Formal definition of empty set

elementary-set-theorylogicset-theory

How do you formally define the empty set, beyond "the set with no elements"?

The usual strategy for showing a set $X$ is empty i.e. $X=\emptyset$ is to show the following: for some true statement $A$ we have

$$(x \in X \implies \neg A) \iff (x \notin X) \vee \neg A,$$ and hence, $x \in X \iff x \notin X$.

So, is a potential definition $X=\emptyset$ if $x \in X \iff x \notin X$?

How do you formally define a set with no elements? I think I might just lack the prerequisite logic/set theory knowledge here. One definition I have seen is $\emptyset=\{x|x\neq x\}$ which doesn't make any sense to me!

Hopefully someone can shine some light on this for me. Cheers.

Best Answer

The emptyset is the unique set $x$ satisfying the formula $\forall y(y\not\in x)$. "There is an emptyset" is natural-language shorthand for "$\exists x\forall y(y\not\in x)$."

If you prefer set-builder notation, then $\{y:y\not=y\}$ does the job: the condition "$y\not=y$" is not satisfied by any $y$s at all, and so $\{y:y\not=y\}=\emptyset$.

Note that we can't mix these approaches with abandon: the set-builder expression "$\{x: \forall y(y\not\in x)\}$" describes the set $\{\emptyset\}$, not $\emptyset$ itself! Also, note that despite its name set-builder notation is not guaranteed to build sets in general - for example, $\{x: x=x\}$ is a proper class (the "universal class"), as is $\{x: x\not\in x\}$ (the "Russell class").

Meanwhile, your proposal does not work since no set $x$ whatsoever (empty or not) has the property $\forall y(y\in x\leftrightarrow y\not\in x)$. The issue is that you've gotten the conclusion of your example argument strategy wrong: we don't conclude "$x\in X\iff x\not\in X$," merely "$x\in X\implies x\not\in X$" (which leaves "$x\not\in X$" as a stable option). That said, we can if we really want to combine your proposal with set-builder notation: since your proposed property does not in fact hold of any set, the set-builder notation $\{x: \forall y(y\in x\leftrightarrow y\not\in x)\}$ is yet another way of describing the emptyset.

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