POSET

Partially Ordered Set

A relation R on a set S is called a partial ordering or partial
order if it is reflexive, antisymmetric,and transitive.

A set S together with a partial ordering R is called a

partially ordered set, or poset, and is denoted by (S,R).

Members of S are called elements of the poset.

Eg ( N, ) , ( Z+, / ) ,(Z, )

Comparable Elements:The elements a and b of a poset
(S, R) are called comparable if either a R b or b R a.

Incomparable or Non-comparable elements :When a

and b are elements of S such that neither a R b nor b R a.

In the poset (Z+ , /), are the integers 3 and 9 comparable?
Are 5 and 7 comparable?

The integers 3 and 9 are comparable, because 3 | 9. The

integers 5 and 7 are incomparable, because 5 | 7 and 7 | 5.

Linearly Ordered Set:

Let ( S, R) is a poset and if every pair of elements of S are

comparable, then its called a linearly ordered set or totally
ordered set.

Eg: 1) ({2,4,8}, / ) linearly ordered

2) ( { 3,6,9,11},/ ) not linearly ordered

Hasse Diagrams

Its a graphical representation for POSET.

1)First draw the digraph of the given relation.

2) Delete all edges implied by reflexive property.

3) Then from the remaining diagram delete all edges

implied by transitive property.

4) Omit the arrows.

5) Diagram should be oriented upwards and if a R b then

vertex b should appear above vertex a.

The vertices of a Hasse diagram are denoted by points

rather than circles.

Eg: Consider the poset ({4,5,6,7}, ). Draw the digraph

and hasse diagram of the given relation .

R= {(4,4),(4,5),(4,6),(4,7), (5,5),(5,6),(5,7),(6,6)

(6,7),(7,7)}
4 5

6 7

1) Delete all edges implied by reflexive property.

R= {(4,5),(4,6),(4,7),(5,6),(5,7), (6,7)}

2) Delete all edges implied by transitive property.

(4,6) (4,7) (5,7)

The remaining ordered pairs in the relation is R= {

(4,5)(5,6)(6,7)}

Draw the Hasse diagram representing the partial ordering
{(a, b) |a divides b} on {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12}.

R = { (1,1) (1,2) (1,3) (1,4) (1,6) (1,8) (1,12)(2,2)(2,4) (2,6)

(2,8) (2,12) ,(3,3)(3,6)(3,12) (4,4) (4,8) (4,12)(6,6)(6,12)
(8,8)(12,12)}

1) Remove all loops.

R={ (1,2) (1,3) (1,4) (1,6) (1,8) (1,12)(2,4) (2,6) (2,8)

(2,12) ,(3,6)(3,12) (4,8) (4,12)(6,12) }
lThen delete all the edges implied by the transitive property.
l(1, 4), (1, 6), (1, 8), (1, 12), (2, 8), (2, 12), and (3, 12).

lR={ (1,2) (1,3) (2,4) (2,6) ,(3,6),(4,8) (4,12)(6,12) }

Arrange all edges to point upward, and delete all arrows to

l

obtain the Hasse diagram.

Maximal Element: An element of a poset is called maximal if it
is not less than any element of the poset.

a is maximal in the poset (S, ) if there is no b S such that a

b.

Minimal Element: An element of a poset is called minimal if it
is not greater than any element of the poset.



a is minimal if there is no element b S such that b a.

Maximal and minimal elements are easy to spot using a Hasse

diagram. They are the top and bottom elements in the
diagram.
Which elements of the poset ({2, 4, 5, 10, 12, 20, 25}, |) are
l

maximal, and which are minimal?


Greatest element of a poset: a is the greatest element of
the poset (S, ) if b a for all b S.

The greatest element is unique when it exists.

Least element of a poset: a is the least element of a poset

if it is less than all the other elements in the poset.

a is the least element of (S, ) if a b for all b S.

The least element is unique when it exists.

The least element of the poset with Hasse diagram (a) is a.
l

This poset has no greatest element.

l

The poset with Hasse diagram (b) has neither a least nor a
l

greatest element.

The poset with Hasse diagram (c) has no least element. Its
l

greatest element is d.

The poset with Hasse diagram (d) has least element a and
l

greatest element d.
Upper bound :Let A subset of a poset (S, ).

If x S such that a x for all elements a A, then x is

called an upper bound of A.

Lower bound :

If x S such that x a for all elements a A, then x is
called an lower bound of A.

Find the lower and upper bounds of the subsets {a, b, c},
{j, h}, and {a, c, d, f } in the poset with the Hasse diagram
shown in the following Figure .

The upper bounds of {a, b, c} are e, f, j, and h, and its only
lower bound is a.

Thereare no upper bounds of {j, h}, and its lower bounds

are a, b, c, d, e, and f .



The upper bounds of {a, c, d, f } are f , h, and j , and its
lower bound is a.

Least upper bound (LUB): The element x is called the
least upper bound of the subset A if x is an upper bound that
is less than every other upper bound of A.

Greatest lower bound (GLB): The element x is called the

greatest lower bound of the subset A if x is a lower bound
that is greater than every other lower bound of A.

Find the greatest lower bound and the least upper bound of
{b, d, g}, if they exist, in the poset shown in the following
Figure.

The upper bounds of {b, d, g} are g and h.

Because g h, g is the least upper bound.

The lower bounds of {b, d, g} are a and b.

Because a b, b is the greatest lower bound.