Cantor’s Paradise and the Independence of the Continuum Hypothesis by Emily Axelrod ’25

Cantor’s Paradise and the Independence of the Continuum Hypothesis by Emily Axelrod ’25, Monday November 18, 1:00 – 1:50pm, North Science Building 113, Wachenheim, Mathematics Colloquium

Abstract: Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. But how big? Georg Cantor’s continuum hypothesis asserts that there is no size of infinity between that of the natural numbers and that of the real numbers. My colloquium will explore the theory behind this hypothesis and the attempts to resolve it, with a focus on the role of ordinal numbers.