KTH/SU Mathematics Colloquium

September 23, 2009

Saharon Shelah, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Rutgers University

Hilbert's First Problem and the number four

Hilbert's First Problem was about the continuum hypothesis, so really about: is the arithmetic of infinite numbers simple? What are its rules? The talk will be exclusively in naive set theory, and does not assume any specialized knowledge. We try to exemplify the idea, that when we ask the right question there is much to be said, even restricting ourselves to sets of reals only.