COEN231: Discrete

Mathematics
Prof. Chadi Assi
assi@ciise.concordia.ca
EV7.635

COEN231: General Information
Course Description:
Foundations Sets, Logic and Algorithms, Integers and
Mathematical Induction, Relations and Posets,
Matrices and Closures of Relations, Functions,
Counting Principles, Recurrence Relations, Graph
Theory, Trees and Networks
Office hours: Thursdays from 11:00 to 13:00 or by
appointment
Course page: ENCS Moodle


COEN231: General Information
Textbook :
Kenneth H. Rosen Discrete Mathematics and Its
Applications 7
th
(or 6
th
Edition), McGraw Hill publisher
Tutorials: Three sections (Mina Yazdanpaneh
mina_yaz@ece.concordia.ca) (verify rooms!)
UA: Wednesday 16:15-17:05 H625
UB: Monday 16:15-17:05 H427
UC: Friday 16:15-17:05 FG-B055
Assignments: 4-5 assignments in total; 50%
penalty on late assignments; no assignments are
accepted once solutions are posted.
COEN231: General Information
Two in-class midterms and one final (closed
book and notes, no calculators)
Final will cover material from the entire course
Weight distribution
Assignments: 20%
Midterms (2): 30%
Final: 50%
There will be no makeup if you miss the
midterms; the corresponding weight is added
to that of the final
The Foundations: Logic and
Poofs
Objectives
Learn about statements (propositions)
Learn how to use logical connectives to combine
statements
Explore how to draw conclusions using various
argument forms
Become familiar with quantifiers and predicates
Learn various proof techniques

Propositional Logic
Definition: Mathematical logic provides methods for
reasoning, rules and techniques to determine whether
a statement or argument is valid
Example of a statement: If x is an even integer,
then x + 1 is an odd integer
One needs to reason about this statement to determine
whether it is true or false
Such a statement is called Theorem (defined later)
NOTE: the above statement is true under the condition
that x is an integer is true



Propositional Logic
A proposition, or a statement, is a
declarative sentence that is either true or false,
but not both
Examples:
2 is an even number (true)
Toronto is not the capital of Canada (true)
A is a consonant (false)
The following are not propositions:
What time is it? (not a declarative sentence)
x+1 = 2 (neither true nor false)
Propositional Logic
Variables (usually lower case letters) are used
to represent propositions.
A statement has usually a truth value: T if it is
a true proposition and F if it is false.
Definition:
Let p be a proposition. The negation of p is
denoted as p (or ~p) and is the statement: It is
not the case that p or not p. The truth values of
p and ~ p are opposite.

Propositional Logic
Find the negations of:
Today is Friday
At least 10 inches of rain fell today in Miami
Truth Table:


Propositional Logic
Definition
Let p and q be statements. The conjunction of p and q,
written p q , is the statement formed by joining
statements p and q using the word and.
The statement p q is true if both p and q are true;
otherwise p q is false.


Truth Table
Propositional Logic
Definition
Let p and q be statements. The disjunction of p and q,
written p V q , is the statement formed by joining
statements p and q using the word or.
The statement p V q is false when both p and q are
false; otherwise it is true.


Truth Table
Propositional Logic
Example 1
p is the statement Today is Friday q is the statement It is
raining today, then the conjunction of p and q is:
Today is Friday and it is raining today
Statement is true only on rainy Fridays.
Example 2
The disjunction of p and q is:
Today is Friday or it is raining today
This statement is true on any day that is either Friday or a rainy
day (including rainy Fridays); it is false when it is not Friday and it
does not rain.


Propositional Logic
Definition
Let p and q be statements. The exclusive or of p and q,
written p q , is the statement that is true when exactly
one of p and q is true and false otherwise.


