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I know that null set is finite. But can you point me to a convincing proof?

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    Definition of finite? I would say a set is finite if there is a bijection between it and some $n$ where $n = \{0,\dots,n-1\}$ (these are formal ordinals defined inductively as $0=\emptyset$ and $m+1 = m \cup \{ m \}$). In this case, $0=\emptyset$ is finite by definition.2011-11-10

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Take as the definition of "finite set" that $S$ is finite iff $S$ is in bijection with a set of the form $\{k\in\mathbb{N}\mid k where $n\in\mathbb{N}$. This is the definition used, e.g., on the nLab; the standard definition that $S$ is finite iff $S$ is in bijection with a set of the form $\{1,\ldots,n\}$ where $n\in\mathbb{N}$ (used, e.g., on Wikipedia) only necessitates defining the empty set to be finite, which is probably not satisfactory to you.

Now note that $\varnothing$ is in bijection with the subset $\varnothing=\{k\in\mathbb{N}\mid k<1\}$ (note that I am taking $\mathbb{N}$ to not include $0$). Hence, $\varnothing$ is finite. (If you prefer $0\in\mathbb{N}$, which there are many good reasons for, as Asaf points out below, and which many people do use, then of course we have $\varnothing=\{k\in\mathbb{N}\mid k<0\}$ instead.)

Alternatively, you could define an "infinite set" to be a set $S$ for which there exists a proper subset $T\subsetneq S$ which is in bijection with $S$; then define a finite set to be one which is not infinite. (As Asaf warns below, this is only an equivalent definition if one accepts the axiom of choice.)

Under this definition, because $\varnothing$ has no proper subsets, it cannot be infinite; hence it is finite.

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    Another nitpick, your definition of infinite is known as Dedekind-infinite. It is known that it requires the axiom of choice (slightly less than countable choice) to ensure that this definition is equivalent to "$X$ is infinite if it is not finite"...2011-11-10
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Since I generally take ZFC as my framework, I prefer first to define the finite ordinals and then to define finite sets as those that admit a bijection with a finite ordinal. The finite ordinals are the elements of $\omega$, which is defined using the axiom of infinity and the comprehension schema. There are a couple of ways to carry out the details, but in the end $\omega$ turns out to be the intersection of all sets $x$ such that (a) $\varnothing \in x$ and (b) $y\cup\{y\}\in x$ whenever $y\in x$, i.e., the smallest set containing $\varnothing$ and closed under the successor operation $y\mapsto y\cup\{y\}$. In particular, $\varnothing \in \omega$, so by definition $\varnothing$ is finite.

In this approach we go on to define $0$ to be $\varnothing$, $1$ to be $\varnothing\cup\{\varnothing\}=0\cup\{0\}$, $2$ to be $1\cup\{1\} =$ $0\cup\{0\}\cup\{1\}=\{0,1\}$, and so on, and each ordinal is the set of smaller ordinals. Thus, a bijection between a set $A$ and a finite ordinal $n$ is in fact a bijection between $A$ and $\{k:k, so this approach actually leads to the definition in Zev’s answer in the version in which $\mathbb{N}=\omega$, i.e., includes $0$.

There are other ways to define finite set, but all of the ones that I’ve seen automatically make the empty set finite. For instance, a definition due to Kuratowski can be expressed as follows. Let $S$ be any set. Let $\mathfrak{F}(S) = \{\mathscr{A}\subseteq\wp(S):\varnothing\in \mathscr{A}\land\forall X\in\wp(S)\;\forall x\in S\big(X\in\mathscr{A}\to X\cup\{x\}\in\mathscr{A}\big)\},$ and let $\mathscr{F}(S)=\bigcap\mathfrak{F}(S)$; then $S$ is finite iff $S\in\mathscr{F}(S)$. Applying this definition to the empty set, we have $\wp(\varnothing)=\{\varnothing\}$, whose subsets are $\varnothing$ and $\{\varnothing\}$, of which only $\{\varnothing\}$ belongs to $\mathfrak{F}(\varnothing)$. Thus, $\mathfrak{F}(\varnothing)=\{\{\varnothing\}\}$, $\mathscr{F}(\varnothing)=\bigcap\{\{\varnothing\}\}=\{\varnothing\}$, and hence $\varnothing\in\mathscr{F}(\varnothing)$, i.e., $\varnothing$ is finite.

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The definition of an infinite set is such:

$A$ is infinite if and only if for every $n\in\mathbb N$ there exists a function from $\{0,\ldots,n-1\}$ to $A$ which is 1-1 (i.e. injective).

This agrees with the definition $A$ is infinite if and only if it is not finite; whereas finite is defined to have $n$ many elements for some $n\in\mathbb N$.

From the above definition we can easily see why $\varnothing$ cannot be infinite, there are no injective functions from $\{0\}$ into $\varnothing$. In fact, there are no functions at all from a nonempty set into the empty set.


However, one could argue that sets are either empty, finite, or infinite. Of course this all depends on the definition, and to a certain degree matters less - as long as you cannot deduce that $\varnothing$ is infinite. It is important that definitions that have become accepted in the mathematical world are used by most people, and if you deviate from them then you have to give your definition as well, as to avoid confusion.

In the case that you want to take the definition of the empty set as non-finite, but rather empty, then you have to reformulate most of the theorems regarding finality, for example:

Theorem: Every subset of a finite set is finite.

Now this would have to read: "Every subset of a finite set is finite or empty." because the empty set is a subset of every other set. If you are willing to reformulate, give explicit definitions and so on, then it is okay to use "nonstandard" terminology and notation. If not, then it should be apparent that the conventional norms should be fine, and under those the empty set is indeed finite.

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Null set is finite set. In order to prove this,we consider the power set of null set.

Formula for finding the power set is $2^n$ where $n$ is number of elements in a set.

As we know null set contains no elements means containing zero elements. Here, $n=0$, so $2^0 =1$,that is power set containing one and only set i.e. $\phi$. (as, $A=\phi$ so $p(A)=\phi$).

Finite member of set have finite power set and infinite member of set have infinite power set.