a Cartesian product is a mathematical operation which returns a set (or

product set or simply product) from multiple sets. That is, for sets A and B,
the Cartesian product A B is the set of all ordered pairs (a, b) where a A
and b B. Products can be specied usin! set"builder notation, e.!.
A#times B $ #%#,(a,b)#mid a#in A # #mbo&% and ' # b#in B#,#'.()*
A table can be created by ta+in! the Cartesian product of a set of rows and a
set of columns. ,f the Cartesian product rows columns is ta+en, the cells of
the table contain ordered pairs of the form (row -alue, column -alue).
.ore !enerally, a Cartesian product of n sets, a+a n"fold Cartesian product,
can be represented by an array of n dimensions, where each element is an n"
tuple. An ordered pair is a /"tuple.
The Cartesian product is named after 0en1 2escartes,(/* whose formulation
of analytic !eometry !a-e rise to the concept, which is further !enerali3ed in
terms of direct product.A dec+ of cards(edit*
4tandard 5/"card dec+
An illustrati-e e&ample is the standard 5/"card dec+. The standard playin!
card ran+s %A, 6, 7, 8, )9, :, ;, <, =, 5, >, ?, /' form a )?"element set. The
card suits %@, A, B, C' form a >"element set. The Cartesian product of these
sets returns a 5/"element set consistin! of 5/ ordered pairs, which
correspond to all 5/ possible playin! cards.
0an+s 4uits returns a set of the form %(A, @), (A, A), (A, B), (A, C), (6,
@), ..., (?, C), (/, @), (/, A), (/, B), (/, C)'.
4uits 0an+s returns a set of the form %(@, A), (@, 6), (@, 7), (@, 8), (@,
)9), ..., (C, =), (C, 5), (C, >), (C, ?), (C, /)'.
Both sets are distinct, e-en disDoint.
A two"dimensional coordinate system(edit*
Cartesian coordinates of e&ample points
The historically main e&ample is the Cartesian plane in analytic !eometry. ,n
order to represent !eometrical shapes in a numerical way and e&tract
numerical information from shapesE numerical representations, 0en1
2escartes assi!ned to each point in the plane a pair of real numbers, called
its coordinates. Fsually, such a pairEs rst and second component is called its
& and y coordinate, respecti-ely, cf. picture. The set of all such pairs, i.e. the
Cartesian product GG with G denotin! the real numbers, is thus assi!ned to
the set of all points in the plane.
.ost common implementation (set theory)(edit*
.ain articleH ,mplementation of mathematics in set theory
A formal denition of the Cartesian product from set"theoretical principles
follows from a denition of ordered pair. The most common denition of
ordered pairs, the 6uratows+i denition, is (&, y) $ #%#%&#',#%&, y#'#'. Iote
that, under this denition, J#times K #subseteL #mathcal%P'(#mathcal%P'(J
#cup K)), where #mathcal%P' represents the power set. Therefore, the
e&istence of the Cartesian product of any two sets in MNC follows from the
a&ioms of pairin!, union, power set, and specication. 4ince functions are
usually dened as a special case of relations, and relations are usually
dened as subsets of the Cartesian product, the denition of the two"set
Cartesian product is necessarily prior to most other denitions.
Ion"commutati-ity and non"associati-ity(edit*
Oet A, B, C, and 2 be sets.
The Cartesian product A B is not commutati-e,
A #times B #neL B #times A,
because the ordered pairs are re-ersed e&cept if at least one of the followin!
conditions is satisedH(?*
A is eLual to B, or
A or B is the empty set.
Nor e&ampleH
A $ %),/'P B $ %?,>'
A B $ %),/' %?,>' $ %(),?), (),>), (/,?), (/,>)'
B A $ %?,>' %),/' $ %(?,)), (?,/), (>,)), (>,/)'
A $ B $ %),/'
A B $ B A $ %),/' %),/' $ %(),)), (),/), (/,)), (/,/)'
A $ %),/'P B $ Q
A B $ %),/' Q $ Q
B A $ Q %),/' $ Q
4trictly spea+in!, the Cartesian product is not associati-e (unless one of the
in-ol-ed sets is empty).
