Fractal Countability as a Constructive Alternative to the Power Set of N: A Meta-Formal Approach to Stratified Definability (2503.22042v1)

Abstract: Classical set theory constructs the continuum via the power set P(N), thereby postulating an uncountable totality. However, constructive and computability-based approaches reveal that no formal system with countable syntax can generate all subsets of N, nor can it capture the real line in full. In this paper, we propose fractal countability as a constructive alternative to the power set. Rather than treating countability as an absolute cardinal notion, we redefine it as a stratified, process-relative closure over definable subsets, generated by a sequence of conservative extensions to a base formal system. This yields a structured, internally growing hierarchy of constructive definability that remains within the countable realm but approximates the expressive richness of the continuum. We compare fractally countable sets to classical countability and the hyperarithmetical hierarchy, and interpret the continuum not as a completed object, but as a layered definitional horizon. This framework provides a constructive reinterpretation of power set-like operations without invoking non-effective principles.