Relations - Week 6

Wednesday, October 11, 2023 7:58 AM

General Relation:
Relations are sets of ordered pairs. (binary relations)
For example:
{(2, 12), (3, 12), (4, 12), (6, 12), (3, 15), (5, 15) }
The divisibility relation
≤ relation
Subset relation

Authorship Relation:
A relation or mapping from a set A to a set B is a subset of A × B.
Another example includes: { …., {G. Chartrand, Introduction to Graph Theory}, {P. Zhang,
Introduction to Graph Theory}, {C. de Matas, Mazes for the Young and Old}, {A. Samuel, Mazes
for the Young and Old}, {J. Austen, Emma}, {J. Austen, Pride and Prejudice}, … }
This is the Authorship relation which shows a mapping from set of authors to set of books.

Infix Notation:
If R is a relation from a set A to a set B we can write (a, b) ∈ R, or more usually we write:
a R b.

Equality Relation:
If R is a relation from A to A, we say that R is a relation on A.
Equality relation:
Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
Equality relation on A is {(1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3), (4, 4), (5, 5)}.

Properties of Relations:
A relation R on a set A is reflexive iff a R a for all a ∈ A.
A relation R on a set A is symmetric iff a R b ⇒ b R a, for any a, b ∈ A.
A relation R on a set A is transitive iff a R b and b R c ⇒ a R c, for any a, b, c ∈ A.

If A = {1, 2, 3, 4}, Consider the following relations on A :

R1 = {(1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3), (1, 2), (2, 1), (2, 3), (3, 2), (1, 3), (3, 1)}
(This relation is NOT reflexive but is symmetric and transitive)

R2 = {(1,1), (2,2), (3,3), (4,4), (1,2), (2,1), (1,3), (2,3)}

(This relation is reflexive and transitive but NOT symmetric)

R3 = {1,1), (2,2), (3,3), (4,4), (1,2,), (2,1), (2,3), (3,3)}

(This relation is reflexive but NOT symmetric and NOT transitive)

R4 = {(1,1), (2,2), (3,3), (1,4), (4,1), (2,3)}

(This relation is reflexive and transitive but NOT symmetric)

Equivalence Relations:
A relation which is reflexive, symmetric and transitive is called an equivalence relation.
For example:
Let ℤ be the set of integers and let n be a positive integer.
The relation ≡ (mod n), “congruence modulo n” on ℤ is defined by a ≡ b (mod n) if and only if
a - b is divisible by n.

Let us consider mod 4:

7 ≡ 3 (mod 4)
2 ≡ 6 (mod 4)
21 ≡ 45 (mod 4)
33 ≡ 17 (mod 4)
6 ≡ -18 (mod 4)
-3 ≡ -3 (mod 4)

Now consider mod 11:

69 ≡ 25 (mod 11)
101 ≡ 200 (mod 11)
43 ≡ 98 (mod 11)
169 ≡ 224 (mod 11)
37 ≡ -29 (mod 11)
-30 ≡ -30 (mod 11)

Important Theorem:
For a given value of n, congruence (mod n) is an equivalence relation.
Proof:
For any x ∈ ℤ, x – x = 0 which is divisible by n, so x ≡ x (mod n) for any x ∈ ℤ.
Therefore, congruence (mod n) is reflexive.
If x ≡ y (mod n), then x – y = kn where k is an integer ⇒ y – x = (-k)n ⇒ y ≡ x (mod n).
Therefore, congruence (mod n) is symmetric.
If x ≡ y (mod n) and y ≡ z (mod n) , then x – y = an and y – z = bn where a and b are integers ⇒
x – z = (x - y) + (y - z) = an + bn = (a + b)n, a multiple of n ⇒ x ≡ z (mod n).
Therefore, congruence (mod n) is transitive.
Hence, congruence (mod n) is an equivalence relation.

Equivalence Classes:
Let R be an equivalence relation on a set A. For any element x ∈ A, the equivalence class of x is
the set of elements that are related to x. We denote the equivalence class of x by [x].
This means, [x] = { 𝑦 ∈ A | y R x}.

For Example, Let A = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}:

R = {(1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3), (4, 4), (5, 5), (6, 6), (1, 2), (2, 1), (1, 3), (3, 1), (2, 3), (3, 2), (4, 5), (5,4)}

[1] = {1, 2, 3}
[2] = {1, 2, 3}
[3] = {1, 2, 3}
[4] = {4, 5}
[5] = {4, 5}
[6] = {6}
We can see the distinct equivalent classes {1, 2, 3}, {4, 5}, {6} partition A.

Important Theorem:
If R is an equivalence relation on a set A, then R induces a partition on A, i.e. the
equivalence classes partition A.
Proof:
For any a ∈ A, a ∈ [a]. So each element of A belongs to at least one equivalence class. A is,
therefore, the union of the equivalence classes. Suppose that a belongs to two equivalence
classes, say a ∈ [b] and a ∈ [c].
Then a R b and a R c.
⇒ b R a since R is symmetric
So, b R a and a R c
⇒ b R c since R is transitive.
We now show that [b] = [c].
Let x ∈ [b], then x R b. So x R b and b R c ⇒ x R c since R is transitive. ⇒ x R c ⇒ x ∈ [c].
Therefore, [b] ⊆ [c]. Similarly, we can show that [c] ⊆ [b]. Hence, [b] = [c].
Therefore a cannot belong to two distinct equivalence classes.
Therefore, the equivalence classes partition A.
(The equivalence classes are either equal or disjoint.)

For example, the Congruence mod n.

For any x ∈ ℤ, x = kn + r where r is a unique value
such that 0 ≤ r ≤ n-1. So x – r = kn ⇒ x ≡ r (mod n).
⇒ x ∈ [r].
So any integer x is in some “congruence class” [r], where 0 ≤ r ≤ n-1.
There are, therefore, n distinct congruence classes (mod n). [0], [1], [2], ….., [n-1].

For example, with n = 4.

[0] = {…., -8, -4, 0, 4, 8, 12, …..}
[1] = {…., -7, -3, 1, 5, 9, 13, …..}
[2] = {…., -6, -2, 2, 6, 10, 14, …..}
[3] = {…., -5, -1, 3, 7, 11, 15, …..}
i.e. With congruence (mod 4), {0, 1, 2, 3} “generates” all the equivalence classes.
{[x] | x = 0, 1, 2 or 3} is the set of all the equivalence classes.

Note: In any month, the day numbers for each day of the week per week is an equivalence class
depending on what day of the week.