A Statement in Combinatorics that is Independent of ZFC (an exposition)

arXiv1201.1207MaRDI QIDQ6230087FDOQ6230087

Authors: S. Fenner, William Gasarch 

Publication date: 5 January 2012

Abstract: It is known that, for any finite coloring of the naturals, there exists distinct naturals $e_1,e_2,e_3,e_4$ that are the same color such that $e_1+e_2=e_3+e_4$. Consider the following statement which we denote S: For every $alep{h}_0$-coloring of the reals there exists distinct reals $e_1,e_2,e_3,e_4$ such that $e_1+e_2=e_3+e_4$?} Is it true? Erdos showed that S is equivalent to the negation of the Continuum Hypothesis, and hence S is indepedent of ZFC. We give an exposition of his proof and some modern observations about results of this sort.

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to combinatorics (05-01) Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to mathematical logic and foundations (03-01)

This page was built for publication: A Statement in Combinatorics that is Independent of ZFC (an exposition)

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q6230087)