Video Lectures for MBA

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Equivalence Relations:
Selected Exercises

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Equivalence Relation
Let E be a relation on set A.

E is an equivalence relation if & only if it is:

Reflexive
Symmetric

Transitive.
Examples
a E b when a mod 5 = b mod 5. (Over N)
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(i.e., a b mod 5 )

a E b when a is a sibling of b. (Over humans)

Copyright Peter Cappello

Equivalence Class
Let E be an equivalence relation on A.
We denote aEb as a ~ b. (sometimes, it is denoted a b )
The equivalence class of a is { b | a ~ b }, denoted [a].
What are the equivalence classes of the example equivalence
relations?
For these examples:
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Do distinct equivalence classes have a non-empty intersection?
Does the union of all equivalence classes equal the underlying set?
Copyright Peter Cappello

Partition
A partition of set S is a set of nonempty subsets,
S1, S2, . . ., Sn, of S such that:
1. i j ( i j Si Sj = ).
2. S = S1 U S2 U . . . U Sn.
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Copyright Peter Cappello

Equivalence Relations & Partitions

Let E be an equivalence relation on S.
Thm. Es equivalence classes partition S.

Thm. For any partition P of S, there is an equivalence

relation on S whose equivalence classes form partition P.

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Es equivalence classes partition S.

1.

[a] [b] [a] [b] = .

Proof by contradiction:
Assume [a] [b] [a] [b] :

(Draw a Venn diagram)

Without loss of generality, let c [a] - [b]. Let d [a] [b].

We show that c [b] (which contradicts our assumption above)

2.

1. c ~ d

( c, d [a] )

2. d ~ b

( d [b] )

3. c ~ b

( c ~ d d ~ b E is transitive )

The union of the equivalence classes is S.

Students: Show this use pair proving in class.

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Copyright Peter Cappello

For any partition P of S, there is an equivalence relation

whose equivalence classes form the partition P.
Prove in class.

1. Let P be an arbitrary partition of S.

2. We define an equivalence relation whose
equivalence classes form partition P.
(Students: Show this (use pair proving) in class)
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Copyright Peter Cappello

Exercise 20
Let P be the set of people who visited web page W.
Let R be a relation on P: xRy x & y visit the same
sequence of web pages since visiting W until they exit the

browser.

Is R an equivalence relation?

Let s( p ) be the sequence of web pages p visits since

visiting W until p exits the browser.
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Copyright Peter Cappello

Exercise 20 continued
That is, xRy means s( x ) = s( y ).

x xRx: R is reflexive.
Since x s( x ) = s( x ).

x y ( xRy yRx ): R is symmetric.

Since s( x ) = s( y ) s (y ) = s( x ).

x y z ( ( xRy yRz ) xRz ): R is transitive.

Since ( s( x ) = s( y ) s( y ) = s( z ) ) s( x ) = s( z ).

Therefore, R is an equivalence relation.

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Exercise 30
What are the equivalence classes of the bit strings for the
equivalence relation of Exercise 11?
Ex. 11: Let S = { x | x is a bit string of 3 bits. }
Define xRy such that x agrees with y on the left 3 bits
(e.g., 10111 ~ 101000).
a) 010
b) 1011

c) 11111
d) 01010101
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Copyright Peter Cappello

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Exercise 30 Answer

010
(answer: all strings that begin with 010)

1011
(answer: all strings that begin with 101)

11111
(answer: all strings that begin with 111)

01010101
(answer: all strings that begin with 010)

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Copyright Peter Cappello 2011

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Exercise 40
a)

What is the equivalence class of (1, 2) with respect

to the equivalence relation given in Exercise 16?
Exercise. 16:
Ordered pairs of positive integers such that
( a, b ) ~ ( c, d ) ad = bc.

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Exercise 40 a) Answer
( a, b ) ~ ( c, d ) ad = bc a/b = c/d
[ ( 1, 2 ) ] = { ( c, d ) | ( 1, 2 ) ~ ( c, d ) }

= { ( c, d ) | 1d = 2c c/d = }.

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Exercise 40 continued
b) Interpret the equivalence classes of the equivalence
relation R in Exercise 16.

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15

Exercise 40 continued
b) Interpret the equivalence classes of the equivalence
relation R in Exercise 16.
Answer

Each equivalence class contains all (p, q), which, as

fractions, have the same value (i.e., the same

element of Q+).
(The fact that 3/7 = 15/35 confuses some small children.)
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Copyright Peter Cappello

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Exercise 50
A partition P is a refinement of partition P when
x P y P x y. (Illustrate.)
Let partition P consist of sets of

people living in the same US state.

Let partition P consist of sets of
people living in the same county of a state.
Show that P is a refinement of P.
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Exercise 50 continued
It suffices to note that:
Every county is contained within its state:

No county spans 2 states.

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Exercise 62
Determine the number of equivalent relations on a set
with 4 elements by listing them.

How would you represent the equivalence relations

that you list?

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End 8.5

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10
Suppose A & R is an equivalence relation on A.
Show f X f: A X such that a ~ b f( a ) = f( b ).
Proof.

1. Let f : A X, where
1. X = { [a] | [a] is an equivalence class of R }
2.

a f (a ) = [a].

2. Then, a b a ~ b f( a ) = [a] = [b] = f( b ).

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