Discrete Math

So…. What is it?

• Discrete mathematics … is the study of
mathematical structures that are fundamentally
discrete, in the sense of not supporting or
requiring the notion of continuity (wikipedia)

• In other words, dealing with integer things (sets,

logic, proofs, etc.) and not continuous things
(calculus, functions, etc.)
Why discrete math?
• It forms the basis for computer science:
• Sequences
• Digital logic (how computers compute)
• Algorithms
• Assuring computer correctness
• Probability and gambling (really!)
• Etc.
• Like how “regular” math forms the basis for science
Sequences in Nature
13
8
5
3
2
1
Proofs
• How do you know something is correct?
• How do you know when something is not correct?
• Such as showing that 2=1?

• How do you think logically?

• How do you think to solve problems?
 6
Boolean Logic
Applications of Boolean logic
• Computer programs
• And computer addition
• Logic problems
• Sudoku

7
Boolean propositions
• A proposition is a statement that can be either true or false
• “The sky is blue”
• “I is a Engineering major”
• “x == y”

8
• Not propositions:
• “Are you Bob?”
• “x := 7”
Boolean variables
• We use Boolean variables to refer to propositions
• Usually are lower case letters starting with p (i.e. p, q, r, s, etc.)
• A Boolean variable can have one of two values true (T) or false (F)
• A proposition can be…

9
• A single variable: p
• An operation of multiple variables: p(qr)
Introduction to Logical Operators
• About a dozen logical operators
• Similar to algebraic operators + * - /
• In the following examples,

10
• p = “Today is Friday”
• q = “Today is my birthday”
Logical operators: Not
• A not operation switches (negates) the truth value
• Symbol:  or ~ p p
• In C++ and Java, T F
the operand is ! F T
• p = “Today is not Friday”

11
Logical operators: And
• An and operation is true if both operands are true
• Symbol: 
• It’s like the ‘A’ in And
p q pq
T T T
• In C++ and Java,
the operand is && T F F
• pq = “Today is Friday and F T F
today is my birthday” F F F

12
Logical operators: Or
• An or operation is true if either operands are true
• Symbol:  p q pq
• In C++ and Java, T T T
the operand is || T F T
• pq = “Today is Friday or F T T
today is my birthday (or F F F

possibly both)”

13
Logical operators: Exclusive Or
• An exclusive or operation is true if one of the operands are
true, but false if both are true
• Symbol:  p q pq
• Often called XOR T T F
• pq  (p  q)  ¬(p  q) T F T
• In Java, the operand is ^ F T T
(but not in C++) F F F
• pq = “Today is Friday or today
is my birthday, but not both”

14
Inclusive Or versus Exclusive
Or
• Do these sentences mean inclusive or exclusive or?
• Experience with C++ or Java is required
• Lunch includes soup or salad

15
• To enter the country, you need a passport or a driver’s license
• Publish or perish
Logical operators: Nand and Nor
• The negation of And and Or, respectively
• Symbols: | and ↓, respectively
• Nand: p|q  ¬(pq)
• Nor: p↓q  ¬(pq)

p q pq pq p|q pq

T T T T F F
T F F T T F
F T F T T F
F F F F T T
16
 Logical operators: Conditional 1
• A conditional means “if p then q”
• Symbol: 
p q pq ¬pq
• pq = “If today is
Friday, then today T T T T
is my birthday” T F F F
• p→q  ¬pq F T T T
F F T T
the the
antecedent consequence

17
Logical operators: Conditional 2
• Let p = “I am elected” and q = “I will lower taxes”
• I state: p  q = “If I
p q pq
am elected, then I
T T T
will lower taxes”
T F F
• Consider all
F T T
possibilities
F F T
• Note that if p is false, then
the conditional is true regardless of whether q is true
or false
18
Logical operators:
Conditional 3
Conditional Inverse Converse Contra-
positive

19
p q p q pq pq qp qp
T T F F T T T T
T F F T F T T F
F T T F T F F T
F F T T T T T T
Logical operators:
Conditional 4
• Alternate ways of stating a conditional:
• p implies q
• If p, q
• p is sufficient for q

20
• q if p
• q whenever p
• q is necessary for p
• p only if q

I don’t like this one

Logical operators: Bi-conditional 1
• A bi-conditional means “p if and only if q”
• Symbol: 
p q pq
• Alternatively, it means
“(if p then q) and T T T
(if q then p)” T F F
• pq  pq  qp F T F
• Note that a bi-conditional F F T
has the opposite truth values
of the exclusive or

21
Logical operators: Bi-conditional 2
• Let p = “You take this class” and q = “You get a grade”
• Then pq means
“You take this class if p q pq
and only if you get a T T T
grade” T F F
• Alternatively, it means “If F T F
you take this class, then F F T
you get a grade and if you get a grade then you take
(took) this class”

