Countable Set - Definition

Definition

A set S is called countable if there exists an injective function f from S to the natural numbers

If f is also surjective and therefore bijective (since f is already defined to be injective), then S is called countably infinite.

As noted above, this terminology is not universal: Some authors use countable to mean what is here called "countably infinite," and to not include finite sets.

For alternative (equivalent) formulations of the definition in terms of a bijective function or a surjective function, see the section Formal definition and properties below.

Read more about this topic:  Countable Set

Famous quotes containing the word definition:

    I’m beginning to think that the proper definition of “Man” is “an animal that writes letters.”
    Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)

    It’s a rare parent who can see his or her child clearly and objectively. At a school board meeting I attended . . . the only definition of a gifted child on which everyone in the audience could agree was “mine.”
    Jane Adams (20th century)

    No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this—”devoted and obedient.” This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman.
    Florence Nightingale (1820–1910)