countable algebraic sets
An algebraic set over an uncountably infinite base field
(like the real or complex numbers
) cannot be countably infinite
.
Proof: Let be a countably infinite subset of . By a cardinality argument (see the attachment), there must exist a line such that the projection of this set to the line is infinite
. Since the projection of an algebraic set to a linear subspace is an algebraic set, the projection of to this line would be an algebraic subset of the line. However, an algebraic subset of a line is the locus of zeros of some polynomial
, hence must be finite. Therefore, could not be algebraic since that would lead to a contradiction
.