Propositional Logic
Definition
Let p and q be statements. The statement if p then q is
called an implication or a conditional statement and
is denoted as p q.
It is false when (p is true and q is false) and true otherwise.
p q is read:
If p, then q
p is sufficient for q
q if p
q whenever p
p implies q
p only if q
p is called the hypothesis, q is called the conclusion


Propositional Logic
Example:
Let p: Today is Sunday and q: I will wash the car. The
implication p q is the statement:
p q : If today is Sunday, then I will wash the car
The converse of this implication is written q p
If I wash the car, then today is Sunday
The inverse of this implication is p q
If today is not Sunday, then I will not wash the car
The contrapositive of this implication is q p
If I do not wash the car, then today is not Sunday


Propositional Logic
Definition
Let p and q be statements. The statement p if and only
if q is called the bi-implication or biconditional
statement of p and q
The biconditional p if and only if q is written p q
p q is read:
p is necessary and sufficient for q
q iff p
q when and only when p


Propositional Logic
Definition

p q has the same truth table as: (p q) (q p)






Example: p: You can take the flight, q: You buy a ticket
p q is: You an take the flight iff you buy a ticket.
Propositional Logic
Definitions
Symbols p ,q ,r ,...,called statement variables
Symbols , , v, ,and are called logical
connectives


Propositional Logic
Compound Propositions (or statement
formula)
Truth table of the compound proposition
(p v q) (p q)




Propositional Logic
Precedence of logical connectives is:
highest
second highest
v third highest
fourth highest
fifth highest
Examples
p v q is ( p) v q and NOT (p v q)
p q v r is (p q ) v r and not (p (q v r)


Propositional Logic
Translating English sentences into expressions:
Example:
You cannot ride the roller coaster if you are under 4
feet tall unless you are older than 16 years old
Define the following statements:
p: You can ride the roller coaster
q: You are under 4 feet tall
r: You are older than 16 years old
Then the sentence can be written as
If you are NOT under 4 feet tall AND you are older than
16 years old, then you can ride the roller coaster or
q r p

Propositional Logic
Translating English sentences into expressions:
Example:
You can access the Internet from campus only if you are a
computer science major or you are not freshman
Define the following statements:
p: You are a computer science major
q: You are a freshman
r: You can access the Internet from campus
Then the sentence can be written as
If you can access the Internet from campus, then you are a
computer science major or you are not a freshman
p V q r

Propositional Equivalence
Definition:
A compound proposition is said to be a tautology
if its truth value is always T for any assignment of
the truth values to the statement variables
occurring in it
Example: (p q ) ((q p ))


Propositional Equivalence
Definition:
A compound proposition is said to be a
contradiction if its truth value is F for any
assignment of the truth values to the
statement variables occurring in it
Example: p and not p

Propositional Equivalence
Definition: Logical Equivalence
Two compound propositions p and q are said
to be logically equivalent if the statement
formula p q is a tautology. The notation p
q (or p q) is used to denote logical
equivalence.
Example: Show that (p v q ) and p q
are logically equivalent:
To show whether two compound propositions are
logically equivalent, we may use the truth table.

Propositional Equivalence
Definition: Logical Equivalence
Example: Show that (p v q ) and p q
are logically equivalent:
To show whether two compound propositions are
logically equivalent, we may use the truth table.

Logical Equivalences
Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
Propositional Equivalence
Example: Show that (p q ) and p q are
logically equivalent
We can use the truth table to show this. We
can also use the rules listed before.

p q p v q (from Table 2), therefore
(p q) ( p v q )
( p) q (De Morgans law)
p q (Double negation law)

Propositional Equivalence
Example: Show that (p v ( p q )) and p q are
logically equivalent.
(p v ( p q )) p ( p q )) (De Morgan law)
p [( p) v (q )] (De Morgan law)
p (p v q ) (Double negation)
( p p ) v ( p q ) (Distributive law)
F v ( p q )
( p q ) v F (commutative law)
p q (identity law for F)



Predicates and Quantifiers
Predicates and Quantifiers
Predicate logic: is a powerful type of logic which may
be used to express the meaning of a wide range of
statements.
Consider the statements:
x is greater than 3
Computer x is working properly

