Mathematics for Economics

Euncheol Shin

Kyung Hee University

[email protected]

Lecture 3

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Recall

Relations and preference relations

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Outline

Functions

Injective and surjective functions

Identity function

Inverse function

Composition of two functions

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Functions

A function is a vending machine!

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Functions

A function is a vending machine!

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Functions

You may remember this:

y = f (x)

- x is a button (input)
- y is an item (output)
- f (x) is a vending machine (rule)

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Functions

You may remember this:

y = f (x)

- x is a button (input)
- y is an item (output)
- f (x) is a vending machine (rule)

Any vending machine has the following two properties:

you obtain an item whenever you press a button

pressing a button results in one item

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Functions

You may remember this:

y = f (x)

- x is a button (input)
- y is an item (output)
- f (x) is a vending machine (rule)

Any vending machine has the following two properties:

you obtain an item whenever you press a button

pressing a button results in one item
otherwise, we say “the vending machine is out of order”

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Functions
Definition
Let X and Y be two nonempty sets. Then, a binary relation f on
X × Y is said to be a function if

for every x ∈ X, there exists y ∈ Y such that xf y,

for every y, z ∈ Y with xf y and xf z, y = z.

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Functions
Definition
Let X and Y be two nonempty sets. Then, a binary relation f on
X × Y is said to be a function if

for every x ∈ X, there exists y ∈ Y such that xf y,

for every y, z ∈ Y with xf y and xf z, y = z.

We write f : X → Y

We read “a function f from X to Y ” or “a function that maps X

into Y ”

X is called the domain of f

Y is called the codomain of f

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Functions

We simply write y = f (x)

We say “y is the value of x under f ”

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Functions

We simply write y = f (x)

We say “y is the value of x under f ”

The range of f is defined as

f (X) := {y ∈ Y | y = f (x) for some x ∈ X }

[Illustration Here]

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Functions

We simply write y = f (x)

We say “y is the value of x under f ”

The range of f is defined as

f (X) := {y ∈ Y | y = f (x) for some x ∈ X }

[Illustration Here]

The graph of f is defined as the set of all ordered pairs (x, f (x)):

Graph(f ) := {(x, f (x)) ∈ X × Y | x ∈ X}

[Illustration Here]

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Properties of a Function

Definition
Let f be a function from X to Y . Then,

f is said to be surjective if the range equals to the domain of f

f is said to be injective if f maps distinct points in the domain to

distinct points in the codomain:
x 6= x0 ⇒ f (x) 6= f (x0 )

f is said to be bijective if it is surjective and injective.

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Examples

Let X = [0, 1] and Y = [0, 2]

Define f : X → Y as f (x) = x2

Is f surjective?

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Examples

Let X = [0, 1] and Y = [0, 2]

Define f : X → Y as f (x) = x2

Is f surjective?

Is f injective?

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Examples

Let X = [0, 1] and Y = [0, 2]

Define f : X → Y as f (x) = x2

Is f surjective?

Is f injective?

Is f bijective?

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Examples

Let X = [0, 1] and Y = [0, 2]

Define f : X → Y as f (x) = x2

Is f surjective?

Is f injective?

Is f bijective?

What if Y = [0, 1]?

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Some Special Functions

A constant function is a function that assigns the same value to

every element in the domain

Example: f : [0, 1] → [0, 2] defined as f (x) = 1 is a constant

function

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Some Special Functions

A constant function is a function that assigns the same value to

every element in the domain

Example: f : [0, 1] → [0, 2] defined as f (x) = 1 is a constant

function

A function from X to Y is said to be a self-map on X if Y = X

The identity function on X is an self-map on X such that

f (x) = x for all x ∈ X

Example: f : [0, 1] → [0, 1] defined as f (x) = x is the identify

function on X

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Inverse Function

Define the relation f −1 := {(y, x) ∈ Y × X | y = f (x)}

This is a binary relation imply reverses the function f

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Inverse Function

Define the relation f −1 := {(y, x) ∈ Y × X | y = f (x)}

This is a binary relation imply reverses the function f

f −1 may not be a function:

Example: Let X = {−1, 0, 1}, Y = {0, 1}, and f (x) = x2

[Illustration Here]

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Inverse Function

Define the relation f −1 := {(y, x) ∈ Y × X | y = f (x)}

This is a binary relation imply reverses the function f

f −1 may not be a function:

Example: Let X = {−1, 0, 1}, Y = {0, 1}, and f (x) = x2

[Illustration Here]

f is said to be invertible if f −1 is a function

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Inverse Function

Q: When is a function invertible?

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Inverse Function

Q: When is a function invertible?

Proposition
Let f : X → Y . Then, f is invertible if and only if f is bijective.

[Proof Here]

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Composition of two functions

Definition
Let f : X → Z and g : Z → Y . Then, the composition of f and g is a
function from X to Y such that
(g ◦ f ) (x) = g(f (x)).

[Illustration Here]

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Composition of Two Functions

Proposition
Let f : X → Y . Then, f is invertible if and only if there exists a
function G : Y → X such that

(g ◦ f ) (x) = x for all x ∈ X

(f ◦ g) (y) = y for all y ∈ Y .

[Proof Here]

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Next Week

Sequences

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