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A similar question has been asked, however, it concentrates on using induction to prove this statement. I have tried proving the statement differently, so I am interested if what I did is valid or not.

Assume $\mathbb{N}\sim B$ by a function $f$.

1) $A \subseteq B$ means that $\forall a \in A, a \in B$

If we use the same function $f$ that defines $\mathbb{N}\sim B$ and apply it to $N_A = \{ n : f(n) \in A \}$, then $\exists a_1, a_2 \in A : a_1 \ne a_2 \Rightarrow f(a_1) = f(a_2)$ this would lead to $\mathbb{N} \nsim B$ because $a_1,a_2 \in B$ by (1). So any function $f$ that is $1:1$ from $\mathbb{N}$ to $B$ must be $1:1$ from $N_A$ to $A$.

Onto is proven in the same way. $\nexists n \in N_A : f(n) = a, \forall a \in A \Rightarrow \mathbb{N}\nsim B$ because of (1).

This proves that $N_A\sim A$ with $f$. As for the rest

$N_A \subseteq \mathbb{N}\Rightarrow$ $A$ is countable.

$N_A = \emptyset \Rightarrow A = \emptyset$.

$\exists s \in \mathbb{N} : s = sup (N_A)\Rightarrow A$ is finite because $\forall n \in \mathbb{N}, n > t, f(n) \notin A$

tmaric
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  • You lost me at "N~B by a function f". What does that mean? – Gerry Myerson Oct 07 '15 at 11:27
  • @GerryMyerson: I must have messed up, I'm not used to the terminology, just started learning analysis. This means that B is countable. There exists $f$ such that it maps $\mathbb{N}$ 1:1 and onto B. – tmaric Oct 07 '15 at 11:29
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    OK, so your title translates to, every subset of a countably infinite set is countably infinite, or finite, or empty. Though I would say that "empty" is covered by "finite". – Gerry Myerson Oct 07 '15 at 11:34
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    Your proof is correct. Although you essentially did that, the end of your proof should emphasize the fact that if $N$ is not equivalent to $A$ then $A$ must be finite. – uniquesolution Oct 07 '15 at 11:52
  • @uniquesolution: I'm not sure I agree with your assessment of the proof. See my answer, and let me know if you disagree with my assessment. – Cameron Buie Nov 19 '15 at 05:27

1 Answers1

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You seem to have the right idea. Let me address a few issues of execution.

Assume $\mathbb{N}\sim B$ by a function $f$.

1) $A \subseteq B$ means that $\forall a \in A, a \in B$

If we use the same function $f$ that defines $\mathbb{N}\sim B$ and apply it to $N_A = \{ n : f(n) \in A \}$, then $\exists a_1, a_2 \in A : a_1 \ne a_2 \Rightarrow f(a_1) = f(a_2)$ this would lead to $\mathbb{N} \nsim B$ because $a_1,a_2 \in B$ by (1). So any function $f$ that is $1:1$ from $\mathbb{N}$ to $B$ must be $1:1$ from $N_A$ to $A$.

One critique about this part: the domain of $f$ is $\Bbb N,$ but if $A\ne B,$ then $N_A$ will not be equal to $\Bbb N$! Hence, $f$ is not a function on $N_A$ in such a case. Rather, the restriction of $f$ to $N_A$ is the function you want. In particular, let $g:N_A\to B$ be defined by $g(n):=f(n)$ for all $n\in N_A.$ Then you can readily adapt these arguments to show that $g$ is one-to-one, and in fact, $g:N_A\to A.$

Onto is proven in the same way. $\nexists n \in N_A : f(n) = a, \forall a \in A \Rightarrow \mathbb{N}\nsim B$ because of (1).

I am having a difficult time parsing this logic language in a way that makes sense. Simple verbal argument is a better approach, here.

If $a\in A,$ then $a\in B$ by (1), so by definition of $N_A$ there is some $n\in N_A$ such that $f(n)=a,$ and by definition of $g$ we have $g(n):=f(n)=a.$ Thus, $g:N_A\to A$ is onto, and so $N_A\sim A.$

$N_A \subseteq \mathbb{N}\Rightarrow$ $A$ is countable.

Absolutely not, since it seems like your definition of "countable" is "in bijection with $\Bbb N.$" After all, $N_A\subseteq\Bbb N$ by definition. It could be empty or finite, remember?

$N_A = \emptyset \Rightarrow A = \emptyset$.

Very true!

$\exists s \in \mathbb{N} : s = sup (N_A)\Rightarrow A$ is finite because $\forall n \in \mathbb{N}, n > t, f(n) \notin A$

I think you meant $s,$ rather than $t,$ but with that fix, this is fine.

Now, it remains to prove the last case. Namely, suppose that $N_A$ has no upper bound--that is, that for all $m\in\Bbb N,$ there is some $n\in N_A$ such that $n>m.$ You must show that $\Bbb N\sim N_A.$ To do so, consider the recursively-defined function given by $h(b):=\min\left(N_A\right)$ (where $b$ is the least element of $\Bbb N$) and $h(n+1)=\min\left(N_A\cap\{m\in\Bbb N:m\le n\}\right).$ You should be able to show that this $h$ is well-defined, and that $h:\Bbb N\to N_A$ is one-to-one and onto, completing the proof. (As a side note, this is where induction comes into play, though possibly in a disguised form.)

Cameron Buie
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  • Equivalently, for the last case, when $\sup N_A$ doesn't exist, you can define $h(n)$ to be the number of members of ${ m\in N_A : m\leq n}$ and use induction on $n$ to show that $h$ is a bijection. I was going to point out that tmaric missed the last case but your answer is very thorough. – DanielWainfleet Nov 19 '15 at 03:48