Discrete Mathematics

Lecture 5: Sets, Relations and Functions

Partha Sarathi Mandal
IIT Guwahati
Partial Orderings
• Another important relation is the following:
• Definition: The relation f defined on a nonempty set X is called an
antisymmetric relation if and only if, all {x, y}  X, the property (x, y)
 f and (y, x)  f implies that x = y.
• A binary relation f on a set A is a partial ordering “” if it is reflexive,
antisymmetric, and transitive
• A set S with a partial ordering  is called a partial ordered set (or poset)
• The relation less than or equal to on the set of real numbers and the
relation subset on the set of sets are two fundamental partial orders.
Partial Orderings
• Let R1 = {(x, y)ℤ+ x ℤ+ | x divides y} and
R2 = {(x, y)ℤ\{0} x ℤ | x divides y}.
a) Show that R1 is an anti-symmetric relation on the set of positive integers.
b) Show that R2 is not an anti-symmetric relation on the set of integers by
giving a counter example.
Partial Orderings
• It is common practice to use the symbol  to denote a partial order.
Further, if (X, ) is a poset and x  y, then we read this as x is less than
or equal to y.
• Definition. Let (X, ) be a poset. It there exist elements x and y in X,
such that either (x,y)   or (y, x)   holds, then x and y are said to
be comparable. In neither (x, y) nor (y, x) belongs to , then x and y
are said to be incomparable.
Partial Orderings
• Suppose a binary relation  contains the pairs (a, b) as defined in the
following cases.
• In which cases will  be a partial ordering ?
1. (a, b) such that a  b; a, b  ℝ

2. (a, b) such that a < b; a, b  ℝ

3. (a, b) such that a – b is divisible by 3; a, b  ℤ

4. (a, b) such that a divides b; a, b  ℤ+

Partial Orderings
• Let S be a set of people. Suppose a binary relation  contains the pairs
as defined in the following cases.
In which cases will  be a partial ordering ?
1. (A, B) such that A  B; A, B  2S

2. (x, y) such that x is older than y; x, y  S

3. (x, y) such that x is not older than y; x, y  S

Partial Orderings
• Two items x and y in a poset (X, ) are comparable if x  y or y  x
• Otherwise, x and y are incomparable.

• Example:
Consider the poset (ℤ+, |) where a | b means a divides b
1. Are the integers 3 and 9 comparable?
2. Are 5 and 7 comparable?
Directed Graph Representation of a Finite Poset
• A finite poset (X, ) is represented by a picture (directed graph).
• The process is described below.
1. Put a dot (called a node) for each element of X and label it with that
element.
2. If a  b, draw a directed line (an arrow) from the node labeled a to the node
labeled b.
3. Put a loop at the node labeled a for each a  X.
Directed Graph Representation of a Finite Poset
• A directed graph representation of the poset (A, ) with A = {1, 2, 3, 9, 18} and as
the `divides’ relation (a  b if a|b) is given below.

18

2
3

1
The Hasse diagram of a Finite poset
• Picture drawn in the following way for a finite poset (X, )
1. Each element of X is represented by a point and is labeled with the element
2. If a  b then the point labeled a must appear at a lower height than the
point labeled b and further the two points are joined by a line.
3. If a  b and b  c then the line between a and c is removed.

• You can examine that for each finite poset a Hasse diagram exists
Hasse Diagrams
• Since partial orderings is a binary relation, it can
be represented by a directed graph.
• However, many edges can be omitted, because
such an ordering must be reflexive and transitive. 18

• Also, we may order the vertices in the graph in a

‘vertical’ manner, such that all edges are pointing 9
from low to high
• directions on an edge can be omitted
2
• More examples are in the next pages 3

1
Hasse diagram for the poset (A, ) with A = {1, 2, 3, 9, 18} and as the
`divides’ relation (a  b if a|b) is given below.

18 18

9 9

2 2
3 3

1 1

Directed graph representation Hasse diagram

Hasse Diagrams
• Consider the poset ( { 1, 2, 3, 4 },  )
Hasse Diagrams
• Consider the poset ( { 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 }, | )

Hasse diagram
Hasse Diagrams
• To summarize, the following are the steps to obtain a Hasse diagram:

1. Remove all the self loops

2. Remove all the edges that must be present due to transitivity

3. Arrange all edges to point upwards

4. Do not show directions on the edges

Maximal and Minimal Items
• One important concept of a poset is the j k
following:
• An item x in a poset (X, ) is maximal if
there is no item y with x  y and x  y h i
• That is, in the Hasse diagram, x is not
connected to anything above x
• j and k are maximal f g
• Similarly, we define minimal item to be
an item y where there is no item x with x
 y and x  y b c d e

• a, b, e are minimal
a

Hasse diagram
Cover
• An item x in a poset (X, ) is said cover j k
another item y if y  x and for no other
item z, y  z  x.
• f covers b, f covers c but f does not cover a h i

f g

b c d e

Hasse diagram
Maximal and Minimal Items
• Which items are maximal ? Which are minimal ?

Hasse diagram
Maximal and Minimal Items
• We have the following observation :
Every finite nonempty poset (S, ) has as at least one minimal item
• Proof : We give a method to find a minimal item.
• Pick any item x.
• Either x is minimal, then we are done.
• Else, we get some y (x  y) such that y  x, and repeat the process.
• Each time, we must either get a minimal item, or test a new item in S.
• Since S is finite, this process must end.
Total Orderings
• Let (S, ) be a poset.
• If any two elements in the poset (S, ) are comparable, then  is called a
linear order and (S, ) is called a linearly ordered set.
• Often a linear order is also referred to as a total order or a complete order
and denoted as “<“
• Which of the following is a totally ordered set ?
1. (ℝ, )
2. (2Q , ), Q = a set of people
3. (ℤ+, |)
Chain and Anti-chain
• A subset, C of X, is called a chain if and only if  induces a linear order
on C. If C is a finite set, then the length of C is equal to the number of
elements of C. If C is not a finite set, then the length of C is said to be
infinite.
• A subset, A of X, is called an antichain if and only if no two elements
of A are comparable. The length of an antichain is defined in precisely
the same manner as that of the chain.
• The maximum of the lengths of the chains of X is called the height of
X and the maximum of the lengths of the antichains of X is called the
width of X.