Cofinal (mathematics)

In mathematics, let A be a set and let ≤ be a binary relation on A. Then a subset B of A is said to be cofinal if it satisfies the following
condition:

For every a ∈ A, there exists some b ∈ B such that a ≤ b.

This definition is most commonly applied whenA is a partially ordered set or directed set under the relation ≤.

Cofinal subsets are very important in the theory of directed sets and nets, where “cofinal subnet” is the appropriate generalization of
“subsequence”. They are also important in order theory, including the theory of cardinal numbers, where the minimum possible
cardinality of a cofinal subset ofA is referred to as the cofinality of A.

A subset B of A is said to be coinitial (or dense in the sense of forcing) if it satisfies the following condition:

For every a ∈ A, there exists some b ∈ B such that b ≤ a.

This is the order-theoretic dual to the notion of cofinal subset.

Note that cofinal and coinitial subsets are both dense in the sense of appropriate (right- or left-)
order topology.

Contents
1 Properties
2 Cofinal set of subsets
3 Related Notions
4 See also
5 References

Properties
The cofinal relation over partially ordered sets ("poset") is reflexive: every poset is cofinal in itself. It is also transitive: if B is a
cofinal subset of a poset A, and C is a cofinal subset of B (with the partial ordering of A applied to B), then C is also a cofinal subset
of A.

For a partially ordered set with maximal elements, every cofinal subset must contain all maximal elements, otherwise a maximal
element which is not in the subset would fail to be less than any element of the subset, violating the definition of cofinal. For a
partially ordered set with a greatest element, a subset is cofinal if and only if it contains that greatest element (this follows, since a
greatest element is necessarily a maximal element). Partially ordered sets without greatest element or maximal elements admit
disjoint cofinal subsets. For example, the even and oddnatural numbers form disjoint cofinal subsets of the set of all natural numbers.

If a partially ordered setA admits a totally ordered cofinal subset, then we can find a subsetB which is well-ordered and cofinal in A.

Cofinal set of subsets

A particular but important case is given if A is a subset of the power set P(E) of some set E, ordered by reverse inclusion (⊃). Given
this ordering of A, a subset B of A is cofinal in A if for every a ∈ A there is a b ∈ B such that a ⊃ b.
For example, let E be a group and let A be the set of normal subgroups of finite index. The profinite completion of E is defined to be
the inverse limit of the inverse system of finite quotients of E (which are parametrized by the set A). In this situation, every cofinal
subset of A is sufficient to construct and describe the profinite completion of E.

Related Notions
A map ƒ: X → A between two directed sets is said to befinal [1] if the range ƒ(X) of f is a cofinal subset ofA.

See also
cofinite
cofinality
Upper set – a subset U of a partially ordered set (P,≤) that contains every elementy of P for which there is an x in U
with x ≤ y

References
1. Bredon, Glen (1993). Topology and Geometry. Springer. p. 16.

Lang, Serge (1993), Algebra (Third ed.), Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, ISBN 978-0-201-55540-0,
Zbl 0848.13001

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cofinal_(mathematics)&oldid=791131076

"

This page was last edited on 18 July 2017, at 10:11.

Text is available under theCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of theWikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.