Sets Lecture Notes

Set Roster Notation

If S is a set, the notation x S means that x is an element of S. The notation x/ S means that x is not an element
of S.
A set may be specified using the set-roster notation by writing all of its elements between braces.
For example, {1, 2, 3} denotes the set whose elements are 1, 2, and 3.
A variation of the notation is sometimes used to describe a very large set, as when we write {1, 2, 3, . . . , 100} to
refer to the set of all integers from 1 to 100.
A similar notation can also describe an infinite set, as when we write {1, 2, 3, . . .} to refer to the set of all
(The symbol. . . is called an ellipsis and is read and so forth.)
axiom of extension - a set is completely determined by what its elements
arenot the order in which they might be listed or the fact that some elements might be
listed more than once
Special Sets
R - set of all real numbers
Z - set of all integers
Q - set of all rational numbers, or quotients of integers
Addition of a superscript + or - or the letters nonneg indicates that only the positive
or negative or nonnegative elements of the set, respectively, are to be included.
Set Builder Notation
Let S denote a set and let P(x) be a property that elements of S may or may not satisfy. We may define a new set
to be the set of all elements x in S such that P(x) is true. We denote this set as follows:
{x S | P(x)}
Subsets
If A and B are sets, then A is called a subset of B, written A B, if, and only if, every element of A is also an
Symbolically:
A B means that For all elements x, if x A then x B.
The phrases A is contained in B and B contains A are alternative ways of saying that
A is a subset of B.
A / B means that here is at least one element x such that x A and x / B.
A is a proper subset of B if, and only if, every element of A is in B but there is at least one element of B that is
Ordered Pairs
Given elements a and b, the symbol (a, b) denotes the ordered pair consisting of a and b together with the
specification that a is the first element of the pair and b is the second element. Two ordered pairs (a, b)
and (c, d) are equal if, and only if, a = c and b = d. Symbolically:
(a, b) = (c, d) means that a = c and b = d.
Cartesian Product
Given sets A and B, the Cartesian product of A and B, denoted A B and read
A cross B, is the set of all ordered pairs (a, b), where a is in A and b is in B.
Symbolically:
A B = {(a, b) | a A and b B} .
Set Equality
Given sets A and B, A equals B, written A = B, if, and only if, every element of A is in B and every element of B is
Symbolically:
A = B A B and B A.
Set Operations
Let A and B be subsets of a universal set U.
1. The union of A and B, denoted A B, is the set of all elements that are in at least one of A or B.
2. The intersection of A and B, denoted A B, is the set of all elements that are common to both A and B.
3. The difference of B minus A (or relative complement of A in B), denoted B A, is the set of all elements that
4. The complement of A, denoted Ac, is the set of all elements in U that are not in A.
Symbolically:
A B = {x U | x A or x B},
A B = {x U | x A and x B},
B A = {x U | x B and x / A},
A
c
= {x U | x / A}.
Set with Intervals
Given real numbers a and b with a b:
(a, b) = {x R | a < x < b} [a, b] = {x R | a x b}
(a, b] = {x R | a < x b} *a, b) = {x R | a x < b}.
(a,)={x R | x > a} [a,) ={x R | x a}
(, b)={x R | x < b} [, b)={x R | x b}.
The symbols and are used to indicate intervals that are unbounded either on the right or on the left:
empty set (or null set) - (A set with no elements)
Example : {x R| x
2
= 1} =
Disjoint Sets
Two sets are called disjoint if, and only if, they have no elements in common.
Symbolically:
A and B are disjoint A B = .
Mutually Disjoint Sets
Sets A
1
, A
2
, A
3
. . . are mutually disjoint (or pairwise disjoint or nonoverlapping) if, and only if, no two sets A
i
and
A
j
with distinct subscripts have any elements in common. More precisely, for all i, j = 1, 2, 3, . . .
Ai Aj = whenever i /= j.
Partition of Sets
A finite or infinite collection of nonempty sets {A
1
, A
2
, A
3
. . .} is a partition of a set A if, and only if,
1. A is the union of all the A
i
2. The sets A
1
, A
2
, A
3
, . . . are mutually disjoint.
Power Set
Given a set A, the power set of A, denoted P (A), is the set of all subsets of A.
Set Properties
1. Inclusion of Intersection: For all sets A and B,
(a) A B A and (b) A B B.
2. Inclusion in Union: For all sets A and B,
(a) A A B and (b) B A B.
3. Transitive Property of Subsets: For all sets A, B, and C,
if A B and B C, then A C.
Set Identities
Let all sets referred to below be subsets of a universal set U.
1. Commutative Laws: For all sets A and B,
(a) A B = B A and (b) A B = B A.
2. Associative Laws: For all sets A, B, and C,
(a) (A B) C = A (B C) and
(b) (A B) C = A (B C).
3. Distributive Laws: For all sets, A, B, and C,
(a) A (B C) = (A B) (A C) and
(b) A (B C) = (A B) (A C).
4. Identity Laws: For all sets A,
(a) A = A and (b) A U = A.
5. Complement Laws:
(a) A A
c
= U and (b) A A
c
= .
6. Double Complement Law: For all sets A,
(A
c
)
c
= A.
7. Idempotent Laws: For all sets A,
(a) A A = A and (b) A A = A.
8. Universal Bound Laws: For all sets A,
(a) A U = U and (b) A = .
9. De Morgans Laws: For all sets A and B,
(a) (A B)
c
= A
c
Bc and (b) (A B)
c
= A
c
B
c
.
10. Absorption Laws: For all sets A and B,
(a) A (A B) = A and (b) A (A B) = A.
11. Complements of U and :
(a) U
c
= and (b)
c
= U.
12. Set Difference Law: For all sets A and B,
A B = A B
c
.
Russell's Paradox
S = {A | A / A}.