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Notes based on Chartrand, Polimeni & Zhang’s "Mathematical Proofs: A Transition to Advanced Mathematics" (3 Ed.)

Logic
Statements
A statement (or proposition) is a declarative sentence (or assertion) that has a truth
value, i.e. that is either true (T) or false (F), but not both.
Examples

1. "The integer 3 is even." is a (false) statement (this is a declarative sentence).

2. "Every integer is a real number." is a (true) statement.

3. "Solve the equation x2 = 4 in R." is not a statement (this is an imperative sentence).

4. "What are the solutions of x2 = 4 in R?" is not a statement (this is an interrogative

sentence).

5. "What a nice formula!" is not a statement (this is an exclamatory sentence).

Note that it is not necessary for a statement that its truth value can be determined. For
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example, we may perhaps never know if the statement "For n = 1010 ; the nth digit in the
decimal expansion of is a 9." is true, but we know it has a truth value.

Open Sentences
A declarative sentence containing one or more variables (where each variable is in some set
or domain) and which becomes a statement once the variables are given speci…c values from
their domains, is called an open sentence.
Examples

1. The statement P (x) : x2 = 4; where x 2 R, is an open sentence. It is true when x = 2

or x = 2 and is false otherwise.

2. Let P (x; y) : x + jy + 1j 1; where the domain of x is the set A = f0; 1; 2g and the
domain of y is the set B = f 1; 0g ; is an open sentence. It is false if (x; y) = (0; 1)
and is true otherwise.

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Negation of a Statement
The negation (or denial) of a statement P is the statement "Not P " and is denoted P
(or :P ).

Example. The negation of the statement P : "The integer 3 is even." is the statement P:
"The integer 3 is not even." (Since every integer is either even or odd, we can also say that
P is the statement "The integer 3 is odd.")

Truth table for negation: P P

T F
F T

Disjunction and Conjunction

Let P and Q be statements.

The disjunction of P and Q is the statement "P or Q", denoted P _ Q:

The conjunction of P and Q is the statement "P and Q", denoted P ^ Q:

Example. Consider the statements

P : 3 is an even integer.
Q : 4 is a positive real number.
Then we have
P _ Q : 3 is an even integer or 4 is a positive real number.
P ^ Q : 3 is an even integer and 4 is a positive real number.

Since P is false, P ^ Q is false and since Q is true, P _ Q is true.

Truth table for disjunction and conjunction: P Q P _Q P ^Q

T T T T
F T T F
T F T F
F F F F

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Implication and Biconditional
Given statements P and Q; the conditional statement "If P; then Q:" is called an implica-
tion and is denoted P ! Q (or P ) Q).

In the implication P ! Q, P is called hypothesis (or premise or antecedent) while Q

is called conclusion (or consequent).
Implication P ! Q can equivalently be stated as:

P implies Q:

P only if Q.

P is a su¢ cient condition for Q:

Q if P .

Q is a necessary condition for P:

Let P and Q be statements.

The converse of statement P ! Q is the statement Q ! P:

The statement (P ! Q)^(Q ! P ) ; which we often state as "P if and only if Q." (or
"P is necessary and su¢ cient for Q.", or simply "P i¤ Q:") is called the biconditional
of P and Q and is denoted P ! Q:

Truth table for implication and biconditional: P Q P !Q P !Q

T T T T
F T T F
T F F F
F F T T

Notes on the logical connectives (or logical operators) ; ^; _; !; !

For convenience (e.g. to avoid excessive use of parentheses), we will use the following
order of precedence: ; ^; _; !; !:

Logical connectives can be used not only for statements (as we saw above) but also
for open sentences.

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Consider for example the open sentences

P (x) : x2 = 4 and Q (x) : x = 2; where x 2 R:

Then

P (x) : x2 6= 4

Q (x) : x 6= 2

P (x) _ Q (x) : x2 = 4 or x = 2

P (x) ^ Q (x) : x2 = 4 and x = 2

P (x) ! Q (x) : If x2 = 4; then x = 2

Q (x) ! P (x) : If x = 2; then x2 = 4

P (x) ! Q (x) : x2 = 4 i¤ x = 2

Note that:

P (x) is true if x 2 f 2; 2g and is false otherwise. Hence P (x) is true precisely

when x 62 f 2; 2g :

Clearly, Q (x) is true if x = 2 and Q (x) is true when x 6= 2.

