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Infinite

From AoPSWiki

A set S is said to be infinite if there is a surjection f:S\to\mathbb{Z}. If this is not the case, S is said to be finite.

In simplified language, a set is infinite if it doesn't end, i.e. you can always find another element that you haven't examined yet.

Equivalent formulations

  • A set is infinite if it can be put into bijection with one of its proper subsets.
  • A set is infinite if it is not empty and cannot be put into bijection with any set of the form \{1, 2, \ldots, n\} for a positive integer n.

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