Editing Dedekind-infinite set (section)

==Proof of equivalence to infinity, assuming axiom of countable choice==
That every Dedekind-infinite set is infinite can be easily proven in ZF: every finite set has by definition a bijection with some finite ordinal ''n'', and one can prove by induction on ''n'' that this is not Dedekind-infinite.

By using the [[axiom of countable choice]] (denotation: axiom CC) one can prove the converse, namely that every infinite set ''X'' is Dedekind-infinite, as follows: 

First, define a function over the natural numbers (that is, over the finite ordinals) {{nowrap|''f'' : '''N''' → Power(Power(''X''))}}, so that for every natural number ''n'', ''f''(''n'') is the set of finite subsets of ''X'' of size ''n'' (i.e. that have a bijection with the finite ordinal ''n''). ''f''(''n'') is never empty, or otherwise ''X'' would be finite (as can be proven by induction on ''n'').

The [[Image (mathematics)|image]] of f is the countable set {{nowrap|{''f''(''n'') {{!}} ''n'' ∈ '''N'''},}} whose members are themselves infinite (and possibly uncountable) sets. By using the axiom of countable choice we may choose one member from each of these sets, and this member is itself a finite subset of ''X''. More precisely, according to the axiom of countable choice, a (countable) set exists, {{nowrap|1=''G'' = {''g''(''n'') {{!}} ''n'' ∈ '''N'''},}} so that for every natural number ''n'', ''g''(''n'') is a member of ''f''(''n'') and is therefore a finite subset of ''X'' of size ''n''.

Now, we define ''U'' as the union of the members of ''G''. ''U'' is an infinite countable subset of ''X'', and a bijection from the natural numbers to ''U'', {{nowrap|''h'' : '''N''' → ''U''}}, can be easily defined. We may now define a bijection {{nowrap|''B'' : ''X'' → ''X'' \ ''h''(0)}} that takes every member not in ''U'' to itself, and takes ''h''(''n'') for every natural number to {{nowrap|''h''(''n'' + 1)}}. Hence, ''X'' is Dedekind-infinite, and we are done.