SET and FUNCTIONS

FUNCTIONS

 Let A and B be nonempty sets. A function f from A to B is

an assignment of exactly one element of B to each element
of A.
 We write f (a) = b if b is the unique element of B assigned
by the function f to the element a of A.
 If f is a function from A to B, we write
f:A→B
 FUNCTIONS

 Functions are sometimes also called mappings or

transformations.
 Every element in A will be used in the mapping, but not all
elements in B needs to be used.
 Each element in A must be used only once.
 FUNCTIONS

Example
Suppose that each student in a discrete mathematics class is
assigned a letter grade from the set {A,B,C,D, F}.
Adams – A
Chou – C
Goodfriend – B
Rodriguez – A
Stevens - F
 FUNCTIONS

Example
Let A = {1, 2, 3 } and B = {A,B,C,D, F}
Assume f is defined as:
• 1 A
• 1 B
• 3 A
Is f a function?
NO – f(1) is assigned both A and B
 Representing FUNCTIONS

Representing Functions
 Explicitly state the assignments between
elements in the two sets. Roster notation.
 Set builder notation
 e.g F(x) = x2
 Tabular
 Digraph
 Mathematical graph
 Representing FUNCTIONS
 Mathematical graph
Display the graph of the function f (x) = x2 from the set of integers to the set of
integers.
 Solution: The graph of f is the set of ordered pairs of the form (x, f (x)) = (x,
x2), where x is an integer.
 FUNCTIONS

 If f is a function from A to B, we say that A is the domain

of f and B is the codomain of f.
 If f (a) = b, we say that b is the image of a and a is a
preimage of b.
 The range, or image, of f is the set of all images of
elements of A.
 Also, if f is a function from A to B, we say that f maps A to
B.
 FUNCTIONS

Example
Let G be the function that assigns a grade to a student in our
discrete mathematics class.
For instance G(Adams) = A
Domain of G = {Adams, Chou, Goodfriend, Rodriguez,
Stevens}
Codomain = {A,B,C,D, F}
Range of G = {A,B,C, F}, because each grade except D is
assigned to some student.
 Image of Subset
 Let f be a function from A to B and let S be a subset of A. The image of S
under the function f is the subset of B that consists of the images of the
elements of S.
 We denote the image of S by f (S)
f (S) = {t | ∃s ∈S (t = f (s))}.
 We also use the shorthand {f (s) | s ∈ S} to denote this set.
 Image of Subset

Example
Let A = {a, b, c, d, e} and B = {1, 2, 3, 4}
f (a) = 2, f (b) = 1, f (c) = 4, f (d) = 1,
f (e) = 1.

The image of the subset S = {b, c, d} is the

set f (S) = {1, 4}.
 Types of Functions

Injective
Surjective
Bijective
Identity
Inverse
 Injective / one-to-one

 A function f is said to be one-to-one, or injective, if and only if f (a) = f (b)

implies that a = b for all a and b in the domain of f.
 Injective / one-to-one

Example
Determine whether the function f from {a, b, c, d} to {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} with f (a) =
4, f (b) = 5, f (c) = 1, and f (d) = 3 is one-to-one.
 Solution: The function f is one-to-one because f takes on different values at
the four elements of its domain.
 Surjective / onto

 A function f from A to B is called onto, or a surjective, if and only if for every

element b ∈ B there is an element a ∈ A with f (a) = b
 Surjective / onto

Example
Let f be the function from {a, b, c, d} to {1, 2, 3} defined by f (a) = 3, f (b) = 2, f
(c) = 1, and f (d) = 3. Is f an onto function?
 Solution: Because all three elements of the codomain are images of elements
in the domain, we see that f is onto.
 Bijective / one-to-one and onto

 The function f is a one-to-one correspondence, or a bijective, if it is both

one-to-one and onto.
 Also known as isomorphism
 Bijective / one-to-one and onto

Example
Let f be the function from {a, b, c, d} to {1, 2, 3, 4} with f (a) = 4, f (b) = 2, f (c)
= 1, and f (d) = 3. Is f a bijection?
 Solution: The function f is one-to-one and onto. It is one-to-one because no
two values in the domain are assigned the same function value.
 It is onto because all four elements of the codomain are images of elements
in the domain. Hence, f is a bijection.

a 1
b 2
c 3
d 4
 Tips

Suppose that f : A → B.
 To show that f is injective Show that if f (x) = f (y) for arbitrary x, y ∈ A with
x = y,then x = y.
 To show that f is not injective Find particular elements x, y ∈ A such that x =
y and f (x) = f (y).
 To show that f is surjective Consider an arbitrary element y ∈ B and find an
element x ∈ A such that f (x) = y.
 To show that f is not surjective Find a particular y ∈ B such that f (x) = y for
all x ∈ A.
 Identity

 Let A be a set. The identity function on A is the function ιA : A → A, where

ιA(x) = x for all x ∈ A.
 In other words, the identity function ιA is the function that assigns each
element to itself.
 The function ιA is one-to-one and onto, so it is a bijection.
(Note that ι is the Greek letter iota.)
 Inverse

 Let f be a one-to-one correspondence from the set A to the set B. The inverse
function of f is the function that assigns to an element b belonging to B the
unique element a in A such that f (a) = b.
 The inverse function of f is denoted by f−1.
 Hence, f−1(b) = a when f (a) = b.
 Inverse
Example
Let f be the function from {a, b, c} to {1, 2, 3} such that f (a) = 2, f (b) = 3, and f
(c) = 1. Is f invertible, and if it is, what is its inverse?
 Solution: The function f is invertible because it is a one-to-one
correspondence.
 The inverse function f−1 reverses the correspondence given by f
 so f−1(1) = c, f−1(2) = a, and f−1 (3) = b.
 Composition

 Let g be a function from the set A to the set B and let f be a function from
the set B to the set C. The composition of the functions f and g, denoted for
all a ∈ A by f ◦ g, is defined by
(f ◦ g)(a) = f (g(a))
 Composition

Example
Let A = {1,2,3} and B = {a,b,c,d}

f: A → A g: A → B
1→3 1→b
2→1 2→a
3→2 3→d

(f ◦ g)
1→d
2→b
3→a
 Composition

Example
Let f and g be the functions from the set of integers to the set of integers
defined by f (x) = 2x + 3 and g(x) = 3x + 2.
What is the composition of f and g?
 (f ◦ g)(x) = f (g(x)) = f (3x + 2) = 2(3x + 2) + 3 = 6x + 7

What is the composition of g and f ?

 (g ◦ f )(x) = g(f (x)) = g(2x + 3) = 3(2x + 3) + 2 = 6x + 11.

Note: f ◦ g and g ◦ f are not equal, hence they are not commutative.