University Seminar: Logic Across Disciplines-Motivating and characterizing large cardinals

Title: Motivating and characterizing large cardinals
Speaker: Philip White, GWU
Date and time: Friday, October 4, 11:00am-12 noon
Place: Phillips Hall (801 22nd Street), Room 736

Abstract: There are certain properties which characterize the largeness of N. Whether or not these same features of largeness can be applied to an uncountable cardinal aleph is independent of the traditional axioms of set theory. If we suppose there exists a large cardinal exhibiting such features, we arrive at a theory provably stronger than traditional set theory. The aim of the talk is to motivate large cardinals as well as to introduce a preliminary result involving a new large cardinal notion (obtained under the guidance of Brent Cody of VCU).