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Lesson 1.1 (Math 134n)
Lesson 1.1 (Math 134n)
Lesson Summary
Much of abstract algebra involves sets, and most exercises require proofs. In this
lesson, we recall the notion of sets and certain methods of proving, which are very
useful in this course. Since these topics were well covered in your previous course -
Math 116n (Logic and Set Theory), we will only have an overview of this topic and then
do some exercises at the end.
Learning Outcomes
1. Recall the different methods of proof.
2. Recall the definitions and properties related to the notion of sets.
Motivation Question
Why are sets and proofs important in the study of abstract algebra? What is a proof?
Do illustrative examples comprise proof?
Discussion
There are various strategies for proving statements. Students who are still
starting to learn how to prove theorems often make some common mistakes. To aid
students in their study of abstract mathematics, we list some of the difficulties they
may encounter and some of the proving strategies. As a reminder, it is a good idea to
keep referring back to this list. These suggestions were adapted from (Judson &
Beezer, 2020, pp. 2-3).
1. Examples, no matter how vast, cannot prove a theorem; however, providing
a counterexample is the standard way of showing that a statement is not a
theorem.
2. Quantifiers play an important role in mathematical statements. Words and
phrases such as only, for all, for every, and for some possess different
meanings.
3. Do not take things for granted. Never assume any hypothesis that is not
explicitly stated in the theorem.
4. In proving the existence and uniqueness of an object, first, show that there
is such an object. To show that it is unique, assume that there are two of
such objects, say r and s, and then show that 𝑟 = 𝑠.
5. In some cases, it is easier to prove the contrapositive of a statement.
6. Direct proof is usually better; however, sometimes, direct proof of a
theorem is difficult to establish. It may be easier to assume that the
theorem that we want to prove is false and hope that we arrive at some
statement that cannot be true in the course of our argument.
Note that proving theorems is one of the main objectives of higher
mathematics. Theorems are tools that make new and productive applications of
3 Math 134n: Abstract Algebra
mathematics possible. We use examples to give insight into existing theorems and to
foster intuitions as to what new theorems might be true. Applications, examples, and
proofs are tightly interconnected – much more so than they may seem at first
appearance.
Sets
A set 𝑆 with only a finite number of elements is called a finite set; otherwise, 𝑆
is called an infinite set. The number of elements of a set 𝑆 is called the cardinality of
𝑆, denoted by |𝑆|.
It is also useful to have a set with no elements in it. This set is called the empty
set or the null set and is denoted by ∅ or { }.
We find various relations between sets and can perform operations on sets. A
set 𝑆 is a subset of 𝑇, written as 𝑆 ⊆ 𝑇 or 𝑇 ⊇ 𝑆, if every element of 𝑆 is also an element
of 𝑇. For example,
{4, 5, 8} ⊆ {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}
and
4 Math 134n: Abstract Algebra
ℕ ⊆ ℤ ⊆ ℚ ⊆ ℂ ⊆ ℝ.
Trivially, every set is a subset of itself, and the empty set is a subset of every
set. A set 𝑆 is a proper subset of a set 𝑇, denoted by 𝑆 ⊂ 𝑇, if 𝑆 ⊆ 𝑇 but 𝑆 ≠ 𝑇. The set
of all subsets of 𝑆 is called the power set of 𝑆, denoted by 𝒫(𝑆).
Two sets are equal if they have precisely the same elements and are equivalent
if they have the same cardinality. Moreover, two sets are equal, say 𝑆 = 𝑇, if we can
show that 𝑆 ⊆ 𝑇 and 𝑇 ⊆ 𝑆.
Example 1.1. Let 𝐴 = { 2, 4, 6, 8, 10} and 𝐵 = {1, 2, 3 }. The following statements are
true.
1. 0 ∈ℤ
2. 0∉ℕ
3. Set 𝐴 is finite.
4. The sets ℕ and ℤ are infinite.
5. |𝐴| = 5
6. 𝐴 ⊆ ℕ ⊆ ℤ
7. 𝐴 ⊂ ℕ ⊂ ℤ
8. 𝒫(𝐵) = { ∅, {1}, {2}, {3}, {1, 2}, {1, 3}, {2, 3} , 𝐵 }
To construct new sets out of old sets, we can perform the following set operations:
1. The union of two sets 𝐴 and 𝐵, written 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵, is defined to be the set
The union and intersection of two sets 𝐴 and 𝐵 is described pictorially in Figure
1. The shaded area represents the set being described. The union and
intersection can be defined for any finite number of sets. Suppose that
𝐴1 , 𝐴2 , . . . , 𝐴𝑛 are 𝑛 sets.
⋃ 𝐴𝑖 = 𝐴1 ∪ 𝐴2 ∪ … ∪ 𝐴𝑛 ,
𝑖=1
is the set of all elements 𝑥 such that 𝑥 is an element of some 𝐴𝑖 , where
1 ≤ 𝑖 ≤ 𝑛.
