Introduction Relations Recall that a relation between elements of two sets is a subset of their Cartesian product (of ordered pairs). Slides by Christopher M. Bourke Instructor: Berthe Y. Choueiry Definition A binary relation from a set A to a set B is a subset R ⊆ A × B = {(a, b) | a ∈ A, b ∈ B} Spring 2006 Note the difference between a relation and a function: in a relation, each a ∈ A can map to multiple elements in B. Thus, Computer Science & Engineering 235 relations are generalizations of functions. Introduction to Discrete Mathematics Sections 7.1, 7.3–7.5 of Rosen If an ordered pair (a, b) ∈ R then we say that a is related to b. We
[email protected] may also use the notation aRb and aRb6 . Relations Relations Graphical View To represent a relation, you can enumerate every element in R. A B Example a1 b1 a Let A = {a1, a2, a3, a4, a5} and B = {b1, b2, b3} let R be a 2 relation from A to B as follows: a3 b2 R = {(a1, b1), (a1, b2), (a1, b3), (a2, b1), a4 (a3, b1), (a3, b2), (a3, b3), (a5, b1)} b3 a5 You can also represent this relation graphically. Figure: Graphical Representation of a Relation Relations Reflexivity On a Set Definition Definition A relation on the set A is a relation from A to A. I.e. a subset of A × A. There are several properties of relations that we will look at. If the ordered pairs (a, a) appear in a relation on a set A for every a ∈ A Example then it is called reflexive.