mathematics A
finite von Neumann ordinal.
The von Neumann integer N is a
finite set with N elements which are the von Neumann integers 0 to N-1. Thus
0 = = 1 =
0 = {} 2 = 0, 1 = {, {}} 3 = 0, 1, 2 = {, {}, {, {}}} ...
The set of von Neumann integers is
infinite, even though each of its elements is finite.
[Origin of name?]
(1995-03-30)