Discrete Mathematics

Course Code:14B14MA211

Chapter 1
SET THEORY & MATHEMATICAL
INDUCTION
 What is a set?
 A set is a well defined collection of “objects”
 People in a class: { Abhishek, Kunal, Chetna }
 Courses offered by a department: { CI 101, CI 202, … }
 Colors of a rainbow: {violet, indigo, red, orange, yellow, green, blue }
 States of matter { solid, liquid, gas, plasma }
 States in the US: { Alabama, Alaska, Virginia, … }
 Sets can contain non-related elements: { 3, a, red, Virginia }
 Although a set can contain (almost) anything, we will most often use sets
of numbers
 All positive numbers less than or equal to 5: {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
 A few selected real numbers: { 2.1, π, 0, -6.32, e }
 Order does not matter
 We often write them in order because it is easier for
humans to understand it that way
 {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} is equivalent to {3, 5, 2, 4, 1}
 Set properties
 Sets do not have duplicate elements
 Consider the set of vowels in the alphabet.
 It makes no sense to list them as {a, a, a, e, i, o, o, o, o, o, u}
 What we really want is just {a, e, i, o, u}

 Note that a list is like a set, but order does matter and
duplicate elements are allowed
 We won’t be studying lists much in this class
 Sets can contain other sets
 S = { {1}, {2}, {3} }
 T = { {1}, {{2}}, {{{3}}} }
 V = { {{1}, {{2}}}, {{{3}}}, { {1}, {{2}}, {{{3}}} } }
 Note that 1 ≠ {1} ≠ {{1}} ≠ {{{1}}}
 They are all different
 Specifying a set 1
 Sets are usually represented by a capital letter (A, B,
S, etc.)

 Elements are usually represented by an italic lower-

case letter (a, x, y, etc.)

 Easiest way to specify a set is to list all the elements:

A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
 Not always feasible for large or infinite sets
 Specifying a set 2
 Can use an ellipsis (…): B = {0, 1, 2, 3, …}
 Can cause confusion. Consider the set C = {3, 5, 7, …}.
What comes next?
 If the set is all odd integers greater than 2, it is 9
 If the set is all prime numbers greater than 2, it is 11

 Can use set-builder notation

 D = {x | x is prime and x > 2}
 E = {x | x is odd and x > 2}
 The vertical bar means “such that”
 Thus, set D is read (in English) as: “all elements x such
that x is prime and x is greater than 2”
 Specifying a set 3
 A set is said to “contain” the various “members” or
“elements” that make up the set
 If an element a is a member of (or an element of) a set S,
we use then notation a  S
 4  {1, 2, 3, 4}
 If an element is not a member of (or an element of) a set S,
we use the notation a  S
 7  {1, 2, 3, 4}
 Virginia  {1, 2, 3, 4}
 Finite and infinite sets
 Finite sets
 Examples:
 A = {1, 2, 3, 4}
 B = {x | x is an integer, 1 < x < 4}

 Infinite sets
 Examples:
 Z = {x | x is an integer} = {…, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3,…}

 S={x | x is a real number and 1 < x < 4} = [0, 4]

 Often used sets
 N = {0, 1, 2, 3, …} is the set of natural numbers
 Z = {…, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, …} is the set of integers
 Z+ = {1, 2, 3, …} is the set of positive integers (whole numbers)
 Note that people disagree on the exact definitions of whole numbers
and natural numbers
 Q = {p/q | p  Z, q  Z, q ≠ 0} is the set of rational numbers
 Any number that can be expressed as a fraction of two integers (where
the bottom one is not zero)
 Q* is the set of nonzero rational numbers

