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Martin Brandenburg
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explicit big linearly independent sets

In the following, I use the word "explicit" in the following sense: No choices of bases (of vector spaces or field extensions), non-principal ultrafilters or alike which exist only by Zorn's Lemma (or AC) are needed. Feel free to use similar (perhaps more precise) notions of "explicit", but reasonable ones! To be honest, I'm not so interested in a discussion about mathematical logic. If no example is there, well, then there is no example. ;-)

Can you give explicit large linearly independent subsets of $ \mathbb{R}$ over $\mathbb{Q}$? For example, $\{ln(p) : p \text{ prime}\}$ is such a set, but it's only countable and surely is no basis. You can find more numbers which are linearly independent, but I cannot find uncountably many. AC implies $dim_\mathbb{Q} \mathbb{R} = |\mathbb{R}|$. Perhaps $ZF$ has a model in which every linearly independant subset of $ \mathbb{R}$ is countable?

The same question for algebraically independent subsets of $ \mathbb{R}$ over $\mathbb{Q}$? Perhaps the set above is such a subset? But anyway, it is too small.

Closely related problems: Can you give an explicit proper subspace of $ \mathbb{R}$ over $\mathbb{Q}$, which is isomorphic to $ \mathbb{R}$? If so, is the isomorphism explicit? Same question for subfields.

That would be great if there were explicit examples. :-)

Martin Brandenburg
  • 63.1k
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  • 207
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