The intersection of 𝐴1 , 𝐴2 , … , 𝐴𝑛 , denoted by
5 Math 134n: Abstract Algebra
⋂ 𝐴𝑖 = 𝐴1 ∩ 𝐴2 ∩ … ∩ 𝐴𝑛,
𝑖=1
is the set of all elements 𝑥 such that 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴𝑖 for all 𝑖, 1 ≤ 𝑖 ≤ 𝑛.
We say that a set I is an index set for a collection of sets 𝐴 if, for any 𝛼 ∈ 𝐼,
there exists a set 𝐴𝛼 ∈ 𝐴 and 𝐴 = {𝐴𝛼 |𝛼 ∈ 𝐼}.The set 𝐼 can be any
nonempty set, finite or infinite.
The union of the sets 𝐴𝛼 , 𝛼 ∈ 𝐼, is defined to be the set {𝑥|𝑥 ∈ 𝐴𝛼 for at
least one 𝛼 ∈ 𝐼}, and is denoted by
⋃ 𝐴𝛼 .
𝛼∈𝐼
When two sets have no elements in common, they are said to be disjoint.
That is, two sets 𝐴 and 𝐵 are said to be disjoint if 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = ∅. For example, if
𝐸 is the set of even integers and 𝑂 is the set of odd integers, then 𝐸 and 𝑂 are
disjoint. Sometimes we will work within one fixed set 𝑈, called the universal
set. For any set 𝐴 ⊆ 𝑈, we define the complement of 𝐴, denoted by 𝐴′ or 𝐴𝑐 , to
be the set
𝐴′ = {𝑥|𝑥 ∈ 𝑈 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 ∉ 𝐴}.
3. Given two sets 𝐴 and 𝐵, the difference or relative complement of 𝐵 in 𝐴,
denoted by 𝐴\𝐵 or 𝐴 − 𝐵, is the set
.
Example 3. If 𝐴 = {1, 2, 3} and 𝐵 = {𝑒, 𝑙}, then 𝐴 × 𝐵 is given by
{(1, 𝑒), (1, 𝑙), (2, 𝑒), (2, 𝑙), (3, 𝑒), (3, 𝑙)}
Learning Tasks/Activities
Practice Exercise 1.1. Perform the following as indicated.
1. Given that 𝑈 = {𝑥 ∈ ℤ ∶ 0 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 20}. Let 𝑃, 𝑂, 𝐸, and 𝐹 be subsets of U
defined as follows:
𝑃 = {𝑥 | 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 },
𝑂 = {𝑥 ∶ 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑛 𝑜𝑑𝑑 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 },
𝐸 = {𝑥 ∶ 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 },
𝐹 = {𝑥 ∶ 7|𝑥}.
Determine each of the following:
(a) (𝑃 ∩ 𝐸) ∪ 𝐹
(b) (𝑃\𝑂)′}
(c) (𝑃 ∩ 𝑂) × (𝐹\𝑂)
(d) 𝑃′ ∩ 𝐸′ ∩ 𝐹′
(e) (𝑃 ∪ 𝐸 ∪ 𝐹)’
(f) (𝑃 ∪ 𝑂)\(𝐸 ∪ 𝐹)
(g) 𝒫(𝐹)
(h) |𝒫(𝑃 ∩ 𝑂)|
2. For sets 𝐴 and 𝐵, prove that if 𝒫(𝐴) ⊆ 𝒫(𝐵), then 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵.
7 Math 134n: Abstract Algebra
Assessment
Problem Set 1.1 Prove/disprove each of the following statements using the indicated
method of proof.
1. (direct proof) The square of every odd integer is one more than an integral
multiple of 4.
2. (by contrapositive) If 𝑎 and 𝑏 are real numbers such that the product 𝑎𝑏 is an
irrational number, then either 𝑎 or 𝑏 must be an irrational number.
3. (proof by contrapositive) Suppose 𝑥, 𝑦 ∈ ℝ. If 𝑦 3 + 𝑦𝑥 2 ≤ 𝑥 3 + 𝑥𝑦 2 , then 𝑦 ≤
𝑥.
4. (proof by contradiction) The number log 2 is irrational.
5. (proof by contradiction ) If 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℤ, then 𝑎2 − 4𝑏 ≠ 2.
6. Use the principle of mathematical induction to prove the following.
a. 6 ∙ 7𝑛 − 2 ∙ 3𝑛 is divisible by 4 for all nonnegative integers 𝑛.
b. 𝑛! ≥ 3𝑛, 𝑛 = 7, 8, …
1 1 1 𝑛
c. + + ⋯ + = for 𝑛 ∈ ℕ.
2 6 𝑛(𝑛+1) 𝑛+1
7. Prove or disprove: For any real number 𝑥, 𝑥 2 ≥ 𝑥.
8. Prove or disprove: If 6 is prime, then 72 is even.