cl assif icat ion of set s

3 cl assif icat ion of set s

3.1 Classif cation of sets
A recurrent theme in mathematics is the classif cation of spaces by means of structurepreser ving maps between them.
A space is usually meant to be some set equipped with some structure, which is
usually some other set. We will def ne each instance of space precisely when we will
need them. I n the case of sets considered themselves as spaces, there is no extra
structure beyond the set and hence, the structure may be taken to be the empty set.
D ef nition. L et A, B be sets. A map : A B is a relation such that for each a A
there exists exactly one b B such that (a, b).
T he standard notation for a map is:
:A B
a 7(a)
which is technically an abuse of notation since , being a relation of two variables,
should have two arguments and produce a truth value. H owever, once we agree that
for each a A there exists exactly one b B such that (a, b) is true, then for each
a we can def ne (a) to be precisely that unique b. I t is sometimes useful to keep in
mind that is actually a relation.

Example . . L et M be a set. T he simplest example of a map is the identity map on M :

idM : M M
m 7m.
T he following is standard ter minology for a map : A B:
the set A is called the domain of ;
the set B is called the target of ;
the set (a) im (A) := {(a) | a A}is called the imageof A under ;
D ef nition. A map : A B is said to be:
injectiveif a1 , a2 A : (a1 ) = (a2 ) a1 = a2 ;
surjectiveif im (A) = B;
bijectiveif it is both injective and sur jective.
D ef nition. Two sets A and B are called (set-theoretic) isomorphicif there exists a bijecset B.
tion : A B. I n this case, we write A =

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