Azerbaijan State Oil

and Industral University

Discrete Mathematics

and Its Applications

Nested Quantifiers
We avoided nested quantifiers, where one
quantifier is within the scope of another, such
as ∀x∃y(x + y = 0).

Everything within the scope of a quantifier can

be thought of as a propositional function.
For example, ∀x∃y(x + y = 0) is the same thing
as ∀xQ(x), where Q(x) is ∃yP(x, y), where P(x, y)
is x + y = 0.
Understanding Statements Involving Nested
Quantifiers - we need to unravel what the
quantifiers and predicates that appear mean.

Example 1: Assume that the domain for the

variables x and y consists of all real numbers.
The statement ∀x∀y(x + y = y + x) says that x + y
= y + x for all real numbers x and y.
The statement ∀x∃y(x + y = 0) says that for
every real number x there is a real number
y such that x + y = 0. This states that every
real number has an additive inverse.
Similarly, the statement ∀x∀y∀z(x + (y + z)
= (x + y) + z) is the associative law for
addition of real numbers.
Example 2: Translate into English the statement
∀x∀y((x > 0) ∧ (y < 0) → (xy < 0)), where the domain
for both variables consists of all real numbers.
Solution: This statement says that for every real
number x and for every real number y, ifx > 0 andy < 0,
then xy < 0. That is, this statement says that for real
numbers x and y, if x is positive and y is negative, then
xy is negative. This can be stated more succinctly as
“The product of a positive real number and a negative
real number is always a negative real number.” ▲
The Order of Quantifiers

Many mathematical statements involve

multiple quantifications of propositional
functions involving more than one variable. It
is important to note that the order of the
quantifiers is important, unless all the
quantifiers are universal quantifiers or all are
existential quantifiers.
Example3:

Let P(x, y) be the statement “x + y = y + x.”

What are the truth values of the
quantifications ∀x∀yP(x, y) and ∀y∀xP(x,
y) where the domain for all variables
consists of all real numbers?
Solution: The quantification ∀x∀yP(x, y)

denotes the proposition “For all real numbers x,

for all real numbers y, x + y = y + x.” Because

P(x, y) is true for all real numbers x and y (it is

the commutative law for addition, which is an

axiom for the real numbers—see Appendix 1),

the proposition ∀x∀yP(x, y) is true.

Solution: (Continuous )The statement ∀y∀xP(x, y) says
“For all real numbers y, for all real numbers x, x + y = y
+ x.” This has the same meaning as the statement “For
all real numbers x, for all real numbers y, x + y = y + x.”
That is, ∀x∀yP(x, y) and ∀y∀xP(x, y) have the same
meaning, and both are true. This illustrates the
principle that the order of nested universal quantifiers
in a statement without other quantifiers can be
changed without changing the meaning of the
quantified statement.
Example4: 8
Let Q(x, y) denote “x + y = 0.”

What are the truth values of the

quantifications ∃y∀xQ(x, y) and ∀x∃yQ(x,
y), where the domain for all variables
consists of all real numbers?
Solution: The quantification ∃y∀xQ(x, y) denotes the
proposition “There is a real number y such that for every real
number x, Q(x, y).” No matter what value of y is chosen, there is
only one value of x for which x + y = 0. Because there is no real
number y such that x + y = 0 for all real numbers x, the statement
∃y∀xQ(x, y) is false. The quantification ∀x∃yQ(x, y) denotes the
proposition “For every real number x there is a real number y
such that Q(x, y).” Given a real number x, there is a real number
y such that x + y = 0; namely, y = −x. Hence, the statement
∀x∃yQ(x, y) is true. Be careful with the order of existential and
universal quantifiers! ▲
 The statements ∃y∀xP(x, y) and ∀x∃yP(x, y) are not
logically equivalent. ∃y∀xP(x, y) is true if and only if
there is a y that makes P(x, y) true for every x. So, for
this statement to be true, there must be a particular
value of y for which P(x, y) is true regardless of the
choice of x. On the other hand, ∀x∃yP(x, y) is true if
and only if for every value of x there is a value of y for
which P(x, y) is true. So, for this statement to be true,
no matter which x you choose, there must be a value of
y for which P(x, y) is true.
 y can depend on x, whereas in the first
case, y is a constant independent of x. It
follows that if ∃y∀xP(x, y) is true, then
∀x∃yP(x, y) must also be true. However, if
∀x∃yP(x, y) is true, it is not necessary for
∃y∀xP(x, y) to be true.
Example 5: Let Q(x, y, z) be the statement “x + y = z.”
What are the truth values of the statements ∀x∀y∃zQ(x,
y, z) and ∃z∀x∀yQ(x, y, z), where the domain of all
variables consists of all real numbers?
Solution: Suppose that x and y are assigned values.
Then, there exists a real number z such that x + y = z.
Consequently, the quantification ∀x∀y∃zQ(x, y, z),
which is the statement “For all real numbers x and for
all real numbers y there is a real number z such that x +
y = z,” is true
Solution(Continuous):
The order of the quantification here is
important, because the quantification
∃z∀x∀yQ(x, y, z), which is the statement “There
is a real number z such that for all real numbers
x and for all real numbers y it is true that x + y =
z,” is false, because there is no value of z that
satisfies the equation x + y = z for all values of x
and y. ▲
Translating Mathematical Statements into
Statements Involving Nested Quantifiers