 R is the set of real numbers

 R+ is the set of positive real numbers
 R* is the set of nonzero real numbers
 C is the set of complex numbers
 Some important sets
The empty set  = { } has no elements.
Also called null set or void set.
 U is the universal set – the set of all of elements (or
the “universe”) from which given any set is drawn
 For the set {-2, 0.4, 2}, U would be the real
numbers
 For the set {0, 1, 2}, U could be the whole
numbers (zero and up), the integers, the rational
numbers, or the real numbers, depending on the
context
 Other type of universal set
 For the set of the students in this class, U would be
all the students in the University (or perhaps all the
people in the world)
 For the set of the vowels of the alphabet, U would
be all the letters of the alphabet
 To differentiate U from U (which is a set
operation), the universal set is written in a different
font (and in bold and italics)
 The empty set 1
 If a set has zero elements, it is called the empty (or
null) set
 Written using the symbol 
 Thus,  = { }  VERY IMPORTANT
 If you get confused about the empty set in a
problem, try replacing  by { }
 As the empty set is a set, it can be a element of other
sets
 { , 1, 2, 3, x } is a valid set
 The empty set 2
 Note that  ≠ {  }
 The first is a set of zero elements
 The second is a set of 1 element (that one element being
the empty set)
 Replace  by { }, and you get: { } ≠ { { } }
 It’s easier to see that they are not equal that way
 Index Set: If J = {1,2, 3,……..}, then
A= {A1, A2, A3,………….}= {A i}iєJ is called index
set and subscript i is called an index.
 Cardinality
 Cardinality of a set A (in symbols |A|) is the
number of elements in A
 Examples:
If A = {1, 2, 3} then |A| = 3
If B = {x | x is a natural number and 1< x< 9}
then |B| = 9
 Infinite cardinality
 Countable (e.g., natural numbers, integers)
 Uncountable (e.g., real numbers)
 Set equality
 Two sets are equal if they have the same elements
 {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} = {5, 4, 3, 2, 1}
 Remember that order does not matter!
 {1, 2, 3, 2, 4, 3, 2, 1} = {4, 3, 2, 1}
 Remember that duplicate elements do not matter!
 Two sets are not equal if they do not have the same
elements
 {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} ≠ {1, 2, 3, 4}
 Subsets 1
 If all the elements of a set S are also elements of a set T, then
S is a subset of T
 For example, if S = {2, 4, 6} and T = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, then S is a
subset of T
 This is specified by S  T
 Or by {2, 4, 6}  {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
 If S is not a subset of T, it is written as such:
ST
 For example, {1, 2, 8}  {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
 Subsets 2
 Note that any set is a subset of itself!
 Given set S = {2, 4, 6}, since all the elements of S are
elements of S, S is a subset of itself
 This is kind of like saying 5 is less than or equal to 5
 Thus, for any set S, S  S
 Subsets 3
 The empty set is a subset of all sets (including itself!)
 Recall that all sets are subsets of themselves
 All sets are subsets of the universal set
 The textbook has this gem to define a subset:
 x ( xA  xB )
 English translation: for all possible values of x, (meaning
for all possible elements of a set), if x is an element of A,
then x is an element of B
 This type of notation will be gone over later
 Proper Subsets 1
 If S is a subset of T, and S is not equal to T, then S is a proper
subset of T
 Let T = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
 If S = {1, 2, 3}, S is not equal to T, and S is a subset of T
 A proper subset is written as S  T
 Let R = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. R is equal to T, and thus is a
subset (but not a proper subset) or T
 Can be written as: R  T and R  T (or just R = T)

 Let Q = {4, 5, 6}. Q is neither a subset or T nor a proper

subset of T
 Proper Subsets 2
 The difference between “subset” and “proper subset”
is like the difference between “less than or equal to”
and “less than” for numbers

 The empty set is a proper subset of all sets other than

the empty set (as it is equal to the empty set)
 Venn diagrams 1

 A Venn diagram provides a graphic view of

sets
 Set union, intersection, difference,
symmetric difference and complements can
be easily and visually identified
 Venn diagrams 2
 Represents sets graphically
 The box represents the universal set
 Circles represent the set(s)
 Consider set S, which is
the set of all vowels in the b c d f
U
alphabet g h j

S
The individual elements k l m
are usually not written n p q e i
a
in a Venn diagram
r s t
o u
v w x
y z
Proper subsets: Venn diagram
SR
U
R

S
 Subsets: review

 X is a subset of Y if every element of X is also

contained in Y (in symbols X  Y)

 Equality: X = Y if X  Y and Y  X, i.e., X = Y

whenever x  X, then x  Y, and whenever x  X,
then x  X

 X is a proper subset of Y if X  Y but Y  X

 Observation:  is a subset of every set
 Question
 What is the meaning of X  Y and X≠ Y ?
 Question
 What is the meaning of X  Y and X≠ Y ?

