Olivetti Club

Thomas KernCornell University
Permutation models

Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - 4:30pm
Malott 406

Bertrand wants to pick one sock from each of his countably many pairs of socks, but can't do so without the Axiom of Choice! In this talk, I will construct a world where the axiom of choice fails spectacularly, where there is a collection of infinitely many pairs such that you cannot pick one element from each pair all at once. If time permits, I will explore the consequences of trying to do linear algebra in this world.

Refreshments will be served in the lounge at 4:00 PM.