Part III – Related Topics

Chapter 14
Algebra of propositions
STATEMENTS
Statements (or verbal assertions) wil be denoted by the letters
p, q, r
(with or without subscripts). The fundamental property of a statement is that it is either true or false,
but not both. The truthfulness or falsity of a statement is called its truth value. Some statements are
composite, that is, composed of substatements and various connectives wich will be discussed
subsequently.
Example 1.1 : “roses are red and violets are blue,” is a composite statement with
substatements “roses are red” and “violets are blue”.
Example 1.2 : “where are you going?” is not a statement since it is neither true nor false.
Example 1.3 : “john is sick or old” is, implicitly, a composite statement with substatements
“john is sick” and “john is old”.
A fundamental property of a composite statement is that its truth value is completely
determined by the truth value of each of its substatements and the way they are connected to form the
composite statement.
CONJUNCTION, p ∧ q
Any two statements can be combined by the word “and” to form a composite statement which is
called the conjunction of the original statements. Symbolically, the conjunction of the two statements
p and q is denoted by
Example 2.1 : let p be “it is raining” and let q be “the sun is shining”. Then p ∧ q denotes
the statement “it is raining and the sun is shining”.
Example 2.2 : the symbol ∧ can be used to define the intersection of two sets;
specifically,
A ∩ B = {x | x ℇ A ∧ x ℇ B}
The truth value of the composite statement p ∧ q satisfies the following property :
T1 : if p is true and q is true, then p ∧ q is true; otherwise p ∧ q is false. In other words, the
conjunction of two statements is true only if each component is ture.
Example 2.3 : consider the following four statements:
(1) Paris is in france and 2+2 = 5
(2) Paris is in england and 2+2 = 4
(3) Paris is in england and 2+2 = 5
(4) Paris is in france and 2+2 = 4
By T1, only (4) is true, each of the other statements is false since at least one
of its substatements is false.
A convenient way to state T1 is by means of a table as follows :

p q p∧q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

187
188 ALGEBRA OF PROPOSITIONS [CHAP.14

Note that the first line is a short way of saying that if p is true and q is true then p ∧ q is true. The
other lines have analogues meaning.
DISJUNCTION, p ∨ q
Any two statements can be combined by the word “or” (in the sense of “and/or”) to form a
new statement which is called the disjunction of the original two statements. Symbolically, the
disjunction of statements p and q is denoted by
Example 3.1 : let p be “he studied french at the university”, and let q be “he lived in france”.
Then p ∨ q is the statement. “he studied french at the university or he lived in
france”.
Example 3.2 :the symbol ∨ can be used to define the union of two sets; specifically,
A ∪ B = {x | x ℇ A ∨ x ℇ B}
The truth value of the composite statement p ∨ q satisfies the following property :
T2 : if p is true or q is true or both p and q are true, then p ∨ q is true; otherwise p ∨ q is false. In
other words, the disjunction of two statements is false only if each component is false.
T2 can also be written in the form of a table as follows:
p q p∨q
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F
Example 3.3 : consider the following four statements:
(1) Paris is in france or 2+2 = 5
(2) Paris is in england or 2+2 = 4
(3) Paris is in france or 2+2 = 4
(4) Paris is in england or 2+2 = 5
Only (4) is false, each of the other statements is true since at least one of its
components is true.
NEGATION, ~p
Given any statement p, another statement, called the negation of p, can be formed by writing
“it is flase that.....” before p or, if possible, by inserting in p the word “not”. Symbolically, the
negation of p is denoted by
~p
Example 4.1 : consider the following three statements :
(1) Paris is in france.
(2) It is false that paris is in france.
(3) Paris is not in france.
Than (2) and (3) are each the negation of (1).
Example 4.2 : consider the following statements :
(1) 2+2 = 5
(2) It is false that 2+2 = 5
(3) 2+2 ≠ 5
Than (2) and (3) are each the negation of (1).
The truth value of the negation of a statement satisfies the following property :
T3: if p is true, then ~p is false; if p is false, then ~p is true. In other words, the truth value of the
negation of a statement is always the opposite of the truth value of the original statement.
CHAP.14] ALGEBRA OF PROPOSITIONS 189

Example 4.3 : consider the statements in example 4.1. notice that (1) is true and (2) and (3),
its negations, are false.
Example 4.4 : consider the statements in example 4.2. notice that (1) is false and (2) and (3)
are true.
T3 can also be written in the form of a table as follows :
p ~p
T F
F T

CONDITIONAL, p → q
Many statements, especially in mathematics, ore of the form “if p then q”. Such statements
are called conditional statements and are denoted by
p→q
The conditional p → q can also be read :
(a) P implies q (c) p is sufficient for q
(b) P only if q (d) q is necessary for p
The truth value of the conditional statement p → q satisfies the following property:
T4 : the conditional p → q is true unless p is true and q is false. In other words, T4 states
that a true statement cannot imply a false statement.
T4 can be written in the form of a table as follows:
p q p→q
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T
Example 5.1 : consider the following statements:
(1) If paris is in france then 2+2 = 5
(2) If Paris is in england then 2+2 = 4
(3) If Paris is in france then 2+2 = 4
(4) If Paris is in england then 2+2 = 5
By T4, only (1) is a false statement; the others are true.

