SETS THEORY

IS THE BRANCH OF MATHEMATICAL LOGIC THAT STUDIES SETS, WHICH

INFORMALLY ARE COLLECTIONS OF OBJECTS. ALTHOUGH ANY TYPE OF
OBJECT CAN BE COLLECTED INTO A SET, SET THEORY IS APPLIED MOST
OFTEN TO OBJECTS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO MATHEMATICS.

THE MODERN STUDY OF SET THEORY WAS INITIATED BY GEORG CANTOR

AND RICHARD DEDEKIND IN THE 1870S.

SET THEORY IS COMMONLY EMPLOYED AS A FOUNDATIONAL SYSTEM

FOR MATHEMATICS, PARTICULARLY IN THE FORM OF ZERMELO-
FRAENKEL SET THEORY WITH THE AXIOM OF CHOICE.
BASICS CONCEPTS AND
NOTATION
A derivedbinary relationbetween two sets is the subset relation, also
calledset inclusion. If all the members of setAare also members of
setB, thenAis asubsetofB, denotedAB. For example,{1,2}is a
subset of{1,2,3}.
Unionof the setsAandB, denotedAB, is the set of all objects that are a
member ofA, orB, or both. The union of{1, 2, 3}and{2, 3, 4}is the
set{1, 2, 3, 4}.
Intersectionof the setsAandB, denotedAB, is the set of all objects
that are members of bothAandB. The intersection of{1, 2, 3}and{2, 3,
4}is the set{2, 3}.
Complement A is the set of the elements NOT belonging to A
Proper subset A is a proper subset of B if: AB or n(A) < n(B)
Universal set Must be stated to define sets, should make sense in real life.
IMPORTANT KEYS

Some basic sets of central importance are theempty set(the

unique set containing no elements), the set ofnatural numbers,
and the set ofreal numbers.
n(A) n(B)
A = B, if and only if, A B and B A
is subset of all the sets
The only possible subset of is