TITLE: Cardinality of the permutations of an infinite set
QUESTION [21 upvotes]: If you have an infinite set X of cardinality k, then what is the cardinality of Sym(X) - the group of permutations of X ?

REPLY [15 votes]: Since the comments on Steve0078's answer raise issues concerning the axiom of choice, let me point out that John Dawson and Paul Howard have shown that, in choiceless set theory, the number of permutations of an infinite set $X$ can consistently be related to the number of subsets of $X$ by a strict inequality in either direction; the two numbers can also be incomparable; and of course they can be equal as in the presence of choice.  (Slogan: Without choice, nothing can be proved about those two cardinals.)  The reference for this is "Factorials of Infinite Cardinals" in Fundamenta Mathematicae 93 (1976) pp. 186-195 (Math Reviews volume 55 #7779).