CHAPTER 1

PRELIMINARIES
Sets
Set Theory
A set is a well-defined collection of objects; that is, it is defined in
such a manner that we can determine for any given object x whether or
not x belongs to the set. The objects that belong to a set are called its
elements or members. We will denote sets by capital letters, such as A
or X; if a is an element of the set A, we write a

A.

A set is usually specified either by listing all of its elements inside a

pair of braces or by stating the property that determines whether or not
an object x belongs to the set. We might write
X = { x1, x2, . . . , xn }
for a set containing elements x1, x2, . . . , xn or
X = { x : x satisfies P }
if each x in X satisfies a certain property P. For example, if E is the set of
even positive integers, we can describe E by writing either
E = { 2, 4, 6, . . . : } or E = { x : x is an even integer and x > 0 }.
We write 2

E when we want to say that 2 is in the set E, and

E to say that 3 is not in the set E.

Some of the more important sets that we will consider are the

following:

= { n : n is a natural number } = { 1, 2, 3, . . . };

= { n : n is an integer} = { . . . , 1, 0, 1, 2, . . . };

= { r : r is a rational number} = { p/q : p, q

where q

0};

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R
C

= { x : x is a real number};
= { z : z is a complex number}.

We find various relations between sets and can perform operations

on sets. A set A is a subset of B, written A

B or B

A, if every

element of A is also an element of B. For example,

{ 4, 5, 8 }

{ 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 }

and

C .

Trivially, every set is a subset of itself. A set B is a proper subset of

a set A if B

A but B

B; for example, { 4, 7, 9 }

A = B, if we can show that A

A. If A is not a subset of B, we write A

{ 2, 4, 5, 8, 9 }. Two sets are equal, written

B and B

A.

It is convenient to have a set with no elements in it. This set is

. Note that the empty set is a

called the empty set and is denoted by

subset of every set.

To construct new sets out of old sets, we can perform certain

operations:

the union A

B of two sets A and B is defined as

A

B={x:x

A or x

B };

the intersection of A and B is defined by

A

B={x:x

A and x

B }:

If A = { 1, 3, 5 } and B = f1; 2; 3; 9g, then

A

B = { 1, 2, 3, 5, 9 } and A

B = { 1, 3 }.
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CHAPTER 1

We can consider the union and the intersection of more than two
sets. In this case we write
n

Ai = A1

...

Ai = A1

...

An

i=1

and
n

An

i=1

for the union and intersection, respectively, of the sets A1, . . . , An.
When two sets have no elements in common, they are said to be
disjoint; for example, if E is the set of even integers and O is the set of
odd integers, then E and O are disjoint. Two sets A and B are disjoint
exactly when A

B=

Sometimes we work within one fixed set U, called the universal

set. For any set A

U, we define the complement of A, denoted by A,

to be the set
A = { x : x

U and x

A }.

We define the difference of two sets A and B to be

A\B=A

Example 1. Let
A={x

B = { x : x

A and x

B }.

be the universal set and suppose that

:0<x

3 } and B = { x

:2

x < 4 }.

Then

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B={x

B={x

A = { x

A\B={x

:2

3}

:0<x<4}
:0<x<2}

: x _ 0 or x > 3 }.

Proposition 1. Let A, B, and C be sets. Then

1. A

2. A

3. A

(B

B)

A = A, A

= A and A \

A = A, and A \ A =

C) = (A

B)

C and A

(B

C) = (A

C;

4. A

B=B

5. A

(B

C) = (A

6. A

(B

C) = (A

A and A

B=B

A;

B)

(A

C);

B)

(A

C).

Proof. We prove (1) and (3) and leave the remaining results to be proven
in the exercises.
(1) Observe that
A

A={x:x
={x:x

A or x

A}

A}

=A
and
A

A={x:x
={x:x

A and x

A}

A}

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=A

Also, A \ A = A

A =

(3) For sets A, B, and C,

(B

C) = A

{x:x

={x:x

A or x

B, or x

={x:x

A or x

B}

C) = (A

= (A

B)

C}

C}

C.

A similar argument proves that A

B or x

(B

B)

C.

Theorem 1. (De Morgan's Laws) Let A and B be sets. Then

1. (A

B) = A

B;

2. (A

B) = A

B.

Proof. (1) We must show that (A

B. Let x

(A

B and (A

B). Then x

B)

B)

B. So x is

neither in A nor in B, by the definition of the union of sets. By the

definition of the complement, x

B and we have (A

B)

A and x

B. Therefore, x

A and x

B, and so x

(A

B and so x

B) = A

A and x

B). Hence, (A

B.

To show the reverse inclusion, suppose that x

x

B)

B. Thus x

B. Then

B and so (A

B.

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The proof of (2) is left as an exercise.

Example 2. Other relations between sets often hold true. For example,
(A \ B)

(B \ A) =

To see that this is true, observe that

(A n B)

(B n A) = (A

=A

B)

(B

A)

= .

Equivalence Relations
A fundamental notion in mathematics is that of equality. We can
generalize equality with the introduction of equivalence relations and
equivalence classes. An equivalence relation on a set X is a relation
R

X
(x, x)

X such that

R for all x

X (reflexive property);
(x, y) R implies (y, x) R (symmetric property);
(x, y) and (y; z) R imply (x, z) R (transitive property).
Given an equivalence relation R on a set X, we usually write x
y instead of (x, y)

R. If the equivalence relation already

has an associated notation such as

, or

, we will use that

notation.

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Example 3. Let p, q, r, and s be integers, where q and s are nonzero.

Define p/q

r/s if ps = qr. Clearly

is reflexive and

symmetric. To show that it is also transitive, suppose that p/q

r/s and r/s

t/u, with q, s, and u all nonzero.

Then ps = qr and ru = st. Therefore,

psu = qru = qst.
Since s

0, pu = qt. Consequently, p/q

t/u.

Functions

Cartesian Products and Mappings

Given sets A and B, we can define a new set A

B, called the

Cartesian product of A and B, as a set of ordered pairs. That is,

A

B = { (a, b) : a

A and b

Example 4. If A = { x, y }, B = { 1, 2, 3 }, and C =

B }.

, then A

B is

the set
{ (x, 1), (x, 2), (x, 3), (y, 1), (y, 2), (y, 3) }
and
A

C=

We define the Cartesian product of n sets to be

A1

...

An = { (a1, . . . , an) : ai

Ai for i = 1, . . . , n }.
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CHAPTER 1

If A = A1 = A2 = . . . = An, we often write An for A

(where A would be written n times). For example, the set

all of

or function f

consists of

B are called relations. We will define a mapping

B from a set A to a set B to be the special type

of relation in which for each element a

3-tuples of real numbers.

Subsets of A

. ..

B such that (a, b)

A there is a unique element

f; another way of saying this is that for

every element in A, f assigns a unique element in B. We usually write f :

A

B. Instead of writing down ordered pairs (a, b)

write f(a) = b or f : a

B, we

b. The set A is called the domain of f and

f(A) = { f(a) : a

A}

is called the range or image of f. We can think of the elements in the

function's domain as input values and the elements in the function's
range as output values.

B
f

B
g
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CHAPTER 1

Figure 1.1. Mappings

Example 5. Suppose A = { 1, 2, 3 } and B = { a, b, c }. In Figure 1.1 we

define relations f and g from A to B. The relation f is a mapping, but g is

not because 1

A is not assigned to a unique element in B; that is,

g(1) = a and g(1) = b.

Given a function f : A

B, it is often possible to write a list

describing what the function does to each specific element in the

domain. However, not all functions can be described in this manner. For
example, the function f :

that sends each real number to

its cube is a mapping that must be described by writing f(x) = x3 or f : x

x3.

Binary Operations
A binary operation
into S. For each (a, b)
b)) of S by a

on a set S is a function mapping S

S

S, we will denote the element

b. Intuitively, we may regard a binary operation

((a,

on

S as assigning, to each ordered pair (a, b) of elements of S, an element a

b of S.
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CHAPTER 1

R .

Example 6. Our usual addition + is a binary operation on the set

R . In this

Our usual multiplication is a different binary operation on

example, we could replace
Z

by any of the sets

C ,

Z ,

, or

.
Note that we require a binary operation on a set S to be defined for

every ordered pair (a, b) of elements from S.

A binary operation

b=b

a for all a, b

A binary operation

(b

on a set S is commutative if (and only if)

c) for all a, b

S.

on a set S is associative if (a

b)

c = a

S.

Division Algorithm
An application of the Principle of Well-Ordering that we use often is
the division algorithm.

Theorem 2. (Division Algorithm) Let a and b be integers, with b > 0.

Then there exist unique integers q and r such that
a = bq + r
where 0

r < b.

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CHAPTER 1

Proof. This is a perfect example of the existence-and-uniqueness type of

proof. We must first prove that the numbers q and r actually exist. Then
we must show that if q and r are two other such numbers, then q = q
and r = r.
Existence of q and r. Let
S={a

If 0

bk : k

and a

bk

0 }.

S, then b divides a, and we can let q = a/b and r = 0. If 0

S, we can use the Well-Ordering Principle. We must first show that

S is nonempty. If a > 0, then a

b(2a) = a(1

2b)

b0

S. In either case S

. By the Well-

Ordering Principle, S must have a smallest member, say r = a

Therefore, a = bq + r, r

S. If a < 0, then a

bq.

0. We now show that r < b. Suppose that r >

b. Then
a

b(q + 1) = a

In this case we would have a

a b(q +1) < a

bq

b=r

b > 0.

b(q + 1) in the set S. But then

bq, which would contradict the fact that r = a

bq is the smallest member of S. So r

b. Since 0

S, r

and so r < b.
Uniqueness of q and r. Suppose there exist integers r, r, q, and q
such that
a = bq + r, 0

r < b and a = bq + r, 0

Then bq + r = bq + r. Assume that r

we have b(q

q ' ) = r

r < b.

r. From the last equation

r; therefore, b must divide r

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CHAPTER 1

and 0

r < b. This is possible only if r

r = 0.

Hence, r = r and q = q.
Let a and b be integers. If b = ak for some integer k, we write a
b.
An integer d is called a common divisor of a and b if d

a and d
b. The

greatest common divisor of integers a and b is a positive integer d such

that d is a common divisor of a and b and if d is any other common
divisor of a and b, then d
d. We write d = gcd(a, b); for example, gcd(24,
36) = 12 and gcd(120, 102) = 6. We say that two integers a and b are
relatively prime if gcd(a, b) = 1.

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