2, 2), (3, 1), (1, 4), . . .
This zigzag pattern ensures that every pair (m, n) is eventually listed, creating a bijection
between N × N and N. Therefore, N × N is countable.
4.2 Theorem 2: The Union of Two Countable Sets is Countable

Statement: If A and B are countable sets, then A ∪ B is countable.
Proof: Since A and B are countable, there are bijections f : N → A and g : N → B.
To prove that A ∪ B is countable, we can interleave the elements of A and B. Define a
new function h as follows:
(
f n+1

if n is odd,
h(n) = n
2
g 2 if n is even.
Aritra Dey October 8, 2024

Lecture 1 3
Since this function h lists elements of A and B alternately, it is a bijection from N to

A ∪ B, showing that the union of two countable sets is countable.
4.3 Theorem 3: The Union of Countably Many Countable Sets

is Countable
Statement: The union of countably many countable sets is countable.
Proof: Let A1 , A2 , A3 , . . . be countable sets. For each An , there is a bijection fn :
N → An . We can list the elements of each set in a grid:
a1,1 a1,2 a1,3 ...
a2,1 a2,2 a2,3 ...
a3,1 a3,2 a3,3 ...
.. .. .. ..
. . . .
By zigzagging through this grid as shown earlier, we can list all elements of ∞
S
n=1 An in
a single sequence. Therefore, the union of countably many countable sets is countable.
4.4 Some more equivalent condition of countability

Theorem:Suppose that S and T are sets and that T ⊆ S.
(a) If S is a countable set, then T is a countable set.
(b) If T is an uncountable set, then S is an uncountable set.
See the condition that creating bijection is sometime very difficult or too rigid the
following theorem give some more equivalent condition. If you see closely it is nothing
but the same thing that we did early in combinatorics by injection principle and so on.
Theorem The following statements are equivalent:
(a) S is a countable set.
(b) There exists a surjection of N onto S.
(c) There exists an injection of S into N.
Proof. (a) ⇒ (b) If S is finite, there exists a bijection h of some set Nn onto S and we
define H on N by

h(k) for k = 1, · · · , n
H(k) :=
h(n) for k > n.
Then H is a surjection of N onto S. If S is denumerable, there exists a bijection H
of N onto S, which is also a surjection of N onto S.
(b) ⇒ (c) If H is a surjection of N onto S, we define H1 : S → N by letting H1 (s) be
the least element in the set H −1 (s) := {n ∈ N : H(n) = s}. To see that H1 is an injection
of S into N, note that if s, t ∈ S and nst := H1 (s) = H1 (t), then s = H (nst ) = t.
(c) ⇒ (a) If H1 is an injection of S into N, then it is a bijection of S onto H1 (S) ⊆ N.
By Theorem 1.3.9(a), H1 (S) is countable, whence the set S is countable.
5 Heuristic Proof that Q is Countable

5.1 Theorem: The Set of Rational Numbers Q is Countable
Statement: The set of rational numbers Q is countable.

Lecture 1 4
Proof. We can list all the positive rational numbers by arranging them in a grid. Basically
this is the same as enumerating N × N Consider the following grid:
By applying a zigzag pattern to this grid, we can list all pairs (p, q). However, not all
pairs represent distinct rational numbers because fractions like 24 and 12 are equivalent.
To handle this, we remove duplicates by only considering fractions in their lowest terms.
1 2 1 1 2 3
, , , , , ,...
1 1 2 3 2 1
By skipping fractions that aren’t in their simplest form, we can create a bijection between
N and Q+ . Hence, the set of Positive rational numbers is countable. that the set Q =
Q− ∪ {0} ∪ Q+ is countable(Why?).
6 Exercise
1. Let A be an infinite set. Prove that for every positive integer n, A has a finite subset
with n elements. Deduce that every infinite set has at least one countable subset.
2. Prove that (0, 1) is not countable. Infer that R and R\Q are not countable.
3. Let X, A, B, be pairwise disjoint sets such that A, B are countable. Prove that
X ∪ A ∪ B ∼ X ∪ A.
Deduce that for every countable set B of real numbers, R\B ∼ R.
4. Prove that N × N × N is countable and so is N × N × . . . × N.
5. Let a < b be real numbers. Prove that (0, 1) ∼ (a, b) ∼ R.
6. Let A be a countable set and a ∈ A. Prove that A\{a} ∼ A. Is this result true for
every infinite set A ?
7. Let a < b be real numbers. Prove that [a, b] ∼ [a, b) ∼ (a, b] ∼ (a, b).

