ICS 3103 : Automata Theory And Computability

Set Theory Review

1 Set theory

Definition 2.0.1. A set is defined as any collection of definite, distinguishable objects. These
objects are known as elements.

2.1 Set notations and definition of terms

The following are some of the symbols used in describing sets

Variables x 0, x 1 , x 2 , · · · ,
Equality symbol =,
Logical connection ∧ (and), ∨ (or),
Quantifiers ∀ (for all), ∃ (there exists)
Braces {},
Parenthesis ( ).

• Sets are usually denoted by capital letters; A, B, C,· · · .

• The elements of a set are usually denoted by lower case /small letters: a, b, c,· · · .
• If A is a set and s is an element in A, we write s ∈ A (read: s belongs to A). If the element
t is not in A, we write t ∈/ A (t does not belong to A).
Example 2.1.1. The following are examples of sets

a) N : is the set of all natural numbers.

N := {0, 1, 2, 3, · · · } .
b) N+ : is the set of natural numbers excluding zero.
N+ := {1, 2, 3, · · · }.
c) Z : is the set of all integers.
Z := {· · · , −3, −3, −3, 0, −1, +1, −2, +2, · · · }
Z+ := {+1, +2, · · · } is the set of positive integers
d) Q: is the set of all rational numbers.
Q := { pq : p ∈ Z, q ∈ N+}.
Q := {1, 1/2, 3, 1/5, etc.}.
e) Q+: is the set of all positive rational numbers.
Q+ := {r ∈ Q : r > 0}
f) ) R := the set of all real numbers
R+ := {x ∈ R : x > 0} the set of positive real numbers.
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Definition 2.1.1. Equal sets: Two sets A and B are said to be equal, denoted by A = B, if they have
exactly the same members.

Example 2.1.2. If A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {2, 3, 1} then A and B are equal because they have the
same elements (members).

NB: The order does not matter.

Definition 2.1.2. Empty sets: The empty set is a set containing no elements. It is written as a
pair of curly braces with nothing inside {} or by using the symbol ∅.

Definition 2.1.3. Subset: We say that A is a subset of B and we write A ⊆ B if every element
of A is also an element of B.

Note:
i) Every set is a subset of itself. That is, A ⊆ A.
ii) The empty set ∅ is a subset of every set, ∅ ⊆ A.

Example 2.1.3. If A = {a, b, c} then A has eight different subsets

∅, {a}, {b}, {c}, {a, b}, {a, c}, {b, c}, {a, b, c}.

The number of subsets of a set A is 2n, where n is the number of elements in the set A. If A has 3
elements, then there are 23 = 8 subsets of A (as shown above).

Definition 2.1.4. Proper subset: A proper subset of a set A is a subset of A that is not equal to A. In
other words, if B is a proper subset of A, then all elements of B are in A but A contains at least one
element that is not in B.

For example, if A = {1, 3, 5} then B = {1, 5} is a proper subset of A.

Properties:

• If A ⊂ B and B ⊂ A =⇒ A = B

• If A ⊂ B and B ⊂ C =⇒ A ⊂ C

• ∅ ⊂ A for any set A.

Definition 2.1.5. Power set: Let X be any set. The set of all subsets of X is called the power
set of X and is denoted by P(X).

Example 2.1.4. If X = {1, 2, 3} then X has eight different subsets

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 ∅, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1, 2}, {1, 3}, {2, 3}, {1, 2, 3}.
And the power set of X is given by,
P (X) : = {∅, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1, 2}, {1, 3}, {2, 3}, {1, 2, 3}}
That is, P(X) := {A : A ⊂ X}

2.2 Set operations

Definition 2.2.1. Cardinality: The cardinality of a set is its size. For a finite set, the
cardinality of a set is the number of members it contains. In symbolic notation the size of a set
S is written
|S| or n(S).

Example 2.2.1. Show the cardinality of the set S = {1, 4, 5, 8, 9}. The cardinality of the set S is
given as |S| = 5.

Definition 2.2.2. Intersection: The intersection of two sets S and T , denoted S ∩ T , is the
collection of all elements that belongs to both S and T .

S ∩ T = {x : x ∈ S and x ∈ T }.

Properties: S ∩ S = S, S∩∅ =∅

Example 2.2.2. Suppose S = {1, 2, 3, 5}, T = {1, 3, 4, 5} and U = {2, 3, 4, 5}. Then

S ∩ T = {1, 3, 5},
S ∩ U = {2, 3, 5},
T ∩ U = {3, 4, 5}.

Definition 2.2.3. Disjoint sets: Two sets A and B are said to be disjoint if they have no
elements in common. That is, A ∩ B = ∅.