The truth of such statements depend on the value assigned to
the variable x

The statement x is greater than 3 has two parts: the variable x
which is the subject of the statement and the predicate which
refers to a property the subject can have.
Predicates and Quantifiers
x is greater than 3 may be denoted by P(x) where P
denotes the predicate and x is the variable.
P(x) is the value of the propositional function P at x. Upon
assigning a value to x, P(x) becomes a proposition with a T
or F value.
P(4) is True and P(2) is False.
Statements may also involve more than one
variable. Statement x = y + 3 may be denoted by
Q(x, y) where x and y are the variables and Q is the
predicate.
Q(3, 0) is T and Q(0, 2) is false.
Predicates and Quantifiers
A statement involving n variables x
1
, x
2
, x
n
is
denoted by P(x
1
, x
2
, x
n
) where P is called n-ary
predicate

Predicates and Quantifiers
Some mathematical statements assert that a property is
true or false for all values of a variable in a particular
domain, called domain or universe of discourse
Such Statements are expressed using universal
quantifications.
Definitions:
The universal quantification of P(x) is the statement:
P(x) for all values of x in the domain
The notation xP(x) denotes the universal quantification of P(x)
and is called the universal quantifier
xP(x) is read as: for all x P(x) or for every x P(x). An
element for which P(x) is false is called counter example.
Predicates and Quantifiers
Examples
Let P(x) be the statement x + 1 > x . What is the truth
value of P(x) when the domain of discourse is all real
numbers?
Clearly, P(x) is true for all real numbers, hence xP(x) is true.
Let Q(x) be the statement x < 2 . What is the truth
value of Q(x) when the domain of discourse is all real
numbers?
For x = 3, Q(x) is false (a counterexample). Hence, xQ(x) is
False.
NOTE: for every, for each, given any, for any, for arbitrary,
etc. are all equivalent to for all
Predicates and Quantifiers
Remark:
When all elements in the domain can be listed, e.g.,
x
1
, x
2
, ,x
n
, then:
xP(x) has the same value as the conjunction
P(x
1
) . P(x
2
) . . P(x
n
)
Example:
P(x) is x
2
< 10 , domain is positive integers not
exceeding 4. Therefore, xP(x) is the same as:
P(1) . P(2) . P(3) . P(4)
Since P(4) is false (4
2
< 10), then xP(x) is false.

Predicates and Quantifiers
Definitions:
The existential quantification of P(x) is the statement:
There exists an element x in the domain such that P(x)
The notation -xP(x) denotes the universal quantification of P(x)
and - is called the existential quantifier
The domain must always be specified
The symbol - is read as there exists
-xP(x) is read as:
There is an x such that P(x)
There is at least one x such that P(x)
There is some x such that P(x)



Predicates and Quantifiers



Example
P(x) is the statement x > 3. What is the truth value of -xP(x)
where the domain consists of all real numbers?
-xP(x) is true since for x = 4, P(x) is true.
Example
Q(x) is the statement x = x + 1. What is the truth value of -xQ(x)
where the domain consists of all real numbers?
Q(x) is false for all x, therefore -xQ(x) is false

Predicates and Quantifiers
Remark:
When all elements in the domain can be listed, e.g.,
x
1
, x
2
, ,x
n
, then:
- xP(x) has the same value as the conjunction
P(x
1
) v P(x
2
) v v P(x
n
)
Example:
P(x) is x
2
> 10 , domain is positive integers not
exceeding 4. Therefore, - xP(x) is the same as:
P(1) v P(2) v P(3) v P(4)
Since P(4) is true (4
2
> 10), then - xP(x) is true.

