Relations

Relations
If we want to describe a relationship between elements
of two sets A and B, we can use ordered pairs with
their first element taken from A and their second
element taken from B.
Since this is a relation between two sets, it is called a
binary relation.
• A relation is a set of ordered pairs.
Relations
 Definition: Let A and B be sets. A
binary relation from A to B is a subset of
AB.
 In other words, for a binary relation R we
have R  AB. We use the notation aRb
to denote that (a, b)R and aRb to
denote that (a, b)R.
Relations
When (a, b) belongs to R, a is said to be related to b by R.
Example: Let P be a set of people, C be a set of cars, and D
be the relation describing which person drives which car(s).
P = {Carl, Suzanne, Peter, Carla},
C = {Mercedes, BMW, tricycle}
D = {(Carl, Mercedes), (Suzanne, Mercedes),
(Suzanne, BMW), (Peter, tricycle)}
This means that Carl drives a Mercedes, Suzanne drives a
Mercedes and a BMW, Peter drives a tricycle, and Carla does
not drive any of these vehicles.
 Functions as Relations
A function f from a set A to a set B assigns a unique
element of B to each element of A.
In otherwords, if f : A → B, we identify f with the set:
Rf ={(a, b) є A → B : b =f(a)}, which is a relation from A to B.
The graph of f is the set of ordered pairs (a, b) such that b
= f(a).
Since the graph of f is a subset of AB, it is a relation from
A to B.
Moreover, for each element a of A, there is exactly one
ordered pair in the graph that has a as its first element.
 Functions as Relations
Conversely, if R is a relation from A to B such that every
element in A is the first element of exactly one ordered pair
of R, then a function can be defined with R as its graph.

This is done by assigning to an element aA the unique

element bB such that (a, b)R.

Not all relations are functions.

 Relations on a Set
Definition: A relation on the set A is a relation from A to
A.
In other words, a relation on the set A is a subset of AA.

Example: Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4}. Which ordered pairs are in

the relation R = {(a, b) | a < b} ?
 Relations on a Set
Solution: R = { (1, 2), (1, 3), (1, 4), (2, 3),(2, 4),(3, 4)}
1 1 R 1 2 3 4

1 X X X
2 2
2 X X
3 3 3 X
4
4 4
 Properties of Relations
We will now look at some useful ways to classify relations.
A relation R is reflexive if, we observe that for all values a:
aRa
In other words, all values are related to themselves.
The relation of equality, "=" is reflexive.
Eg: Let A = {1,2,3,4}
R1 ={(1,1),(1,2),(2,2),(2,3),(3,3),(4,4)}
R1 is reflexive
R2 = {(1,1),(2,2),(3,3)}
 R2 is not reflexive (why?)
Note that ≤ is also reflexive (a ≤ a for any a in R). On the other
hand, the relation < is not (a < a is false for any a in R).
Properties of Relations
A relation R is symmetric if, we observe that for all values
a and b: a R b implies b R a.
The relation of equality again is symmetric. If x=y, we can
also write that y=x also.
Neither ≤ nor < is symmetric.
Eg: Let A = {1,2,3}
R1 ={(1,2),(2,1),(1,3),(3,1)}
R1 is symmetric
R2 = {(1,1),(2,2),(3,3),(2,3)}.
 R2 is not symmetric because (3,2)  R2
Properties of Relations
 A relation R is antisymmetric if we observe that for
all values a and b: a R b and b R a implies that a=b
 Notice that antisymmetric is not the same as "not
symmetric."
 Take the relation greater than or equals to, "≥" If x ≥ y,
and y ≥ x, then y must be equal to x. a relation is anti-
symmetric if and only if aєA, (a,a)єR
 If a ≤ b, and b ≤ a, then a must be equal to b. So ≤ is
antisymmetric
 Eg: Let A = {0,1,2}
R2 = {(0,0),(0,1),(0,2),(1,1),(1,2)}. R2 is antisymmetric
 Properties of Relations
A relation is transitive if for all values a, b, c:
a R b and b R c implies a R c
The relation greater-than ">" is transitive. If x > y, and y >
z, then it is true that x > z.
Let A = {1,2,3,4}
 R = {(2,1),(3,1),(3,2),(4,1),(4,2),(4,3)}
R is transitive because
(3,2) & (2,1) → (3,1)
(4,2) & (2,1) → (4,1)
(4,3) & (3,1) → (4,1)
(4,3) & (3,2) → (4,2)
Combining Relations
Relations are sets, and therefore, we can apply the usual set
operations to them.