Example 2.2.3. Suppose A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {4, 5, 6}. Then

A ∩ B = ∅.

Definition 2.2.4. Union: The union of two sets A and B, denoted by A ∪ B is the collection of
all elements that belong to either A or B or both.

A ∪ B = {x : x ∈ A or x ∈ B}.

Properties: A ∪ A = A, A ∪ ∅ = A, A ∪ U = U.

Example 2.2.4. Suppose M = {1, 2, 3, 5}, N = {1, 3, 4, 5} and P = {2, 3, 4, 5}. Then

M ∪ N = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5},
M ∪ P = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5},

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 N ∪ P = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.

Definition 2.2.5. Complement of a set: The complement of a set A, denoted Ac (or equiva-
lently, At) is the set of all elements that are not in A.

Ac = {x : x ∈
/ A}.

Properties: (Ac)c = A, ∅c = U , U c = ∅, Ac ∪ A = U ; Ac ∩ A = ∅.
Example 2.2.5. Examples of compliment sets

(i) Let the universal set be the set of integers. Then the compliment of the even integers is
the odd integers.

(ii) Let the universal set be {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, then the compliment of S = {1, 2, 3} is Sc = {4, 5}.

Definition 2.2.6. A Universal Set is the set of all elements under consideration, denoted by
capital U .

Definition: 2.2.7 A Cartesian Product: If A and B are two sets, the Cartesian product or
cross product of A and B, written as A × B, is the set of all ordered pairs wherein the first
element is a member of A and the second element is a member of B.

Example: If A = {1, 2} and B = {x, y, z}

A × B = { (1, x), (1, y), (1, z), (2, x), (2, y), (2, z) }

We can also take the Cartesian product of k sets, A1, A2, ... , Ak, written A1 × A2 × ··· × Ak. It is
the set consisting of all k-tuples (a1, a2,...,ak) where ai ∈ Ai as shown below:

If A = {1, 2} and B = {x, y, z}

A × B × A = { (1, x, 1), (1, x, 2), (1, y, 1), (1, y, 2), (1,z, 1), (1,z, 2), (2, x, 1), (2, x, 2), (2, y, 1), (2, y,
2), (2,z, 1), (2,z, 2) }

2.3 Venn diagrams

Definition 2.3.1. Venn diagram: A venn diagram is a way of representing relationship between
sets. Each set is shown as a circle and circles overlap if the sets intersect.

The shaded parts of the diagrams are the intersections and unions respectively. The rectangular
frame is labelled U to denote universal set

Example 2.3.1. The union of two sets A and B: A ∪ B.

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 Fig. 2: Venn diagram for A ∪ B.

Example 2.3.2. The intersection of two sets A and B: A ∩ B.

Fig. 3: Venn diagram for A ∩ B.

Example 2.3.3. The following is the venn diagram for complement set.

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 Fig. 4: Venn diagram for At or Ac.

Example 2.3.4. Venn diagram for two disjoint sets A and B: A ∩ B = ∅

Fig. 5: Venn diagram for A ∩ B = ∅.

Example 2.3.5. Venn diagram for subsets: A ⊂ B.

Fig. 6: Venn diagram for A ⊂ B.

Definition 2.3.2. Difference of sets (denoted by \): The difference of sets A and B is defined
as the collection of objects in A that are not in B. It is writen as A \ B or A − B. It can be
represented as

A − B = {x : x ∈ A ∩ (Bc))}.

It can be more precisely denoted as

A − B = {x : (x ∈ A) ∧ (x ∈
/ B)}.

Note that A \ B is the complement of B with respect to A.

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 Fig. 7: Venn diagram for A − B.

2.3.1 Set operations rules

The following are set operation rules.

(i) Operations are performed from left-right.

(ii) Operations between parenthesis are done first, starting with the innermost of nested paren-
thesis.

(iii) All complimentations are computed next.

(iv) followed by the intersections.

(v) followed by the unions.

(vi) Tests of set membership, equality or inequality are performed last.

Theorem 2.3.1. Some Additional Results on union and intersection of sets.

1. Commutativity: union and intersection are commutative operations.

(i) A ∪ B = B ∪ A.
(ii) A ∩ B = B ∩ A.
2. Associativity:

(i) A ∪ (B ∪ C) = (A ∪ B) ∪ C
(ii) A ∩ (B ∩ C) = (A ∩ B) ∩ C).
3. Distributivity law:

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 (i) A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C).
(ii) A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C).
4. DeMorgans Laws : Suppose that A and B are sets. Then

(i) (A ∪ B)c = Ac ∩ Bc
(ii) (A ∩ B)c = Ac ∪ Bc

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