Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-analytic-topology-and-axiomatic-set-theory-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2009/b/6/iv/solution
Past exam of the analytic topology and axiomatic set theory course of the University of Oxford 2009 B 6 iv Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
To prove that power-set equality is not upward absolute, use the standard constructible universe theorem: is a transitive inner model of ZF containing every ordinal, and set rank is absolute between and . Since , some rank stage contains a nonconstructible set. Let be the least ordinal with . It is not zero; it cannot be a limit, since a union of earlier stages contained in is still contained in . Thus and .
We need not merely this inclusion, but that itself belongs to . Inside , ZF constructs its own rank stage , which is a set of . By transitivity and rank absoluteness,Consequently . Let , the power set computed in . Then and .
By minimality there is . Externally , but , because every member of the set is in the transitive class . Hence . Taking and proves power-set equality is not upward absolute, even between transitive models of ZF.
There is no contradiction with absoluteness of : that bounded relation agrees whenever both parameters are present in the smaller class. Power-set equality quantifies over all subsets, including a new absent from the smaller class. The step proving is essential; inclusion in a class alone would not imply membership in it.
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