Sets and Propositions

Notion of a set

set M collection of well-defined, different objects

elements objects of a set
a M a belongs to the set M
a/ M a does not belong to the set M
description 1. by enumeration of the elements: M = {a, b, c, . . .}
2. by characterizing the properties of elements with
the help of a sentence form: M = {x | A(x) true}
empty set the set which does not contain any element; notation:
disjoint sets sets without common elements: M N =

Relations between sets

Set inclusion (subset)

M N ( x : x M = x N ) M subset of N (inclusion)
M N ( x N : x
/ M) M proper subset of N
P(M ) = {X | X M } power set, set of all subsets
of the set M
Properties:
M M reflexivity
M N N P = M P transitivity
M M is a subset of any set

Other notation of a subset: M N (proper subset: M N ).

Equality of sets
M = N ( x : x M x N ) equality
Properties:
M N N M M = N order property
M =M reflexivity
M = N = N = M symmetry
M = N N = P = M = P transitivity

B. Luderer et al., Mathematical Formulas for Economists, 4th ed.,

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-04079-5_2, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010
4 Sets and Propositions

Operations with sets

M N = {x | x M x N } intersection of the sets M and N ;

contains all elements belonging both
to M and to N (1)
M N = {x | x M x N } union of the sets M and N ; contains
all elements belonging either to M or
to N (or to both of them) (2)
M \ N = {x | x M x
/ N } difference of the sets M und N ; con-
tains all elements of M not belonging
to N (3)
C M = M = \ M complement to M with respect to ;
contains all elements of not be-
longing to M , where is some given
basic set and M (4)

M N M N
(1) (2)

M N M
(3) (4) C M

Sets M , N for which M N = (M, N having no elements in common)

are called disjoint.
Operations with sets are also called connections between sets.

Multiple connections
n
S
Mi = M1 M2 . . . Mn = {x | i {1, . . . , n} : x Mi }
i=1
n
T
Mi = M1 M2 . . . Mn = {x | i {1, . . . , n} : x Mi }
i=1

De Morgans laws

M N = M N , M N =M N (two sets)
n
S n
T n
T n
S
Mi = Mi , Mi = Mi (n sets)
i=1 i=1 i=1 i=1
 Rules for operations with sets 5

Rules for operations with sets

Union and intersection

M (N M ) = M M (N M ) = M
M (N P ) = (M N ) P M (N P ) = (M N ) P
M (N P ) = (M N ) (M P )
M (N P ) = (M N ) (M P )

Union, intersection and difference

M \ (M \ N ) = M N
M \ (N P ) = (M \ N ) (M \ P )
M \ (N P ) = (M \ N ) (M \ P )
(M N ) \ P = (M \ P ) (N \ P )
(M N ) \ P = (M \ P ) (N \ P )
M N = M \N =M

Union, intersection and difference in connection with inclusion

M N M N = M M N = N
M N = M P N P
M N = M P N P
M N M \ N =

Union, intersection and complement

If both M and N , then the following relations hold (all complements
taken with respect to ):

= =
M M = M M =
M N =M N M N =M N De Morgans laws, s. p. 4

(M ) = M M N N M
6 Sets and Propositions

Product sets and mappings

Product sets
(x, y) ordered pair; combination of the elements x X, y Y
in consideration of their order
(x, y) = (z, w) x = z y = w equality of two ordered pairs
X Y = {(x, y) | x X y Y } product set, Cartesian product,
cross or direct product

Cross product of n sets

Qn
Xi = X1 X2 . . . Xn = {(x1 , . . . , xn ) | i {1, . . . , n} : xi Xi }
i=1

X X . . . X = X n; IR IR . . . IR = IRn
| {z } | {z }
n times n times
The elements of X1 . . . Xn , i. e. (x1 , . . . , xn ), are called n-tuples, for
n = 2 pairs, for n = 3 triples; especially IR2 denotes all pairs, IRn all n-tuples
of real numbers (vectors with n components).

Mappings (relations)
AX Y mapping from X to Y ; subset of
the cross product of the sets X
and Y
DA = {x X | y : (x, y) A} domain of A
WA = {y Y | x : (x, y) A} range of A
1
A = {(y, x) | (x, y) A} reciprocal mapping; mapping in-
verse to the mapping A
Let (x, y) A. Then y is an element associated with the element x. A
mapping A from X to Y is called single-valued if for any element x X there
is only one element y Y associated with x. A single-valued mapping is called
a function f . The mapping rule is denoted by y = f (x). If both the mapping
A and the inverse mapping A1 (inverse function f 1 ) are single-valued, then
A (and f , resp.) are called one-to-one mapping (function).

Linear mapping
f (x + y) = f (x) + f (y) defining property of a linear mapping
(function), , IR
The composition h(x) = g(f (x)) of two linear mappings (e. g. f : IRn IRm
and g : IRm IRp ) is again a linear mapping (h : IRn IRp ) denoted by
h = g f.
 Propositional calculus 7

Propositional calculus

Sentences and sentence forms

sentence p statement which expresses some proposition p

having the truth value true (t) or false (f )

sentence form p(x) sentence depending on a variable x; only after

substitution of a concrete name of x a truth
value results

The determination of a truth value of a sentence form p(x) can also take
place by means of the universal quantifier ( x : p(x); in words: for all x
the sentence p(x) expresses a true proposition) or the existential quantifier
( x : p(x); in words: there is an x for which p(x) is true).

Compound propositions
The combination of propositions leads to new proposition defined with the
help of truth tables. Compound propositions are unary relations (negation),
dyadic relations (see the following table) or polyadic relations consisting of
the operators , , , =, .
A tautology is always true, a contradiction is always false (independent of
the truth value of the partial sentences).

Unary Relation (truth table)

negation p (not p) p p
t f
f t

Dyadic relations (truth table)

Relation read p t t f f
q t f t f

conjunction p and q pq t f f f
disjunction p or q pq t t t f
implication p implies q p = q t f t t
equivalence p equivalent to q p q t f f t
8 Sets and Propositions

The implication (from p it follows q) is also denoted as proposition in

if. . . , then. . . form, p is called the premise (assumption), q is the conclusion
(assertion).
The premise p is sufficient for the conclusion q, q is necessary for p. Other
formulations for the equivalence are: then and only then if . . . or if and
only if. . . (iff).

Tautologies of propositional calculus

p p law of excluded middle

(excluded third)

(p p) law of contradiction

( p) p negation of the negation

(p = q) (p q) negation of the implication

(p q) p q De Morgans law

(p q) p q De Morgans law

(p = q) ( q = p) law of contraposition

[(p = q) (q = r)] = (p = r) law of transitivity

p (p = q) = q rule of detachment

q ( p = q) = p principle of indirect proof

[(p1 p2 ) (p1 = q) (p2 = q)] = q distinction of cases

Method of complete induction

Problem: A proposition A(n) depending on a natural number n has to be

proved for any n.

Basis of the induction: The validity of the proposition A(n) is shown for
some initial value (usually n = 0 or n = 1).
Induction hypothesis: It is assumed that A(n) is true for n = k.
Induction step: Using the induction hypothesis, the validity of A(n) is
proved for n = k + 1.
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