Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/iii/paper-121/2/ii/c/solution

Induct on using the transitivity and inclusion already established. The zero stage is immediate. Suppose . Being an ordinal is expressible by a bounded formula in set theory, for example transitivity, transitivity of all members, and membership comparability. It is therefore absolute for the transitive set . The subset of its elements that are ordinals is internally definable, so
By inclusion, all smaller ordinals are present as well. Conversely, if an ordinal belongs to , then , since every member of a definable power set is a subset of the preceding domain. All members of are ordinals, so and . Hence the ordinal part of the successor level is exactly .
At a nonzero limit ordinal ,
Thus

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