Cardinal Number

🅟 Mar 09, 2026

  🅤 Jun 10, 2026

Definition 1.

An ordinal $\alpha$ is a cardinal number or cardinal if

\[\forall \beta < \alpha : \beta \lnequ \alpha.\]

The class of all cardinals is denoted by $\Card$.

Every natural number is a cardinal, called a finite cardinal. A cardinal is infinite if it is not finite.


Proposition 1.

$\Card$ is a proper class.

Proof. Show that

\[\Ord \subseteq \bigcup \Card.\]


Proposition 2.

Every infinite cardinal is a limit ordinal.

Proof. By SUC > Proposition 2.

Proposition 3.

For every ordinal $\alpha$ there is a cardinal greater than $\alpha$.