Zulip Chat Archive

Stream: maths

Topic: Question about formalization in set theory.


Brisal (Oct 07 2025 at 15:19):

Hello! I have recently been practicing formalization in Lean 4, specifically in graph theory and set theory. I would like to formalize this problem (currently without the proof part).

Let A_1, ..., A_n be n distinct subsets of the n-set N = {1, ..., n}.
Show that there exists an element x in N such that all the sets A_i without x (for i from 1 to n) are distinct.

I'm not sure whether It is right or not:

example {n : }
    (A : Finset.Icc 1 n  Finset (Finset.Icc 1 n))
    (h_distinct : Function.Injective A) :
     x : Finset.Icc 1 n, Function.Injective (fun i => (A i).erase x) := by
    sorry

Previously I was using Finset (Fin n), but I noticed that in the problem both the indices and elements start from 1, so I replaced it with Finset (Finset.Icc 1 n). Is this okay?

Kenny Lau (Oct 07 2025 at 15:30):

a nitpick, but this doesn't feel like set theory

Kenny Lau (Oct 07 2025 at 15:31):

do you have to follow the problem to the t?

Brisal (Oct 07 2025 at 15:31):

Kenny Lau said:

a nitpick, but this doesn't feel like set theory

Yes, this problem is from the graph theory section in the textbook.

Kenny Lau (Oct 07 2025 at 15:31):

because the first observation I would make is that 1. the indexing doesn't matter, and 2. the underlying n-set also doesn't matter

Brisal (Oct 07 2025 at 15:32):

Kenny Lau said:

because the first observation I would make is that 1. the indexing doesn't matter, and 2. the underlying n-set also doesn't matter

like this?

example {n : } (hn : 1  n)
    (A : Fin n  Finset (Fin n))
    (h_distinct : Function.Injective A) :
     x : Fin n, Function.Injective (fun i => (A i).erase x) := by
  sorry

Kenny Lau (Oct 07 2025 at 15:35):

yes

Brisal (Oct 07 2025 at 15:37):

Kenny Lau said:

yes

Thank you for your suggestion. Does this formalization have any other issues, or do you have any better recommendations? I would like to learn about it.

Kenny Lau (Oct 07 2025 at 15:40):

nope, that looks good

Brisal (Oct 07 2025 at 15:41):

Kenny Lau said:

nope, that looks good

Thank you for your reply


Last updated: Dec 20 2025 at 21:32 UTC