If we have two relations R1 and R2, and both of them are
from a set A to a set B, then we can combine them to R1  R2,
R1  R2, or R1 – R2.

In each case, the result will be another relation from A to

B.
 Combining Relations
… and there is another important way to combine relations.
Definition: Let R be a relation from a set A to a set B and S
a relation from B to a set C. The composite of R and S is the
relation consisting of ordered pairs (a, c), where aA, cC,
and for which there exists an element bB such that (a,
b)R and (b, c)S. We denote the composite of R and S by
SR.
In other words, if relation R contains a pair (a, b) and
relation S contains a pair (b, c), then SR contains a pair (a,
c).
 Combining Relations
Example: Let D and S be relations on A = {1, 2, 3, 4}.
D = {(a, b) | b = 5 - a} “b equals (5 – a)”
S = {(a, b) | a < b} “a is smaller than b”
D = {(1, 4), (2, 3), (3, 2), (4, 1)}
S = {(1, 2), (1, 3), (1, 4), (2, 3), (2, 4), (3, 4)}

SD = { (2, 4), (3, 3), (3, 4), (4, 2),(4, 3),(4, 4)}
D maps an element a to the element (5 – a), and afterwards
S maps (5 – a) to all elements larger than (5 – a), resulting in
SD = {(a,b) | b > 5 – a} or SD = {(a,b) | a + b > 5}.
 n-ary Relations
Definition: Let A1, A2, …, An be sets. An n-ary relation on
these sets is a subset of A1A2…An.

The sets A1, A2, …, An are called the domains of the

relation, and n is called its degree.
 n-ary Relations
Example:
Let R = {(a, b, c) | a = 2b and b = 2c with a, b, cN}
What is the degree of R?
The degree of R is 3, so its elements are triples.
What are its domains?
Its domains are all equal to the set of integers.
Is (2, 4, 8) in R?
No.
Is (4, 2, 1) in R?
Yes.
Converse Relations
 Consider R  AB, the converse relation R is the
relation from B to A defined by:
(b, a) є R if and only if (a, b) є R
 Since every function f : A→B is a relation, its converse f
always exists:
 As a relation f ={(b, a) є B → A : a =f(b)}
Representing Relations Using Digraphs
Definition: A directed graph, or digraph, consists of a
set V of vertices (or nodes) together with a set E of ordered
pairs of elements of V called edges (or arcs).
The vertex a is called the initial vertex of the edge (a, b),
and the vertex b is called the terminal vertex of this edge.

We can use arrows to display graphs.

Representing Relations Using Digraphs
Example: Display the digraph with V = {a, b, c, d},
E = {(a, b), (a, d), (b, b), (b, d), (c, a), (c, b), (d, b)}.

a
b

d c

An edge of the form (b, b) is called a loop.

Equivalence Relations
Equivalence relations are used to relate objects that are
similar in some way.

Definition: A relation on a set A is called an equivalence

relation if it is reflexive, symmetric, and transitive.

Two elements that are related by an equivalence relation R

are called equivalent.
Several notations are used for equivalence: a~b, ab, and a
b
Equivalence Relations
Since R is symmetric, a is equivalent to b whenever b is
equivalent to a.

Since R is reflexive, every element is equivalent to itself.