BICONDITIONAL, p ↔ q
Another common statement is of the form “p if and only if q” or, simply, “p iff q”. Such
statements are called biconditional statements and are denoted by
p↔q
The truth value of the biconditional statement p ↔ q satisfies the following property:
T5 : if p and q have the same truth value, then p ↔ q is true; if p and q have opposite truth values,
then p ↔ q is false.
Example 6.1 : consider the following statements:
(1) paris is in france if and only if 2+2 = 5
(2) Paris is in england if and only if 2+2 = 4
(3) Paris is in france if and only if 2+2 = 4
(4) Paris is in england if and only if 2+2 = 5
According to T5,(3) and (4) are true and (1) and (2) are false.
190 ALGEBRA OF PROPOSITIONS [CHAP.14

T5 can be written in the form of a table as follows:

p q p↔q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T

POLYNOMIALS AND BOOLEAN POLYNOMIALS

Forming finite sums (+), prducts (·) and differences (-) of the indeterminants (or, simply,
variables).
x, y, .....
subject to the usual rules of ordinary algebra, leads to the construction of polynomials in the above
variables.
Example 7.1 : the following are polynomials in two indeterminants:
f(x,y) = x · x - x · y + y · y · y + x · x = 2x2 – xy + y2
g(x,y) = (x-y) · (x+y) = x2 - y2
Now suppose each of the indeterminants x,y, .... in the polynomial f(x,y, ....) is replaced by
specific real numbers x0, y0, ..... then the expression
f(x0, y0, .....)
which denotes sums, products and differences of real numbers, is itself a number. In other words, if
x,y, ... are considered as real variables then the polynomials f(x,y, ....) defines a function in the sense
that it assigns a specific image value f(x0, y0, .....) to the real numbers x0, y0, ....
Example 7.2 : consider the polynomials in example 7.1. then
f(2,3) = 2 · 2 - 2 · 3 + 3 · 3 · 3 + 2 · 2 = 4 – 6 + 27 + 4 = 29
g(3,1) = (3-1) · (3+1) = 2 · 4 = 8
furthermore, the operation sum, product and difference defined for the real numbers, induces
similar operations, also called sum, product and difference, on the polynomials.
Example 7.3 : consider the polynomials in example 7.1. then
f(x,y) - g(x,y) = (2x2 – xy + y2) – (x2 - y2)
f(x,y) · g(x,y) = (2x2 – xy + y2) · (x2 - y2)
Now let the letters
p, q, ...
which previously denoted statements, also be indeterminants, i.e. variables. Combining these
variables by the connectives ∧, ∨ and ~ , or more generally by the connectives ∧, ∨, ~, →, and ↔,
leads to the construction of axpressions which we shall call boolean polynomials.
Example 7.4 : the following are boolean polynomials in two variables.
f(p,q) = ~p ∨ (p → q)
g(p,q) = (p ↔ ~q) ∧ q
Furthermore, the symbols ∧, ∨, ~, →, and ↔ can now be used as connectives for the
boolean polynomials; hence we can speak of the conjuction, disjunction and negation of boolean
polynomials.
Examples 7.5 : consider the polynomials in example 7.4. then
f(p,q) ∧ g(p,q) = [~p ∨ (p → q)] ∧ [(p ↔ ~q) ∧ q]
f(p,q) → g(p,q) = [~p ∨ (p → q)] → [(p ↔ ~q) ∧ q]
CHAP.14] ALGEBRA OF PROPOSITIONS 191

Now suppose each of the variables p,q, ... in a boolean polynomial f(p,q, ...) is replaced,
repectively, by specific statement, denoted by p0, q0, .... then the expression
f(p0, q0, ....)
is also a stetement and, furthermore, has a truth value.
Example 7.6 : let f(p,q) = ~p ∧ (p → q), and let p0 be “2+2 = 5” and q0 be “1+1 = 2”.
Then f(p0, q0) reads
“2+2 ≠ 5, and if 2+2 = 5 then 1+1 = 2”
By T4 r0 = p0 → q0 is true. Note that s0 = ~ p0 is true. Therefore, by T1,
f(p0, q0) = s0 ∧ r0 is also true.

Remark 14.1 : let f (p,q, ...) be a boolean polynomial, and let statement p'0, q'0, ... have, respectively,
the same truth value as statements p0, q0, ... then f(p'0, q'0, ...) has the same truth value
as f(p0, q0, ....).

PROPOSITIONS AND TRUTH TABLES

Definition 14.1 : A proposition, denoted by
P(p,q, ...), Q(p,q, ...), ...
Or, simply, P,Q, ..., is a boolean polynomial in the variables p,q, ...
By remark 14.1, the truth value of a proposition P(p,q, ...) evaluated on any statements is a
function only of the truth values of the statements, and not the particular statements themselves.
Hence we speak of the “truth value” of each of the variables p,q, ..., and the “truth value” of the
proposition P(p,q, ...).
A simple concise way to show the relationship between the truth value of a proposition P(p,q,
...) and the truth values of its variables p,q, ... is through a truth table. The truth table, for example, of
the proposition ~ (p ∧ ~q) is constructed as follows:
p q ~q p ∧ ~q ~ (p ∧ ~q)
T T F F T
T F T T F
F T F F T
F F T F T
Note that the first columns of the table are for the variables p,q, ... . Note also that there are enough
rows in the table to allow for all combinations of T and F for these variables. (for 2 variables, as
above, 4 rows are necessary; for 3 variables, 8 rows are necessary ; and, in general, for n variables, 2n
rows are necessary.) then there is an additional column for each step in the computation of the desired
truth value of the proposition which appears in the last column.
The truth table of the above proposition ~ (p ∧ ~q) consists only of the columns under the
variables and the column under the proposition, that is, the following table:
p q ~ (p ∧ ~q)
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T