Binary operation

A binary operation is a calculation that combines the

arguments x and y to

In mathematics, a binary operation or dyadic

operation is a calculation that combines two
elements (called operands) to produce another
element. More formally, a binary operation is an
operation of arity two.

More specifically, a binary operation on a set is a

binary operation whose two domains and the
codomain are the same set. Examples include the
familiar arithmetic operations of addition,
subtraction, multiplication. Other examples are
readily found in different areas of mathematics,
such as vector addition, matrix multiplication and
conjugation in groups.

However, a binary operation may also involve

several sets. For example, scalar multiplication of
vector spaces takes a scalar and a vector to
produce a vector, and scalar product takes two
vectors to produce a scalar.

Binary operations are the keystone of most

algebraic structures, that are studied in algebra,
and used in all mathematics, such as fields, groups,
monoids, rings, algebras, and many more.

Terminology
More precisely, a binary operation on a set S is a
map which sends elements of the Cartesian
product S × S to S:[1][2][3]

Because the result of performing the operation on

a pair of elements of S is again an element of S,
the operation is called a closed binary operation
on S (or sometimes expressed as having the
property of closure).[4] If f is not a function, but is
instead a partial function, it is called a partial
binary operation. For instance, division of real
numbers is a partial binary operation, because
one can't divide by zero: a/0 is not defined for
any real a. However, both in universal algebra
and model theory the binary operations
considered are defined on all of S × S.

Sometimes, especially in computer science, the

term is used for any binary function.

Properties and examples

Typical examples of binary operations are the
addition (+) and multiplication (×) of numbers and
matrices as well as composition of functions on a
single set. For instance,

On the set of real numbers R, f(a, b) = a + b is

a binary operation since the sum of two real
numbers is a real number.
On the set of natural numbers N,
f(a, b) = a + b is a binary operation since the
sum of two natural numbers is a natural number.
This is a different binary operation than the
previous one since the sets are different.
On the set M(2,R) of 2 × 2 matrices with real
entries, f(A, B) = A + B is a binary operation
since the sum of two such matrices is a 2 × 2
matrix.
On the set M(2,R) of 2 × 2 matrices with real
entries, f(A, B) = AB is a binary operation
since the product of two such matrices is a
2 × 2 matrix.
For a given set C, let S be the set of all functions
h : C → C. Define f : S × S → S by
f(h1, h2)(c) = (h1 ∘ h2) (c) = h1(h2(c)) for
all c ∈ C, the composition of the two functions
h1 and h2 in S. Then f is a binary operation
since the composition of the two functions is
again a function on the set C (that is, a member
of S).
Many binary operations of interest in both algebra
and formal logic are commutative, satisfying
f(a, b) = f(b, a) for all elements a and b in S, or
associative, satisfying f(f(a, b), c) = f(a, f(b, c))
for all a, b and c in S. Many also have identity
elements and inverse elements.

The first three examples above are commutative

and all of the above examples are associative.

On the set of real numbers R, subtraction, that is,

f(a, b) = a − b, is a binary operation which is not
commutative since, in general, a − b ≠ b − a. It is
also not associative, since, in general,
a − (b − c) ≠ (a − b) − c; for instance,
1 − (2 − 3) = 2 but (1 − 2) − 3 = −4.
On the set of natural numbers N, the binary
operation exponentiation, f(a,b) = ab, is not
commutative since, ab ≠ ba (cf. Equation xʸ = yˣ),
and is also not associative since
f(f(a, b), c) ≠ f(a, f(b, c)). For instance, with
a = 2, b = 3 and c = 2,
f(23,2) = f(8,2) = 82 = 64, but
f(2,32) = f(2,9) = 29 = 512. By changing the set
N to the set of integers Z, this binary operation
becomes a partial binary operation since it is now
undefined when a = 0 and b is any negative
integer. For either set, this operation has a right
identity (which is 1) since f(a, 1) = a for all a in
the set, which is not an identity (two sided identity)
since f(1, b) ≠ b in general.
Division (/), a partial binary operation on the set
of real or rational numbers, is not commutative or
associative. Tetration (↑↑), as a binary operation
on the natural numbers, is not commutative or
associative and has no identity element.

Notation
Binary operations are often written using infix
notation such as a ∗ b, a + b, a · b or (by
juxtaposition with no symbol) ab rather than by
functional notation of the form f(a, b). Powers are
usually also written without operator, but with the
second argument as superscript.

Binary operations sometimes use prefix or

(probably more often) postfix notation, both of
which dispense with parentheses. They are also
called, respectively, Polish notation and reverse
Polish notation.

Pair and tuple

A binary operation, ab, depends on the ordered
pair (a, b) and so (ab)c (where the parentheses
here mean first operate on the ordered pair (a, b)
and then operate on the result of that using the
ordered pair ((ab), c)) depends in general on the
ordered pair ((a, b), c). Thus, for the general, non-
associative case, binary operations can be
represented with binary trees.

However:
 If the operation is associative, (ab)c = a(bc),
then the value of (ab)c depends only on the
tuple (a, b, c).
If the operation is commutative, ab = ba, then
the value of (ab)c depends only on { {a, b}, c},
where braces indicate multisets.
If the operation is both associative and
commutative then the value of (ab)c depends
only on the multiset {a, b, c}.
If the operation is associative, commutative and
idempotent, aa = a, then the value of (ab)c
depends only on the set {a, b, c}.

Binary operations as ternary

relations
A binary operation f on a set S may be viewed as
a ternary relation on S, that is, the set of triples (a,
b, f(a,b)) in S × S × S for all a and b in S.

External binary operations

An external binary operation is a binary function
from K × S to S. This differs from a binary
operation on a set in the sense in that K need not
be S; its elements come from outside.

An example of an external binary operation is

scalar multiplication in linear algebra. Here K is a
field and S is a vector space over that field.

An external binary operation may alternatively be

viewed as an action; K is acting on S.
The dot product of two vectors maps from S × S to
K, where K is a field and S is a vector space over
K. It depends on authors whether it is considered
as a binary operation.

See also
Truth table#Binary operations
Iterated binary operation
Operator (programming)
Ternary operation
Unary operation

Notes
1. Rotman 1973, pg. 1
 2. Hardy & Walker 2002, pg. 176, Definition
67
3. Fraleigh 1976, pg. 10
4. Hall, Jr. 1959, pg. 1

References
Fraleigh, John B. (1976), A First Course in
Abstract Algebra (2nd ed.), Reading: Addison-
Wesley, ISBN 0-201-01984-1
Hall, Jr., Marshall (1959), The Theory of
Groups, New York: Macmillan
Hardy, Darel W.; Walker, Carol L. (2002),
Applied Algebra: Codes, Ciphers and Discrete
Algorithms, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-
Hall, ISBN 0-13-067464-8
 Rotman, Joseph J. (1973), The Theory of
Groups: An Introduction (2nd ed.), Boston: Allyn
and Bacon

External links
Weisstein, Eric W. "Binary Operation" .
MathWorld.

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