D421 Key Concepts Functions and Relations

Table of contents:
 Sets
 Higher Set Operations
 Overview of Functions
 Functions- Composition and Applications
 Binary Relations and Directed Graphs
 Order Relations
 N-ary Relations

Sets

 Set A is a subset of B, denoted A ⊆ B if every element in A is also in B. Every set

is a subset of itself. The empty set is a subset of every set.
 Set A is a proper subset of set B if it is a subset of B and is not equal to B. It is
denoted A⊂ B
 The cardinality of a set is the number of elements in the set.
 The power set of a set A is denoted P(A), and it is the set of all subsets of A,
including the empty set and A itself.
 The cardinality of the power set of a set of size n is 2n
 The complement of the set A is A = {x∈ U | x∉ A}.
 The union of two sets A and B is A∪B = {x∈ A or x∈ B}.
 The intersection of two sets A and B is A∩B = {x∈ A and x∈ B}.
 The union and intersection operations are commutative. That is, A∪B=B∪A and
A∩B=B∩A
 The difference between two sets A and B is A - B = {x∈ A and x∉ B}.
 The symmetric difference between two sets A and B is A⊕B = (A - B) ∪ (B - A)
 The difference operator is not commutative. That is, A - B ≠ B – A
Set Identities

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Higher Set Operations

 An ordered pair (a,b), is pair of elements listed in a way that the order matters,
that is (x,y) ≠ (y,x)when x≠y
 The Cartesian product of sets A and B is A×B = {(a,b)|a∈ A, b∈ B}.
 |A×B| = |A|×|B|
 A×B×C= {(a,b,c)| a∈ A b∈ B, c∈ C}. The elements in this set are called ordered
triples.
 A1×A2... ×An = {a1∈ A1, a2∈ A2, ..., an∈ An}. The elements in this set are called n-
tuples.
 A string is a sequence of characters where order matters.
o the set of characters used in a string are called the alphabet
o the number of characters in a string is called the length of the string.
 A binary string consists of two characters: zeros and ones. That is, the alphabet
is {0,1}. Each character in a binary string is called a bit. Binary strings can be of
different lengths and are called n- bit strings if they are of length n.
 The empty string λ is a string of length 0.
 Concatenation- joining strings together to make a new string.
 Two sets are disjoint if A ∩ B = ∅
 Pairwise disjoint sets -each pair in a sequence of sets is disjoint.
 A partition of a non-empty set A is a collection of nonempty sets whose union is
all of A and each pair in the collection is pairwise disjoint.

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Overview of Functions
 A function is a set of ordered pairs whose first coordinate has only one second
coordinate. In set notation it can be expressed as: {(x,y)| x∈ X, y∈ Y such that for
each there is only one y∈ Y}.
 Function notation is expressed as f: X → Y, read as f maps x to y or f(x) = y
o X is called the domain = the set of all possible inputs
o Y is called the target set or the codomain= the set a function maps into
o The range is the subset of the target set (codomain) and consists of all
mapped points: range of f = {y| (x,y)∈ f}.
 Two functions f, g are equivalent if f(x) = g(x) for every x in their shared domain.
 The floor function 𝑓(𝑥)=⌊𝑥⌋ assigns real numbers to the largest integer at or
below it.
 The ceiling function 𝑓(𝑥)=⌈𝑥⌉ assigns real numbers to the smallest integer at
or above it.
 A function f: X → Y is injective or one-to-one if x 1 ≠ x 2 implies that f( x 1) ≠ f( x 2).
Alternately, f is injective if f( x 1) = f( x 2) implies x 1 = x 2
 A function f: X → Y is surjective or onto if the range of f is equal to the target Y.
That is, for every y ∈ Y, there is an x ∈ X such that f(x) = y.
 A function is bijective if it is both injective and surjective. A bijective function is
called a bijection. A bijection is also called a one-to-one correspondence.
 A function f: X → Y is invertible if there exists a function g with domain Y and
range X with the property f(x) = y ⇔ g(y) = x.
 Only bijective functions have inverses.
 The inverse of 𝑓 is obtained by exchanging the first and second entries in each
pair in 𝑓. The inverse of 𝑓 is denoted by f −1.
 The inverse of a bijective function 𝑓:𝑋→𝑌 is a function f −1:𝑌→𝑋 that maps y
back to the x such that 𝑓(𝑥)=𝑦. That is, if (𝑥,𝑦)∈𝑓 then (𝑦,𝑥)∈ f −1.
 The domain of 𝑓 is the range of f −1 and the range of 𝑓 is the domain of f −1.
 To algebraically solve for an inverse, use the following algorithm:
 o Replace 𝑓(𝑥) with 𝑦
o Interchange 𝑥 and 𝑦
o Solve for 𝑦.
o Replace 𝑦 with f −1(𝑥)

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Functions- Composition and Applications
 Composition is the process of applying a function to the result of another
function.
 The composition of 𝑔 with 𝑓 is denoted 𝑔∘𝑓.
 If 𝑓:𝑋→𝑌,𝑔:𝑌→𝑍, then (𝑔∘𝑓): 𝑋→ 𝑍 is the composition of 𝑓 and 𝑔 where
(𝑔∘𝑓)(𝑥)=𝑔(𝑓(𝑥))
 Generally, (𝑔∘𝑓)(𝑥)≠(𝑓∘𝑔)(𝑥)
 The identity function 𝑓:𝑋→𝑋 maps x values to themselves. That is, 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥
for all 𝑥∈𝑋
 Composition is associative, so the order in which one composes the functions
does not matter.
The exponential function denoted exp b: 𝑅 →𝑅+ is defined as exp b x=b . More
x

commonly, it is written as 𝑓(𝑥)=b x or 𝑦=b x .

