Countable sets versus sets that are countable in Reverse Mathematics

Abstract: The program Reverse Mathematics (RM for short) seeks to identify the axioms necessary to prove theorems of ordinary mathematics, usually working in the language of second-order arithmetic $L_{2}$. A major theme in RM is therefore the study of structures that are countable or can be approximated by countable sets. Now, countable sets are represented by sequences here, because the usual higher-order definition of countable set'cannot be expressed in $L_{2}$. Working in Kohlenbach's higher-order RM, we investigate various central theorems, e.g. those due to K\"onig, Ramsey, Bolzano, Weierstrass, and Borel, in their (often original) formulation involving the usual definition(s) ofcountable set' instead of sequence'. This study turns out to be closely related to the logical properties of the uncountably of $\mathbb{R}$, recently developed by the author and Dag Normann. Now,being countable' can be expressed by the existence of an injection to $\mathbb{N}$ (Kunen) or the existence of a bijection to $\mathbb{N}$ (Hrbacek-Jech). The former (and not the latter) choice yields explosive' theorems, i.e. relatively weak statements that become much stronger when combined with discontinuous functionals, even up to $\Pi_2^1$-CA$_0$. Nonetheless, replacingsequence' by countable set' seriously reduces the first-order strength of these theorems, whatever the notion ofset' used. Finally, we obtain splittings' involving e.g. lemmas by K\"onig and theorems from the RM zoo, showing that the latter area lot more tame' when formulated with countable sets.