CHAPTER 1

Concepts of Logic and Methods of

Reasoning

1.1 Mathematical Logic

1.1.1 Propositions

Definition 1.1. A proposition is a sentence that can be either true or false but cannot be both
at the same time.

Example 1.1.
• ”3 + 2 = 7”, is a false proposition.
• ”6 is an even number”, is a true proposition.

1.1.2 Logical Operators

If P and Q are two propositions, then we can define new propositions constructed from P and Q.

1.1.2.1 Negation

Definition 1.2. The negation of a proposition P is a proposition denoted P̄ , which is true if

P is false and is false if P is true.
P 0 1
P̄ 1 0
Where 1 = True proposition and 0 = False proposition.

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1.1.2.2 Disjunction

Definition 1.3. The disjunction of two propositions P and Q is a proposition denoted P ∨ Q,

which is true if at least one of the two propositions is true. It is read as ”P or Q”.

P Q P ∨Q
1 1 1
1 0 1
0 1 1
0 0 0

1.1.2.3 Conjunction

Definition 1.4. The conjunction of two propositions P and Q is a proposition denoted P ∧ Q,

which is true if both P and Q are true. It is read as ”P and Q”.

P Q P ∧Q
1 1 1
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 0

1.1.2.4 Implication

Definition 1.5. The proposition P̄ ∨ Q is called logical implication, denoted P ⇒ Q and read
as ”P implies Q” or ”if P then Q”.

P Q P ⇒Q
1 1 1
1 0 0
0 1 1
0 0 1

Remark 1.1. According to the truth table, we note that the implication is false in only one
case: ”P true and Q false”. We say that the true does not imply the false.

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1.1.2.5 Equivalence

Definition 1.6. Two propositions P and Q are equivalent if (P ⇒ Q) and (Q ⇒ P ), written

as P ⇔ Q and read as ”P is equivalent to Q” or ”P if and only if Q.” The proposition P ⇔ Q
is true if both propositions P and Q are of the same logical nature.

P Q P ⇔Q
1 1 1
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1

1.1.3 Quantifiers

They apply to the variables that appear in the propositions.

1.1.3.1 Universal Quantifier

Denoted ∀, and read as ”for all ” or ”for every”. The proposition ∀x ∈ E : P (x) is true if the
propositions P (x) are true for all x in the set E.

Example 1.2.
• ”∀x ∈ R : x2 ≥ 0” is a true proposition.
• ”∀x ∈ R : x ≥ 0” is a false proposition.

1.1.3.2 Existential Quantifier

Denoted ∃, and read as ”there exists at least”. The proposition ∃x ∈ E : P (x) is true if we can find
at least one x for which P (x) is true.

Example 1.3.
• ”∃x ∈ R : x2 = −1” is a false proposition.
• ”∃x ∈ R : x(x − 3) < 0” is a true proposition (it suffices to take x = 2).

Remark 1.2. The order of quantifiers is very important.

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Example 1.4.
• ”∀x ∈ R, ∃y ∈ R : x + y ≥ 0” is a true proposition.
• ”∃y ∈ R, ∀x ∈ R : x + y ≥ 0” is a false proposition.
The first reads: for every real number x, there exists a real number y (which can depend on x)
such that x + y ≥ 0.
But, the second reads: there exists a real number y such that for every real number x (the y
cannot be the same for all x) we have x + y ≥ 0.

Remark 1.3. The quantifier ∃ means there exists at least one value; if we add an exclamation
point ∃! it means there exists a unique value.

1.1.3.3 Negation of Quantifiers

The negation of the proposition

∀x, ∃y : P (x, y)

is the proposition
∃x, ∀y : P (x, y)

Example 1.5. The negation of

∀x ∈ R, ∃y ∈ R : x + y ≥ 0
| {z }
P (x,y)

is the proposition
∃x ∈ R, ∀y ∈ R : x + y < 0
| {z }
P (x,y)

1.2 Methods of Reasoning

1.2.1 Proof by Contradiction

Proof by contradiction is a method that allows us to demonstrate that a proposition P is true by

showing that its negation P̄ is false. It relies on the logical rule that

If P̄ is false, then P is true

Thus, to demonstrate that a proposition P is true, we assume that its negation P̄ is true and reach
a contradiction.

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Example 1.6. Show by contradiction that

∀x ∈ N : x + 1 ̸= 0
| {z }
P

We assume that ∃x
| ∈ N : {zx + 1 = 0} is true, then x = −1 is a contradiction with x ∈ N.
P
Therefore, the initial hypothesis is false, so the proposition ∀x ∈ N : x + 1 ̸= 0 is true.

1.2.2 Reasoning by Contrapositive

Reasoning by contrapositive is based on the following equivalence:

(P ⇒ Q) ⇔ Q̄ ⇒ P̄

Thus, if we want to show the implication P ⇒ Q, we can simply show the implication Q̄ ⇒ P̄ .

Example 1.7. Let’s show that

∀x ∈ N : n2 is even =⇒ n is even

The contrapositive of this implication is

∀x ∈ N : n is odd =⇒ n2 is odd

We have

n is odd =⇒ ∃k ∈ N : n = 2k + 1
=⇒ n2 = (2k + 1)2
=⇒ n2 = 4k 2 + 4k + 1
=⇒ n2 = 2 2k 2 + 2k +1


| {z }
k′

=⇒ n2 is odd

Therefore, the proposition

∀x ∈ N : n2 is even =⇒ n is even

is true.

1.2.3 Reasoning by Counterexample

To show that a proposition ”∀x ∈ E : P (x)” is false, it suffices to find an x0 ∈ E such that P (x0 )
is false.

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Example 1.8. Show that the proposition ∀x ∈ R : x2 > 4 is false.

A counterexample is x0 = −1 ∈ R such that (−1)2 > 4 is false.

1.2.4 Reasoning by Induction

The principle of induction allows us to show that a proposition P (n) is true for every natural number
n greater than or equal to a fixed natural number n0 , by proceeding in two steps:

i) We show that P (n0 ) is true

ii) For n ≥ n0 we assume that P (n) is true, and then we prove that the proposition P (n + 1) is true

Finally, in the conclusion, we recall that by the principle of induction P (n) is true for all n ≥ n0 .

Example 1.9. Show that

∀n ∈ N : 2n > n

Let P (n) be the proposition ∀n ∈ N : 2n > n

We will prove by induction that P (n) is true for all n ∈ N
i) For n = 0, we have 20 = 1, so P (0) is true.
ii) For n ≥ 0, we assume that P (n) is true and then we prove that the proposition P (n + 1) is
true, we have

2n+1 = 2 × 2n
= 2n + 2n
> n + 2n because, for n ≥ 0, P (n) is true
> n + 1 because, ∀n ∈ N : 2n ≥ 1

Thus P (n + 1) is true. By the principle of induction, the proposition ∀n ∈ N : 2n > n is true.

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 CHAPTER 2

Set Theory

2.1 Basic Concepts of Sets

Definition 2.1. A set is any collection of objects having a common property. It is often denoted
by E, F, G, . . .

Example 2.1.
N = {0, 1, 2, . . .} The set of natural numbers.
Z = {. . . , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, . . .} The set of integers.
n o
p ∗
Q = q | p ∈ Z and q ∈ Z The set of rational numbers.

Definition 2.2.
• A set E is made up of objects called elements, written as x ∈ E and read as ”x belongs to
E”.
• A set F is said to be included in E if every element of F belongs to E, written as F ⊂ E.
• Two sets E and F are said to be equal and written as E = F if and only if F ⊂ E and
E ⊂ F.

Definition 2.3. Let E be a set. A subset (or part) of E is a set where all elements belong to
E.

Remark 2.1. Among the subsets of a set E, we have: the empty set ∅ ⊂ E, and the set itself
E ⊂ E.

Definition 2.4. The power set P(E) of a set E is the set of all subsets of E:

P(E) = {F | F ⊂ E}

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Example 2.2. If E = {1, 2, b} then

P(E) = P({1, 2, b}) = {∅, {1}, {2}, {b}, {1, 2}, {1, b}, {2, b}, {1, 2, b}}.

Proposition 2.1. If E contains n elements, then the power set P(E) contains 2n elements.

Definition 2.5. Let E be a set. The set E is said to be finite if the number of elements in E
is finite. The number of elements in E is called the cardinality of E, denoted card(E).

Example 2.3. card({1, 2, b}) = 3, card(∅) = 0, the set N is not finite.

2.2 Operations on Sets

Definition 2.6. The intersection of A and B is the set of elements that belong to both A and
B, denoted A ∩ B:
A ∩ B = {x | x ∈ A and x ∈ B}

Definition 2.7. The union of A and B is the set of elements that belong to either A or B,
denoted A ∪ B:
A ∪ B = {x | x ∈ A or x ∈ B}

Example 2.4. Let A = {1, 2, b} and B = {2, 3} be two sets. Then we have

A ∩ B = {2}
A ∪ B = {1, 2, b, 3}

Proposition 2.2. Let A, B, and C be subsets of a set E. We have

A∩B =B∩A ; A∪B =B∪A

A∩∅=∅ ; A∩A=A

A∪∅=A ; A∪A=A

(A ∩ B) ∩ C = A ∩ (B ∩ C)

(A ∪ B) ∪ C = A ∪ (B ∪ C)

A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)

A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C)

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Definition 2.8. Let E be a set and F a subset of E. The complement of F in E (denoted

CE F ) is the set of elements in E that do not belong to F , also denoted as E − F.

CE F = {x | x ∈ E and x ∈
/ F}

Example 2.5. Let E = {1, 2, b} be a set, and F = {2} a subset of E. Then:

CE F = {1, b}.

Definition 2.9. A partition of a set E is defined as n parts of E that are pairwise disjoint and
whose union is equal to E:

 Ai ∩ Aj = ∅, ∀i, j
A1 , . . . , An is a partition of E ⇐⇒
 A1 ∪ A2 ∪ . . . ∪ An = E

Remark 2.2.
A and B are disjoint ⇐⇒ A ∩ B = ∅

Example 2.6. {1}, {2, b, 5}, and {7, a} is a partition of the set {1, 2, b, 5, 7, a}.

2.3 Cartesian Product

Definition 2.10. The Cartesian product of two sets E and F , denoted E × F , is the set of
ordered pairs (x, y) where x ∈ E and y ∈ F.

Example 2.7. If E = {1, 2} and F = {a, b}, then

E × F = {(1, a), (1, b), (2, a), (2, b)} =

̸ F ×E

Remark 2.3. We denote E 2 as the Cartesian square E × E.

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