Sets

  A set is a collection of different things (distinguishable objects or distinct objects) represented as a unit. The objects in a set are called its elements or members. If an object x is a member of a set S, we write x belongs to S. On the the hand, if x is not a member of S, we write z does not belong to S. A set cannot contain the same object more than once, and its elements are not ordered.

For example, consider the set S= {7, 21, 57}. Then 7 belongs to {7, 21, 57} and 8 does not belong to {7, 21, 57} or equivalently, 7 belongs to S and 8 does not belong to S.

We can also describe a set containing elements according to some rule. We write

{n : rule about n}

Thus, {n : n = m2 for some m
belongs to N } means that a set of perfect squares.


Set Cardinality

The number of elements in a set is called cardinality or size of the set, denoted |S| or sometimes n(S). The two sets have same cardinality if their elements can be put into a one-to-one correspondence. It is easy to see that the cardinality of an empty set is zero i.e., |
Phi| .


Mustiest

If we do want to take the number of occurrences of members into account, we call the group a multiset.
For example, {7} and {7, 7} are identical as set but {7} and {7, 7} are different as multiset.


Infinite Set

    A set contains infinite elements. For example, set of negative integers, set of integers, etc.


Empty Set

    Set contain no member, denoted as
Phior {}.


Subset

For two sets A and B, we say that A is a subset of B, written A Subset of B, if every member of A also is a member of B.

Formally, A
Subset of B if
x belongs to A implies x belongs to B

written
 

x belongs to A => x belongs to B.


Proper Subset

Set A is a proper subset of B, written A Proper subset of B, if A is a subset of B and not equal to B. That is,  A set A is proper subset of B if A
Subset of B but A not equal to B.


Equal Sets

The sets A and B are equal, written A = B, if each is a subset of the other. Rephrased definition, let A and B be sets. A = B if A
Subset of B and BSubset of A.


Power Set

Let A be the set. The power of A, written P(A) or 2A, is the set of all subsets of A. That is, P(A) = {B : B
Subset of A}.

For example, consider A={0, 1}. The power set of A is {{}, {0}, {1}, {0, 1}}. And the power set of A is the set of all pairs (2-tuples) whose elements are 0 and 1 is {(0, 0), (0, 1), (1, 0), (1, 1)}.


Disjoint Sets

Let A and B be sets. A and B are disjoint if 
AUnionB = Phi.



Union of Sets

The union of A and B, written AUnion B, is the set we get by combining all elements in A and B into a single set. That is,

AUnionB = { x : x belongs to A or  x belongs to B}.

For two finite sets A and B, we have identity

|AUnionB| = |A| + |B| - |AIntersectionB|

We can conclude
|AUnionB| less than or equal to |A| + |B|

That is,
if |AUnionB| = 0 then |AUnionB| = |A| + |B| and if A Subset of B then |A| less than or equal to |B|




Intersection Sets


The intersection of set set A and B, written AIntersectionB, is the set of elements that are both in A and in B. That is,

AIntersectionB =  { x : x belongs to A and  x belongs to B}.



Partition of Set

A collection of S = {Si} of nonempty sets form a partition of a set if

i.  The set are pair-wise disjoint, that is, Si, Sj belongs to and i not equal j imply Si Intersection Sj = Phi.
ii. Their union is S, that is, S = Union Si

In other words, S form a partition of S if each element of S appears in exactly on Si.



Difference of Sets

Let A and B be sets. The difference of A and B is

A - B = {x : x belongs to A  and   x does not belong to B}.

For example, let A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {2, 4, 6, 8}. The set difference A - B = {1, 3} while B-A = {4, 6, 8}.

Complement of a Set

All set under consideration are subset of some large set U called universal set. Given a universal set U, the complement of A, written A', is the set of all elements under consideration that are not in A.

Formally, let A be a subset of universal set U. The complement of A in U is

A' = A - U
OR
A' = {x : x belongs to U  and   x does not belong to A}.

For any set A
Subset of U, we have following laws

i.   A'' = A
ii.  A Intersection A' = Phi.
iii. A Union A' = U


Symmetric difference

Let A and B be sets. The symmetric difference of A and B is

Asymmetic difference B = { x : x belongs to A or  x belongs to B but not both}

Therefore,

Asymmetic difference B = (AUnionB) -  (AIntersectionB)

As an example, consider the following two sets A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {2, 4, 6, 8}. The symmetric difference,
Asymmetic differenceB = {1, 3, 4, 6, 8}.


Sequences

A sequence of objects is a list of objects in some order. For example, the sequence 7, 21, 57 would be written as (7, 21, 57). In a set the order does not matter but in a sequence it does.

Hence, (7, 21, 57) not equal {57, 7, 21} But (7, 21, 57) = {57, 7, 21}.

Repetition is not permitted in a set but repetition is permitted in a sequence. So, (7, 7, 21, 57) is different from {7, 21, 57}.



Tuples

Finite sequence often are called tuples. For example,

(7, 21)             2-tuple or pair
(7, 21, 57)       3-tuple
(7, 21, ..., k )   k-tuple

An ordered pair of two elements a and b is denoted (a, b) and can be defined as (a, b) = (a, {a, b}).



Cartesian Product or Cross Product

If A and B are two sets, the cross product of A and B, written A
×B, is the set of all pairs wherein the first element is a member of the set A and the second element is a member of the set B. Formally,

A×B = {(a, b) : a belongs to A, b belongs to B}.

For example, let A = {1, 2} and B = {x, y, z}. Then
A×B = {(1, x), (1, y), (1, z), (2, x), (2, y), (2, z)}.


When A and B are finite sets, the cardinality of their product is

|A×B| = |A| . |B|



n-tuples

The cartesian product of n sets A1, A2, ..., An is the set of n-tuples

A1 × A2 × ... × An = {(a1, ..., an) : ai belongs to Ai, i = 1, 2, ..., n}

whose cardinality is

| A1 × A2 × ... × An| =  |A1| . |A2| ... |An|

If all sets are finite. We denote an n-fold cartesian product over a single set A by the set

An = A × A × ... × A

whose cardinality is

|An | =  | A|n   if A is finite.