# Sets and Relations

## Sets

Sets are unordered collection of elements.

We denote a finite set containing only elements , and by . The order and number of occurrences does not matter: .

• iff

Empty set: . For every we have .

To denote large or infinite sets we can use set comprehensions: is set of all objects with property .

Notation for set comprehension:

Sometimes the binder can be inferred from context so we write simply . In general there is ambiguity in which variables are bound. (Example: what does the in refer to in the expression:

does it refer to the outerone as in or is it a newly bound variable? The notation with dot and bar resolves this ambiguity.

Subset: means

Boolean algebra of subsets of some set (we define ):

• are associative, commutative, idempotent
• neutral and zero elements: ,
• absorption: ,
• deMorgan laws: ,
• complement as partition of universal set: ,
• double complement:

Which axioms are sufficient?

### Infinte Unions and Intersections

Note that sets can be nested. Consider, for example, the following set

This set has two elements. The first element is another set. We have . Note that it is not the case that

Suppose that we have a set that contains other sets. We define union of the sets contained in as follows:

As a special case, we have

Often the elements of the set are computed by a set comprehension of the form . We then write

and the meaning is

Therefore, is equivalent to .

We analogously define intersection of elements in the set:

As a special case, we have

We similarly define intersection of an infinite family

and the meaning is

Therefore, is equivalent to .

## Relations

Pairs:

Cartesian product:

Relations is simply a subset of , that is .

Note:

, is given by

### Set operations

Relations are sets of pairs, so operations apply.

### Relation Composition

Note: relations on a set together with relation composition and form a monoid structure:

Moreover,

### Relation Image

When and we define image of a set under relation as

### Transitive Closure

Iterated composition let .

So, is n-fold composition of relation with itself.

Transitive closure:

Equivalent statement: is equal to the least relation (with respect to ) that satisfies

or, equivalently, the least relation (with respect to ) that satisfies

or, equivalently, the least relation (with respect to ) that satisfies

### Some Laws in Algebra of Relations

Binary relation can be represented as a directed graph with nodes and edges

• Graphical representation of , , and

Equivalence relation is relation with these properties:

• reflexive:
• symmetric:
• transitive:

Equivalence classes are defined by

The set is a partition:

• each set non-empty
• sets are disjoint
• their union is

Conversely: each collection of sets that is a partition defines equivalence class by

Congruence: equivalence that agrees with some set of operations.

Partial orders:

• reflexive
• antisymmetric:
• transitive

## Functions

Example: an example function for , is

Definition of function, injectivity, surjectivity.

- the set of all functions from to . For it is a strictly bigger set than .

(think of exponentiation on numbers)

Note that is isomorphic to , they are two ways of representing functions with two arguments.

There is also isomorphism between

• n-tuples and
• functions , where

### Function update

Function update operator takes a function and two values , and creates a new function that behaves like in all points except at , where it has value . Formally,

### Domain and Range of Relations and Functions

For relation we define domain and range of :

Clearly, and .

### Partial Function

Notation: means .

Partial function is relation such that

Generalization of function update is override of partial functions,

### Range, Image, and Composition

The following properties follow from the definitions: