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History of Set Theory
George Cantor (1845- 1918) is regarded as the
founder of set theory (showed R is
uncountable).
Bertrand Russell (1872- 1970) ( Nobel Prize
winner Literature)- Axioms
John Venn ( 1834-1923)
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Introduction to Set Theory
A set is a well defined collection of distinct
objects, and is usually denoted by a capital letter.

The objects that belong to the set are called its
elements or its members.

If a is an element of the set A, we write a e A. If
a is not an element of A we write a e A.
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Set Notation
A set can be specified in one of the following ways:
1.Descriptive form : In this method a set is
described by a statement.
For example,
a. The set of vowels of the English language.
b. The set of natural numbers greater than 29.
c. The set of integers greater than or equal to -20
and less than 30.


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Set Notation
2. Roster form or listing form or enumeration
method: In this method the elements of the set
are listed within braces.

Thus, the set in the example a in roster form is
{a, e, i, o, u}, example b is {30,31,32,}, and
example c is {-20,-19,-18,,29}.
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Set Notation
Standard Symbols: Certain symbols reserved for frequently
used sets are,
N = Set of natural numbers = {1, 2, 3,}
W = Set of whole numbers = {0, 1, 2, 3,}
Z = Set of integers = {,-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3,}
Q = Set of rational numbers, is the set of numbers of
the form a/b, where a and b are integers and b 0.
R = Set of real numbers.
C = Set of complex numbers is the set of numbers of
the form a+ib , where, a and b are real numbers and i
= -1.



=
=
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Set Notation
3. Set Builder Notation (Selector method) : For
any proposition P(x) over any universal set,
{x|P(x)} is the set of all x such that P(x).
e.g., {x | x is an integer where x > 0 and x < 5 }

In this method Q = {x: x = a/b, a, b e Z, b 0}
C = {a + ib/ a, b e R}.



=
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Sets are inherently unordered:
No matter what objects a, b, and c denote,
{a, b, c} = {a, c, b} = {b, a, c} =
{b, c, a} = {c, a, b} = {c, b, a}.
All elements are distinct (unequal);
multiple listings make no difference!
{a, b, c} = {a, a, b, a, b, c, c, c, c}.
This set contains at most 3 elements!
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Finite Set : If there are exactly n distinct
elements in a set A, where n is a positive integer,
then we say that A is a finite set;
The number of elements in the set is called the
cardinality of the set, and we write n(A) = n, or
|A| = n, or #A = n.
For example the set A of letters of the English
alphabet is a finite set, and #A = 26.
Infinite Set : A set which is not finite is said to
be infinite. For example, the sets, N, W, Z, Q, R
and C are all infinite sets.

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Null Set or Empty Set : A set with no elements is
called a null set and is denoted by C /{}.n(C) = 0.
Singleton Set : A set with a single element is
called a singleton set. E.g. {4}.
Note that the set {C} is not the empty set but a
singleton set whose only element is the null set C.
The members of all the investigated sets in a
particular problem usually belongs to some fixed
large set. That set is called the universal set and is
usually denoted by U.





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A pictorial way of representing sets.
The universal set U is usually represented by the
interior of a rectangle and the other sets are
represented by disks lying within the rectangle.





A
U
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Subset : A set A is said to be a
subset of set B, and we write A _ B
if and only if every element of A is
an element of B. For example, N _
Wand Q _ R.
C_S, S_S.




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Proper Subset : If A _ B and A is not equal to B
then we say that A is a proper subset of B and we
write A c B. For example, W c R.
Sc T (S is a proper subset of T) means that S_T
but . S T
/
_
S T
Venn Diagram of S c T
Proper Subset
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Two sets are declared to be equal if and only if they
contain exactly the same elements.

In particular, it does not matter how the set is defined or
denoted.

For example: The set {1, 2, 3, 4} =
{x | x is an integer where x > 0 and x < 5 }

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Definition :Two sets A and B are said to be equal,
and we write A = B, if every element of A is an
element of B and every element of B is an
element of A.
That is, they are equal if they have the same
number of elements and the same elements. Thus,
A = B iff A _ B and B _ A. For example, if A is
the set of even positive integers less than 10 and B
= {2,4,6,8} then A = B
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The power set P(S) of a set S is the set of all
subsets of S.
E.g. P({a,b}) = {C, {a}, {b}, {a,b}}.
Sometimes P(S) is written 2
S
.
Note that for a finite set S, |P(S)| = 2
|S|
.
Note that the nullset and the set itself are
subsets of A called improper subsets of A,
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For sets A, B, their Cartesian product
AB : {(a, b) | aeA . beB }.
E.g. {a,b}{1,2} = {(a,1),(a,2),(b,1),(b,2)}
Note that for finite sets A and B,
|AB|=|A||B|.
Note that the Cartesian product is not
commutative: AB BA.
Extends to A
1
A
2
A
n
...
=
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For sets A, B, their union AB is the set
containing all elements that are either in A, or
(v) in B (or, of course, in both).
Formally, A,B: AB = {x | xeA v xeB}.
Note that AB contains all the elements of A and
it contains all the elements of B:
A, B: (AB _ A) . (AB _ B)
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{a,b,c}{2,3} = {a,b,c,2,3}
{2,3,5}{3,5,7} = {2,3,5,3,5,7} ={2,3,5,7}
Union Examples
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For sets A, B, their intersection AB is the set
containing all elements that are simultaneously in
A and (.) in B.
Formally, A, B: AB{x | xeA . xeB}.
Note that AB is a subset of A and it is a subset
of B:
A, B: (AB _ A) . (AB _ B)

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{a,b,c}{2,3} = ___
{2,4,6}{3,4,5} = ______
C
{4}
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Two sets A, B are called
disjoint (i.e., unjoined)
iff their intersection is
empty. (AB=C)
Example: the set of even
integers is disjoint with
the set of odd integers.
Help, Ive
been
disjointed!
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Inclusion-Exclusion Principle
How many elements are in AB?
|AB| = |A| + |B| |AB|

Example:
{2,3,5}{3,5,7} = {2,3,5,3,5,7} ={2,3,5,7}
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For sets A, B, the difference of A and B, written
AB, is the set of all elements that are in A but not
B.
A B = {x , xeA . xeB}

Also called:
The complement of B with respect to A.
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Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6} B = {2,3,5,7,9,11}
{1,2,3,4,5,6} {2,3,5,7,9,11} = A B
___________
Z W = { , -1, 0, 1, 2, } {0, 1, }
= {x | x is an integer but not a natural
number}
= {x | x is a negative integer}
= { , -3, -2, -1}
{1,4,6}
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Set Difference - Venn Diagram
A-B is whats left after B
takes a bite out of A
Set A
Set B
Set
AB
Chomp!
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The complement of A, written , is the
complement of A w.r.t. U, where U denotes
the universal set.
i.e., it is UA.
E.g., If U=W, A = {3,5}
=
A
,...} 7 , 6 , 4 , 2 , 1 , 0 { } 5 , 3 { =
A
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An equivalent definition, when U is clear:

} | { A x x A e =
A
U
A
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Given 2 sets A and B the symmetric
difference A B, read as A symmetric
difference B, is given by,
A B = (A-B) (B-A)
If A = { 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9} and B = { 2, 4, 6, 8}
what is A B ?
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Set Identities
Commutative Laws: A B = A B & A B = B A
Associative Laws: (A B) C = A (B C) &
(A B) C = A (B C)
Distributive Laws:
A (B C) = (A B) (A C) and
A (B C) = (A B) (A C)
Identity Laws: A U = A and A U = U
A C = C and A C = A
Double Complement Law: (A
c
)
c
= A

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Set Identities

Complement laws : A A
c
= U, A A
c
= u
U
c
= u, u
c
= U
Idempotent Laws: A A = A and A A = A
De Morgans Laws: (A B)
c
= A
c
B
c
and


(A B)
c
= A
c
B
c
Absorption Laws: A (A B) = A and
A (A B) = A

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Set Identities - Problems
Is is true that (A B) (B C) = A C?
Show that (A B) C = (A C) (B C)
Is it true that A (B C) = (A B) C?
Is it true that (A B) (A B) = A?

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Proving Set Identities
To prove statements about sets, of the form
E
1
= E
2
(where Es are set expressions), here
are three useful techniques:
Prove E
1
_ E
2
and

E
2
_ E
1
separately.
Use logical equivalences.
Use Venn diagrams
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Method 1: Mutual subsets
Example: Show A(BC)=(AB)(AC).
Show A(BC)_(AB)(AC).
Assume xeA(BC), & show xe(AB)(AC).
We know that xeA, and either xeB or xeC.
Case 1: xeB. Then xeAB, so xe(AB)(AC).
Case 2: xeC. Then xeAC , so xe(AB)(AC).
Therefore, xe(AB)(AC).
Therefore, A(BC)_(AB)(AC).
Show (AB)(AC) _ A(BC).