2.3.

RELATIONS 9

2.3 Relations
The way to formally “match” two elements, which are in a relation with
each other, is easily done via ordered pairs. So if x, y ∈ A then for some
relation, you write xRy or x ∼ y, whenever x has the specified relation with
y. Some examples are x ≤ y ⇐⇒ x ∼ y or x + y = even ⇐⇒ xRy.
Beware to distinguish between the ‘=’ for elements in sets and the ‘=’ in
the relation prescription. There are some types of relations which obey to
certain common sense rules:

1. Equivalence relation ∀x,y,z∈A :

(a) Reflexivity: xRx

(b) Symmetry: xRy ⇒ yRx
(c) Transitivity: xRy ∧ yRz ⇒ xRz

2. Partial order ∀x,y,z∈A :

(a) Reflexivity
(b) Antisymmetry: xRy ∧ yRx ⇒ x = y
(c) Transitivity

If we have some equivalence relation we have an equivalence class for each

x ∈ A, which is a set, denoted as ‘[x]’, which contains all elements with
whom x has a relation with. Formally: [x] = {a ∈ A | xRa}. The set of
all equivalence classes together is called the quotient set, formally: A/ ∼
:= {[x] | x ∈ A}, where ‘:=’ means, ‘... is defined as ...’. Equivalence
classes are often used in defining concepts in mathematics. Examples are
the congruence classes, related to modular arithmetic. These congruence
classes can be defined formally using group theory, which will come back
later.
Another example are the equivalence classes induced by so-called homo-
topy in topological spaces, which has something to do with how a space is
punctured by holes. This often referred to as in that a mug is topologi-
cally the same as a donut, because they both have one hole (and can be
continuously deformed into each other).
Moreover, they appear in the concept of orbits in group theory, which is
useful for counting for one thing.