Discrete Mathematics

Relations
 Cartesian Product & Ordered
Pairs
An ordered pair of elements is written in the form
(a, b) which is distinct from (b, a) unless a = b
Definition(Cartesian Product) :
For sets A, B  U , the Cartesian product, or
cross product, of A and B is denoted by A B
and A B {( a, b) | a  A, b  B}.
Example:
Let A {x, y} and B {a, b, c} then
A B {(x, a), (x, b), (x, c), (y, a), (y, b), (y, c)}
& B A {(a, x), (a, y), (b, x), (b, y), (c, x), (c, y)}
A A {(x, x), (x, y), (y, x), (y, y)}
Certainly A B B A ( in general)
Example
X = { 1, 2}
Y = { a, b}

X x Y = {(1,a),(1,b),(2,a), (2,b)}
Y x X = { (a, 1), (a,2), (b,1), (b,2)}
Note:
 XxYYxX
 | X x Y | = |X| .|Y|

Determine:
XxX=
YxY =
Ordered lists
 The ordered list does not have to be
restricted to two elements, such as in an
ordered pair.
 An n-tuple, written (a1, a2, a3… an) takes order
into account.
 Cartesian product of sets X1, X2, X3… Xn is
defined to be the set of all n-tuples (x1, x2, x3…
xn) where xi  Xi for i = 1,2,..n

X 1 x X 2 x X 3 x… X n
Relation : Definition
Definition (Relation) : For sets A, B  U , any subset of A B is called
a relation from A to B. Any subset of A A is called a binary
relation on A.

If R is a relation from a set A to another set B, then R  A B

Remarks:
• In general, for finite sets A,B with |A|=m and |B|=n, there
are 2mn relations from A to B, including the empty relation
as well as the relation A × B itself.
• The domain of a relation R is the set of all first elements of the
ordered pairs which belong to R, and the range of R is the set of
second elements.
 Example:
• Let R = { (1,a),(2,b),(1,c)} then dom R = { 1,2 } and
range R = {a,b,c}
• Let A=Z+ and a binary relation R on A be {(x,y) |x<y}
(1,2), (7, 11) is in R, but (2,2), (3,2) are not in R
we can also 1R2, 7R11 (infix notation)
Let X = {2, 3, 4} and Y = { 3, 4, 5,6, 7}
•
If we define a relation R from X to Y by
(x,y) R if x divides y ( with zero remainder)
R = { (2,4), (2,6), (3,3), (3,6), (4,4)}
Domain of R is {2, 3, 4};Range of R is {3, 4 6}
Another Example:

 Let R be the relation on X = {1,2,3,4} defined

by (x,y)  R if x y, x, y X.

 R = { (1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (1,4), (2,2), (2,3),

(2,4), (3,3), (3,4),(4,4)}

 The domain and Range of R are both equal

to X
Representing Relations using
a Digraph
 Digraph – directed graph
 Components –
 Vertices or Nodes, drawn as dots
 Edges - Directed edges i.e. lines between
vertices with arrows showing a direction
between the vertices)
 Vertices represent elements of X
 Directed Edge represent the members

of the relation R
 Example
Let R = {(1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (1,4), (2,2), (2,3),
(2,4), (3,3), (3,4),} be a relation on
A={1,2,3,4} 1 2
A Loop

4 3
Exercise:
 The Relation R on X = {a, b, c, d} is
R = {(a,a), (b,c), (c,b), (d,d)}
What would the digraph to represent this relation
look like?
Representing Relations
Using Matrix
Let A = { 1 , a 2 ,..., a m } and B={b1 , b2 ,..., bn }
a
Let R be relation from A to B. Then R is represented by
a matrix M R [ mij ]mn where

1
 if ( ai , b j )  R
mij 
0
 if (ai , b j )  R
The matrix M R is called the matrix of R.
Example : Let A {1,2,3,4} and B {x, y, z}
Let R {(1, y ), (2, z ), (3, x), (3, y ), (4, x), (4, z )} be a relation from A to B.
Then M R is given by  0 1 0
 
x y z  0 0 1
10
 M R   .
1 0 1 1 0
20 0 1  
 1 0 1
31 1 0  
41 0 1
Types of Relations:

 Reflexive and Irreflexive

 Symmetric

 Antisymmetric

 Transitive
Reflexive and Irreflexive
 A relation R on a set A is called reflexive
if (a, a) R for every a  A
e.g. Let A = {1,2,3,4}, then
R = { (1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (1,4), (2,2), (2,3), (2,4), (3,3), (3,4),(4,4)}
is Reflexive, while
R*={(1,1),(1,2),(1,3),(1,4),(2,3),(2,4),(3,3),(3,4)}
is not a reflexive relation on A.
 A relation R on a set A is called irreflexive if

(a,a) does not belong to R for any a A.