22
Boolean operators summary
not not and or xor nan nor condition bi-
d al condition
al

23
p q p q pq pq pq p|q pq pq pq
T T F F T T F F F T T
T F F T F T T T F F F
F T T F F T T T F T F
F F T T F F F T T T T
• Learn what they mean, don’t just memorize the table!
Precedence of operators
• Just as in algebra, operators have precedence
• 4+3*2 = 4+(3*2), not (4+3)*2
• Precedence order (from highest to lowest): ¬   → ↔
• The first three are the most important

24
• This means that p  q  ¬r → s ↔ t
yields: (p  (q  (¬r))) ↔ (s → t)
• Not is always performed before any other operation
Translating English
Sentences
• Problem:
• p = “It is below freezing”
• q = “It is snowing”

25
• It is below freezing and it is snowing pq
• It is below freezing but not snowing p¬q
• It is not below freezing and it is not snowing ¬p¬q
• It is either snowing or below freezing (or both) pq
• p→q
If it is below freezing, it is also snowing
• (pq)(p→¬q)
It is either below freezing or it is snowing,
but it is not snowing if it is below freezing
• That it is below freezing is necessary and p↔q
sufficient for it to be snowing
Translation Example 1
• Heard on the radio:
• A study showed that there was a correlation between the more
children ate dinners with their families and lower rate of
substance abuse by those children

26
• Announcer conclusions:
• If children eat more meals with their family, they will have lower
substance abuse
• If they have a higher substance abuse rate, then they did not eat
more meals with their family
Translation Example 1
• Let p = “Child eats more meals with family”
• Let q = “Child has less substance abuse
• Announcer conclusions:

27
• If children eat more meals with their family, they will
have lower substance abuse
• pq
• If they have a higher substance abuse rate, then they
did not eat more meals with their family
• q  p
• Note that p  q and q  p are logically
equivalent
Translation Example 1
• Let p = “Child eats more meals with family”
• Let q = “Child has less substance abuse”
• Remember that the study showed a correlation,
not a causation

p q result conclusion
T T T T
T F ? F
F T ? T
F F T T
28
Translation Example 2
• “I have neither given nor received help on this
exam”
• Rephrased: “I have not given nor received …”

29
• Let p = “I have given help on this exam”
• Let q = “I have received help on this exam”
• Translation is: pq
p q p pq
T T F F
T F F T
F T T F
F F T F
Translation Example 2
• What they mean is “I have not given and I have not
received help on this exam”
• Or “I have not (given nor received) help on this exam”

30
p q pq (pq)
T T F F
T F F F
F T F F
F F T T

• The problem:  has a higher precedence than  in

Boolean logic, but not always in English
• Also, “neither” is vague
Bit Operations 1
• Boolean values can be represented as 1 (true) and 0
(false)
• A bit string is a series of Boolean values
• 10110100 is eight Boolean values in one string
• We can then do operations on these Boolean strings
• Each column is its own
Boolean operation 01011010
10110100
11101110

31
Bit Operations 2
• Evaluate the following
11000  (01011  11011) 01011
= 11000  (11011) 11011
= 11000 11011

11000
11011
11000

32
&& vs. & in C/C++
Consider the In C/C++, any value other than 0 is true
following:
The binary for the integer 11 is 01011
int p = 11; The binary for the integer 20 is 10100
int q = 20; Notice the double ampersand – this is a Boolean operation
if ( p && q ) {
}
As p and q are both true, this is true
if ( p & q ) {
Notice the single ampersand – this is a bitwise operation
}

01011 This evaluates to

Bitwise Boolean
And operation: 10100 zero (false)!
00000
33
&& vs. & in C/C++
• Note that Java does not have this “feature”
• If p and q are int:
• p & q is bitwise
• p && q will not compile

34
• If p and q are boolean:
• Both p & q and p && q will be a Boolean operation
• The same holds true for the or operators (| and ||) in both
Java and C/C++
Tautology and Contradiction
• A tautology is a statement that is always true
• p  ¬p will always be true (Negation Law)
• A contradiction is a statement that is always false

35
• p  ¬p will always be false (Negation Law)

p p  ¬p p  ¬p
T T F
F T F
Logical Equivalence
• A logical equivalence means that the two sides always have
the same truth values
• Symbol is ≡or 
• We’ll use ≡, so as not to confuse it with the bi-conditional

36
Logical Equivalences of And
• pT≡p Identity law
p T pT
T T T
F T F

• pF≡F Domination law

p F pF
T F F
F F F
37
Logical Equivalences of And
• pp≡p Idempotent law
p p pp
T T T
F F F
• pq≡qp Commutative law
p q pq qp
T T T T
T F F F
F T F F
F F F F 38
Logical Thinking
• At a trial:
• Bill says: “Sue is guilty and Fred is innocent.”
• Sue says: “If Bill is guilty, then so is Fred.”

39
• Fred says: “I am innocent, but at least one of the others is
guilty.”
• Let b = Bill is innocent, f = Fred is innocent, and s =
Sue is innocent
• Statements are:
• ¬s  f
• ¬b → ¬f
• f  (¬b  ¬s)