Discrete Structures

Quantifiers
Ahsan Azhar
 Quantifiers
 The area of logic that deals with predicates and quantifiers is called the predicate
calculus.
 When the variables in the propositional function are assigned values, the resulting
statement becomes a proposition with certain truth value.
 Quantification is another way “To create a proposition from propositional function”.
 Quantification express the extent to which a predicate is true over a range of
elements.
 Note: specifying domain is mandatory when quantifiers are used. Domain of
discourse or universe of discourse.
 Universal Quantifier
DEFINITION
The universal quantification of is the statement
“ for all values of in the domain.”
The notation denotes the universal quantification of . Here is called the universal
quantifier. We read as “for all ” or “for every .” An element for which is false is called a
counterexample to .

Generally, an implicit assumption is made that all domains of discourse for

quantifiers are nonempty. Note that if the domain is empty, then is true for any
propositional function because there are no elements in the domain for which is
false.
 Universal Quantifier
Example: Let be the statement ” What is the truth value of the quantification , where the
domain consists of all real numbers??

Solution: Because P(x) is true for all real numbers x, the quantification is true.

Example: Let be the statement What is the truth value of the quantification where the
domain consists of all real numbers?

Solution: is not true for every real number , because, for instance,
is false. That is, is a counterexample for the statement
Thus, is false.
 Universal Quantifier
Example: Suppose that is “.” To show that the statement is false where the universe of
discourse consists of all integers, we give a counterexample. We see that is a
counterexample becausewhen , so that is not greater than when
Looking for counterexamples to universally quantified statements is an important activity in
the study of mathematics.
Example: What does the statement mean if is “Computer is connected to the network” and
the domain consists of all computers on campus?
Solution: The statement means that for every computer on campus, that computer is
connected to the network. This statement can be expressed in
English as
“Every computer on campus is connected to the network.”
 Universal Quantifier Over Finite Domains
When the domain of a quantifier is finite, that is, when all its elements can be listed,
quantified statements can be expressed using propositional logic.
In particular, when the elements of the domain are , where is a positive integer, the universal
quantification is the same as the conjunction

because this conjunction is true if and only if are all true.

 Universal Quantifier Over Finite Domains
Example: What is the truth value of , where is the statement “” and the domain consists of
the positive integers not exceeding ?

Solution: The statement is the same as the conjunction

because the domain consists of the integers . Because , which is the statement “,” is false, it
follows that is false.
 Universal Quantifier : Exercise
Exercise: Let be “ must take Discrete Mathematics course”, And let be “ is a
Computer Science student”. The Universe of discourse is all UCP students. Express
the statement mathematically:

“Every computer science student must take discrete mathematics course”

Solution: Because to take mathematics course the condition is applied to be a

computer science student. So,
 Universal Quantifier : Exercise
Exercise: Let be “ must take Discrete Mathematics course”, And let be “ is a Computer
Science student”. The Universe of discourse is all UCP students. Express the statement
mathematically:

“Everybody must take a discrete mathematics course or be a computer science student”

Solution: Because to take mathematics course and to be a computer science student is

optional. So,
 Existential Quantifier
DEFINITION
The existential quantification of is the proposition

We use the notation for the existential quantification of . Here is called the existential
quantifier.

A domain must always be specified when a statement is used. Furthermore, the

meaning of changes when the domain changes. Without specifying the domain, the
statement has no meaning.
 Existential Quantifier
Besides the phrase “there exists,” we can also express existential quantification in many
other ways, such as by using the words “for some,” “for at least one,” or “there is.” The
existential quantification ∃xP(x) is read as

“There is an x such that P(x),”

“There is at least one x such that P(x),”

Or

“For some xP(x).”

 Existential Quantifier
Example: Let denote the statement What is the truth value of the quantification , where
the domain consists of all real numbers?
Solution: Because is sometimes true—for instance, when the existential quantification
of , which is , is true.

Example: Let denote the statement “.” What is the truth value of the quantification , where
the domain consists of all real numbers?
Solution: Because is false for every real number x, the existential quantification of ,
which is , is false.
 Existential Quantifier
Example: Let denote the statement What is the truth value of the quantification , where
the domain consists of all real numbers?
Solution: Because is sometimes true—for instance, when the existential quantification
of , which is , is true.
Example: Let denote the statement “.” What is the truth value of the quantification , where
the domain consists of all real numbers?
Solution: Because is false for every real number x, the existential quantification of ,
which is , is false.
Generally, an implicit assumption is made that all domains of discourse
for quantifiers are nonempty. If the domain is empty, then is false
whenever is a propositional function because when the domain is empty,
there can be no element in the domain for which is true.
 Existential Quantifier Over Finite Domains
When the elements of the domain are , where is a positive integer, the existential
quantification is the same as the disjunction

because this disjunction is true if and only if at least one of is true.

