Countability of Algebraic Numbers
September 30, 2024
This is a proof that the set of algebraic numbers is countable.
Be the set of all polynomials with integer coefficients and degree less or equal to . We can observe that exists a bijection between and , as we can write any polynomial as So we can express the polynomial as a tuple . As the product of countable sets is countable, we can conclude that is countable.
As each polynomial has a finite number of roots, the set:
Then, be , we can see that is countable, as it is the countable union of countable sets.
Finally, be , we can see that is countable, as it is the countable union of countable sets. And is the set of all algebraic numbers, so we have proved that the set of algebraic numbers is countable.