Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/ii/paper-3/16g/iv/solution

The class of well-orderings is not first-order axiomatizable. If axiomatized it, add constants and sentences
Every finite subset has a finite well-order containing the required finite descending chain. By the compactness theorem, the whole set has a model; that model satisfies but contains an infinite descending chain, so it is not a well-order. This contradiction proves the claim, as summarized by well-orders are not first-order axiomatizable.

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