In mathematics, particularly in mathematical logic and set theory, a club set is a subset of a limit ordinal which is closed under the order topology, and is unbounded.
Formally, if κ is a cardinal then a set
is closed iff for any
and α < κ,
then
. That is, if the limit of some sequence in C is less than κ, then the limit is also in C.
If κ is a cardinal and
then C is unbounded if, for any α < κ, there is some
such that α < β.
If a set is both closed and unbounded, then it is a club set.
For example, the set of all countable limit ordinals is a club set with respect to the first uncountable ordinal; but it is not a club set with respect to any higher limit ordinal, since it is neither closed nor bounded.