Erdős Problem #623

The problem

Let $X$ be a set of cardinality $\aleph_\omega$ and $f$ be a function from the finite subsets of $X$ to $X$ such that $f(A)\not\in A$ for all $A$. Must there exist an infinite $Y\subseteq X$ that is independent - that is, for all finite $B\subset Y$ we have $f(B)\not\in Y$?

Statement quoted from erdosproblems.com/623, maintained by Thomas Bloom. Original source: [ErHa58][Er99]. Current status there: open.

AI contributions

As recorded in Terence Tao's wiki AI contributions to Erdős problems (data as of 30 Jun 2026). 🟢 full, 🟡 partial, ⚪ unverified, 🔴 incorrect.

Caveats

The wiki's classifications are provisional and are not a benchmark. Many Erdős problems have never had a thorough literature review, so a result that looks new may later turn out to be known; some problems were also stated ambiguously or incorrectly. See the problem page for the full discussion.

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