Division by three

Abstract

We prove without appeal to the Axiom of Choice that for any sets A and B, if there is a one-to-one correspondence between 3 cross A and 3 cross B then there is a one-to-one correspondence between A and B. The first such proof, due to Lindenbaum, was announced by Lindenbaum and Tarski in 1926, and subsequently `lost'; Tarski published an alternative proof in 1949. We argue that the proof presented here follows Lindenbaum's original.