Since R is transitive, if a and b are equivalent and b and c

are equivalent, then a and c are equivalent.
 Equivalence Relations
Example: Suppose that R is the relation on the set of
strings that consist of English letters such that aRb if and
only if l(a) = l(b), where l(x) is the length of the string x. Is R
an equivalence relation?
Solution:
 R is reflexive, because l(a) = l(a) and therefore
aRa for any string a.
 R is symmetric, because if l(a) = l(b) then l(b) =
l(a), so if aRb then bRa.
 R is transitive, because if l(a) = l(b) and l(b) = l(c),
then l(a) = l(c), so aRb and bRc implies aRc.
R is an equivalence relation.
Equivalence Relations
 Example: We say that m is congruent to n modulo p
written as m  n (mod p) provided m - n is a multiple
of p (congruent relation on Z).
 m  m (mod p) for all m є Z, Reflexive
 m  n (mod p) implies n  m (mod p), Symmetric
 m  n (mod p) and n  r (mod p) imply m  r (mod p),
Transitive
Equivalence Classes
Definition: Let R be an equivalence relation on a set A.
The set of all elements that are related to an element a of A
is called the equivalence class of a.
The equivalence class of a with respect to R is denoted by
[a]R.
When only one relation is under consideration, we will
delete the subscript R and write [a] for this equivalence
class.
If b[a]R, b is called a representative of this equivalence
class.
Equivalence Classes
Example: In the previous example (strings of identical
length), what is the equivalence class of the word mouse,
denoted by [mouse] ?

Solution: [mouse] is the set of all English words

containing five letters.

For example, ‘horse’ would be a representative of this

equivalence class.
Partitions &Equivalence Classes
Theorem: Let R be an equivalence relation on a set A. The
following statements are equivalent:
 aRb
 [a] = [b]
 [a]  [b]  
Definition: A partition of a set S is a collection of disjoint
nonempty subsets of S that have S as their union. In other
words, the collection of subsets Ai, iI, forms a partition of S if
and only if
(i) Ai   for iI
 Ai  Aj = , if i  j
 iI Ai = S
 Partitions &Equivalence Classes
Examples: Let S be the set {u, m, b, r, o, c, k, s}.
Do the following collections of sets partition S ?
{{m, o, c, k}, {r, u, b, s}} yes.

{{c, o, m, b}, {u, s}, {r}} no (k is missing).

{{b, r, o, c, k}, {m, u, s, t}} no (t is not in S).

{{u, m, b, r, o, c, k, s}} yes.

{{b, o, o, k}, {r, u, m}, {c, s}} yes ({b,o,o,k} = {b,o,k}).

{{u, m, b}, {r, o, c, k, s}, } no ( not allowed).

Partitions &Equivalence Classes
Theorem: Let R be an equivalence relation on a
set S. Then the equivalence classes of R form a partition
of S. Conversely, given a partition {Ai | iI} of the set S, there
is an equivalence relation R that has the sets Ai, iI, as its
equivalence classes.
Partitions &Equivalence Classes
Example: Let us assume that Frank, Suzanne and George
live in Boston, Stephanie and Max live in Lübeck, and
Jennifer lives in Sydney.
Let R be the equivalence relation {(a, b) | a and b live in
the same city} on the set P = {Frank, Suzanne, George,
Stephanie, Max, Jennifer}.
Then R = {(Frank, Frank), (Frank, Suzanne),
(Frank, George), (Suzanne, Frank), (Suzanne, Suzanne),
(Suzanne, George), (George, Frank),
(George, Suzanne), (George, George), (Stephanie,
Stephanie), (Stephanie, Max), (Max, Stephanie),
(Max, Max), (Jennifer, Jennifer)}.
Partitions &Equivalence Classes
Then the equivalence classes of R are:
{{Frank, Suzanne, George}, {Stephanie, Max}, {Jennifer}}.
This is a partition of P.

The equivalence classes of any equivalence relation R

defined on a set S constitute a partition of S, because every
element in S is assigned to exactly one of the equivalence
classes.
Review questions
1. Let R2 be the relation on {1,2,3,4,5} defined by mR2n
if and only if m - n is even. Draw a picture for this
relation.
2. Similarly, obtain a picture of the converse relation
R2 . Compare this with the picture of R2.

3. Let R1 and R2 be relations from a set S to a set T

i. Show that (R1  R2) = R1  R2
ii. Show that (R1  R2) = R1  R2
iii. Show that if R1  R2 then R1  R2