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AglimpseofCantor'sparadise|plus.maths.org

AglimpseofCantor'sparadise
byPeterMacgregor(/content/listbyauthor/PeterMacgregor)
SubmittedbyplusadminonMay31,2008

ThisarticleisarunnerupinthegeneralpubliccategoryofthePlusnewwritersaward2008
(/issue47/winners.html)

"NooneshalldriveusfromtheparadisewhichCantorhascreatedforus."
DavidHilbert

GeorgCantor

Modernideasaboutinfinityprovideawonderfulplaygroundformathematiciansand
philosophers.Iwanttoleadyouthroughthisgardenofintellectualdelightsandtellyou
aboutthemanwhocreateditGeorgCantor.
CantorwasborninRussiain1845.Whenhewaselevenyearsoldhisfamilymovedto
Germanyandhesufferedfromawistfulhomesicknessfortherestofhislife.Atschoolhe
hadagreattalentfortheviolin,buthisrealgiftandpassionwasformathematics.Asa
universitystudentinBerlinhewaspresidentofthemathematicalsocietyandmethisfriends
everyweekinawinehouse...todiscussmathematics!In1872hewasappointed
extraordinaryprofessoratHalle,andbeganhislifelongstudyofinfinitesets.
Thesimplestinfinitesetisthesetofnaturalnumbers
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Howdoesthiscomparetootherinfinitesets?Consider,forexample,theset

Youmightsaythatitis"smaller"thanthesetofnaturalnumbers,sinceitcontains100
fewernumbers.Cantorwouldobjecttoyourargumentbydrawingthefollowingdiagram:

Thediagramshowsthatthereisaonetoonecorrespondence,orbijection,betweenthetwo
sets.Sinceeachelementin pairsoffwithoneelementin
andviceversa,
thesetsmusthavethesame"size",or,touseCantor'slanguage,thesamecardinality.
UsingabijectiontocomparethesizeoftwoinfinitesetswasoneofCantor'smostfruitful
ideas.Thecardinalityof isnotofcourseanordinarynumber,since isinfinite.It's
neverthelessamathematicalobjectthatdeservesaname,soCantorrepresenteditbythe
firstletterintheHebrewalphabet, ,(pronounce"aleph")withasubscriptofzero: ,

Infiniteinfinities
In1872Cantorstartedtothinkaboutthosenumbersthatcan
berepresentedasfractions,knownasrationalnumbers.These
"lnmathematicsthe
includethenaturalnumberssinceeverywholenumberncan
artofproposinga
bewrittenasthefractionn/1.What'smore,betweenanytwo
questionmustbe
rationalnumbers,nomatterhowclose,thereareinfinitely
heldofhighervalue
manyotherrationalnumbers.Andthen,betweenanytwoof
thansolvingit."
thesenewandmorecloselypackedrationalnumbersthereis
GeorgCantor
againaninfinitenumberofrationalnumbersthisseemsto
showthattherearehugelymorerationalnumbersthannatural
numbers,butCantorprovedthatinfacttheyareequallynumerous.Aningeniouswaytosee
thisistowritedownthefractionsinanarray:
Takeamomenttoconvinceyourselfthatthearraycontainseverysinglepositiverational
number.Numbersoccurmorethanonceasequivalentfractions,forexample1=1/1=2/2,
etc.Nowwecreatealistoffractionsbystartinginthetopleftcornerofthearrayand
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movingupanddowndiagonally:

Ifweomitthoserationalswehavemetbefore,thisgivesthelist

Nowassociatetothefirstfractiononthelistthenumber1,tothesecondfractiononthelist
thenumber2,tothethirdfractionthenumber3andsoon.Thismapisabijection,proving
thatthesetofpositiverationalnumbershasthesamecardinalityasthesetofnatural
numbers.Thiscanthenbeextendedtoshowthatthesetofallrationalnumbershasthe
samecardinalityasthenaturalnumbers.
Anyinfinitesetwhichcanbelistediscalledcountablebecause(givenaninfiniteamountof
time)youcouldgodownthelistandsimplycount"one,two,three...".Becauseofthissimple
bijectionwiththenaturalnumbers,allinfinitecountablesetshavecardinality .
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ThesecondquestionCantorconsideredin1873wasthecardinalityofthesetofreal
numbers.Therealnumbersareallthepointsonthecontinuousnumberline,including
irrationalnumberssuchas
,
and .Thesetofrealnumberscontainsboththenatural
numbersandtherationalnumbers,butisitreally"bigger"thanboththesesets?Cantor
provedthatitis.Toseethisassumethattherealnumbersbetweenzeroandoneare
listable.Imaginesuchalist:
1. 0.12
2. 0.4
3. 0.39878519436
4. 0.777777...
5. 0.141569...
andsoon,whereeveryrealnumberbetweenzeroandoneoccurssomewhereintheinfinite
list.OneofCantor'sgreatideaswastotakeadiagonalofsuchalist:takethefirstdigitafter
thedecimalpointofthefirstnumber,theseconddigitafterthedecimalpointofthesecond
number,thethirddigitafterthedecimalpointofthethirdnumber,andsoon,togetthe
realnumber0.10876....Sincethereareinfinitelynumbersinyourlist,thisnumberhasan
infinitedecimalexpansion.
Nowchangeeachdigitofthisnewnumber,forexamplebyadding1.Thisgivesthenew
number0.21987....Thisnewnumberisnotthesameasthefirstnumberonthelist,
becausetheirfirstdecimaldigitsaredifferent.Neitherisitthesameasthesecondnumber
onthelist,becausetheirseconddecimaldigitsaredifferent.Carryingonlikethisshowsthat
thenewnumberisdifferentfromeverysinglenumberonthelist,andsoitcannotappear
anywhereinthelist.
Butwestartedwiththeassumptionthateveryrealnumberbetweenzeroandonewasonthe
list!Cantorprovedthattheonlywaytoavoidthiscontradictionistoadmitthatouroriginal
assumptionthatthesetofrealnumbersandthesetofnaturalnumbershavethesame
cardinalityisfalse.

LeopoldKronecker:philosophyandtheology,butnomathematics.

Thisfamousdiagonalargumentshowsthattherearesomanyrealnumbersthattheycan't
belisted,evenwithaninfinitelylonglist,andsotheycannotbecounted,eveninan
infinitelylongtime.Becausetherealnumbersareassociatedwiththepointsonacontinuous
line,theircardinalityiscalled ,thecardinalityofthecontinuum.
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Thediagonalargumentshowsthat representsahigherorderofinfinitythan .Cantor

adaptedthemethodtoshowthatthereareaninfiniteseriesofinfinities,eachone
astonishinglybiggerthantheonebefore.
TodaythisamazingconclusionishonouredwiththetitleCantor'stheorem,butinhisown
daymostmathematiciansdidnotunderstandit.Somevehementlycriticisedhiswork.His
oldprofessor,LeopoldKronecker(http://wwwgroups.dcs.st
and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Kronecker.html)said
"Idon'tknowwhatpredominatesinCantor'stheoryphilosophyortheology,butIamsure
thatthereisnomathematicsthere."

Squaredinfinities
InJanuary1874Cantorwonderedifthepointsalongalineof
length1couldbeputintoonetoonecorrespondencewiththe
pointsinasquareofsidelength1.Initiallyhethoughtthatthe
answerwasobviously"no",buthewantedaproofonewayor
theother.Hewasstillworkingonthisproblemwhenhe
marriedVallyGuttmanninAugust1874andspentmostof
hishoneymoondiscussingitwithhisfriendandfellow
mathematicianRichardDedekind(http://wwwgroups.dcs.st
and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Dedekind.html).

"Eithermathematics
istoobigforthe
humanmindorthe
humanmindismore
thanamachine."
KurtGdel

ThreeyearslaterCantorfinallyrealisedthatthereisabijectionbetweenthepointsonaline
andthoseinasquare.Toseethis,interweavethecoordinatesofeachpointinthesquare,to
getacorrespondingpointontheline.Forexampletothepointwithcoordinates(0.216,
0.750)associatethenumber0.271560.It'snothardtoshowthatthisrulegivesabijection
betweenthepointsinthesquareandthepointsontheline,forcingthecounterintuitive
conclusionthatthecardinalityofthesetofpointsonthesquareisthesameasthatofthe
pointsontheline.
Itiseasytoextendthisargumenttoshowthatthepointsinacube(oreveninann
dimensionalhypercube)havethesamecardinalityasthepointsinasegmentoftherealline.
Cantorhimselfwassosurprisedbythisdiscoverythathewrote:
"Iseeit,butIdon'tbelieveit!"

