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DISCRETE STRUCTURES
(SW325)
SET THEORY
By : HIRA NOMAN
WHAT IS SET THEORY?

 Set theory is the dominant foundation for mathematics. The idea is that
everything in mathematics—numbers, functions, etc.—Can be written in terms
of sets, so that if you have a consistent description of how sets behave, then
you have a consistent description of how everything built on top of them
behaves. If predicate logic is the machine code of mathematics, set theory
would be assembly language.
 SETs

 A set is an unordered collection of distinct objects.

 The objects in a set are called the elements, or members, of the set. A set is
said to contain its elements.
 Sets are denoted by capital letters A,B,C….,X,Y,Z.
 The elements of a set are represented by lower case letters a, b, c, … , x, y,
z.
 If an object x is a member of a set A we write X ÎA, which reads “x
belongs to A” or “x is in A” or “x is an element of A” Otherwise we
write x ÏA, Which reads “x does not belong to A” or “x is not in A” or
“x is not an element of A”.
 A set can be defined by simply listing its members inside curly braces.
For example, the set {2, 4, 17, 23} is the same as the set {17, 4, 23, 2}.

 To denote membership we use the  symbol, as in 4  {2, 4, 17, 23}.

 On the other hand, non-membership is denoted as in 5  {2, 4, 17, 23}.

 Sets can be represented in three forms:
1. Tabular Form.
2. Descriptive Form.
3. Set Builder Form.
 TABULAR FORM
 Listing all the elements of a set, separated by commas and enclosed within
braces or curly brackets{}.

EXAMPLES
In the following examples we write the sets in tabular form.

 A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
 B = {2, 4, 6, 8, …, 50}
 C = {1, 3, 5, 7, 9, …}
NOTE
 The symbol “…” is called an ellipsis. It is a short for “and so forth.”
 DESCRIPTIVE FORM

Stating in words the elements of a set.

EXAMPLES
Now we will write the same examples which we wrote in tabular form ,in the
descriptive form.

 A = set of FIRST FIVE NATURAL NUMBERS.

 B = set of POSITIVE EVEN INTEGERS LESS OR EQUAL TO FIFTY.
 C = set of POSITIVE ODD INTEGERS.
 SET BUILDER FORM
 Writing in symbolic form the common characteristics shared by all
the elements of the set.
 The general form of this notation is {x ∣ x has property P} and is
read “the set of all x such that x has property P.”
 For instance, the set O of all odd positive integers less than 10 can
be written as
O = {x ∣ x is an odd positive integer less than 10},
or,
 Specifying the universe as the set of positive integers, as
O = {x ∈ Z+ ∣ x is odd and x < 10}.
EXAMPLES
Now we will write the same examples which we wrote in tabular as
well as descriptive form ,in set builder form .

 A = {x N ∣ x<=5} ( is the Set Builder Form)

 B = {x  E ∣ 0 < x <=50} ( is the Set Builder Form)
 C = {x O ∣ 0 < x } ( is the Set Builder Form)
 These sets, each denoted using a boldface letter below , are some of
the sets which play an important role in discrete mathematics:
 N = { 1, 2, 3,…}, the set of all-natural numbers
 Z = {…,−2,−1, 0, 1, 2,…}, the set of all integers
 Z+ = {1, 2, 3,…}, the set of all positive integers

REMARK:
Note that the concept of a datatype, or type, in computer science is built
upon the concept of a set. In particular, a datatype or type is the name of a
set, together with a set of operations that can be performed on objects
from that set.
For example, Boolean is the name of the set {0, 1}, together with
operators on one or more elements of this set, such as AND, OR, and
NOT.
SUBSET:
If A & B are two sets, A is called a subset of B, written A  B, if, and only if,
any element of A is also an element of B.
Symbolically:
A  B  if x  A then x  B
REMARK:
 When A  B, then B is called a superset of A, represented by B ⊇ A.
 When A is not subset of B, then there exist at least one x  A such
that x B.
 Every set is a subset of itself.
EXAMPLE Let
A = {1, 3, 5} B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} C = {1, 2, 3, 4} D = {3, 1, 5}
Then
 A  B ( Because every element of A is in B )
 C  B ( Because every element of C is also an element of B )
 A  D ( Because every element of A is also an element of D and that every
element of D is in A so D  A, this implies A = D ) and A is not subset of
C . ( Because there is an element 5 of A which is not in C )
PROPER SUBSET:
Let A and B be sets. A is a proper subset of B, if, and only if, every element of
A is in B but there is at least one element of B that is not in A, and is
denoted as A  B.
We wish to emphasize that a set A is a subset of a set B but that A ≠ B, For
A ⊂ B to be true, it must be the case that A ⊆ B and there must exist an
element x of B that is not an element of A.
EXAMPLE
Let A = {1, 3, 5} B = {1, 2, 3, 5}
then A  B ( Because there is an element 2 of B which is not in A).

EQUAL SETS:
Two sets A and B are equal if, and only if, every element of A is in B and every
element of B is in A and is denoted A = B.
Symbolically:
A = B if A  B and B  A
EXAMPLE
Let A = {1, 2, 3, 6} B = the set of positive divisors of 6
C = {3, 1, 6, 2} D = {1, 2, 2, 3, 6, 6, 6}
Then A, B, C, and D are all equal sets.
NULL SET:
A set which contains no element is called a NULL SET, or an EMPTY
SET or a VOID SET. It is denoted by the greek letter  (phi) or { }.
EXAMPLE
 A = {x | x is a person taller than 10 feet} =  ( because there does
not exist any human being which is taller then 10 feet ).
 B = {x | x2 = 4, x is odd} =  (because we know that there does not
exist any odd whose square is 4).
REMARK
  is regarded as a subset of every set.
 EXERCISE A
Determine whether each of the following statements is true or false.
1. x  {x}
2. {x} {x}
Note That every set has necessarily two subsets  and the set itself, these
two subset are known as improper subsets and any other subset is called
proper subset)
3. {x} {x}
4. {x} {{x}}
5.   {x}
6.   {x}
 SOLUTION A
.
1. x  {x} TRUE( Because x is the member
of the singleton set { x } ).
2. {x} {x} TRUE( Because Every set is the
subset of itself).
Note That every set has necessarily two subsets  and the set itself, these
two subset are known as improper subsets and any other subset is called
proper subset)
3. {x} {x} FALSE ( Because { x} is not the
member of {x} ).
4. {x} {{x}} TRUE
5.   {x} TRUE
6.   {x} FALSE