 The inverse function to the exponential is the logarithmic function.

 The log function is denoted log b:𝑅+→𝑅 expressed as log b x= y , where 𝑏 > 0, 𝑏 ≠
1
 The relationship between the exponential function and the logarithmic function
can be expressed as y=b x ⇔ log b y=x .
  A function is strictly increasing on an interval if 𝑓(𝑥) > 𝑓(𝑦) whenever 𝑥 > 𝑦
for all 𝑥, 𝑦 in the interval.
 A function is strictly decreasing on an interval if 𝑓(𝑥) < 𝑓(𝑦) whenever 𝑥 > 𝑦
for all 𝑥, 𝑦 in the interval.
 The exponential and the logarithmic function are both strictly increasing
functions.

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Binary Relations and Directed Graphs
 Binary Relation- is a subset R of the product of two sets. Given sets A and B,
for a ∈ A and b ∈ B, (a, b) ∈ R is denoted aRb. The set A is called the domain of
the binary relation
 Properties of Relations
o The relation R is reflexive if for every x ∈ A, xRx.
o The relation R is anti-reflexive if for every x ∈ A, it is not true that xRx.
Alternately, R is anti-reflexive if there exists an x ∈ A for which xRx is not
true
o The relation R is transitive if for every x, y, z ∈ A, xRy and yRz imply that
xRz.
o The relation R is symmetric if for every x, y ∈ A, xRy implies that yRx.
o The relation R is anti-symmetric if for every x, y ∈ A, xRy and yRx imply
that x = y. Alternatively, R is anti-symmetric if for every x,y ∈ A, x ≠ y
implies that xRy is not true or that yRx it is not true.
  Directed graph (digraph) – a set of vertices together with a set of directed
edges of which is associated with an ordered pair of vertices.
 Degree – the number of edges incident with v
o In degree (digraph) – the number of edges with v as their terminal vertex
o Out degree (digraph) – the number of edges with v as their initial vertex
 Self-loop – an edge connecting a vertex with itself.
 Walk – a walk from u to v in an undirected graph is a sequence of alternative
vertices and edges that starts and ends with a vertex.
o Length of a walk – the number of edges in the walk
o Open walk – a walk in which the first and last vertices are not the same.
o Closed walk – a walk in which the first and last vertices are the same.
 Trail – an open walk in which no edge occurs more than once.
 Circuit – a closed walk in which no edge occurs more than once.
 Path – a trail in which no vertex occurs more than once.
 Cycle – a circuit of length at least 1 in which no vertex occurs more than once
(except the first and last vertices which are the same)

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Order Relations
 A relation, R, on a set A is a partial order relation if it is transitive, reflexive, and
anti-symmetric. Specifically, aRb is notated by a ⪯ b and is read "a is at most b."
 The domain of a partially ordered set (poset) is denoted by (A, ⪯).
 Comparable elements of a poset are two elements, x and y, such that x ⪯ y or
y ⪯ x. Otherwise, x and y are incomparable.
 A total order is a partial order relation where every two elements in the domain
are comparable.
 A maximal element is a vertex where on a directed graph, the only arrows out of
them are to themselves or none.
 A minimal element is a vertex where on a directed graph, the only arrows into
them are from themselves or none.
 In a Hasse diagram, each element is shown by a labeled point. However, unlike
digraphs, Hasse diagrams have very few edges - only lines depicting relative
precedence of the elements. In Hasse diagrams, self-loops are removed, and the
transitive and reflexive properties are assumed.
 To create a Hasse diagram, use the following rules:
o If x ⪯ y, then make the x element appear lower in the diagram than y.
o If x ⪯ y and there is no z where x ⪯ z or z ⪯ y, then draw a segment
connecting x and y.
 Relations with strict order have transitive and anti-symmetry properties, but they
are not reflexive.
 The symbol used to show a strict order relation is ≺. The domain is denoted by
(A, ≺).
 Directed acyclic graphs (DAG) are directed graphs with no positive length
cycles.
 A DAG can be used to represent a strict order.
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N-ary Relations
 An equivalence relation has all three of the following properties: symmetry,
reflexive, and transitive. An equivalence relation, R, is denoted as a ~ b for aRb.
 An equivalence relation is easy to spot when shown as a directed graph: each
vertex has a self- loop.
 An equivalence class is denoted by [a] and is defined to be the set of all x ∈ A
such that a ~ x, given A is the domain of an equivalence relation and a is also an
element of A.
 According to the structure of equivalence relations theorem, two equivalence
classes are either identical or completely different (disjoint).
 The set of all distinct equivalence classes of set A is called a partition of the set
A.
 Pairwise disjoint sets have no intersection of any of the sets.
 A relation on multiple sets, say A1 , A2 , A3 , ..., An is a subset of A1 x A2 x A3 x ... x
An . Each element of the relation is an n-tuple in which a particular element, say
the jth entry in the n-tuple is Aj .
 A relational database stores a large collection of records as relations.
 An attribute describes the type of data found in each entry of an n-tuple.
 A query to a relational database is just a request for a particular piece or pieces
of data.
 A key is an attribute (or set of attributes) which provides a unique identity for
each n-tuple in the database.
 The projection operation is denoted by Project [list of attributes]. This operation
yields a list which is a subset of the attributes in an n-tuple (deleting all other
attributes before the output is displayed). Also, the final step of the operation is to
merge any duplicate instances of the subset output.

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