R’={(1,2),(1,3),(1,4),(2,3),(2,4),(3,4)} is irreflexive relation on A.
Symmetric and Anti-
symmetric
A relation R on a set A, is called symmetric if
whenever (a,b) R, then (b,a)  R
Example:
R2 = {(a,a), (b,c), (c,b), (d,d)} is symmetric.
Is R2 also Reflexive?
 A relation R on a set A is called anitsymmetric if

whenever (a, b) and (b, a)  R then a=b.

Example:
R = {(1,1),(1,2),(1,3),(1,4),(2,2),(2,3),(2,4), (3,3), (3,4),
(4,4)}
is Antisymmetric as (2,1) , (3,1) and (4,2) are not in
the relation R.
 Note that this relation is not symmetric but it is

antisymmetric.
Antisymmetric (continued)
 Is R2 = {(a, a), (b, c), (c, b), (d, d)} is
antisymmetric?
No. Both (b,c) and (c,b) are in R.
 If a relation R on X has no members of the
form (x, y) with xy, then R is antisymmetric.
WHY?
 Let R = {(a,a), (b,b), (c,c)}
then R is antisymmetric
Is R also Symmetric? Yes.
NB. “Antisymmetric” is not the same as
Transitivity

 A relation R on set A is called transitive if

whenever (a, b)  R and (b, c)  R, then
(a, c)  R
Example:
Let R = { (1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (1,4), (2,2), (2,3),
(2,4), (3,3), (3,4),(4,4)} is transitive but
R = {(a, a), (b, c), (c, b), (d, d)} is not transitive.
WHY?
Inverse of a relation
 Let R be a relation from A to B. The inverse
of R, denoted R-1, is the relation from B to A
defined by
R-1 ={(y, x )|(x, y)  R}
 X = {2,3,4} and Y ={3,4,5,6,7}, a relation R is
defined by
(x, y)  R if x divides y (with zero remainder)
R = {(2,4), (2,6), (3,3),(3,6), (4,4)}
Then R-1 = {(4,2), (6,2), (3,3), (6,3), (4,4)}
 The composition of two
relations
Let R be a relation from A to B and S be a relation
from B to C. The composition of R and S, denoted by
SoR , is the relation from A to C defined by
SoR = {(a, c) | (a, b)  R
and (b, c)  S for some b  B}
Example: Let R is the relation from {1,2,3} to
{1,2,3,4} with R ={(1,1),(1,4),(2,3),(3,1),(3,4)}
and S is the relation from {1,2,3,4} to {0,1,2}
with S={(1,0),(2,0),(3,1),(3,2),(4,1)}.Find SoR.
Solution: SoR = {(1,0),(1,1),(2,1),(2,2),(3,0),(3,1)}.
 Equivalence relations
 A relation on a set A is called an equivalence relation if it
is reflexive, symmetric, and transitive
Example 1:
 Consider relation R = { (a,b) | len(a) = len(b) }

on set of strings of English letters

 Where len(a) means the length of string a
 It is reflexive: len(a) = len(a)
 It is symmetric: if len(a) = len(b), then len(b) = len(a)
 It is transitive: if len(a) = len(b) and len(b) = len(c), then len(a) =
len(c)
 Thus, R is a equivalence relation
Example 2: Let R be the relation on the set of real
numbers such that a R b iff a-b is an integer. Is R an
equivalence relation? (Ex!)
Equivalence relation example
 Consider the relation R = { (a,b) | a ≡ b (mod m) }
 Remember that this means that m | a-b

 Called “congruence modulo m”

 Is it reflexive: (a,a)  R means that m | a-a

 a-a = 0, which is divisible by m

 Is it symmetric: if (a,b)  R then (b,a)  R

 (a,b) means that m | a-b

 Or that km = a-b. Negating that, we get b-a = -km

 Thus, m | b-a, so (b,a)  R

 Is it transitive: if (a,b)  R and (b,c)  R then (a,c)  R

 (a,b) means that m | a-b, or that km = a-b

 (b,c) means that m | b-c, or that lm = b-c

 Adding these two, we get km+lm = (a-b) + (b-c)

 Or (k+l)m = a-c or nm = a-c.