Cantor'sfinalstruggles
From1884onwards,Cantorsufferedfromboutsofdepressionduringwhichhecouldnot
concentrateonmathematics.Hewasdisappointedthathisideaswerenotwidelyaccepted,
hisrelationshipwithKroneckergrewworseandhislongfriendshipwithDedekindsuffered.At
hislowestpointshewasgivenleavefromtheUniversity,butduringhislucidperiodshe
continuedtohavebrilliantideasabouttheorderingofinfinitesets.Cantorprovedthatthere
wereawholeseriesofinfinitecardinalnumberswhichcouldbelistedinincreasingorder.The
firstoftheseis ,thecardinalityofthenaturalnumbers,andtheothersaredenotedby ,
, andsoforth.
Onequestionarisingfromthiswaswhichofthesecardinalnumberswasequalto ,the
cardinalityofthecontinuum.Cantorhadshownthat wasgreaterthan butwasit
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DavidHilbert(http://wwwgroups.dcs.stand.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Hilbert.html):oneofthemathematicianswhorecognised
Cantor'sgenius.

equaltothenextcardinalnumberonthelist, ?Cantorfeltstronglythatthisshouldbethe
case.Ifnot,thentherewasanotherinfinitythatwas"bigger"thanthatofthenatural
numbersbut"smaller"thanthatoftherealnumbers.Theassertionthat
became
knownasthecontinuumhypothesis.Cantorspentthelastyearsofhislifestrugglingtofind
aproofonewayortheother.

"Thenotionofaset
istoovagueforthe
continuum
hypothesistohavea
positiveornegative
answer."PaulCohen

WenowknowthatCantor'smathematicaltoolkitwassimply
inadequatetoanswerthequestion.In1940(22yearsafter
Cantor'sdeath)KurtGdel(http://wwwgroups.dcs.st
and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Godel.html)showedthatthecontinuum
hypothesiscannotbedisprovedusingstandardmathematics,
andafteranother23yearsPaulCohenshowedthatneithercan
itbeproved.Todaymathematiciansandlogiciansarestill
debatingthisfascinatingquestion.

In1899,afterhisyoungestsonandhisyoungerbrotherdied,Cantor'smentalhealthand
mathematicalabilityrapidlydeteriorated.HislastlettersaretohiswifeVally,writtenfroma
mentalhospital,pleadingtobeallowedhome.Hediedofaheartattackonthe6thof
January1918.
In1904TheRoyalSocietyofLondonhonouredCantor'slifelongworklayingthefoundations
ofsettheoryandunravellingthemysteriesofinfinitesetsbyawardinghimtheSylvester
Medal,itshighestawardformathematicalresearch.

Furtherreading
YoucanfindoutmoreaboutCantor'sworkinthePlusarticlesInfiniteinvestigators:partI
(/issue47/features/elwes1)andInfiniteinvestigators:partII(/issue47/features/elwes2).

Abouttheauthor
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PeterstudiedmathematicsandphysicsattheUniversityofSt.Andrews,taughtinCyprus,
studiedatManchesterUniversity,andgainedaPhDfromStrathclydeUniversityforresearch
inmarinedynamics.
WhennotexploringremotecornersofScotland,orpractisingShotoBudokarate,heteaches
mathematicsatJamesWattCollegeinGreenock.
HelivesontheFirthofClydewithhiswifeandalarge(butfinite)numberofchildren.Heisa
believerinthegoodnessandgraceofGod,andalaypreacheroftheChristianGospel.
PluswouldliketothanktheLondonMathematicalSociety(http://www.lms.ac.uk)andtheMaths,
StatsandOperationalResearchNetwork,aswellasthejournalNature
(http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html)fortheirkindsupportofthiscompetition.

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