X is a proper subset of Y
 Power sets 1
 Given the set S = {0, 1}. What are all the possible
subsets of S?
 They are:  (as it is a subset of all sets), {0}, {1}, and {0,
1}
 The power set of S (written as P(S)) is the set of all the
subsets of S
 P(S) = { , {0}, {1}, {0,1} }
 Note that |S| = 2 and |P(S)| = 4
 Power sets 2
 Let T = {0, 1, 2}. The P(T) = { , {0}, {1}, {2},
{0,1}, {0,2}, {1,2}, {0,1,2} }
 Note that |T| = 3 and |P(T)| = 8
 P() = {  }
 Note that || = 0 and |P()| = 1
 If a set has n elements, then the power set will have 2n
elements
If |A|=n, then |P(A)|=2n.
 n  n  n  n
             2 n , for n 0
 0  1  2  n
 Set operations:
Union and Intersection
Given two sets A and B
 The union of A and B is defined
as the set
A U B = { x | x  A or x  B }

 The intersection of X and Y is

defined as the set
A  B = { x | x  A and x  B}

Two sets A and B are disjoint if

AB=
 Set operations: Union & Intersection
 examples
 {1, 2, 3} U {3, 4, 5} = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
 {New York, Washington} U {3, 4} = {New York,
Washington, 3, 4}
 {1, 2} U  = {1, 2}
 {1, 2, 3} ∩ {3, 4, 5} = {3}
 {1, 2, 3} and {3, 4, 5} are not disjoint
 {New York, Washington} ∩ {3, 4} = 
 No elements in common, these sets are disjoint

 {1, 2} ∩  = 
 Any set intersection with the empty set yields the empty

set
Set Operations: Relative
Complement
 The relative complement (difference) of two
sets is the set defined as:
A — B = { x | x  A and x  B }
Given: A = {a, b, c, d} and B = {a, c, f, g}
A — B = {b, d} B — A = {f, g}

A-B B-A U-A

 The complement_ of a set A contained in a Universal
set U is the set A = U – A
 Set Operations: Symmetric
Difference
Definition:
The symmetric Difference of sets A and B, denoted A  B,
consists of those elements which belong to A or B but not to both.
i.e.
A Δ B = { x | (x  A or x  B) and x  A ∩ B}
A Δ B = (A U B) – (A ∩ B)  Important!

Note that the pink region is the required

symmetric difference
If A = {1,2,3} and B = {2,5,6,7}
Then A  B = { 1,3,5,6,7}
 Set operations: Complement and
symmetric difference
 examples
 {1, 2, 3} - {3, 4, 5} = {1, 2}
 {New York, Washington} - {3, 4} = {New York, Washington}
 {1, 2} -  = {1, 2}

The difference of any set S with the empty set will be the set
(assuming U = Z)
 Complement of {1, 2, 3} = { …, -2, -1, 0, 4, 5, 6, … }

 {1, 2, 3} Δ {3, 4, 5} = {1, 2, 4, 5}

 {New York, Washington} Δ {3, 4} = {New York,
Washington, 3, 4}
 {1, 2} Δ  = {1, 2}
 The symmetric difference of any set S with the empty

set will be the set S

 Example
 If X={1, 4, 7, 10}, Y={1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

 XY=
 XY=
 X–Y=
 Y–X=
 X Δ Y = (how else can you write this?)
 Example
 If X={1, 4, 7, 10}, Y={1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

