∗

Basic Concepts in Set Theory

Set
A set is a well defined collection of things/objects viewed as a single entity.
For example:
E1. the set of all members of the Lok Sabha,
E2. the set of all prime numbers,
E3. the set of real numbers between 0 and 4,
E4. the set of all books in the Shiv Nadar University library,
E5. the set of songs sung by Rekha Bharadwaj in the film Omkara.
E6. the set of kingdoms in Westeros.
Note that the term well-defined is important. The description of a set should not contain terms that
cannot be objectively defined. For example: the collection of all films directed by Guru Dutt is a set, but
the collection of the five finest films by Guru Dutt cannot be considered a set. Similarly the collection of
all talented Hindi film actors is not a set, but the set of all Hindi film actors who have acted in a Vishal
Bharadwaj film is a set.

The use of a subjective term in the definition of a set is not the only reason for which a collection fails to
satisfy the ‘well defined’ criteria. For example, consider what is popularly known as Russel’s Paradox. Let R
be the set of all sets that does not have itself as its element. Let us ask the question: does R contain itself?
If R does contain itself, then it is not the set of all sets that does have itself. This contradicts the definition
of R. If R does not contain itself, it should be a element in the set of all sets that does not contain itself,
which is R. Thus the collection of all sets that does not contain itself is not well-defined.

A set can have no objects, finite number of objects or even infinite number of objects. In the examples
discussed above, E1, E4 and E5 are finite. E2 and E3 are not finite.1

Can the following collections be considered as sets?

• The collection of the most articulate Labour MPs in the British Parliament.

• The collection of arrogant English MPs in the Scottish Parliament.

• The collection of all Indians with a personal gmail account.

∗ Notes prepared by Ashokankur Datta for the course titled ‘Logic and Scientific Methods’ (ECO108, Undergraduate Program,
Shiv Nadar University). Typeset using LATEX. The notes are based on materials from the following books: Calculus (Vol.1)
by Tom M. Apostol and IGCSE mathematics by Karen Morrison. I have also borrowed from lecture notes prepared by Prof.
Shobha Bagai, Prof. Amber Habib & Prof. Geetha Venkatraman.
1 The fact that there are infinitely many prime numbers was proved by Euclid in 300 BC.

1
 Elements of a Set

The object
√ included in a set is called elements of a set. Thus 17 is an element in the set of all prime
numbers, 2 is an element in the set of all real numbers between 0 and 4, Intermidate Microeconomics is an
element in the set of all books in SNU library, Sashi Tharoor is an element in the set of all members of Lok
Sabha.

One should be aware of the fact that there is nothing that prevents a set from being an element of another
set. For example: The set of all set dosas sold at the Shanti Sagar at RT Nagar on July 26, 2017. 2

Notation: Roster Form and Set Builder Form

Set are generally denoted by capital letters X, Y, Z, A, B,C, . . . while their ‘generic’ elements are generally
denoted by small letters x, y, z, a, b, c . . .. To denote that an element x belongs to X, we write

x∈X

Sets can be expressed by writing down all elements of the set within second-brackets (curly brackets) {}.
This method of listing the members of a set within braces is called the Roster Notation.3 For example:
Let X denote the set of all Indian States where Bengali is an official language.

X = {Assam, Tripura, West Bengal}

The set of all Vidya Balan films that were released on 2012 is {Kahaani, Ferrari ki Sawari}.
The set of all even natural numbers that are strictly less than 12 is {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}.

From the above examples, it must be clear by now that writing out a set which has a lot of elements is a
painstaking process. For example to express the set of all employees and students at Shiv Nadar University
through roster notation, we will have to list out around 2000 names.

Consider the set of all natural numbers that are less than or equal to 1200. Instead of writing each
element, we just write:
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, . . . 1200}
The sequence of three dots ‘ . . .0 in the middle indicate that the pattern set by the first few elements is to be
continued until the last element is reached. This notation can be used to indicate some infinite sets as well.
For example, the set of all natural numbers can be denoted by:

N = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, . . .}

The fact that no element is mentioned after the three dots indicate that the pattern has to followed forever,
without any end. The use of ellipses (the ‘three dots’) is permissible only when the elements of a set follow
a clear pattern that can be easily understood by giving a few of them. For example the set of all natural
numbers that can be expressed as the square of some other natural number is denoted by {4, 9, 16, 25, 36, . . .}.

2 For people not familiar with the world of dosas, here comes the description of a set dosa: A set dosa is a stack of 3 spongy
dosas, served with sagu - a vegetable side dish.
3 It should be noted that the order in which elements of a set are listed within curly brackets does not matter. What is of

interest is whether a certain object is the element of the set in question or not.