(A#times B)#times C #neL A #times (B #times C)
,f for e&ample A $ %)', then (A A) A $ % ((),)),)) ' R % (),(),))) ' $ A
(A A). Sowe-er, some authors(citation needed* consider the pairin!
operator (,) as associati-e(>*(5* in which case the cartesian product operator
becomes also associati-e.(=*
,ntersections, unions, and subsets(edit*
T&ample sets A$%yGH)UyU>', B$%&GH/U&U5', and C$%&GH>U&U<',
demonstratin! A(BVC)$(AB)V(AC), A(BWC)$(AB)W(AC), and
A(B#C)$(AB)#(AC).
(AWB)(CW2)R(AC)W(B2) can be seen from the same e&ample.
T&ample sets A$%&GH/U&U5', B$%&GH?U&U<', C$%yGH)UyU?', and
2$%yGH/UyU>', demonstratin! (AVB)(CV2)$(AC)V(B2).
The Cartesian product beha-es nicely with respect to intersections, cf. left
picture.
(A #cap B) #times (C #cap 2) $ (A #times C) #cap (B #times 2)(<*
,n most cases the abo-e statement is not true if we replace intersection with
union, cf. middle picture.
(A #cup B) #times (C #cup 2) #neL (A #times C) #cup (B #times 2)
,n fact, we ha-e thatH
(A #times C) #cup (B #times 2) $ ((A #setminus B) #times C* #cup ((A #cap B)
#times (C #cup 2)* #cup ((B #setminus A) #times 2*
Nor the set diXerence we also ha-e the followin! identityH
(A #times C) #setminus (B #times 2) $ (A #times (C #setminus 2)* #cup ((A
#setminus B) #times C*
Sere are some rules demonstratin! distributi-ity with other operators (cf.
ri!ht picture)H(?*
A #times (B #cap C) $ (A #times B) #cap (A #times C),
A #times (B #cup C) $ (A #times B) #cup (A #times C),
A #times (B #setminus C) $ (A #times B) #setminus (A #times C),
(A #times B)Yc $ (AYc #times BYc) #cup (AYc #times B) #cup (A #times BYc).
(<*
Zther properties related with subsets areH
#te&t%if ' A #subseteL B #te&t% then ' A #times C #subseteL B #times C,
#te&t%if both ' A,B #neL #emptyset #te&t% then ' A #times B #subseteL C #times
2 #iX A #subseteL C #and B #subseteL 2.(;*
Cardinality(edit*
4ee alsoH Cardinal arithmetic
The cardinality of a set is the number of elements of the set. Nor e&ample,
denin! two setsH A $ %a, b' and B $ %5, ='. Both set A and set B consist of
two elements each. Their Cartesian product, written as A B, results in a
new set which has the followin! elementsH
A B $ %(a,5), (a,=), (b,5), (b,=)'.
Tach element of A is paired with each element of B. Tach pair ma+es up one
element of the output set. The number of -alues in each pair is eLual to the
number of sets whose cartesian product is bein! ta+enP / in this case. The
cardinality of the output set is eLual to the product of the cardinalities of all
the input sets. That is,
[A B[ $ [A[ \ [B[.
4imilarly
[A B C[ $ [A[ \ [B[ \ [C[
and so on.
The set A B is innite if either A or B is innite and the other set is not the
empty set.(:*
n"ary product(edit*
Cartesian power(edit*
The Cartesian sLuare (or binary Cartesian product) of a set J is the Cartesian
product J/ $ J J. An e&ample is the /"dimensional plane 0/ $ 0 0
where 0 is the set of real numbers ] all points (&,y) where & and y are real
numbers (see the Cartesian coordinate system).
The cartesian power of a set J can be dened asH
JYn $ #underbrace% J #times J #times #cdots #times J '^%n'$ #
% (&^),#ldots,&^n) # [ # &^i #in J #te&t% for all ' i$),#ldots,n #'.
An e&ample of this is 0? $ 0 0 0, with 0 a!ain the set of real numbers,
and more !enerally 0n.
The n"ary cartesian power of a set J is isomorphic to the space of functions
from an n"element set to J. As a special case, the 9"ary cartesian power of J
may be ta+en to be a sin!leton set, correspondin! to the empty function with
codomain J.
