| a conjecture of set theory that the first infinite cardinal number greater than the cardinal number of the set of all positive integers is the cardinal number of the set of all real numbers. |
continuum hypothesis
statement of set theory that the set of real numbers (the continuum) is in a sense as small as it can be. In 1873 the German mathematician Georg Cantor proved that the continuum is uncountable-that is, the real numbers are a larger infinity than the counting numbers-a key result in starting set theory as a mathematical subject. Furthermore, Cantor developed a way of classifying the size of infinite sets according to the number of its elements, or its cardinality. (See set theory: Cardinality and transfinite numbers.) In these terms, the continuum hypothesis can be stated as follows: The cardinality of the continuum is the smallest uncountable cardinal number.
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