Existence of two different well-orders in infinite set such that the corresponding well-ordered sets are not isomorphic.

elementary-set-theory

Let $A$ be an infinite set. Prove that if there is a well-order $<_1$ in $A$, then there is a well-order $<_2$ in $A$ for which the corresponding well-ordered sets are not isomorphic.

I found the problem in exercise section. Initially I used the fact that every well-ordered set is ismorphic to an ordinal, but after that I got stuck because in no way could I verify the existence of second well-ordered set. For finite sets I know that all well-orders are isomorphic, but I have no idea what to do when the set is infinine. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Best Answer

Use the fact that for any infinite ordinal $\alpha$, $|\alpha|=|\alpha+1|$ (but of course $\alpha$ is not isomorphic to $\alpha+1$ as a well-ordered set).

To prove this, find a bijection between $\alpha$ and $\alpha+1$ by applying the logic of "Hilbert's hotel": Map $0$ to $\alpha,$ then map $1$ to $0$, $2$ to $1,$ $3$ to $2,$ and so on. Then map everything $\ge \omega$ to itself.

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