 Thus, m divides a-c, where n = k+l

 Thus, congruence modulo m is an equivalence relation

 Examples:
 Which of these relations on {0, 1, 2, 3} are equivalence relations?
Determine the properties of an equivalence relation that the others
lack
a) { (0,0), (1,1), (2,2), (3,3) }
Has all the properties, thus, is an equivalence relation
b) { (0,0), (0,2), (2,0), (2,2), (2,3), (3,2), (3,3) }
Not reflexive: (1,1) is missing
Not transitive: (0,2) and (2,3) are in the relation, but not (0,3)
c) { (0,0), (1,1), (1,2), (2,1), (2,2), (3,3) }
Has all the properties, thus, is an equivalence relation
d) { (0,0), (1,1), (1,3), (2,2), (2,3), (3,1), (3,2) (3,3) }
Not transitive: (1,3) and (3,2) are in the relation, but not (1,2)
e) { (0,0), (0,1) (0,2), (1,0), (1,1), (1,2), (2,0), (2,2), (3,3) }
Not symmetric: (1,2) is present, but not (2,1)
Not transitive: (2,0) and (0,1) are in the relation, but not (2,1)
Equivalence classes
 Let R be an equivalence relation on a set A. The
set of all elements that are related to an element a
of A is called the equivalence class of a.
 The equivalence class of a with respect to R is
denoted by [a]R

 When only one relation is under consideration, the

subscript is often deleted, and [a] is used to denote
the equivalence class

 Note that these classes are disjoint!

 As the equivalence relation is symmetric
More on equivalence classes
 Consider the relation R = { (a,b) | a mod a b mod 2 }
 Thus, all the even numbers are related to each other
 As are the odd numbers
 The even numbers form an equivalence class
 As do the odd numbers
 The equivalence class for the even numbers is
denoted by [2] (or [4], or [784], etc.)
 [2] = { …, -4, -2, 0, 2, 4, … }
 2 is a representative of its equivalence class
 There are only 2 equivalence classes formed by this
equivalence relation
More on equivalence classes
 Consider the relation R = { (a,b) | a = b or
a = -b }
 Thus, every number is related to additive inverse
 The equivalence class for an integer a:
 [7] = { 7, -7 }
 [0] = { 0 }
 [a] = { a, -a }
 There are an infinite number of equivalence
classes formed by this equivalence relation
 Partitions
 Consider the relation R = { (a,b) | a b mod 2 }
 This splits the integers into two equivalence classes: even
numbers and odd numbers
 Those two sets of equivalence classes [0] and [1] together
form a partition of the integers
 Formally, a partition of a set S is a collection of non-empty
disjoint subsets of S whose union is S
 In this example, the partition is { [0], [1] }
Or { {…, -3, -1, 1, 3, …}, {…, -4, -2, 0, 2, 4, …} }
 Exercise (Imp): What are the sets in the partition of the
integers arising from congruence modulo 4?
Other remarks and
Observations:
 Which of the following are partitions of the set of integers?

a) The set of even integers and the set of odd integers

Yes, it’s a valid partition
b) The set of positive integers and the set of negative integers
No: 0 is in neither set
c) The set of integers divisible by 3, the set of integers leaving a
remainder of 1 when divided by 3, and the set of integers leaving a
remainder of 2 when divided by 3
Yes, it’s a valid partition
d) The set of integers less than -100, the set of integers with absolute
value not exceeding 100, and the set of integers greater than 100
Yes, it’s a valid partition
e) The set of integers not divisible by 3, the set of even integers, and the
set of integers that leave a remainder of 3 when divided by 6
The first two sets are not disjoint (2 is in both), so it’s not a valid partition
Partial Order relation:
Introduction
 An equivalence relation is a relation that is reflexive,
symmetric, and transitive
 A partial ordering (or partial order) is a relation that is
reflexive, antisymmetric, and transitive
 Recall that antisymmetric means that if (a,b) and (b,a)  R,

then b = a
 Thus, (a,a) is allowed to be in R

 But since it’s reflexive, all possible (a,a) must be in R

 A set S with a partial ordering R is called a partially ordered

set, or poset
 Denoted by (S,R) or (P,
)
Partial ordering examples
 Show that ≥ is a partial order on the set of integers
 It is reflexive: a ≥ a for all a  Z
 It is antisymmetric: if a ≥ b and b ≥ a then
b=a
 It is transitive: if a ≥ b and b ≥ c, then a ≥ c
 Note that ≥ is the partial ordering on the set of integers
 (Z, ≥) is the partially ordered set, or poset.
 Show that the inclusion relation is a partial
ordering relation on the power set of a set S.
(Exercise!) i.e. (P(S), ) is a poset.


Symbol usage
 The symbol is used to represent any
partial order relation.
 Not just the less than or equals to relation
 Can represent ≤, ≥,, etc
 Thus, a  b denotes that (a,b)  R
 The poset is (S,)

 The symbol  is used to denote a  b but a ≠

b
 If  represents ≥, then  represents >
Comparability
 The elements a and b of a poset (S,) are called
comparable if either a  b or b  a.
 Meaning if (a,b)  R or (b,a)  R
 It can’t be both because  is antisymmetric
 Unless a = b, of course
 If neither a  b nor b  a, then a and b are
incomparable
 Meaning they are not related to each other
 If all elements in S are comparable, the relation
is a total ordering
Comparability examples

 Let  be the “divides” operator |

 In the poset (Z+,|), are the integers 3 and 9
comparable?
 Yes, as 3 | 9
 Are 7 and 5 comparable?
 No, as 7 | 5 and 5 | 7
 Thus, as there are pairs of elements in Z+ that
are not comparable, the poset (Z+,|) is a
partial order, but not total ordered
Comparability examples
 Let  be the less than or equals operator ≤
 In the poset (Z+,≤), are the integers 3 and 9
comparable?
 Yes, as 3 ≤ 9
 Are 7 and 5 comparable?
 Yes, as 5 ≤ 7
 As all pairs of elements in Z+ are comparable,
the poset (Z+,≤) is a total order
 Also called as totally ordered poset, linearly ordered
set, chain, etc.
 Well-ordered sets
 (S,) is a well-ordered set if:
 (S,) is a totally ordered poset
 Every non-empty subset of S has a first element

 Example: (Z,≤)
 Is a total ordered poset (every element is comparable to
every other element)
 It has no least element
 Thus, it is not a well-ordered set

 Example: (S,≤) where S = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }

 Is a total ordered poset (every element is comparable to
every other element)
 Has a least element (1)
 Thus, it is a well-ordered set
Lexicographic ordering
 Consider two linearly ordered posets S and
T. Then the following order relation can be
defined on SxT :
(a,b) (a’,b’) if a<a’ or if a=a’ and b<b’.
This order can be extended to S1xS2x……Sn
as follows:
(a1,a2,……..an) (a’1,a’2,……a’n) if ai=a’i for
i= 1,2,…….k-1 and ak<a’k.
This order relation is called Lexicographic
ordering
Let R be a total ordering relation
on a set XX and 2 n
let P=
X  ........ X (n 1,2.3,.......

Thenu1 , u2 ,.......u p S v1 , v2 ,......vq if any one of

the following holds:
1. u1, u2 ,.......u p  v1, v2 ,......v p
2. u1 v1 andu1Rv1inX
3 i i and
u v
u  v , i  1 , 2,......, k ( k  P ),
k 1 k 1

and u
k 1 v
k 1

If none of these is satisfied, then

u1 , u2 ,.......uq S v1 , v2 ,......v p
Lexicographic ordering
A special case of lexicographic ordering is
used in English Dictionary
Let X={a,b,c,……z} and let R be a simple
ordering on X denoted by ≤ where
a ≤b ≤………. ≤z and P= XUX2UX3. Thus P
consists of all words or strings of 3 or fewer
than 3 letters from X. Let S be the
lexicographic ordering on P. Then we have
me S met by condition 1, bet S met by
Con.2 and beg S bet by Con.3.
How ‘go’ and ‘get’ are related?
Hasse Diagram
In the partial ordered (P,≤) an element
yєP is said to cover an element xєP if there
does not exist an element z єP such that
x ≤ z ≤ y i.e.
y covers x(x<y and (x≤z≤y=>x=z or z=y
A partial order relation ≤ on a set P can be
represented by means of a diagram known
as a Hasse diagram or partially ordered set
diagram of (P, ≤).
In such a diagram , each element is
represented by a small circle or a dot.
The circle for xєP is drawn below the circle for
y є P if x<y and a line is drawn if
y covers x. If x<y & x<z, but y is not related to
z, then y & z are connected with x by St.
lines. If x<y but y does not cover x, then x
and y are not connected directly by a single
line. However, they are connected through
one or more elements of P. It is possible to
obtain the set of ordered pairs in ≤ form a
diagram
 Hasse Diagram
Example. Let P={1,2,3,4} and ≤be the relation
Consider the set P = {{ }, {a}, {a, b}, {a, b, c}} and the
relation ‘  ‘ on P 


2

1
Hasse Diagram

 For the poset ({1,2,3,4,6,8,12}, |)

Hasse Diagram

Exercise1.Let X={2, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36} and the relation

≤ be such that x ≤ y if x divides y. Draw Hasse
diagram of ( P, ≤). 

Exercise2.Let A be a given finite set and


P(A) its power set. Let ‘contained in’ be partial
ordering relation on P(A). Draw Hasse diagram of
(P(A),  ) when (i) A={a} {ii} A={a, b}
(iii) A ={a, b, c} (iv) A = {a, b, c, d }.
End of chapter 2.