2
 Another way of expressing sets is the Set Builder Form. The set-builder notation (sometimes simply
set notation) is a mathematical notation for describing a set by stating the properties that its members must
satisfy.

For example,

• Let X denote the set of all real numbers that are greater than 12 and less than 23 . It is impossible to
write down all the elements of this set, but we can write it as:
1 2
X = {x ∈ R < x < }

2 3
1 2
or, X = {x ∈ R++  < x < }

2 3
• Let Y denote all those natural numbers which can be expressed as the square of some other natural
number. 
Y = {x2 ∈ Nx ∈ N}

√
or Y = {y ∈ N y| ∈ N}


• Suppose two dices are thrown. Let Z denote all those tuples that add up to a number that is greater
than 10. This set can be simply written as: Z = {(6, 6), (6, 5), (5, 6)} or

Z = {(x, y) ∈ R2 |x ∈ N & x ∈ N & x ≤ 6 & y ≤ 6 & x + y > 10}


The important part of the notation is the symbol  which stands for ‘such that’. Some people use the symbol


: instead of . So the set of all real numbers greater than 12 and less than π can be written as:


1
{x ∈ R : < x < π}
2
Conventional notation for some useful sets:

• The set of natural numbers is N = {1, 2, 3, . . .}.

• The set of integers is Z = {. . . , −3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .}.4

n o
• The set of all rational numbers is Q = pq : p ∈ Z and q ∈ Z and q 6= 0 .

• The set of all real numbers is R = {x|x is a number on the number line}.

In primary school mathematics, one is introduced to the concept of the number line. Any
√ number that
can be represented by a point on the number line is a real number. Consider the number 2. This is not
4 The double use of ellipses in representing Z indicates the continuation in both the positive and negative directions.

3
a rational number as it cannot be expressed in the form pq , where q 6= 0.5 . However it is a real number.
Such real numbers that are not rational numbers are called irrational numbers. Let us consider a few more
examples:

• Let G be the set of real numbers that satisfy the equation 5(x − 1)(x − 2)(x − 3) = 0. This set can be
written in the set builder form as:

G = {x ∈ R|5(x − 1)(x − 2)(x − 3) = 0}

In roster notation, we write it as:

G = {1, 2, 3}

• Let H be the set of all English language letters used in the word HEGEMONY. The set can be expressed
in the roster notation as follows:
H = {Y, H, E, M, O, N, G}
Note that though E appears twice in the word, we list it once in the roster notation. Also note that
the elements can be ordered in anyway one wishes.

• Consider the set

J = {2, {2, 3}}
While 2 is a member of this set 3 is not. It is important to make a distinction between an object like 2
and a set to which that object belongs say {2, 3}. In fact 2 and {2} are not the same. While the later
is a member of the set {{2}, {3, 4}, {5, 6, 7}}, the former is not.

Set Equality:
Two sets A and B are said to be equal (or identical) if they consist of exactly the same elements, in which
case we write A = B. If one of the sets contains an element not in the other, we say that the sets are unequal
and we write A 6= B.
For example,

• If X = {2, 1, 6, 7, 8} and Y = {8, 1, 6, 7, 2}. Then X = Y . This shows that when we write sets in roster
notation, the order of elements do not matter.

• Let X denote the set of alphabets in the word “STRESSED” and Y denote the set of alphabets in the
word “DESSERTS”. Then X = Y .

• Let X = {x ∈ Rx2 − 7x + 12 = 0} and Y = {3, 4}. Then X = Y . (Refer to Figure 1)


• Let X denote all Indian Prime-Ministers who are relatives of Jawaharlal Nehru. Let Y denote all
Indian PMs who have surnames starting with the letter “G”. Here X 6= Y as I. K Gujral ∈ Y but I.K.
/ X. 6
Gujral ∈

Subsets:
A set A is said to be the subset of the set B, and we write A ⊆ B, whenever every element of A also belongs
to B. We can say that A is contained in B or that B contains A. The relation ⊆ is referred to as set
inclusion.
5 The proof will be discussed later
6∈
/ reads as “does not belong to”

4
 Figure 1: Graph used to find real roots of x2 − 7x + 12 = 0

Note that the statement A ⊆ B does not rule out the possibility that B ⊆ A. In fact, A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A, if
and only if A = B. If A ⊆ B and A 6= B, then A is a proper subset of B. This is denoted by A ⊂ B.
For example,

• Let X denote the set of all natural numbers below 50 divisible by 21 and Y denote the set of all natural
numbers below 50 that are divisible by 7.

