Equivalence Classes

Definitions
Let R be an equivalence relation on a set A, and let a ∈ A. The equivalence class of a is called the
set of all elements of A which are equivalent to a.
The equivalence class of an element a is denoted by [a]. Thus, by definition,
[a]={b∈A∣aRb}={b∈A∣a∼b}.

If b ∈ [a] then the element b is called a representative of the equivalence class [a]. Any element
of an equivalence class may be chosen as a representative of the class.
The set of all equivalence classes of A is called the quotient set of A by the relation R. The
quotient set is denoted as A/R.
A/R={[a]∣a∈A}.

Properties of Equivalence Classes

If R (also denoted by ∼) is an equivalence relation on set A, then
 Every element a∈A is a member of the equivalence class [a].
∀a∈A,a∈[a]

 Two elements a,b∈A are equivalent if and only if they belong to the same equivalence
class.
∀a,b∈A,a∼b iff [a]=[b]

 Every two equivalence classes [a] and [b] are either equal or disjoint.
∀a,b∈A,[a]=[b] or [a]∩[b]=∅

Example
A well-known sample equivalence relation is Congruence Modulo n. Two integers a and b are
equivalent if they have the same remainder after dividing by n.
Consider, for example, the relation of congruence modulo 3 on the set of integers Z:
R={(a,b)∣a≡b(mod3)}.

The possible remainders for n=3 are 0,1, and 2. An equivalence class consists of those integers
that have the same remainder. Hence, there are 3 equivalence classes in this example:
 [0]={…,−9,−6,−3,0,3,6,9,…}

[1]={…,−8,−5,−2,1,4,7,10,…}

[2]={…,−7,−4,−1,2,5,8,11,…}

Similarly, one can show that the relation of congruence modulo n has n equivalence
classes [0],[1],[2],…,[n−1].
Partitions
Let A be a set and A1,A2,…,An be its non-empty subsets. The subsets form a partition P of A if
 The union of the subsets in P is equal to A.
⋃i=1nAi=A1∪A2∪…∪An=A

 The partition P does not contain the empty set ∅.

Ai≠∅∀i

 The intersection of any distinct subsets in P is empty.

Ai∩Aj=∅∀i≠j

Figure 1

There is a direct link between equivalence classes and partitions. For any equivalence relation on
a set A, the set of all its equivalence classes is a partition.
Partial Orders
A partial order is a binary relation ≤≤ over a set P that satisfies three properties: reflexivity,
antisymmetry, and transitivity.
 Reflexivity: For all a ∈ P, a ≤≤ a.
 Antisymmetry: For all a b ∈ P if a ≤≤ b and b ≤≤ a, then a = b.
 Transitivity: For all a,b,c ∈ P, if a ≤ b and b ≤ c, then a ≤ c.
A set P together with a partial order ≤ is called a partially ordered set (poset).
Example of Partial Orders
Consider the set P={1,2,3} with the relation ≤ defined as the usual numerical order:
 Reflexivity: 1 ≤ 1, 2 ≤ 2, 3 ≤ 3.
 Antisymmetry: If a ≤ b and b ≤ a, then a = b.
 Transitivity: If 1 ≤ 2 and 2 ≤ 3, then 1 ≤ 3.
The set P with this order is a post.
Lattices
A lattice is a poset (L, ≤) in which any two elements have a unique supremum (least upper
bound, also called join) and an infimum (greatest lower bound, also called meet).
 Join The join of a and b, denoted by a ∨ b is the least element greater than or equal to both
a and b.
 Meet The meet of a and b, denoted by a ∧ b, is the greatest element less than or equal to
both a and b.
Example of Lattices
Consider the set L = {1,2,3,6} with the divisibility relation:
 Join: The join of 2 and 3 is 6 since 6 is the smallest number that is divisible by both 2 and
3.
 Meet: The meet of 2 and 6 is 2 since 2 is the largest number that divides both 2 and 6.
The set L with this order is a lattice.
Applications in Engineering
Task Scheduling
Partial orders are used to model dependencies among tasks in scheduling problems.
Data Structures
Lattices are used in the design and optimization of data structures, such as search trees and
heaps.
Database Theory
Partial orders and lattices are used in query optimization and the design of relational databases.
Formal Verification
In formal methods, partial orders and lattices are used to verify the correctness of systems,
particularly in concurrent computing.
Network Design
Partial orders and lattices help in designing and optimizing communication networks.

Combinatorics
Combinatorics, also referred to as Combinatorial Mathematics, is the field of mathematics
concerned with problems of selection, arrangement, and operation within a finite or discrete
system. Its objective is: How to count without counting. Therefore, One of the basic problems of
combinatorics is to determine the number of possible configurations of objects of a given type.

You may ask, why combinatorics? If a sample spaces contains a finite set of outcomes,
determining the probability of an event often is a counting problem. But often the numbers are
just too large to count in the 1, 2, 3, 4 ordinary ways.

A Fundamental Result:
If an operation consists of two steps, of which the first can be done in n1ways and for each of
these the second can be done in n2 ways, then the entire operation can be done in a total of n1×
n2 ways.

This simple rule can be generalized as follow: If an operation consists of k steps, of which the
first can be done in n1 ways and for each of these the second step can be done in n2 ways, for
each of these the third step can be done in n3 ways and so forth, then the whole operation can be
done in n1 × n2 × n3 × n4 ×.. × nk ways.

Numerical Example:
A quality control inspector wishes to select one part for inspection from each of four different
bins containing 4, 3, 5 and 4 parts respectively. The total number of ways that the parts can be
selected is 4×3×5×4 or 240 ways.

Factorial Notation:
the notation n! (read as, n factorial) means by definition the product:

n! = (n)(n-1)(n-2)(n-3)...(3)(2)(1).

Notice that by convention, 0! = 1, (i.e., 0! º 1) . For example, 6! = 6×5×4×3×2×1 = 720

Permutations versus Combination:

A permutation is an arrangement of objects from a set of objects. That is, the objects are chosen
from a particular set and listed in a particular order. A combination is a selection of objects from
a set of objects, that is objects are chosen from a particular set and listed, but the order in which
the objects are listed is immaterial.

The number of ways of lining up k objects at a time from n distinct objects is denoted by n P k,
and by the preceding we have:

n P k = (n)(n-1)(n-2)(n-3)......(n-k+1)

Therfore, The number of permutations of n distinct objects taken k at a time can be written as:

n P k = n! / (n - k) !

Combinations:
There are many problems in which we are interested in determining the number of ways in which
k objects can be selected from n distinct objects without regard to the order in which they are
selected. Such selections are called combinations or k-sets. It may help to think of combinations
as a committee. The key here is without regard for order.

The number of combinations of k objects from a set with n objects is n C k. For example, the
combinations of {1,2,3,4} taken k=2 at a time are {1,2}, {1,3}, {1,4}, {2,3}, {2,4}, {3,4}, for a
total of 6 = 4! / [(2!)(4-2) !] subsets.

The general formula is:

n C k = n! / [k! (n-k) !].

Permutation with Repetitions:

How many different letter arrangements can be formed using the letters P E P P E R?

In general, there are multinomial coefficients:

n! / (n1! n2! n3! ... nr!)

different permutations of n objects, of which n1 are alike, n2, are alike, n3 are alike,..... nr are
alike. Therefore, the answer is 6! /(3! 2! 1!) = 60 possible arrangements of the letters P E P P E
R.