 X  Y = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10}
 X  Y = {1, 4}
 X – Y = {7, 10}
 Y – X = {2, 3, 5}
 X Δ Y = (X  Y) – (X  Y) = {2, 3, 5, 7, 10}
 Properties of Set operations
 Properties of the union operation
AU=A Identity law
 AUU=U Domination law
 AUA=A Idempotent law
 AUB=BUA Commutative
law
 A U (B U C) = (A U B) U C Associative law
 Properties of the intersection operation
 A∩U=A Identity law
 A∩= Domination law
 A∩A=A Idempotent law
 A∩B=B∩A Commutative
law
 Properties contd…
 Properties of complement sets
 A=A Complementation law
¯
 A
¯ UA=U Complement law
 A∩A ¯ = Complement law
 Properties of set operations (1)
Theorem 2.1.10: Let U be a universal set, and A,
B and C subsets of U. The following
properties hold:
a) Associativity: (A  B)  C = A  (B 
C)
(A  B)  C = A  (B C)
b) Commutativity: A  B = B  A
c) Distributive laws:
AB=BA
A(BC) = (AB)(AC)
A(BC) = (AB)(AC)
d) Identity laws:
AU=A A = A
Properties of set operations (2)
(e) Complement laws:
AAc = U AAc = 
f) Idempotent laws:
AA = A AA = A
g) Bound laws:
AU = U A = 
h) Absorption laws:
A(AB) = A A(AB) = A
Properties of set operations (3)
i) Involution law: (Ac)c = A

j) 0/1 laws: c = U Uc = 
k) De Morgan’s laws for sets:
(AB)c = AcBc
(AB)c = AcBc
 Computer representation of sets 1
 Assume that U is finite (and reasonable!)
 Let U be the alphabet i.e. set of letters.

 Each bit represents whether the element in U is in the set

 The vowels in the alphabet:

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
10001000100000100000100000

 The consonants in the alphabet:

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
01110111011111011111011111
 Computer representation of sets 2
 Consider the union of these two sets:
10001000100000100000100000
01110111011111011111011111
11111111111111111111111111

 Consider the intersection of these two sets:

10001000100000100000100000
01110111011111011111011111
00000000000000000000000000
 Fundamental Products:
Consider n distinct sets A1 , A2 , A3, ......... An . A fundamental product
Of the sets is a set of the form
*
* * *
A  A2  A3  .........  An
1
* c
Where Ai is either Ai or Ai .
Remarks:
(i) There are 2 n Such fundamental products.
(ii) Any two such fundamental products are disjoint.

(iii) The universal set U is the disjoint union of all such fundamental
products.
Classic Boolean Model
 Illustrates the 8 possible relations
between Sets, A, B and C
Region Relationship
1 ABC
2 ABC
3 ABC
4 ABC
5 ABC
6 ABC
7 ABC
8 ABC
Principle of Duality:

 Suppose E is an equation of set algebra. The dual E*

of E is the equation obtained by using the following
replacements

E dual of E (E*)

 U
U 
 
 
•Theorem (The Principle of Duality) Let E denote a theorem
dealing with the equality of two set expressions. Then E* is also
a theorem.
Duality contd:
 For example
The dual of (U  A)  ( B  A)  A is (  A)  ( B  A)  A.
Thus if E is an identity, then its dual E* is also an identity .
What is the dual of A  B ?
Since A  B  A  B  B . The dual of A  B is the dual of
A  B  B , which is A  B  B . That is, B  A.
 Counting Principle:

• If A and B are finite then A  B and A  B are finite and

n (A  B) n (A)  n (B) – n (A  B)
• If A and B are disjoint finite sets, then A  B is finite and
n (A  B)  n (A)  n (B)
• Similarly If A, B, C are finite sets then A  B  C is finite and
n (A  B  C) n (A)  n (B)  n(C) – n (A  B) - n(B  C )  n( A  C )  n( A  B  C ).
Examlples:
1. In a class of 50 college freshmen, 30 are studying
JAVA, 25 studying UNIX, and 10 are studying both. How
many freshmen are studying either computer language?