Predicates and Quantifiers
Uniqueness quantifier: -! xP(x)
There exist only one (or exactly one) x such that P(x) is
true.
Precedence of quantifiers
and - have higher precedence than other logical connectors.
For example, xP(x) v Q(x) means (xP(x)) v Q(x)
Predicates and Quantifiers
Logical Equivalence involving quantifiers:
Definition:
Two statements (S and T) involving predicates and quantifiers
are logically equivalent iff they have the same truth value. We
use the notation S T to indicate the logical equivalence.
Example:
Show that x (P(x) . Q(x)) and x P(x) . x Q(x) are logically
equivalent (same domain is used).
NOTE: We can distribute a universal quantifier over a
conjunction (but not a disjunction) and we can distribute an
existential quantifier over a disjunction (but not a conjunction).
Predicates and Quantifiers
To show that x (P(x) . Q(x)) and x P(x) . x Q(x) are
logically equivalent, we need to show they always take the
same truth value irrespective of what the predicates P and Q
are and irrespective of the domain of discourse.
First we show if x (P(x) . Q(x)) is true, then x P(x) . x Q(x)
is also true. Second we show if x P(x) . x Q(x) is true, then
x (P(x) . Q(x)) .
Suppose x (P(x) . Q(x)) is true. This means that if a is in the
domain, then P(a) . Q(a) is true. Hence, P(a) is true and Q(a) is
true. Since P(a) and Q(a) are true for any a in the domain, we
conclude that x P(x) and x Q(x) are both true and therefore
x P(x) . x Q(x) is also true.
Similarly we can show the second part.
Predicates and Quantifiers
Example: Express the statement
Every student in this class has studied calculus
using predicates and quantifiers.
Solution:
The statement can be rewritten as:
For every student in the class, that student has studied calculus
Or
For every student x in the class, x has studied calculus
Define C(x): x has studied calculus and the domain for x is all
students in the class. Thus, our statement can be written as:
x C(x)
Predicates and Quantifiers
We may also change the domain to consist of all people, and then
the statement is written as:
For every person x, if person x is a student in this class, then x has
studied calculus.
Then we need to define the statement S(x): person x is a student
in this class
And the statement may be expressed as:
x (S(x) C(x))

Predicates and Quantifiers
Example: Express the statement
Some student in this class has visited Mexico
using predicates and quantifiers.
Solution:
The statement can be rewritten as:
There is a student in the class, that student has visited Mexico
Or
There is a student x in the class, x has visited Mexico
Define M(x): x has visited Mexico and the domain for x is all
students in the class. Thus, our statement can be written as:
-x M(x)
Predicates and Quantifiers
Example: Express the statement
Every student in this class has visited either Canada or Mexico
using predicates and quantifiers.
Solution:
The statement can be rewritten as:
For every student in the class, that student has visited either
Canada or Mexico Or
For every student x in the class, x has visited Canada or x has
visited Mexico
Define C(x): x has visited Canada and M(x): x has visited Mexico
the domain for x is all students in the class. Thus, our statement can
be written as: x ( C(x) vM(x) )
Predicates and Quantifiers
Negating Quantified Expressions
Every student in your class has taken a course in calculus is
expressed as:
x P(x)
where P(x) x has taken a course in calculus and the domain is all
students in your class.
Negating: It is not the case that every student in your class has
taken a course in calculus or:
There exists one student in your class who has not taken a course
in calculus
That is: - x P(x)

Predicates and Quantifiers
Negating Quantified Expressions

Example:
Negate: There is an honest politician
Let: H(x): politician x is honest, then statement above becomes: - x H(x)
Its negation is: - x H(x) or x H(x)
In other words: All politicians are not honest.
Predicates and Quantifiers
Examples

Negate x (x
2
> x) and - x (x
2
= 1 )

Show that x (P(x) Q(x)) and - x (P(x) . Q(x)) are logically
equivalent

Nested Quantifiers
Nested Quantifiers
Example:
x - y (x + y = 0)
This can be thought of as: x Q(x)
where :
Q(x) is - y P(x, y) and where P(x, y) is x + y = 0
Example: Translate into English (domain consists for all real numbers.):
x y ( (x > 0) . (y < 0) (xy < 0) )
For every real number x and for every real number y, if x > 0 and if y <
0,then xy < 0.
Or the product of a positive real number and a negative real number is
always negative
Nested Quantifiers
Nested Quantifiers
Example:
Translate the statement The sum of two positive integers is always
positive into a logical expression.
Statement is rewritten as:
For every two integers, if these integers are both positive, then the
sum of these integers is always positive
if x and y are integer variables, then:
For all positive integers x and y, x + y is positive
or in logical expression:
x y ( (x > 0) . (y > 0) (x + y > 0) )


