Sunday 18 November 2018

Why do we take the axiom of induction for natural numbers (Peano arithmetic)?

More precisely, when we define the set of natural numbers $\mathbb{N}$ using the Peano axioms, we assume the following:




  1. $0\in\mathbb{N}$

  2. $\forall n\in\mathbb{N} (S(n)\in\mathbb{N})$

  3. $\forall n\in\mathbb{N}(0\neq S(n))$


  4. $\forall m,n (m\neq n\to S(m)\neq S(n))$

  5. If $P(n)$ denotes the fact that $n$ has property $P$, then $\Big(P(0)\wedge \forall n\in\mathbb{N}\big(P(n)\to P(S(n))\big)\Big)\implies \forall n\in \mathbb{N} (P(n))$



I understand that using these axioms we can derive everything about the natural numbers, but I also think it's helpful to know why the axioms were chosen the way they are. So my question is why we choose to accept the axiom of induction ((5.) above), which in a way makes this more of a metamathematical question.



For example in Tao's Analysis I, it says that the axiom of induction keeps unwanted elements (such as half-integers) from entering the set.



Wikipedia says, "Axioms [1], [2], [3] and [4] imply that the set of natural numbers is infinite, because it contains at least the infinite subset $\{ 0, S(0), S(S(0)), \ldots \}$, each element of which differs from the rest. To show that every natural number is included in this set requires an additional axiom, which is sometimes called the axiom of induction. This axiom provides a method for reasoning about the set of all natural numbers."---But I find this tautological: $\mathbb{N}$ is defined as the set of natural numbers so "$n$ is a natural number" means "$n\in\mathbb{N}$", right? So isn't every natural number included in $\mathbb{N}$ by definition?




Suppose we want to show $\mathbb{N}=\{0,1,2,3,\ldots\}$ using all five of the Peano axioms.



If we let $P(n)$ denote $n\in\{0,1,2,3,\ldots\}$, then $P(0)$ is true. Suppose $n$ is in $\{0,1,2,3,\ldots\}$. Then (informally) the dots indicate that $S(n)$ is in $\{0,1,2,3,\ldots\}$. So $\mathbb{N}\subseteq\{0,1,2,3,\ldots\}$, i.e., our defined set contains no "extra" elements (as in Tao's Analysis I).



Yet I still do not see how to show $\{0,1,2,3,\ldots\}\subseteq\mathbb{N}$ (in order to complete the "proof" that $\mathbb{N}=\{0,1,2,3,\ldots\}$) without just assuming it. (I think this is what the Wikipedia article was doing(?))



Thanks in advance for any help and I apologize if this kind of question is unsuitable for this site.

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