Field axioms 2026-10-31
The field axioms specify an abelian additive group, an abelian multiplicative group of nonzero elements, and distributivity of multiplication over addition. The identity elements are distinct.
Let in the finite language of rings: it is the set of all first-order sentences true in the field of complex numbers. It is satisfiable, with first-order model , so the countable-language Löwenheim-Skolem theorem gives an at most countable first-order model of .
All field axioms belong to , hence is a field. For every positive integer , the first-order sentence saying that there are at least distinct elements is also true in and belongs to . Thus cannot be finite, and is countably infinite.
Finally, for each first-order sentence , either or . Since satisfies all of , it satisfies exactly when does. Therefore
Elementary equivalence concerns first-order first-order sentences and does not imply an isomorphism; the two fields have different cardinalities. The stronger downward form may even choose as a countable elementary subfield of .