How plausible is the continuum hypothesis?

In the preface the author remarks that the results of Gödel and Cohen give a hint that axiomatic set theory does not (yet) seize the intuitive notion of a set in a satisfactory way. In this survey article he presents some of the most interesting hypothesises of analysis and discusses in this connection the plausibility of the continuum hypothesis CH. E.g. (KH\('\)): There is a linear order \(\prec\) on the set \(\mathbb{R}\) of real numbers such that \(\{x\in\mathbb{R}\mid x\prec a\}\) is countable for all \(a\in\mathbb{R}\). A subset \(D\subseteq\mathbb{R}^2\) is called a Sierpiński set if there hold: (1) For all \(y\in\mathbb{R}\) the set \(\{x\in\mathbb{R}\mid(x,y)\in D\}\) is countable; and (2) For all \(x\in\mathbb{R}\) the set \(\{y\in\mathbb{R}\mid(x,y)\not\in D\}\) is countable. Then it is proved: If \(\prec\) is a linear order on \(\mathbb{R}\) satisfying (KH\('\)) then \(\{(x,y)\in\mathbb{R}^2\mid x\prec y\}\) is a Sierpiński set. And: If CH is false then there is no Sierpiński set. \S6 deals with the role of CH in connection with Fubini-type theorems which concern integrals \(\iint f(x,y)\,dx\,dy\) over the unit square and equality resp. inequality between integrals \(\int(\int f(x,y)\,dy)\,dx\) and \(\int(\int f(x,y)\,dx)\,dy\). In \S7 a result of \textit{S. Ulam} [Fundam. Math. 16, 140--150 (1930; JFM 56.0920.04)] is proved which states that with CH it follows that there is only the trivial measure \(\mu\,(\equiv 0)\) on an interval \(I\). Here it is required that \(\mu\) is countably additive and \(=0\) for all finite sets.) \S8 considers representations of real numbers as sums or differences, and \S9 deals with interpolation with entire functions. In particular a short proof for the following theorem of \textit{P. Erdős} [Mich. Math. J. 11, 9--10 (1964; Zbl 0121.25801)] is presented: If CH is false, then every family of integer functions, which altogether have values in a countable set, is countable.

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