Ninite n"ary product(edit*
The Cartesian product can be !enerali3ed to the n"ary Cartesian product o-er
n sets J), ..., JnH
J^)#times#cdots#times J^n $ #%(&^), #ldots, &^n) H &^i #in J^i #'.
,t is a set of n"tuples. ,f tuples are dened as nested ordered pairs, it can be
identied to (J) ... Jn_)) Jn.
,nnite products(edit*
,t is possible to dene the Cartesian product of an arbitrary (possibly innite)
inde&ed family of sets. ,f , is any inde& set, and #left#%J^i#,[#,i#in ,#ri!ht#' is a
collection of sets inde&ed by ,, then the Cartesian product of the sets in J is
dened to be
#prod^%i #in ,' J^i $ #left#% f H , #to #bi!cup^%i #in ,' J^i# #Bi![# (#forall i)(f(i) #in
J^i)#ri!ht#',
that is, the set of all functions dened on the inde& set such that the -alue of
the function at a particular inde& i is an element of Ji. T-en if each of the Ji is
nonempty, the Cartesian product may be empty if the a&iom of choice (which
is eLui-alent to the statement that e-ery such product is nonempty) is not
assumed.
Nor each D in ,, the function
#pi^%D' H #prod^%i #in ,' J^i #to J^%D',
dened by #pi^%D'(f) $ f(D) is called the Dth proDection map.
An important case is when the inde& set is #mathbb%I', the natural numbersH
this Cartesian product is the set of all innite seLuences with the ith term in
its correspondin! set Ji. Nor e&ample, each element of
#prod^%n $ )'Y#infty #mathbb 0 $ #mathbb 0 #times #mathbb 0 #times #cdots
can be -isuali3ed as a -ector with countably innite real number components.
This set is freLuently denoted #mathbb%0'Y#ome!a, or
#mathbb%0'Y%#mathbb%I''.
The special case Cartesian e&ponentiation occurs when all the factors Ji
in-ol-ed in the product are the same set J. ,n this case,
#prod^%i #in ,' J^i $ #prod^%i #in ,' J
is the set of all functions from , to J, and is freLuently denoted J,. This case is
important in the study of cardinal e&ponentiation.
The denition of nite Cartesian products can be seen as a special case of the
denition for innite products. ,n this interpretation, an n"tuple can be -iewed
as a function on %), /, ..., n' that ta+es its -alue at i to be the ith element of
the tuple (in some settin!s, this is ta+en as the -ery denition of an n"tuple).
Zther forms(edit*
Abbre-iated form(edit*
,f se-eral sets are bein! multiplied to!ether, e.!. J), J/, J?, `, then some
authors()9* choose to abbre-iate the Cartesian product as simply Ji.
Cartesian product of functions(edit*
,f f is a function from A to B and ! is a function from J to K, their Cartesian
product f ! is a function from A J to B K with
(f#times !)(a, b) $ (f(a), !(b)).
This can be e&tended to tuples and innite collections of functions. Iote that
this is diXerent from the standard cartesian product of functions considered
as sets.
2enitions outside of 4et theory(edit*
Cate!ory theory(edit*
Althou!h the Cartesian product is traditionally applied to sets, cate!ory
theory pro-ides a more !eneral interpretation of the product of mathematical
structures. This is distinct from, althou!h related to, the notion of a Cartesian
sLuare in cate!ory theory, which is a !enerali3ation of the ber product.
T&ponentiation is the ri!ht adDoint of the Cartesian productP thus any
cate!ory with a Cartesian product (and a nal obDect) is a Cartesian closed
cate!ory.
araph theory(edit*
,n !raph theory the Cartesian product of two !raphs a and S is the !raph
denoted by a S whose -erte& set is the (ordinary) Cartesian product b(a)
b(S) and such that two -ertices (u,-) and (uc,-c) are adDacent in a S if and
only if u $ uc and - is adDacent with -c in S, or - $ -c and u is adDacent with uc
in a. The Cartesian product of !raphs is not a product in the sense of
cate!ory theory. ,nstead, the cate!orical product is +nown as the tensor
product of !raphs.