Partially Ordered Sets (POSets)

Let R be a relation on a set S. Then R is called a

partial order if it is
• Reflexive
a R a,  a  S
• Antisymmetric
If a R b and b R a → a = b
• Transitive
If a R b and b R c → a R c
The set S with partial order is called partially
ordered set or poset.
Ex. The relation “” on the real numbers, is a partial
order.
Sol. Reflexive : a  a for all real numbers
Antisymmetric : If a  b, b  a then a = b
Transitive : If a  b, b  c then a  c
This order relation on N or R is called usual order

Ex. (Z+, | ), the relation “divides” on +ve integers.

Ex. (Z, | ), the relation “divides” on integers.

Ex. (2S,  ), the relation “subset” on set of all

subsets of S.
Comparability
Let a and b be the elements in a partially ordered set
(S, ≼). Then a and b are called comparable if a ≼ b
or b ≼ a (≼ or ).
They are incomparable or non-comparable, written
as a b if neither a  b nor b  a.

Ex. In poset (Z+, |), 3 and 6 are comparable, 6 and 3

are comparable, 3 and 5 are not, 8 and 12 are not.

Dual Order Let  be any partial ordering of set S. If

the relation  is also a partial ordering of S, then it is
called dual order.
Ordered Subsets
Let A be any subset of an ordered set S
Suppose a, b  A.
Define a  b as elements of A whenever a  b as
elements of S.
This defines a partial ordering of A called the induced
order on A.
The subset A with the induced order is called an
ordered subset of S.
Totally Ordered Set
If (S, ≼) is a poset and every two elements of S
are comparable, then S is called totally ordered or
linearly ordered.
A totally ordered set is also called a chain.

Ex. The poset (Z, ), is totally ordered, because

either a  b or b  a when a and b are integers.

Ex. The poset (Z+, |), is not totally ordered because it

contains elements that are incomparable such as 5
and 7.
 Which of the following pairs of elements are
comparable in the poset (𝑍 + ,/)
(a)2, 4 (b) 4, 6 (c) 5, 5 (d) 6, 8
 Which of the following are posets ?
(a) (Z, =)
(b) (𝑍, ≠)
( c) (Z, >)
(d) (𝑍, ≥)
Hasse Diagram
Let S be a partially ordered set
let a, b  S
If a  b, then
a is called an immediate predecessor of b,
or b is known an immediate successor of a,
or b is a cover of a, written as a  b
but no element in S lies between a and b,
i.e., there exists no element c in S
such that a  c  b
The set of pairs (a, b) such that b covers a is called the
covering relation of the poset S.
Hasse Diagram
Let S be a finite partially ordered set.
The Hasse diagram of S is the directed graph
whose vertices are the elements of S and
there is a directed edge from a to b
whenever a  b in S.

(At place of an arrow from a to b, we can place b

higher than a and draw a line between them)
Constructing a Hasse Diagram
 Start with a directed graph of relations .
 Remove the loops at all the vertices .
 If a < b , then we can place b higher than a and draw a
line between them.
 Remove all edges whose existence is implied by the
transitive property a R b and b R a → a R c.
Consider the set A = { 4, 5, 6, 7} . Let R be the relation  on A .
Draw the directed graph and Hasse diagram of R.

R = {(4, 4),(5, 5),(6, 6),(7, 7),(4, 5),(5, 6),(6, 7),(4,6),(5,7), (4,7)}

Directed Graph –

Hasse Diagram -
Ex. Hasse diagram of poset ( {1, 2, 3, 4}, )

Also find the covering relation

Ex. Draw the Hasse diagram representing
the partial ordering { (a, b) | a divides b }
on {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12}

12
8

4 6

2 3

Also find the covering relation

Ex. Draw the Hasse diagram for the partial ordering
{ (A,B) | A  B } on the power set P(S)
where S = {a, b, c}
{a,b,c}

{a,b} {b,c}
{a,c}

{a} {c}
{b}

{} or 

Also find the covering relation

1. Let X = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ,6}, then / is a partial order
relation on X. Draw the Hasse Diagram of (X, /).

2. Let 𝐷𝑚 denote the positive divisors of m ordered by

divisibility. Draw Hasse Diagram of 𝐷12 .
Minimal and Maximal Elements
Let S be a partially ordered set.
An element a in S is called minimal if no other
element of S strictly precedes a.
An element b in S is called maximal if no element
of S strictly succeeds b.

They are respectively bottom and top elements in

the diagram.
A Poset can have more than one minimal and
more than one maximal elements.
Ex. Which elements of the poset
({2, 4, 5, 10, 12, 20, 25}, | ) are maximal, and
which are minimal.
20
12

4 10 25

2 5

The maximal elements are 12, 20 and 25, and the

minimal elements are 2 and 5.
Least and Greatest Elements
An element a in a poset S is called least (or first)
element if a precedes every other element of S.

