Fall 2025

Prof. Dr. Hasan F. ATEŞ

Özyeğin University, İstanbul, Turkey
[email protected]
Chapter 1: roadmap

Sets
Sets
Definition:
Any collection of distinct “things” (elements or
members) is a set.

Examples:
P = {Alice, Bob, Diane, Eve, Frank, George}
D={ }

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Sets
Definition:
Sets that have the same elements are “equal”.

Note 1:
Order of the set’s elements is not important!
i.e., { }={ }

Note 2:
Repetition of the set’s elements is not important!
i.e., { }={ }

4
Sets
Is the set {{1, 2}, {0}, {2,1}} equal to the set
{{0}, {1, 2}}?

YES or NO ?

5
Sets
R = { real numbers} Q = { rational numbers}
Z = { integers } Z += { non-negative integers }
N = { natural numbers }
N0 = { natural numbers including 0 }
∅ = empty set = { }
Notation:
The sign ∈ is used to indicate element of a set
Example:
1 ∈ Z or 1 ∈ N but ½ ∉ N
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Notation: Abstraction
Instead of listing the elements of a set explicitly,
we can use the notation:

S = {x ∈ U: “a property that defines x” },

where U is a larger set (“universe”). This defines
the elements by abstracting a property of them.
Examples:
Z+ = { x ∈ Z: x ≥ 0 }
B = { c ∈ P: c is a boy } = { Bob, Frank, George }

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Abstraction
{x | P(x) } = {y | P(y)}, i.e., abstraction does not
depend on the variable x or y.

Python (with lists):

naturals = [n for n in range(1,1001)]
evens = [n for n in naturals if n%2==0]

We can also write: {f(x) | P(x) }, e.g., {2n | n∈N }

or, in Python (with lists):
evens = [2*n for n in naturals]

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Set Abstraction
{n2 | n ∈ {1,…,999}} = {n2 | n ∈ N and n < 1000}

Python (with lists):

small_squares1 = [n**2 for n in
range(1,1000)]

small_squares2 = [n**2 for n in naturals

if n<1000]

Note: naturals = [1..]

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Subsets
Definition:
A set A is called a subset of a set B if every
element of a A is also an element of B.
Notations:
The sign ⊂ is used to indicate “proper subset of ”,
if all elements of B are also elements of A (A = B),
then ⊆ is used.
Note: ∅ is a subset of all sets.
Examples:
B⊂P
∅ ⊂ N ⊆ Z+ ⊂ Z ⊂ Q ⊂ R
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Subsets
Theorem:
1. A ⊆ A (reflexivity)
2. If A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A, then A = B (antisymmetry)
3. If A ⊆ B and B ⊆ C, then A ⊆ C (transitivity)

11
in keyword for Python
The in keyword checks whether an object is an element of a list.
This is the closest operation to ‘∈’ of the set theory.

Now, see this interaction:

>>> 'R' in "Russell"
True
>>> 'R' in "Cantor"
False
>>> "Rus" in "Russell"
True
>>> [1,2] in [1,2,3]
False
>>> [1] in [1,2,3]
False

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Set Operations – Algebra of Sets
A ∩ B: intersection; A∩B = ∅ ⇒A & B are disjoint
A∪B: union
A \ B (or A – B): difference
A ∆ B: symmetric difference ≜ (A ∪ B) – (A ∩ B)
A’ : A complement ≜ U - A where U is the Universe.
∩ and ∪ are commutative and associative operators
i.e,, A∪B = B∪A; A∪(B∪C) = (A∪B)∪C
A∩B = B∩A; A∩(B∩C) = (A∩B)∩C
Also, they are distributive over each other.
i.e,, A∪(B ∩ C) = (A∪B)∩(A∪C)
A∩(B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B)∪(A ∩ C)
With ∩, ∪ and complement operations, and ∅ and U
as the identity elements, sets define an algebraic
field. 13
 Addition Rule:

ow to check correctness of complex set equatio

Venn Diagrams
A∪(B∩C) ≟ (A∪B) ∩ (A ∪ C)

A B A B

C C

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Addition Rule:

Introducing SETS to Python…

Sets vs. Lists in Python
In Python, sets are lists where duplicates are removed
and there is no specific order of elements:
>>> s1 = {"Russell", 1, 'a', 2.1, 'a’}
>>> s1
{1, 2.1, 'Russell', 'a’}

>>> s2 = set(["Russell", 1, 'a', 2.1, 'a'])

