Proof that two basis of a vector space have the same cardinality in the infinite-dimensional case

In spirit, the proof is very similar to the proof that two finite bases must have the same cardinality: express each vector in one basis in terms of the vectors in the other basis, and leverage that to show the cardinalities must be equal, by using the fact that the "other" basis must span and be lineraly independent.

Suppose that $\{v_i\}_{i\in I}$ and $\{u_j\}_{j\in J}$ are two infinite bases for $V$.

For each $i\in I$, $v_i$ is in the linear span of $\{u_j\}_{j\in J}$. Therefore, there exists a finite subset $J_i\subseteq J$ such that $v_i$ is a linear combination of the vectors $\{u_j\}_{j\in J_i}$ (since a linear combination involves only finitely many vectors with nonzero coefficient).

Therefore, $V=\mathrm{span}(\{v_i\}_{i\in I}) \subseteq \mathrm{span}\{u_j\}_{j\in \cup J_i}$. Since no proper subset of $\{u_j\}_{j\in J}$ can span $V$, it follows that $J = \mathop{\cup}\limits_{i\in I}J_i$.

Now use this to show that $|J|\leq |I|$, and a symmetric argument to show that $|I|\leq |J|$.

Note. The argument I have in mind in the last line involves some (simple) cardinal arithmetic, but it is enough that at least some form of the Axiom of Choice may be needed in its full generality.

Once you have the necessary facts about infinite sets, the argument is very much like that used in the finite-dimensional case. The two crucial pieces of information are (1) that if $I$ is an infinite set of cardinality $\kappa$, say, then $I$ has $\kappa$ finite subsets, and (2) that if $|J|>\kappa$, and $J$ is expressed as the union of $\kappa$ subsets, then at least one of those subsets must be infinite.

Let $B_1 = \{v_i:i\in I \}$ and $B_2 = \{u_j:j \in J \}$, and suppose that $|J|>|I| = \kappa$. Each $u_j \in B_2$ can be written as a linear combination of some finite subset of $B_1$, say $u_j = \sum\limits_{i \in F_j}k_{ji}v_i$, where $F_j$ is a finite subset of $I$. For each finite $F \subseteq I$ let $J_F = \{j \in J:F_j = F\}$; clearly $J$ is the union of these sets $J_F$. But by (1) above $I$ has only $\kappa$ finite subsets, and $|J|>\kappa$, so by (2) above there must be some finite $F \subseteq I$ such that $J_F$ is infinite.

To simplify the notation, let $F = \{i_1,i_2,\dots,i_n\}$, and for $\mathcal{l}=1,2,\dots,n$ let$v_\mathcal{l} = v_{i_\mathcal{l}}$; then every vector $u_j$ with $j \in J_F$ is a linear combination of the vectors $v_1,v_2,\dots,v_n$. In other words, $\{u_j:j \in J_F\} \subseteq \operatorname{span}\{v_1,v_2,\dots,v_n\}$, and of course $\{u_j:j \in J_F\}$, being a subset of the basis $B_2$, is linearly independent. But $\operatorname{span}\{v_1,v_2,\dots,v_n\}$ is of dimension $n$ over $K$, so any set of more than $n$ vectors in $\operatorname{span}\{v_1,v_2,\dots,v_n\}$ must be linearly dependent, and we have a contradiction. It follows that we must have $|J| \le |I|$. By symmetry (or by the same argument with the rôles of $I$ and $J$ interchanged), $|I| \le |J|$, and hence $|I|=|J|$.