A B
| A  B | | A| | B | | A  B |

20 10 15
 Examples:
2.
Given 100 B
samples 12
11 4
set A: with D1 3 7
set B: with D2 5
A
set C: with D3 15 C
how many samples
| A  B |7, | A  C |8, | B  C |10,
have defects?
with |A|=23, |B|=26, |C|
 B  C |3
| A=30,
| A  B  C || A |  | B |  | C |  | A  B |  | A  C |  | B  C |  | A  B  C |
, Ans:57
 Partition of a set:
Let S be a nonempty set. A partition of S is a subdivision of S into
non-overlapping, non-empty subsets. i.e. a partition of S is a
collection { Ai } of non-empty subsets of S such that
(i) Each a  S  a  Ai for some i
(ii) the sets { Ai } are mutually disjoint
i.e. Ai  A j  for i  j
The subsets in a partition are
called cells. A1 A5
Example: Let S = { 1,2,3,….9} A2
A1 ={1,2} A2={5,6,7} A3 ={8}
A4 ={3,4} and A5 ={9} A3 A4 S
Then
A  5
i i 1 { A1 , A2 ,...... A5 } is a partition of S.
Example
X = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

S = { {1,2}, {3}, {4,5}}

S is a partition of X.

Determine other possible partitions of the

set X.
 Partition of a set
 A partition divides a set into
nonoverlapping subsets.
 A collection S of nonempty subsets of X is
said to be a partition of the set X if every
element in X belongs to exactly one
member of S.
 If S is a partition of X, S is pairwise disjoint

and  S = X
Mathematical Induction
 Let P(n) be the predicate
nn  1
Pn  1  2  3   n 
2
 This is true for particular values of n, e.g:
2(2  1)
1  2 3 
2
3(3  1)
1  2  3 6 
2
4(4  1)
1  2  3  4 10 
2
 Want to show that P(n) is true for all
integers n
 i.e.: n:P(n)
 The easiest way to prove such a statement
is to use the method of proof by induction
• The principle of mathematical induction is a
useful tool for proving that a certain
predicate is true for all natural numbers.

• It cannot be used to discover theorems, but

only to prove them.

• If we have a propositional function P(n), and

we want to prove that P(n) is true for any
natural number n, we do the following:

• Show that P(1) is true. (basis step)

Contd:
• Show that if P(n) then P(n + 1) for any
n∈N. (inductive step)
• Then P(n) must be true for any n∈N.
(conclusion).
 Intuitively…

1. Show that P(k)  P(k+1) for any k

2. Show that P(1) is true
3. Then from 1 and 2, P(2) is true
4. …and from 1 and 3, P(3) is true
5. …and from 1 and 4, P(4) is true
6. etc
Example 1
nn  1
Pn : S n  1  2  3   n  , n 1
2
11  1
 Case n=1: S 1 1  , so P(1) is true
 Now assume P(k) is true2
 Need to show P(k+1) is true
 I.e. need to show that
S k  1 
k  1k  2 
2
Example 1 (concluded)
 So, S k  1  k  1k  2
2
 Therefore P(k+1) is true

 Therefore, by the principle of

mathematical induction, n:P(n)
Example 2
 Let P(n) be the predicate defined by:
P(n): ‘n3-n is divisible by 3’
Show that n:P(n)
 Case n=1: n3-n=1-1=0, which is divisible
by 3. Hence P(1) is true
 Now assume that P(k) holds
 Need to prove that P(k+1) holds
 Example 2 (continued)
 Case n=k+1:
(k+1)3 - (k+1) = (k3+3k2+3k+1) - (k+1)
= (k3-k)+(3k2+3k)
= (k3-k) + 3(k2+k)
Divisible by 3 since
divisible by 3
P(k) is true
 Hence if k3-k is divisible by 3, then (k+1)3-(k+1)
is also divisible by 3
 In other words, k:(P(k)  P(k+1))
 Also, P(1) is true
 Therefore, by mathematical induction, n:P(n)
Example 3:
Solution:
Appendix: Well-Ordering
Property
 Every nonempty set of nonnegative
integers has a least element
 The well-ordering property is useful in
proving many theorems, as well as the
validity of mathematical induction
 Let us see the proof by contradiction to
show the validity of mathematical
induction
End of chapter 1.