>>> s2
{1, 2.1, 'Russell', 'a’}

>>> s1 == s2
True

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Union (∪) and Intersection (∩)
Union in Python:
>>> s1 = {"Russell", 1, 'a', 2.1, 'a'}
>>> s2 = {"a", 2.1, 'CS112'}

>>> s3 = s1.union(s2)
>>> s3
{1, 2.1, 'CS112', 'Russell', 'a'}

>>> s4 = s1.intersection(s2)
>>> s4
{2.1, 'a'}

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List of all subsets (powerset)
def powerset(s):
x = len(s)
ls = list(s)
lsub = []
for i in range(1 << x):
lsub.append({ls[j] for j in range(x) if (i & (1 <<
j))})
return(lsub)

print(powerset({1,2,3}))
[set(), {1}, {2}, {1, 2}, {3}, {1, 3}, {2, 3}, {1, 2,
3}]

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Cross Product
Cross product of two lists setA and setB can be
implemented as:
{(i,j) for i in setA for j in setB}

setA = {1, 2, 3}
setB = {'a', 'b'}

cross_product = {(i,j) for i in setA for j in setB}

print(cross_product)

{(2, 'a'), (2, 'b'), (3, 'a'), (3, 'b'), (1, 'b'), (1,
'a')}

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Cardinality (size) of a set
Definition:
The number of elements of a set is its cardinality.
Notation:
Signs | | are used to denote cardinality.
Examples:
| P | = 6, | ∅ | = 0, | Z | = ∞, |R| = ∞

but, |R| > |Z|!

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Chapter 1: roadmap
1.1 Real life examples – A Party
1.2 Introduction to Python Programming Language
1.3 Sets and the Like
1.4 Addition Rule
1.5 The Number of Subsets
1.6 Correspondence Principle
1.7 Choice trees & Product Rule
1.8 Permutations
1.9 The Number of Ordered Subsets
2.0 The Number of Subsets of a Given Size
Addition Rule:
If A ∩ B = ∅ (i.e., if A & B are disjoint),

|A∪B| = |A| + |B|

Corollary:
If A1, A2,…,An are disjoint,
n n

|∪
i=1
Ai | = ∑
i=1
|Ai|

23
Using the addition rule
Let’s look at some combinatorics examples.
Let’s roll a black dice and a white dice…
Let’s count some outcomes…

S ≜ {outcomes where the dice show different values}

|S|=?

a. 30
b. 12
c. 10
d. 36
 Let’s count some outcomes…

S ≜ {outcomes where the dice show different values}

|S|=?

Ai ≜ { outcomes where the black dice says i and

the white dice says something else }
eg., black is 6, white is something else

A6 = , , , ,

| A6 | = 5
Let’s count some outcomes…

S = A1∪A2∪A3∪A4∪A5∪A6

and, Ai’s are disjoint

therefore,

6 6 6
S  A i   A i   5 30
i 1 i=1 i=1
Another solution
S ≜ {outcomes where the dice show different values}
|S|=?
T ≜ { outcomes where dice agree }

S  T # of outcomes 36
S  T 36 T 6
S 36  6 30
With Python
dice = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
setAll= {(i,j) for i in dice for j in dice}
print(setAll)
{(3, 4), (4, 3), (3, 1), (5, 4), (4, 6), (5, 1), (2, 2),
(1, 6), (2, 5), (1, 3), (6, 2), (6, 5), (4, 2), (4, 5), (3,
3), (5, 6), (3, 6), (5, 3), (2, 4), (1, 2), (2, 1), (1, 5),
(6, 1), (6, 4), (3, 2), (4, 1), (3, 5), (5, 2), (4, 4), (5,
5), (1, 1), (1, 4), (2, 3), (2, 6), (6, 6), (6, 3)}

dice = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
setS= {(i,j) for i in dice for j in dice if i!=j}
print(len(setS))

setT =setAll.difference(setS)
print(setT)
{(4, 4), (5, 5), (1, 1), (3, 3), (2, 2), (6, 6)}
A somewhat more difficult one…

S ≜ { outcomes where the black dice shows a

smaller number than the white dice }
|S| = ?
a. 30
b. 18
c. 15
d. 12
A somewhat more difficult one…

S ≜ { outcomes where the black dice shows a

smaller number than the white dice }
|S| = ?

