Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-logic-and-set-theory-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2009/b/6/ii/solution
Past exam of the logic and set theory course of the University of Oxford 2009 B 6 ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Apply Zorn's lemma using the chain upper bounds just proved, obtaining a maximal partial group operation on a nonempty carrier . Suppose . Then choose a subset and a bijection . The set can be identified with by sending to and to .
Use group extension by a duplicate carrier to transport the direct-product group operation along this bijection. Its restriction to is exactly the original , because . It therefore gives a strictly larger member of , contradicting maximality. Thus . Cardinal comparability, allowed as a consequence of Zorn's lemma, leaves the strict opposite inequality:The argument uses choice through Zorn's lemma and cardinal comparability; the extension itself is an explicit transported direct-product operation once the bijection with is chosen.
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