Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/ii/paper-4/16f/b/i/solution

A relation on a set is well-founded when every nonempty subset of has an -minimal element. It is extensional when distinct elements have distinct predecessor sets:
The Mostowski collapse theorem states that every well-founded extensional relation on a set is uniquely isomorphic to membership on a transitive set; the collapse is recursively
For the requested example, let and define
No belongs to , and therefore
The map is an isomorphism from membership on to membership on the von Neumann ordinal , so the Mostowski collapse is . On the other hand, already has rank , and hence the rank of is greater than .
For statement (i), suppose is isomorphic to with transitive. Membership is well-founded by the axiom of foundation. It is extensional on because transitivity ensures that the predecessors in of an element are exactly the elements of , and the axiom of extensionality distinguishes different sets. Both properties are preserved by isomorphism. Thus (i) is always true.

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