Nested Quantifiers
Example:
Translate into English the statement :
x ( C(x) v - y (C(y) . F(x,y)))
where, C(x) : x has a computer. F(x,y): x and y are friends. domain is
all students in your school.
The statement reads:
For every student x in your school, x has a computer or there exists
one student y in the school that has a computer and a friend with
student x
Or:
Every student in your school either has a computer or has a friend
who has a computer
Nested Quantifiers
Example:
Express the statement : if a person is a female and is a parent, then
this person is someones mother as a logical expression. Domain is
all people.
We can write: For every person x, if x is a female and x is parent, then
there exists a person y such that person x is the mother of person y
Let F(x): person x is a female
Let P(x): person x is a parent
Let M(x, y): person x is the mother of person y. Then:
x ( F(x) . P(x) - y M(x,y))

Nested Quantifiers
Example:
Express the statement : Everyone has exactly one best friend as a
logical expression. Domain is all people.
We can write: For every person x, x has exactly one best friend
Let B(x, y): person y is the best friend of person x. Then we write:
There is a person y who is best friend to x and any person z who is
not person y is not the best friend of x. OR
For every person x, there is a person y who is best friend to x and if
any person z is different from y then z is not best friend to x.

x - y ( B(x, y) . z ((z = y) B(x, z)))

Nested Quantifiers
Negating nested quantifiers:
Successively apply rules for negating statements with single quantifiers.
Example: Negate x - y (x y = 1)

[x - y (x y = 1)]
x - y (x y = 1)
- x y (x y = 1)
Rules of Inference
Rules of Inference
Basic tools for establishing the truth of statements
Example: Consider this argument involving propositions
If you have a current password, then you can log onto the network
You have a current password
Therefore
You can log onto the network
Determine whether this argument is valid or not?

Let p: you have a current password, q: you can log onto the network
Rules of Inference
Let p: you have a current password, q: you can log onto the network
Then, the argument has the following form:
p q
p
_________
q
Where denotes therefore

Note: the statement ((p q) . p ) q is a tautology; that is the
conclusion is always true whenever the premises or statements
making up the proposition are true. Therefore, we say the argument is
a valid argument.


Rules of Inference
Definition:
An argument in propositional logic is a sequence of propositions. All
but the final proposition in the argument are called premises and the
final proposition is called conclusion.
An argument is valid if the truth of all its premises implies that the
conclusion is true.

Example:
Suppose the conditional statement If it snows today, then we will go
skiing and hypothesis: It is snowing today are both true. Therefore,
the conclusion: We will go skiing is true.

Rules of Inference
Example:
If it rains today then we will not have a barbecue today. If we do not
have a barbecue today, then we will have a barbecue tomorrow.
Therefore, if it rains today, then we will have a barbecue tomorrow.
p : it rains today
q : we will have a barbecue today
r : we will have a barbecue tomorrow

Introduction to Proofs
Introduction to Proofs
A proof is a valid argument that establishes the truth of a mathematical
statement
A proof may use the hypotheses (or premises) of the theorem, axioms
assumed to be true as well as previously proven theorems.
Rules of inference may also be used to help in establishing the truth of
the statement being proved.
A theorem is a statement that can be shown to be true
A proposition is a less important theorem
An axiom is a statement that is assumed to be true
A lemma is a less important theorem which is used in the proof of
other results.
A corollary is a theorem that can be established directly from a
theorem which has bee proven
Methods for Proving Theorems
One way for stating a theorem is:
x (P(x) Q(x))

To derive the proof: we show that P(c) Q(c) is true for some element
c in the domain and then apply universal generalization.
Direct proofs:
A direct proof shows that a conditional statement p q is true by
showing that if p is true then q must be true, so that the combination p
true and q false never occurs. In direct proofs, we may use axioms,
premises, other results, etc.


