Transitive set

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In set theory, a set A is called transitive if either of the following equivalent conditions hold:

whenever x A, and y x, then y A.

whenever x A, and x is not an urelement, then x is a subset of A.

Similarly, a class M is transitive if every element of M is a subset of M.

Contents
1 Examples
2 Properties
3 Transitive closure
4 Transitive models of set theory
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Examples
Using the definition of ordinal numbers suggested by John von Neumann, ordinal numbers are defined as
hereditarily transitive sets: an ordinal number is a transitive set whose members are also transitive (and thus
ordinals). The class of all ordinals is a transitive class.

Any of the stages V and L leading to the construction of the von Neumann universe V and Gdel's
constructible universe L are transitive sets. The universes L and V themselves are transitive classes.

This is a complete list of all finite transitive sets with up to 20 brackets:[1]

Properties
A set X is transitive if and only if , where is the union of all elements of X that are sets,
. If X is transitive, then is transitive. If X and Y are transitive, then
XY{X,Y} is transitive. In general, if X is a class all of whose elements are transitive sets, then is
transitive.

A set X which does not contain urelements is transitive if and only if it is a subset of its own power set,
The power set of a transitive set without urelements is transitive.

Transitive closure
The transitive closure of a set X is the smallest (with respect to inclusion) transitive set which contains X.
Suppose one is given a set X, then the transitive closure of X is

Note that this is the set of all of the objects related to X by the transitive closure of the membership relation.

Transitive models of set theory

Transitive classes are often used for construction of interpretations of set theory in itself, usually called inner
models. The reason is that properties defined by bounded formulas are absolute for transitive classes.

A transitive set (or class) that is a model of a formal system of set theory is called a transitive model of the
system. Transitivity is an important factor in determining the absoluteness of formulas.

In the superstructure approach to non-standard analysis, the non-standard universes satisfy strong transitivity.[2]

See also
End extension
Transitive relation
Supertransitive class

References
1. "Number of rooted identity trees with n nodes (rooted trees whose automorphism group is the identity
group)." (https://oeis.org/A004111). OEIS.
2. Goldblatt (1998) p.161

Ciesielski, Krzysztof (1997), Set theory for the working mathematician, London Mathematical Society
Student Texts, 39, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-59441-3, Zbl 0938.03067
Goldblatt, Robert (1998), Lectures on the hyperreals. An introduction to nonstandard analysis, Graduate
Texts in Mathematics, 188, New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, ISBN 0-387-98464-X, Zbl 0911.03032
Jech, Thomas (2008) [originally published in 1973], The Axiom of Choice, Dover Publications, ISBN 0-
486-46624-8, Zbl 0259.02051

External links
Weisstein, Eric W. "Transitive". MathWorld.

Weisstein, Eric W. "Transitive Closure". MathWorld.

Weisstein, Eric W. "Transitive Reduction". MathWorld.

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This page was last edited on 27 March 2017, at 13:46.

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