8/13/2021 Binary operation - Wikipedia

Binary operation
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 an 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.

An operation of arity two that involves several sets is sometimes

A binary operation is a calculation
also called a binary operation. For example, scalar multiplication
that combines the arguments x and
of vector spaces takes a scalar and a vector to produce a vector,
y to
and scalar product takes two vectors to produce a scalar. Such
binary operations may be called simply binary functions.

Binary operations are the keystone of most algebraic structures, that are studied in algebra, in
particular in semigroups, monoids, groups, rings, fields, and vector spaces.

Contents
Terminology
Properties and examples
Notation
Pair and tuple
Binary operations as ternary relations
External binary operations
See also
Notes
References
External links

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

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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 (or internal) binary operation on S (or sometimes expressed as having
the property of closure).[4]

If f is not a function, but a partial function, then f 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 undefined for every real number a. In both universal algebra and model theory, binary operations
are required to be defined on all of S × S.

Sometimes, especially in computer science, the term binary operation 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.
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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 are sometimes written using prefix or (more frequently) 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
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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" (https://mathworld.wolfram.com/BinaryOperation.html).
MathWorld.

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