X = {21, 42}

Y = {7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49}

Thus, X ⊆ Y . In fact, X ⊂ Y .

• Let A denote the set of all books in SNU library and B denote the set of all books written by Hal
Varian in SNU library. Then B ⊂ A.

• Let W denote the set of whole numbers. Let N denote the set of all natural numbers. Then N ⊂ W.

• Let A be the set of all districts in India and let B be the set of all districts which has a coastline.
B⊂A

Cardinality of a Set
The cardinality of a set is the number of elements in the set. The cardinality of a set X is denoted by n(X).
If n(x) is equal to some whole number, the set X is said to be a finite set. Otherwise, it is called an infinite
set.
For example,

• If X is the set of all states in the union of India, then n(X) = 29.

• If Y denotes the set of all prime numbers above 5 and below 20, then n(Y ) = 5

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Note: If A and B are finite sets and A ⊂ B, then n(A) < n(B).

Singleton and Null Set:

A singleton set is a set that has exactly one element, i.e. if n(S) = 1, the set S is a singleton set. A null set
is a set with no elements, i.e. if n(S) = 0, the set S is a null set. It is generally denoted by the ∅. It should
be noted that ∅ is different from the set {0} or {∅}. The later has a cardinality of 1.
For example,

• The set of all Indians who have won a Nobel Peace Prize i.e. {Mother Terasa} is a singleton set.
{Maryam Mirzakhani} is the set of women who have won the Fields Medal. It is a singleton set.
However the set of all Indians who have won the fields medal in Mathematics is a null set. The set of
all women elected as US presidents before 2014 is a null set.

• Suppose we throw two dices and note down the numbers on the top of the two dice. The the set of
tuples that can achieve a sum of 12 i.e. {(6,6)} is a singleton, but the set of tuples can can achieve a
sum of 15 is a null set.

Power Set:
The power set of a set A is the set of all subsets of the set A, including the null set ∅ and the set itself.
It is denoted by P(A). If n(A) = m, then n(P(A)) = 2m .7 Let A = {1, 2, 3}, then power set of A is
P(A) = {∅, {1, 2, 3}, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1, 2}, {2, 3}, {1, 3}}.
Note that in the definition of a power set , we have implicitly stated a theorem: A null set is a subset of
every other set.

Universal Set
A set containing all elements of a problem under consideration. The set that contains all the elements or
objects involved in the problem under consideration. All other sets are subsets of the universal set. A
universal set if often denoted as X when its subsets are denoted by A, B, C, . . .. When we are dealing with
numbers, the set of all real and imaginary numbers might be considered to be the universal set.

Venn Diagrams:
Venn diagrams are simple diagrammatic representations of sets. They are visual aids that useful for testing
validity of theorems in set theory or for suggesting methods to prove them . However rigorous proofs of the-
orems need to be based on definition and logic, and not on diagrams. As already metioned, venn diagrams
are simple aids to visualize the problem at hand.
From now on we will use the notation X to denote the universal set and A, B, C, . . . to denote other sets.

Operations on Sets:

• Union of Sets: Given two sets A and B, union of A and B is denoted by the symbol A ∪ B and is
defined as: 
A ∪ B = {x ∈ X x ∈ A ‘or’ x ∈ B}


Here the word ‘or’ is used in the inclusive sense. Thus, the union of two sets A and B is the collection
of all elements that are either in A or in B or in both.
Examples:
7 The proof requires some knowledge of permutation-combination theory. The number of subsets of size i that can be formed
n
is n Ci . Thus the total number of subsets that can be formed is n i n n
P
i=0 Ci 1 = (1 + 1) (by Binomial Theorem) = 2 .

6
 – Let I denote the set of irrational numbers. Then,

Q∪I=R

– Let A be the set of all Indians who do not live in West Bengal and B be the set of all Indians
who do not live in Punjab. Then A ∪ B denotes the set of all Indians.

Let A and B be represented by rectangles which are both inside a bigger reactangle denoting the
universal set. The shaded region denotes A ∪ B. This diagramatic exposition is an example of what
we call Venn Diagrams.

Figure 2: Venn Diagram: Union of A and B: A ∪ B

• Intersection of Sets:
Given two sets A and B, intersection of A and B is denoted by the symbol A ∩ B and is defined as:

A ∩ B = {x ∈ X x ∈ A and x ∈ B}


Thus the intersection of two sets A and B is the collection of all elements that are in both sets.
Examples:

– Let A be the set of all people who have an Indian nationality and let B denote the set of people
who live in India. A ∩ B denotes the set of people with Indian nationality who live in India.
– Let A = {x|x is a prime number} and B = {2m + 1|m ∈ N and m < 10}. Then A ∩ B =
{3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19}

Figure 3: Venn Diagram:Intersection of A and B: A ∩ B

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 • Difference of Sets: Given two sets A and B, the difference A − B and is defined as:

A − B = {x ∈ X x ∈ A and x ∈ / B}


Thus A − B consists of all those elements of A that are not included in B.

