epsilon numbers and cantor normal form - markun bear.pdfVIP

FORMALIZED MATHEMATICS Vol. 17, No. 4, Pages 253–260, 2009 DOI: 10.2478/v10037-009-0032-8 Epsilon Numbers and Cantor Normal Form Grzegorz Bancerek Białystok Technical University Poland Summary. An epsilon number is a transfinite number which is a fixed point of an exponential map: ωε = ε. The formalization of the concept is done with use of the tetration of ordinals (Knuth’s arrow notation, ↑↑). Namely, the ordinal indexing of epsilon numbers is defined as follows: ε0 = ω ↑↑ ω, εα+1 = εα ↑↑ ω, and for limit ordinal λ: ελ = lim εα = εα . αλ αλ Tetration stabilizes at ω : α ↑↑ β = α ↑↑ ω for α = 0 and β ≥ ω. Every ordinal number α can be uniquely written as β1 β2 βk n ω + n ω + · · · + n ω , 1 2 k where k is a natural number, n1 , n2 , . . ., nk are positive integers, and β1 β2 . . . βk are ordinal numbers (βk = 0). This decomposition of α is called the Cantor Normal Form of α. MML identifier: ORDINAL5, version: 7.11.01 4.117.1046 The articles [9], [3], [8], [7], [1], [5], [6], [4], [2], and [10] provide the notation and terminology for this paper. c 2009 University of Białystok