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Homework Statement
Show if a set is infinite, then it can be put in a 1-1 correspondence with one of its proper subsets.
Homework Equations
This was included with the problem, but I am sure most already know this.
A is a proper subset of B if A is a subset of B and A≠B
The Attempt at a Solution
Did I do this correctly? Here is my work:
Showing the forward implication first:
Show if a set is infinite, then it can be put in a 1-1 correspondence with one of its proper subsets.
Let A be an infinite set.
Let B be an infinite set that is a proper subset of A.
Since A is infinite, there exists a bijective mapping f:X→A, where X is either the set of natural numbers or real numbers depending if the sets are countable or not, be defined by f(x_n)=a_n where x_n is in X and a_n is in A.
Similarly for B, there exists a bijective mapping g:X→B be defined by g(x_n)=b_n where x_n is in X and b_n is in B.
Since g is a bijection, its inverse exists and is a bijection.
Let h=f([itex]g^{-1}[/itex])
Since [itex]g^{-1}[/itex](b_n)=x_n, then f([itex]g^{-1}[/itex])=a_n
Therefore if a set is infinite, it can be put into a 1-1 correspondence with one of its proper subsets.
Reverse implication:
If a set can be put into a 1-1 correspondence with one of its proper subsets, then it is infinite.
Suppose a finite set can be put into a 1-1 correspondence with one of its proper subsets.
Let A={a,b,c,d}
Let B={c,d}
Let f:B→A
Where f(c)=a and f(d)=b
It is a 1-1 function, but not onto.
Therefore, if a a set can be put into a 1-1 correspondence with one of its proper subsets, it must be infinite.