– Let A be the set of all people who have an Indian nationality and let B denote the set of people
who live in India. A − B denotes the set of Non resident Indians. B − A denotes the set of
foreigners (people without Indian nationality) living in India.
– Let A = {x|x is a prime number andx ≥ 3} and B = {2m + 1|m ∈ N and m < 10}. Then
A − B = ∅ and B − A = {9, 15}

Figure 4: Difference: A - B

• Complement of a set: Complement of a set A is denoted as Ac (or, A0 or, A) and is defined as:

Ac = {x ∈ X x ∈ / B}


Thus Ac consists of all those elements that are not contained in A.

– Let A be the set of all Indians and let the set of all human beings be the universal set. Then Ac
denote the set of people who live are not Indians.
– Let A be the set of all rational numbers. Let R be the universal set. Then Ac denotes the set of
all irrational numbers.

Figure 5: Complement of A: Ac

The operations ∪ and ∩ has many similarities with ordinary addition and multiplication of real numbers.

8
 • Both are commutative operations. i.e. there is no question of order in the definition.

A∪B =B∪A

A∩B =B∩A

• Both the operations are associative i.e.

(A ∪ B) ∪ C = A ∪ (B ∪ C)

(A ∩ B) ∩ C = A ∩ (B ∩ C)

The operations of union can be extended to any finite or infinite collection of sets. Let C denote a finite
collection of sets An , n = 0, 1, 2, . . . N . Then the union of all sets in C is denoted by

[ N
[ [ [
A= An = A1 A2 . . . An
A∈C n=1

Then the intersection of all sets in C is denoted by

\ N
\ \ \
A= An = A1 A2 . . . An
A∈C n=1
S
In case of C being an infinite collection of sets, we express union and intersection of all the sets as A∈C A
T
and A∈C A.

1 Theorems related to the algebra of sets

Theorem 1 A set with no elements is a subset of every other set.

Proof : Let ∅ be a set with no elements. 8 Let A be any set. Assume ∅ 6⊆ A. Since ∅ is not a subset of A, ∃
an element x ∈ ∅ , such that x ∈/ A (using the definition of a subset). But ∅ has no elements. Contradiction.
Thus, ∅ is a subset of every set. 

A corollary of the above theorem is the fact that there are at most one set with no elements.
Proof : Let ∅1 and ∅2 be two sets with no elements. By the theorem above (Theorem 1),∅1 ⊆∅2 and ∅2 ⊆∅1 .
Hence,∅1 =∅2 

Theorem 2 Distributive Laws:

a) A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C)

b) A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)

Theorem 3 De-Morgan’s Laws:

a) (A ∪ B)c = Ac ∩ B c
b) (A ∩ B)c = Ac ∪ B c
8 We do not know yet that there is just one set with no elements

9
Proof : Proof of part (a):
Part 1: To show (A ∪ B)c ⊆ Ac ∩ B c

Let,
x ∈ (A ∪ B)c
=⇒ x ∈ X and x ∈
/ (A ∪ B)
=⇒ x ∈ X and x ∈
/A and x ∈
/B
=⇒ (x ∈ X and x ∈
/ A) and (x ∈ X and x ∈
/ B)
=⇒ x ∈ Ac and x ∈ B c
=⇒ x ∈ (Ac ∩ B c )
Thus, (A ∪ B)c ⊆ Ac ∩ B c .

Part 2: To show Ac ∩ B c ⊆ (A ∪ B)c

Let,
x ∈ Ac ∩ B c
=⇒ (x ∈ X and x ∈
/ A) and (x ∈ X and x ∈
/ B)
=⇒ x ∈ X and (x ∈
/A and x ∈
/ B)
=⇒ x ∈ X and x ∈
/ (A ∪ B)
=⇒ x ∈ (A ∪ B)c
Thus, Ac ∩ B c ⊆ (A ∪ B)c .
As Ac ∩ B c ⊆ (A ∪ B)c and (A ∪ B)c ⊆ Ac ∩ B c , we have (A ∪ B)c = Ac ∩ B c 

These proofs become easier to understand at the end of the course after we have covered the
the first four chapters of Tarski’s book.

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