Methods for Proving Theorems
Show that
If n is an odd integer, then n
2
is odd
Proof:
Assume the hypothesis is true, that is n is odd.
Definition: an integer n is even if there exists an integer k such that n =
2k and n is odd if there exists another integer k such that n = 2k + 1.
n is odd, then n = 2k + 1 (from the above definition), therefore:
n
2
= (2k+1)
2
= 4k
2
+ 4k + 1

= 2(2k
2
+ 2k) + 1
which shows that n
2
is one more than twice an integer,
and therefore n
2
is an odd integer.
Methods for Proving Theorems
Show that
If m and n are perfect squares, then nm is also a perfect square
NOTE: an integer a is perfect square if there is an integer b s.t.: a = b
2
Proof:
Assume the hypothesis is true, that is n and n are perfect squares.
There exists integers s and t such that: n = s
2
, m = t
2
. Hence,
nm = s
2
t
2
= (st)
2
. Since the product st of two integers s and t is also an
integer, then nm is a perfect square.
Methods for Proving Theorems
Indirect Proofs Proof by contraposition
This method makes use of the fact that p q is equivalent to its
contrapositive q p
Hence, p q can be proved by showing its contrapositive is true.
Here, we take q as the hypothesis and we show that p must
follow.
Example: Prove that if n is integer and 3n + 2 is odd, then n is odd.
Solution: in class
Example: Prove that if n = ab, a and b are positive integers, then:

Solution: in class

or n b n a s s
Methods for Proving Theorems
Definition:
The real number r is rational if there exists integers p and q with
q = 0 such that r = p/q (a real number that is not rational is
irrational)

Example: Prove that the sum of two rational numbers is rational
Solution: in class
Example: Prove that if n is an integer such that n
2
is odd, then n is
odd
Solution: in class
Methods for Proving Theorems
Proof by contradiction (1)
Suppose we want to prove that a certain statement p is true.
Suppose we can find a contradiction q such that: p q is
true.
Because q is false and p q is true, it follows that p must
be false. Therefore, p must be true.
How can we find the contradiction q?
r . r is a contradiction for some proposition r.
Then we can prove that p is true if we can show that p ( r
. r) is true for some proposition r.
Methods for Proving Theorems
Proof by contradiction (1)
Example: Prove that is irrational by giving a proof by
contradiction.
Solution: in class
NOTE: The real number r is rational if there exists integers p and q
with q = 0 such that r = p/q (a real number that is not rational is
irrational)
Example: Show that at least 4 days of any 22 days must fall on the
same day of the week.

2
Methods for Proving Theorems
Proof by contradiction (2)
(1) We can prove conditional statements using proof by
contradiction. We assume the negation of the conclusion, we
use the premises of the theorem to arrive at a contradiction.
This works since: ( p q ) (p . q ) F
(2) We can also write the proof of contraposition as a proof by
contradiction. (In contraposition, we assume q is true and
show that p is false). Now, we suppose both p and q are true.
Then we use the steps of contraposition q p to show that
p is true. Hence, p and p which is a contradiction.
Example: Prove by contradiction that if 3n + 2 is odd, then n is
odd
Solution: in class
Methods for Proving Theorems
Proofs of Equivalence
To prove a theorem whose statement is of the form: p q , we
show that p q and q p are both true. This follows from the
following tautology:
( p q ) ( p q ) . ( q p )

Example: Prove the theorem: If n is a positive integer, then n is
odd if and only if n
2
is odd
Solution: In class
Methods for Proving Theorems
Counterexamples
To show that a statement of the form x P(x) is false, we only
need to find a counterexample; that is an example x for which
P(x) is false.
Tip: When you have to prove a statement of the form x P(x)
but you could not establish the proof, then look for a counter
example.
Example: Show that every positive integer is the sum of the
squares of two integers is false