1 introduction to abstract mathematics sets section 2.1 basic notions of sets section 2.2 operations...

1Introduction to Abstract Mathematics

Sets

Section 2.1 Basic Notions of Sets

Section 2.2 Operations with sets

Section 2.3 Indexed Sets

Instructor: Hayk Melikya [email protected]

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The most fundamental notion in all of mathematics is that of a set. We say that a set is a specified collection of objects, called elements (or members) of the set.

We denote sets by capital letters A, B, … and elements by lower case letters, like x, y , … and so on. If an element x belongs to a set A, we denote this by x A, if not we write x A.


Specifying set

There are various ways to specify a set. For the set of natural

numbers less than or equal to 5, you could write {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} .

For sets that cannot be specified by a list, we describe the elements by some property common to the elements in the set but no others, such as in the description

A = { x | P (x)}which reads “the set of all x such that2 the condition P(x) is true.”


Common Sets:


Subsets

We say that a set A is a subset of a set B if every element of A is also an element of B.

Symbolically, we write this as A B and is read “A is contained in B.”

Finally, the notation A B means that A is not a subset of B. Sets are often illustrated by Venn diagrams, where sets are

represented as circles and elements of the set are points inside the circle.


Equality of Sets:

Two sets are equal (A = B) if they consist of exactly the same elements.In other words, they are equal if

(A = B) if and only if (x) (( xA x B) or

(A = B) iff (x) (( xA x B) (xB x A )) another way:

(A = B) if and only if (A B B A).

Empty Set: The set with no elements is called the empty set (or null set) and denoted by the Greek letter (or sometimes the empty bracket { } )


Theorem 1 (Guaranteed Subset) For any set A, we have A.

Proof :

Since the goal is to show x x A

our job is done before we begin.The reason being that the hypothesis x of the implication is

false, beingthat contains no elements, hence the proposition is true

regardless of theset A. In other words is a subset of any set.

END


Theorem 2 (Transitive Subsets) Let A, B and C be sets.

If A B and B C then A C .Proof:

We will prove the conclusion A C and use the hypothesis as needed.

Letting x A the goal is to show x C . Since x A and using the assumption A B , we know x B . But the second hypothesis says B C , and so we know x C . Hence, we have proved A C , which proves the theorem. END


Subset and Membership:


Power Set P(A)

An important set in mathematics is the power set. For every set A, we denote by P(A) the set of all subsets of A.

Theorem 3 (Power Set) Let A and B be sets. Then A B if and only if P (A) P(B).

Proof: (A B) (P(A) P(B)): We start by letting X P(A) and show X P(B) (and use A

B as our “helper”). Letting X P(A) we have X A and hence X B. But this means X P(B) and so we have shown P(A) P(B) .

(P(A) P(B)) (A B) : We let x A and show x B . If x A, then {x } P(A) ,

and since P(A) P(B) we know {x } P(B) . But this means x B and so A B .


Sec 2.2 Operations on SetsUnion, Intersection and Complement

In traditional arithmetic and algebra, we carry out the binary operations of + and × on numbers. In logic, we have the analogous binary operations of and on sentences. In set theory we have the binary operations of union and intersection of sets, which in a sense are analogous to the ones in arithmetic and sentential logic.Definition ( Union): The union of two sets A and B,

denoted A B , is the set of elements that belong to A or

B or both.

SymbolicallyA B = {x | x A x B }


Definition ( Intersection):

The intersection of two sets A and B, denoted A B , is the set

of elements that belong to A and B.

SymbolicallyA B = {x | x A x B }


Definition( Complement):

The compliment of A, denoted Ac is the set of elements belonging to the universal set U but not A.

Symbolically Ac = {x | x U x A } .


Definition (Relative Complement or Difference):

The relative complement of A in B, denoted, B \ A, is the set of

elements in B but not in A.

Symbolically B \ A = {x | x B x A }

The concepts of union, intersection and relative complement of sets can be illustrated graphically by use of Venn diagrams.

Each Venn diagram begins with an oval representing the universal set, a set that contains all elements of in discussion.

Then, each set in the discussion is represented by a circle, where elements belonging to more than one set are placed in sections where circles overlap.


Venn diagrams for two overlapping sets.


Section 2.3


Definitions:


Example1


Solution:


Example2:


Extended Laws:

1 introduction to abstract mathematics sets section 2.1 basic notions of sets section 2.2 operations...

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