P (x) _ Q (x) is true precisely when x2 = 4 or x = 2: Hence P (x) _ Q (x) is true

precisely when x 2 f 2; 2g :

P (x) ^ Q (x) is true precisely when x2 = 4 and x = 2: Hence P (x) ^ Q (x) is true
precisely when x = 2:

P (x) ! Q (x) is true when x 6= 2 and is false when x = 2.

Q (x) ! P (x) is true for all x 2 R:

P (x) ! Q (x) is true precisely when x 6= 2:

Tautologies and Contradictions

A compound statement is a statement where at least one logical connective is
applied to one or more given statements (called components statements or simply
components of the compound statement).

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 For example, if P and Q are statements, then P and P ^ (Q ! P ) are compound
statements.

A compound statement is a tautology if it is true for all possible truth values of its
components.

For example, for any statement P; the compound statements P ! P and P _ P

are tautologies.

A compound statement is a contradiction if it is false for all possible truth values of

its components.

For example, for any statement P; the compound statement P ! P and P ^ P

are contradictions.

Note that a statement is a tautology i¤ its negation is a contradiction.

Logical Equivalence
Let P and Q be compound statements composed of the same components (but possibly with
di¤erent connectives). If P and Q take the same truth value for each combination of the
truth values of the components, then we say that P and Q are logically equivalent and
write P Q:
Note that if P; Q; R are statements, then

P P

If P Q; then Q P

If P Q and Q R; then P R:

We also have
P !Q P _Q

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which can easily be veri…ed by comparing the truth values in the last two columns of the
following truth table.

P Q P P !Q P _Q

T T F T T
F T T T T
T F F F F
F F T T T

It follows that P !Q ( P _ Q) ^ (P _ Q) :

Basic properties of logical equivalence

Let P; Q; R be statements. Then

( P) P (double negation)

P _P P and P ^ P P (idempotence)

P !Q Q ! P (contrapositive)

P _Q Q _ P and P ^ Q Q ^ P (commutativity)

(P _ Q) _ R P _ (Q _ R) and (P ^ Q) ^ R P ^ (Q ^ R) (associativity)

P _(Q ^ R) (P _ Q)^(P _ R) and P ^(Q _ R) (P ^ Q)_(P ^ R) (distributivity)

(P _ Q) P^ Q and (P ^ Q) P_ Q (De Morgan’s laws)

Note that if P is a statement, Q is a tautology, and R is a contradiction, then

P _Q Q; P ^ Q P; P _ R P; P ^ R R

Example. Let P; Q; R be statements. Show that

P ^ (P ! Q) P ^ Q and P _ (P ! Q) P !Q

and that the statement

(P ! Q) ! ((P ^ R) ! (Q ^ R))

is a tautology.

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 (a) Using a truth table.

(b) Using logical equivalence.

Solution. (a) By truth table:

Comparing Columns 5 and 6 in the table below, we see that P ^ (P ! Q) P ^ Q; and
comparing the last two columns we see that ( P ) _ (P ! Q) P ! Q:

P Q P P !Q P ^Q P ^ (P ! Q) P _ (P ! Q) P !Q

T T F T T T T T
F T T F F F T T
T F F F F F F F
F F T T F F T T

Next, let U be the statement (P ^ R) ! (Q ^ R) and S be the statement (P ! Q) ! U:

P Q R P !Q P ^R Q^R U S

T T T T T T T T
F T T F F T T T
T F T F T F F T
F F T T F F T T
T T F T F F T T
F T F F F F T T
T F F F F F T T
F F F T F F T T

The last column in the above table shows that S is true for all possible truth values of P;
Q, and R: Hence S is a tautology.