Lecture 1 5
8. Prove that every ε-discrete set of real numbers is at most countable. (A set A ⊂ R
is called ε-discrete if |a − b| > ε, for any different elements a, b of A ).
9. Let S be a set of real numbers with the property that for all real numbers a < b, the
set S ∩ [a, b] is finite, possibly empty. Prove that S is at most countable. Is every set S
with the above property an ε-discrete set, for some positive real ε ?
10. Let S be an infinite and uncountable set of real numbers. For each real number t,
we put
S(t) = S ∩ (−∞, t], S + (t) = S ∩ [t, ∞).
Prove that there exists a real number t0 for which both sets S − (t0 ) and S + (t0 ) are infinite
and uncountable.
11. A set M of positive real numbers has the property that the sum of any finite number
of its elements is not greater than 7. Prove that the set M is at most countable.
12. Prove that the set of polynomials with integer coefficients is countable.
13. Prove that the set of algebraic numbers is countable. Deduce that the set of tran-
scendental numbers is not countable. (A real number α is called an algebraic number if
there exists a polynomial P ̸= 0 with integer coefficients such that P (α) = 0. Otherwise,
α is called transcendental.)
14. Prove that for each set X, we have |X| < |P(X)|. We denote by P(X) the power
set of X (that is, the set of all subsets of X, including the empty set and X ). However,
the set of all finite subsets of N is countable (thus |N| = |P(N)|).
15. Let p1 , p2 , . . . , pk be distinct primes. Prove that for all integers r1 , r2 , . . . , rk there
is an integer n such that n = ri (modpi ), for all 1 ≤ i ≤ k.
16. Prove that there are no functions f : R → R with the property
|f (x) − f (y)| ≥ 1,
for all x, y ∈ R, x ̸= y.
17. Prove that there are no functions f : R → R with the property

1
|f (x) − f (y)| ≥ ,
x2 + y2
for all x, y ∈ R, x ̸= y.
18. Prove that the discontinuity set of a monotone function f : R → R is at most

countable.
19. Prove that the set of all permutations of the set of positive integers is uncountable.

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Lecture 1: A friendly introduction to Countable sets

2.2 Uncountable Sets

3 Examples of Countable Sets

3.2 Example 2: Even Numbers

3.3 Example 3: Prime Numbers

4 Theorems on Countable Sets

We can list the pairs in the following order:

4.2 Theorem 2: The Union of Two Countable Sets is Countable

Aritra Dey October 8, 2024

Since this function h lists elements of A and B alternately, it is a bijection from N to

4.3 Theorem 3: The Union of Countably Many Countable Sets

4.4 Some more equivalent condition of countability

5 Heuristic Proof that Q is Countable

Aritra Dey October 8, 2024

Deduce that for every countable set B of real numbers, R\B ∼ R.

4. Prove that N × N × N is countable and so is N × N × . . . × N.

5. Let a < b be real numbers. Prove that (0, 1) ∼ (a, b) ∼ R.

Aritra Dey October 8, 2024

16. Prove that there are no functions f : R → R with the property

17. Prove that there are no functions f : R → R with the property

18. Prove that the discontinuity set of a monotone function f : R → R is at most

Aritra Dey October 8, 2024

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