On countability and representations

Abstract

The topic of this paper is the subtle interplay between countability and representations. In particular, we establish that the definition of countability of a certain set $X$ crucially hinges on the associated equivalence relation $=_{X}$. Armed with this knowledge, we study well-known and basic principles about countable sets, going back to Cantor, Sierpi\'nski, and K\"{o}nig, working in Kohlenbach's higher-order Reverse Mathematics. While these principles are relatively weak in second-order Reverse Mathematics, we obtain equivalences involving countable choice and Feferman's projection principle. The latter are essentially the strongest axioms studied in higher-order Reverse Mathematics and usually only come to the fore when dealing with the uncountable.