(b) By logical equivalence:

P ^ (P ! Q) P ^ (( P _ Q) ^ (P _ Q))

(P ^ ( P _ Q)) ^ (P _ Q)

(P ^ P ) _ (P ^ Q) ^ (P _ Q)

(P ^ Q) ^ (P _ Q) (since P ^ P is a contradiction)

(P ^ Q) _ ((P ^ Q) ^ Q)

P ^Q

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 ( P ) _ (P ! Q) P _ ((P ! Q) ^ (Q ! P ))

P _ (( P _ Q) ^ (P _ Q))

( P _( P _ Q)) ^ ( P _ (P _ Q))

( P _ Q) ^ (( P _ P)_ Q) (since P _ P is a tautology)

( P _ Q) ^ ( P _ P)

P _Q

P !Q

(P ! Q) ! U (P ! Q) _ ((P ^ R) ! (Q ^ R))

(P ! Q) _ ( (P ^ R) _ (Q ^ R))

(P ! Q) _ ( P_ R) _ (Q ^ R)

(P ! Q) _ P _ (( R _ Q) ^ ( R _ R))

(P ! Q) _ P _( R _ Q)

((P ! Q) ^ P ) _ ( R _ Q)

(P ^ Q) _ ( R _ Q) (using P ^ (P ! Q) P ^ Q; proved above)

P_ Q_ R_Q

( P_ R) _ ( Q _ Q)

Q _ Q; which is a tautology.

Quanti…ed Statements
We have seen that an open sentence P (x) (where x is in a domain S) can be changed into
a statement by specifying a value for x: Another way to change it into a statement is by
quantifying it, i.e. adding such phrases as "for every x 2 S" or "for some x 2 S" to obtain
the quanti…ed statements:

"For every x 2 S; P (x) :" written in symbols as "8x 2 S; P (x)"

"For some x 2 S; P (x) :" written in symbols as "9x 2 S; P (x)"

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The symbols 8 and 9 are respectively called universal quanti…er and existential quan-
ti…er.
There are several ways of expressing quanti…ed statements, e.g.:

"For every x 2 S; P (x) :" can be written "For each x 2 S; P (x) :", "P (x) for all
x 2 S.", "If x 2 S; then P (x)."

"For some x 2 S; P (x) : can be written "There exists x 2 S such that P (x) :", "There
is x 2 S such that P (x) :"

Note that if S = ;; then "8x 2 S; P (x)" is true and "9x 2 S; P (x)" is false for all open
sentences P (x) :

Negation of Quanti…ed Statements

For the open sentence P (x) ; where x 2 S; we have

(8x 2 S; P (x)) 9x 2 S; P (x)

(9x 2 S; P (x)) 8x 2 S; P (x)

For open sentences with two or more variables, similar logical equivalences hold. For exam-
ple,

(8x 2 S; 8y 2 T; P (x; y)) 9x 2 S; 9y 2 T; P (x; y)

(8x 2 S; 9y 2 T; P (x; y)) 9x 2 S; 8y 2 T; P (x; y)

(9x 2 S; 8y 2 T; P (x; y)) 8x 2 S; 9y 2 T; P (x; y)

(9x 2 S; 9y 2 T; P (x; y)) 8x 2 S; 8y 2 T; P (x; y)

Note that, in general, the statements "9x 2 S; 8y 2 T; P (x; y)" and "8x 2 S; 9y 2
T; P (x; y)" are not logically equivalent.

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Example. Let S = T = Z and let P (x; y) be the statement x + y is odd. Then
9x 2 S; 8y 2 T; P (x; y) means "There is an integer x such that for each integer y; x + y is
odd." This sentence is false since x + x is not odd.
However, 8x 2 S; 9y 2 T; P (x; y) means "For each integer x; there is an integer y such that
x + y is odd.", which is true since x + (1 x) is odd.

Note. There are other quanti…ers (in addition to 8 and 9) that can be applied to open
sentences. One such is the quanti…er 9! often used to write existence-uniqueness statements
such as
9!x 2 S; P (x)

and which means "There exists a unique x in S such that P (x).", or, in symbols,

"9x 2 S; P (x) ^ (8y 2 S; P (y) ! (x = y)) :"

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