Mathematical Set Notation

 

A set is a collection of members or elements.

 

Set Membership           

x Î A                                                     Element x is a member of set A.

x Ï A                                                     Element x is not a member of set A.

 

A = { a,b,c,d,…,x}            Set A is defined as an enumeration of elements.

 

Set Relationships

A = B                                                    Set equality.  x Î A « x Î B

A Í B                                                   Set A is a subset of set B.  x Î A ® x Î B

A Ì B                                                   Set A is a proper subset of set B. Requires AÍB and A¹B

 

Set Operations

A ´ B                          Cartesian product of sets A and B. 
aÎA and bÎB ® (a,b) Î A´B

A È B                                                   Union or join of sets A and B.  Any element of either A or B is also an element of the union.

A Ç B                                                   Intersection or meet of sets A and B.  Any element that is a member of the intersection is also a member of both A and B.

A-B                                                          Difference

 

A’                                                                Complement relative to the universal set (I).

 

Set Theorems/Laws

Commutativity            A È B = B È A

                                                                        A Ç B = B Ç A

 

Associativity                           (A È B) È C = A È (B È C)

                                                (A Ç B) Ç C = A Ç (B Ç C)

 

Distributivity        A Ç (B È C) = (A Ç B) È (A Ç C)

                              A È (B Ç C) = (A È B) Ç (A È C)

 

Idempotency                                                   A È A = A Ç A = A

                                                                        A Ç I = A È Æ = A

                                                                        A È I = I

                                                                        A Ç Æ = Æ

 

DeMorgan’s Laws            (A-B) Ç (A-C) = A-(B È C)

                                                (A-B) È (A-C) = A-(B Ç C)

                        (A È B)’ = A’ Ç B’

                        (A Ç B)’ = A’ È B’

                        A È A’ = I

                        A Ç A’ = Æ

 

Absorption Laws            A È A Ç B = A

                                    A Ç (A È B) = A

 

Miscellaneous                                                (A Ç B) È (A-B)=A

                                    (A-B) È B = A

                                    A Í A È B

                                    A Ç B Í A

                                    A È B = A « B Í A

                                    A Ç B = A « A Í B

                                    A-B = A-(A Ç B)