 Existential Quantifier Over Finite Domains
Example: What is the truth value of , where is the statement “” and the universe of
discourse consists of the positive integers not exceeding ?

Solution: Because the domain is the proposition is the same as the disjunction

Because , which is the statement is true, it follows that

is true
 Quantifier : Exercise
Express in Mathematical Notation
 Product of two negative integers is positive.

 Average of two positive integers in positive.

 The difference of two negative integers is not necessarily negative.

Or we may write
 Truth Values of Quantifiers
In general when are quantified statements are true or false.

Statement True when False when

∀ 𝒙 𝑷 (𝒙) is true for every There is an for which

is false
There is an for which
∃ 𝒙 𝑷 (𝒙 ) is true
is false for every
 The Uniqueness Quantifier
 There is no limitation on the number of different quantifiers we can define, such
as “there are exactly two”, “there are no more than three,” “there are at least 100,”
and so on.
 Of these other quantifiers, the one that is most often seen is the uniqueness
quantifier, denoted by ∃! or ∃1.
 The notation states “There exists a unique x such that is true.” (Other phrases for
uniqueness quantification include “there is exactly one” and “there is one and
only one.”)
 For instance, , where the domain is the set of real numbers, states that there is a
unique real number x such that . This is a true statement, as is the unique real
number such that
 The Uniqueness Quantifier
 Observe that we can use quantifiers and propositional logic to express uniqueness so
the uniqueness quantifier can be avoided.
 Generally, it is best to stick with existential and universal quantifiers so that rules of
inference for these quantifiers can be used.
 The Uniqueness Quantifier
Example: What do the statements and mean, where the domain in each case consists
of the real numbers?
Solution: The statement states that for every real number That is, it states “The
square of a negative real number is positive.” This statement is the same as
The statement states that for every real number y with , we have . That is, it states
“The cube of every nonzero real number is nonzero.” This statement is equivalent to
Finally, the statement states that there exists a real number such that . That is, it states
“There is a positive square root of 2.” This statement is equivalent to
 Negating Quantified Expressions
Negation Of Universal Quantifier:

“
This statement is a universal quantification, namely,

where is the statement “” and the domain consists of the students in your class.
The negation of this statement is

This is equivalent to
“”
 Negating Quantified Expressions
Negation Of Universal Quantifier:

And this is simply the existential quantification of the negation of the original
propositional function, namely,

This example illustrates the following logical equivalence:

 Negating Quantified Expressions
Negation Of Existential Quantifier:

This statement is a existential quantification, namely,

where is the statement “” and the domain consists of the students in your class.
The negation of this statement is

This is equivalent to
 Negating Quantified Expressions
Negation Of Existential Quantifier:

And this is simply the universal quantification of the negation of the original
propositional function, namely,

This example illustrates the following logical equivalence:

 Negating Quantified Expressions

Statement Equivalence True when False when

¬ ∀ 𝒙 𝑷 (𝒙 ) ∃ 𝒙 ¬ 𝑷 (𝒙) For every , is false There is an for which

is true
There is an for which
¬∃ 𝒙 𝑷 (𝒙) ∀ 𝒙 ¬ 𝑷 (𝒙 ) is false
For every , is true
 Negating Quantified Expressions
Example: What is the negation of the statement

Solution:
According to the statement
set of the students
is genius
So the statement is

Its negation
 Negating Quantified Expressions
Example: What is the negation of the statement

Solution:
set of the students is genius
Which also can be written

Which is

And we know
 Negating Quantified Expressions
Example: What is the negation of the statement

Solution:
According to the statement
set of the teachers
is cute
So the statement is

Its negation
 Negating Quantified Expressions
Example: What is the negation of the statement

Solution
set of the teachers is cute

Which also can be written

Which is

And we know
 Negating Quantified Expressions
Example: Show that

Solution:
As we know

As implication is equivalent to

So

Solving by DE Morgan's law

 Thanks!
Do you have any questions?
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University of Central Punjab Lahore

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