[Math] Prove that rational numbers (not just positive) are countable without using axiom of choice.

elementary-set-theoryrational numbersreal-analysis

Prove that rational numbers (not just positive) are countable without using axiom of choice(since it is controversial).

I have seen proofs that use the fact that union of countable sets is countable, which is proved using axiom of choice (if it is not, can you provide a proof showing that). I have also seen many proofs that showing that positive rational numbers are countable, but not both positive and negative rational numbers. I dislike the listing all the rational numbers and assigning a one-one correspondence proof as well (e.g. Cantor's proof) because it feels like cheating to me.

However, I can't find a good proof myself. Hence, I really hope that someone can provide me with a nice proof on this, nice being explicit bijection. Thanks.

Best Answer

You don't need the axiom of choice for the following statement:

If $X$ is countable, and $f$ is a function whose domain is $X$, then the range of $f$ is countable.

You also don't need the axiom of choice for the following statement:

$\Bbb{N\times Z}$ is countable.

Finally, define $f(n,m)=\frac nm$ or $0$ if $m=0$, and show that this is a surjection onto the rational numbers.