Example 6: Translate the statement “The

sum of two positive integers is always
positive” into a logical expression.
Solution:

We first rewrite it so that the implied quantifiers

and a domain are shown: “For every two

integers, if these integers are both positive, then

the sum of these integers is positive.” Next, we

introduce the variables x and y to obtain “For

all positive integers x and y, x + y is positive.”

We can express this statement as ∀x∀y((x > 0) ∧ (y > 0)
→ (x +y > 0)), where the domain for both variables
consists of all integers. We could also translate this
using the positive integers as the domain. Then “The
sum of two positive integers is always positive”
becomes “For every two positive integers, the sum of
these integers is positive.We can express this as ∀x∀y(x
+y > 0), where the domain for both variables consists of
all positive integers. ▲
Example 7:

Translate the statement “Every real

number except zero has a multiplicative
inverse.” (A multiplicative inverse of a real
number x is a real number y such that xy =
1.)
Solution:

We first rewrite this as “For every real

number x except zero, x has a
multiplicative inverse.” We can rewrite
this as “For every real number x, if , then
there exists a real number y such that xy =
1.” This can be rewritten as ∀x(() → ∃y(xy =
1)). ▲
Example 8: (Requires calculus)

Use quantifiers to express the definition of

the limit of a real-valued function f (x) of a
real variable x at a point a in its domain.
Translating from Nested Quantifiers into
English-can be quite complicated. The first
step in translating such an expression is to
write out what the quantifiers and
predicates in the expression mean. The
next step is to express this meaning in a
simpler sentence.
Example 9:

Translate the statement

∀x(C(x) ∨ ∃y(C(y) ∧ F(x, y)))

into English, where C(x) is “x has a

computer,” F(x, y) is “x and y are friends,”
and the domain for both x and y consists
of all students in your school.
Solution: The statement says that for every
student x in your school, x has a computer
or there is a student y such that y has a
computer and x and y are friends. In other
words, every student in your school has a
computer or has a friend who has a
computer.▲
Example 10: Translate the statement

∃x∀y∀z((F (x, y) ∧ F(x, z) ∧ (y z))→ ￢ F(y,z))

into English, where F(a,b) means a and b

are friends and the domain for x, y, and z
consists of all students in your school.
Solution: We first examine the expression (F (x, y) ∧ F(x,
z) ∧ (→ ￢ F(y, z). If students x and y are friends, and
students x and z are friends, and furthermore, if y and
z are not the same student, then y and z are not friends.
The original statement, is triply quantified, says that
there is a student x such that for all students y and all
students z other than y, if x and y are friends and x and
z are friends, then y and z are not friends. In other
words, there is a student none of whose friends are
also friends with each other. ▲
Negating Nested Quantifiers

Statements involving nested quantifiers

can be negated by successively applying
the rules for negating statements
involving a single quantifier.

Example 11: Express the negation of the

statement ∀x∃y(xy = 1) so that no negation
precedes a quantifier.
Solution: By successively applying De Morgan’s
laws for quantifiers in Table 2 of Section 1.4, we
can move the negation in ￢ ∀ x∃y(xy = 1)
inside all the quantifiers. We find that ￢
∀ x∃y(xy = 1) is equivalent to ∃x ￢∃ y(xy = 1),
which is equivalent to ∃x∀y ￢ (xy = 1). Because
￢ (xy = 1) can be expressed more simply as xy 1,
we conclude that our negated statement can be
expressed as ∃x∀y(xy 1).
Example 12: (Requires calculus)

Use quantifiers and predicates to express

the fact that limx→ a f (x) does not exist
where f (x) is a real-valued function of a
real variable x and a belongs to the
domain of f.
Solution: To say that does not exist means
that for all real numbers L,

L. By using Example 8, the statement L can

be expressed as
In the last step we used the equivalence ￢ (p → q) ≡ p
∧ ￢ q, which follows from the fifth equivalence in
Table 7. Because the statement “limx→a f (x) does not
exist” means for all real numbers L, limx→a f (x) L, this
can be expressed as ∀L∃>0 ∀δ>0 ∃x(0 < |x − a| < δ ∧ |f
(x) − L| ≥ ). This last statement says that for every real
number L there is a real number > 0 such that for every
real number δ > 0, there exists a real number x such
that 0 < |x − a| < δ and |f (x) − L| ≥ . ▲
Thank you for attention!