Ai ≜ { outcomes where the black dice says i and

the white dice says something larger }

S A 1  A 2  A 3  A 4  A 5  A 6
S 5  4  3  2  1 0 15
Addition Rule

Divide the set into “manageable” parts

• The cardinality of each part should be easy to
determine
• The number of parts should not be very large, e.g., if
each part contains only one element, we go back to
enumeration!
Chapter 1: roadmap
1.1 Real life examples – A Party
1.2 Introduction to Python Programming Language
1.3 Sets and the Like
1.4 Addition Rule
1.5 Correspondence Principle
1.6 Choice trees & Product Rule
1.7 The Number of Subsets
1.8 Permutations
1.9 The Number of Ordered Subsets
2.0 The Number of Subsets of a Given Size
Dice revisited

35
Dice revisited
S ≜ { outcomes where the black dice shows a
smaller number than the white dice }
|S| = ?

L ≜ { outcomes where the black dice shows a

larger number than the white dice }
S + L = 30
It is clear by symmetry that S = L.

Therefore S = 15
It is clear by symmetry that S = L ?
Pinning down the idea of symmetry by exhibiting a
correspondence

Let’s put each outcome in S in

correspondence with an outcome in L
by swapping the color of the dice.

S L
1-1 Onto Correspondence (bijection or
just “correspondence” for short)

A B
Correspondence Principle

If two finite sets can be placed

into 1-1 onto correspondence,
then they have the same size.
Correspondence Principle
If two finite sets can be placed into 1-1 onto
correspondence, then they have the same size.

It’s one of
the most
important
mathematic
al ideas of
all time!
Chapter 1: roadmap
1.1 Real life examples – A Party
1.2 Introduction to Python Programming Language
1.3 Sets and the Like
1.4 Addition Rule
1.5 Correspondence Principle
1.6 Choice trees & Product Rule
1.7 The Number of Subsets
1.8 Permutations
1.9 The Number of Ordered Subsets
2.0 The Number of Subsets of a Given Size
Strings of different objects
I own 3 beanies and 2
ties. How many
different ways can I
dress up in a beanie
and a tie?
a. 6
b. 5
c. 9
d. 12
Strings of different objects
Add or multiply?
A restaurant has a menu with
5 appetizers, 6 entrees, 3 salads, and 7 desserts.
How many items on the menu?
a. 630
b. 21
c. 315
d. 20
Add or multiply?
A restaurant has a menu with
5 appetizers, 6 entrees, 3 salads, and 7 desserts.
How many ways to choose a complete meal?
a. 630
b. 21
c. 315
d. 20
 Strings of different objects
A restaurant has a menu with
5 appetizers, 6 entrees, 3 salads, and 7 desserts.

How many ways to order a meal if I might not

have some of the courses (i.e., no appetizer, no
entrée, no salad or no desert)?
a. 630
b. 1260
c. 1344
d. 315
 Strings of different objects
A restaurant has a menu with
5 appetizers, 6 entrees, 3 salads, and 7 desserts.

How many ways to order a meal if I might not

have some of the courses (i.e., no appetizer, no
entrée, no salad or no desert)?

6 * 7 * 4 * 8 = 1344
Choice Trees

A choice tree is a rooted, directed tree with

an object called a “choice” associated with
each edge and a label on each leaf.
 Choice Trees representing Sets

S ={ , , , , , }
A choice tree provides a “choice tree representation” of a set S, if
1) Each leaf label is in S, and each element of S is some leaf label
2) No two leaf labels are the same
Leaf Counting Lemma
Let T be a depth n tree when each node
at depth 0  i  n-1 has Pi+1 children. The
number of leaves of T is given by:
P1P2…Pn
We will now combine
the correspondence
principle with the leaf
counting lemma to
make a powerful
counting rule for
choice tree
representation.
Product Rule
IF a set S has a choice tree representation with
P1 possibilities for the first choice,
P2 for the second, and so on,

THEN
there are P1P2P3…Pn elements in S

Proof: The leaves of the choice tree are in 1-1

onto correspondence with the elements of S.
Product Rule
Suppose that all objects of a type S can be constructed by
a sequence of choices with P1 possibilities for the first
choice, P2 for the second, and so on.
IF
1) Each sequence of choices constructs an
object of type S
AND
2) No two different sequences create the
same object
THEN
there are P1P2P3…Pn objects of type S.
E.g., how many different orderings of deck with 52
cards?
• What type of objects are we making?
– Orderings of a deck

Construct an ordering of a deck by a sequence of 52 choices:

52 possible choices for the first card;

51 possible choices for the second card;
50 possible choices for the third card;
…
1 possible choice for the 52nd card.
Computing large factorials

By the product rule:

52 * 51 * 50 * … * 3 * 2 * 1 = 52!

