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5" to denote the
fact that S’ is a subset of S.
Let S, T be sets. A mapping or map f: TS is an association which
to each element xe 1° associates an element of 3, denoted by f(x), and
called the value of f at x, or the image of x under f. If T’ is a subset of
T, we denote by f(T’) the subset of S consisting of all elements f(x) for
xeT". The association of f(x) to x is denoted by the special arrow
xe flx).
We usually reserve the word function for a mapping whose values are in
the real or complex numbers. The characteristic function of a subset S' of
8 is the function y such that y(x)=1 if xe S’ and y(x)=0 if x¢ 5S’. We
often write x5 for this function.
Let X, Y be sets. A map f: X + ¥ is said to be injective if for all x,
x'eX with x #x’ we have f(x) # f(x). We say that f is surjective if
F(X) . if the image of f is all of ¥. We say that f is bijective if it
is both injective and surjective. As usual, one should index a map f by
its set of arrival and set of departure to have absolutely correct notation,
but this is too clumsy, and the context is supposed to make it clear what
these sets are. For instance, let R denote the real numbers, and R’ the4 SETS OL §1]
real numbers 2 0. The map
RoR
given by xt-+x? is not surjective, but the map
Sg: ROR
given by the same formula is surjective.
If f:X + Y is a map and S a subset of X, we denote by
SIs
the restriction of f to S, namely the map f viewed as a map defined only
on S. For instance, if f: RR’ is the map x++x?, then f is not injec-
tive, but /IR’ is iniective. We often let fe = fre be the function equal to
f on § and 0 outside 5.
‘A composite of injective maps is injective, and a composite of surjec-
tive maps is surjective. Hence a composite of bijective maps is bijective.
We denote by Q, Z the sets of rational numbers and integers respec-
tively. We denote by Z* the set of positive integers (integers > 0), and
similarly by R' the set of positive reals. We denote by N the set of
natural numbers (integers > 0), and by C the complex numbers. A map-
ping into R or C will be called a function.
Let S and I be sets. By a family of elements of S, indexed by I, one
means simply a map f:1 +S, However, when we speak of a family, we
write f(i) as fz, and also use the notation {f,},¢1 to denote the family.
Example 1. Let S be the set consisting of the single element 3. Let
T= {1,...,n} be the set of integers from 1 to n. A family of elements of
S, indexed by J, can then be written {aj}i-1,.... with each a,= 3. Note
that a family is different from a subset. The same element of S may
receive distinct indices.
A family of clements of a set $ indexed by positive integers, or non-
negative integers, is also called a sequence.
Example 2, A sequence of real numbers is written frequently in the
form
(ae Xa} or Ohaze
and stands for the map f:Z* +R such that f(i) =x, As before, note
that a sequence can have alll its elements equal to each other, that is
(41
is a sequence of integers, with x, = 1 for each ie Z*0,91 SOME BASIC TERMINOLOGY 5
‘We define a family of sets indexed by a set 7 in the same manner, that
is, a family of sets indexed by J is an assignment
ins,
which to each i€ I associates a set S,. The sets S, may or may not have
elements in common, and it is conceivable that they may all be equal.
As before, we write the family {S,}rer-
We can define the intersection and union of families of sets, just as for
the intersection and union of a finite number of sets. Thus, if {S,}se, is a
family of sets, we define the intersection of this family to be the set
Os
fet
consisting of all elements x which lie in all S, We define the union
5,
Us
to be the set consisting of all x such that x lies in some 5,.
If S, S’ are sets, we define S x S’ to be the set of all pairs (x, y) with
xeS and yeS'’. We can define finite products in a similar way. If S,,
S,,... is a sequence of sets, we define the product
HS
to be the set of all sequences (x1, xz,-..) with x,¢ 5; Similarly, if J is an
indexing set, and {5;},<1 a family of sets, we define the product
ns
fel
to be the set of all families {x;}1er with x;€ 5.
Let X, Y, Z be sets. We have the formula
(XUY) x Z=(X x DY x Z).
To prove this, let (w, z)¢(X UY) x Z with weXUY and zeZ. Then
weX orweY. Say weX. Then (w,z)eX x Z. Thus
(XUY)x Zo (X x Zu(¥ x Z).
ly, Xv Z 1Y) x Z and en is Y x Z Hence
their union is contained in (XU Y) x Z, thereby proving our assertion.6 SETS Ls)
We say that two sets X, Y are tif their intersection is empty.
We say that a union Xu ¥ is disjoint if X and Y are disjoint. Note that
if X, Y are disjoint, then (X x Z) and (Y x Z) are disjoint.
We can take products with arbitrary families. For instance, if {Xi}ier
is a family of sets, then
(yx)xz- Yours
If the family {X;},,1 is disjoint (that is X,9 X, is empty if i#/ for i,
je), then the sets X, x Z are also disjoint.
We have similar formulas for intersections. For instance,
(XN Y) x Z=(X x Z)A(Y x Z).
We leave the proof to the reader.
Let X be a set and Y a subset. The complement of Y in X, denoted
by GY, or X — Y, is the set of all elements xX such that x¢ ¥. If ¥,
Z are subsets of X, then we have the following formulas:
CAV UZ) = GY OG eZ,
GV AZ) = GY OG.
These are essentially reformulations of definitions. For instance, suppose
xeX and x¢(¥UZ), Then x¢¥ and x¢Z. Hence xe ¥AGqZ.
Conversely, if xe@Y AZ, then x lies neither in Y nor in Z, and
hence x €6(Y UZ). This proves the first formula. We leave the second
to the reader. Exercise: Formulate these formulas for the complement of
the union of a family of sets, and the complement of the intersection of a
family of sets.
Let A, B be sets and f: A+B a mapping. If Y is a subset of B, we
define f-*(¥) to be the set of all x € A such that f(x)e ¥. It may be that
1 -*(Y) is empty, of course. We call f-!(¥) the inverse image of Y (under
‘f). If f is injective, and Y consists of one element y, then f~*({y}) is
either empty or has precisely one element.
The following statements are easily proved:
If f: A+B is a map, and Y, Z are subsets of B, then
IV UZ)=fNvf"(Z),
INV OD =I "(YN 0S(),
More generally, if {¥%};¢1 is a family of subsets of B, thenOL §2] DENUMERABLE SETS 7
and simiiariy for the intersection. Furthermore, if we denote by ¥ —
the set of all elements ye Y and y ¢ Z, then
LV =2Z)= IN - I".
IGx2) = Ef (2)-
In particular,
Thus the operation f~! commutes with all set theoretic operations.
|, §2. DENUMERABLE SETS
Let n be a positive integer. Let J, be the set consisting of all integers k,
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