MATH 561 Set Theory

Short Description
This introductory set theory course will be suitable for all mathematics grad- … MATH 561 will provide an introduction to both aspects of set theory, the …

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Content
MATH 561: Set Theory I
Fall 2001, MWF 8:00{8:50, 113 McAllister, Schedule 826671
Stephen G. Simpson, 333 McAllister, 863-0775, simpson@math.psu.edu
This introductory set theory course will be suitable for all mathematics graduate
students, and even advanced undergraduates. The only prerequisite is
mathematical maturity.
The textbook will be Set Theory, by Kenneth Kunen (paperback). Supplementary
textbooks will be Set Theory, by Thomas Jech, and Classical
Descriptive Set Theory, by Alexander Kechris.
Set theory has two aspects.
On the one hand, set theory is an interesting branch of mathematics in its
own right, and set-theoretic methods have turned out to be extremely useful
for attacking a variety of problems in several other branches of mathematics,
including analysis, probability, topology, and combinatorics.
On the other hand, set theory is of great importance as the common foundation
or basis for all of mathematics. It is widely accepted that all mathematical
concepts and structures, in every branch of mathematics, are to
be dened and explained in terms of sets, relations on sets, and mappings
between sets. Furthermore, a mathematical proof is commonly regarded as
correct if and only if it can be formalized within…