52 “factorial” orderings
Chapter 1: roadmap
1.1 Real life examples – A Party
1.2 Introduction to Python Programming Language
1.3 Sets and the Like
1.4 Addition Rule
1.5 Correspondence Principle
1.6 Choice trees & Product Rule
1.7 The Number of Subsets
1.8 Permutations
1.9 The Number of Ordered Subsets
2.0 The Number of Subsets of a Given Size
Selecting from different objects
Hobson’s restaurant has only 1 appetizer, 1
entree, 1 salad, and 1 dessert.

24 ways to order a meal if I might not have

some of the courses.

Same as number of subsets of the 4-element

set:
{Appetizer, Entrée, Salad, Dessert}
Selecting from different objects
Appetizer
Y N

Entree 2 children Entree

Y N Y N

Salad Salad Salad Salad leaf (node)

Y N Y N Y N Y N

Desert Desert Desert Desert Desert Desert Desert Desert

Y N Y N Y N Y NY N Y N Y NY N

A A A A A A A A
E E E E E E E E
S S S S S S S S
D D D D D D D D
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

59
 Selecting from different objects
Appetizer
Y N P1 = 2 (i = 0)

Entree Entree
Y N Y N P2 = 2 (i = 1)
Depth = 4
Salad Salad Salad Salad
Y N Y N Y N Y N P3 = 2 (i = 2)

Desert Desert Desert Desert Desert Desert Desert Desert

Y N Y N Y N Y NY N Y N Y NY N P4 = 2 (i = 3)

A A A A A A A A 2x2x2x2=16
E E E E E E E E leaves
S S S S S S S S
D D D D D D D D
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

60
The Number of Subsets
What is the number of subsets of a set with
n elements?
∅ has only 1 subset, itself: ∅⊆∅
{a} has 2: ∅ and {a}
{a, b} has 4: ∅, {a}, {b}, {a,b}
{a, b, c} has 8: ∅,{a},{b},{c},{a,b},{a,c},{b,c},{a,b,c}
A Python computation:
>>>len(powerset(set(range(1,11))))
1024
61
The Number of Subsets
Theorem: A set with n elements has 2n subsets.

Example: Consider the set: S = {a, b, c}

a∈ S
Y N

b∈ S b∈ S
Y N Y N

c ∈S c ∈S c ∈S c ∈S
Y N Y N Y N Y N

{a,b,c} {a,b} {a,c} {a} {b,c} {b} {c} ∅ 23 = 8 subsets

62
A (one-to-one) relation
between:
n-bit binary numbers,
e.g., 011010 (6 bits)
&
subsets of an n-element set,
e.g. {a,b,c,d,e,f} (6
elements)
Mapping Subsets to Numbers
Construct an n-bit binary number by assigning a 1 to those
elements that belong to a subset, and 0 to the others. The
corresponding subset’s order will be the resulting binary
number!

Example: {a,d,e} ⊂ {a,b,c,d,e,f,g}

1 0 0 1 1 0 0 = 76th Subset

Or, for any given binary number, the corresponding subset

can be determined, e.g., for 00111010012 corresponding
subset of a 10 element set: {a10,a9,a8,a7,a6,a5,a4,a3,a2,a1}
is: {a8,a7,a6,a4,a1}.

64
Mapping Subsets to Numbers
What is the 512th subset of {a11,a10,a9,a8,a7,a6,a5,a4,a3,a2,a1}?

a. {a1}
b. {a2}
c. {a3}
d. {a10}
e. {a11}

65
Mapping Subsets to Numbers
Note that here the subscripts of a’s are not important. The
set with 11 members can be {a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,I,j,k} instead
of {a11,a10,a9,a8,a7,a6,a5,a4,a3,a2,a1}. The subset number
512 of this set will be {b} corresponding to the binary
number: 010 0000 00002 = 2910 = 51210

66
 Bijection
There is a one-to-one correspondence
(bijection) between the subsets of an n
element set and n-bit binary numbers.

Set with 11 elements: {a11,a10,a9,a8,a7,a6,a5,a4,a3,a2,a1}

Subset 11-bit binary number
{a11,a10,a8, a1} 11010000001
{a11,a3,a2,a1} 10000000111
…
{a8,a7,a2} 00011000010
67
Choice Tree for 2n n-bit sequences

0 1

0 1 0 1

0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

We can use a “choice tree” to represent the

construction of objects of the desired type.
 2n n-bit sequences
0 1

0 1 0 1

0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

000 001 010 011 100 101 110 111

Label each leaf with the object constructed by the

choices along the path to the leaf
2n n-bit sequences

0 1

0 1 0 1

0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

2 choices for first bit

X 2 choices for second bit
X 2 choices for third bit 2n leaves
…
X 2 choices for the nth