An element b in poset S is called the greatest (or last)

element if b succeeds every other element of S.

Ex Find greatest and least elements in Hasse diagrams

d
b c d d e d

b c
e c c

a b b a
a a
 Determine whether the poset represented by Hasse
Diagram below have a greatest element, least element
maximal element and minimal elements.
Upper and Lower Bound
Let A be a subset of partially ordered set S.
An element u in S is called an upper bound of A if u
succeeds every element of A.
An element l in a poset S is called a lower bound of A if l
precedes every element of A.

Supremum
If an upper bound of A precedes every other upper bound of
A, then it is called the supremum or least upper bound of A
and is denoted by sup(A) or lub(A).

Infimum
If a lower bound of A succeeds every other lower bound of
A, then it is called the infimum or greatest lower bound of A
and is denoted by inf(A) or glb(A).
Ex. Find the lower and upper bounds of the subsets
{a, b, c}, {j, h} and {a, c, d, f} in the poset with the
given Hasse diagram.
Sol. For {a, b, c},
Upper bounds : e, f, j, h Lower bound : a
For {j, h}, No Upper bound.
Lower bounds : a, b, c, d, e, f
For {a, c, d, f}, h j

Upper bounds : f, h, j
Lower bound : a g f

d e

b c

a
 Ex. Find glb and lub of {b, d, g}, if they exist, in the
poset.
Upper bounds of {b, d, g}= { g, h}
Since g ≺ h, g is the least upper bound
lub = {g}
Lower bounds of {b, d, g} = { a, b}
Since a≺b, b is the greatest lower bound.
h j
glb = {b}

g f

d e

b c

a
 Ex. In the poset shown below , find upper bound, lub ,
lower bound and glb for A = {2, 3} and B ={4, 6}, if they
exist.
For A= {2, 3}
Upper Bound = {4, 5 , 7, 8}
lub = does not exists
Lower Bound = does not Exists
glb = does not exists
For B = {4, 6}
Upper Bound = {8}
lub = {8}
Lower Bound = {1, 3}
glb =does not exists
In the poset shown below , find upper bound, lub,
lower bound and glb for {a, b, c} if they exist

Upper Bound = {e, f , h, i}

lub ={e}
Lower Bound = {a}
glb ={a}
In the poset shown below , find upper bound, lub,
lower bound and glb for {i, h} if they exist.

Upper Bound = Does not exists

lub = Does not exists
Lower Bound ={a, b, c , d, f}
glb = {f}
In the poset shown , find upper bound, upper lub,
lower bound and glb for {a, c, d, f} if they exist.
Also find glb and lub for {b, d, g}
For {a, c, d, f}
Upper Bound = {f, i, h}
lub = {f}
Lower Bound = {a}
glb = {a}
For {b, d, g}
glb ={b}
Lub= {g}
Lattice
A partially ordered set in which every
pair of elements has both a least
upper bound and a greatest lower
bound is called lattice.
The least upper bound is known as join ().
The greatest lower bound is known as meet ().
Ex. Determine whether the posets represented
by each of the Hasse diagrams are lattices.
 Join and Meet Table
Construct the join and meet table of the lattice as shown:

The following tables show the join table of the Lattice

The following tables show the meet table of the Lattice
1.Construct a join and meet table for 𝐷10 .
2. Construct join and meet table for the following lattice.
Ex. Is the poset (Z+, |) a lattice?
Sol. Let a and b be two positive integers.
The least upper bound of two integers are the L.C.M.
and the greatest lower bound of two integers are the
greatest common divisor.
 this poset is a lattice.

Ex. Determine whether the poset ({1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, |)

and ({1, 2, 4, 8, 16}, |) are lattices.

Ex. Determine whether (P(S), ) is a lattice where S

is a set.
Lattices
Let L be a nonempty set closed under two binary
operations called meet() and join().
Then L is called a lattice if it satisfies:
L1: Commutative Law
ab=ba and ab=ba
L2: Associative Law
(a  b)  c = a  (b  c) and
(a  b)  c = a  (b  c)
L3: Absorption Law
a  (a  b) = a and a  (a  b) = a
where a, b, c are elements in L
Duality
The dual of any statement in a lattice is the
statement obtained by interchanging meet and join.

Ex. The dual of a  (b  a) = a  a

is a  (b  a) = a  a
Properties of Lattice
Commutative :Show that the operations of meet and
join on a lattice is commutative
a  b = b  a and a  b = b  a
Proof:
ab
= glb {a, b} = glb {b, a}
=ba
ab
= lub {a, b} = lub {b, a}
=ba