Discrete Math’s and Graph

theory
 Set theory

• A Set is a well-defined collection of distinct objects, known as elements or members

of the set.
An element ‘a’ belong to a set A can be written as ‘a ∈ A’, ‘a ∉ A’ denotes that a is not an
element of the set A.
Representation of a Set
A set can be represented by various methods. 3 common methods used for representing
set:
1. Statement form.
2. Roaster form or tabular form method.
3. Set Builder method.
Statement form
In this representation, the well-defined description of the elements of the set is given.
Below are some examples of the same.
1. The set of all even number less than 10.
2. The set of the number less than 10 and more than 1.
Roster form
In this representation, elements are listed within the pair of brackets { } and are
separated by commas. Below are two examples.
1. Let N is the set of natural numbers less than 5.
N = { 1 , 2 , 3, 4 }.

2. The set of all vowels in the English alphabet.

V = { a , e , i , o , u }.
Set builder form
In Set-builder set is described by a property that its member must satisfy.
1. {x : x is even number divisible by 6 and less than 100}.
2. {x : x is natural number less than 10}.
 Types of Set
➢ Empty or Null or Void Set
➢ Singleton Set
➢ Finite Sets
➢ Infinite Set
➢ Subset
➢ Proper Subset
➢ Power Set
➢ Equal and Unequal Sets
➢ Equivalent Set
➢ Universal Set
Empty or Null or Void Set
• Any Set that does not contain any element is called the empty or null or void set. The
symbol used to represent an empty set is – {} or φ. Examples:
Singleton Set
These are those sets that have only a single element
Finite Sets
A set which contains a definite number of elements is called a finite set.
Example − S = { x | x ∈ N and 70 > x > 50 }
Infinite Set
A set which contains infinite number of elements is called an infinite set.

Example − S = { x | x ∈ N and x > 10 }

Subset
A set X is a subset of set Y (Written as X ⊆ Y) if every element of X is an element of set Y.
Proper Subset
Types of Set
The term “proper subset” can be defined as “subset of but not equal to”. A Set X is a
proper subset of set Y (Written as X ⊂ Y ) if every element of X is an element of set Y and
$|X| < |Y|.
Power Set
The collection of ALL the subsets of a given set is called a power set of that set under
consideration.
Equal and Unequal Sets
Two sets X and Y are said to be equal if they have exactly the same elements
(irrespective of the order of appearance in the set). Equal sets are represented as X = Y.
Otherwise, the sets are referred to as unequal sets, which are represented as X ≠ Y.
Equivalent Sets
Equivalent sets are those which have an equal number of elements irrespective of what
the elements are
Universal Set
A universal set contains ALL the elements of a problem under consideration. It is
generally represented by the letter U.
 Set Operations
➢ Union
➢ Intersection
➢ Set Difference
➢ Symmetric Difference
➢ Complement
➢ Cartesian Product / Cross Product
Union
Union of the sets A and B, denoted by A ∪ B, is the set of distinct element belongs to set
A or set B, or both.
Intersection
The intersection of the sets A and B, denoted by A ∩ B, is the set of elements belongs to
both A and B i.e. set of the common element in A and B.
Set Difference
Difference between sets is denoted by ‘A – B’, is the set containing elements of set A but
not in B. i.e all elements of A except the element of B
Symmetric Difference
The symmetric difference of two sets A and B is the set (A – B) ∪ (B – A) and is denoted
by A △ B.
Complement
Complement of a set A, is the set of all the elements except A. Complement of the set A is
U – A.
Cartesian Product / Cross Product
The Cartesian product of n number of sets A1, A2, ... An denoted as A1 × A2 ... × An can
be defined as all possible ordered pairs (x1, x2, ... xn) where x1 ∈ A1, x2 ∈ A2, ... xn ∈ An
 Laws of Algebra of Sets

1. Commutative Laws:
For any two finite sets A and B;
(i) A U B = B U A
(ii) A ∩ B = B ∩ A
2. Associative Laws:
For any three finite sets A, B and C;
(i) (A U B) U C = A U (B U C)
(ii) (A ∩ B) ∩ C = A ∩ (B ∩ C)
3. Distributive Laws:
For any three finite sets A, B and C;
(i) A U (B ∩ C) = (A U B) ∩ (A U C)
(ii) A ∩ (B U C) = (A ∩ B) U (A ∩ C)
4. Idempotent Laws:
For any finite set A;
(i) A U A = A
(ii) A ∩ A = A
5. Identity Laws:
For any finite set A;
Laws of Algebra of Sets
(i) A U φ = A
(ii) A ∩ U = A
6. Absorption Laws:
For any finite set A;
(i) A U (A ∩ B) = A
(ii) A ∩ (A U B) = A
7. De Morgan’s Laws: Laws of Algebra of Sets
For any two finite sets A and B;
(i) (A U B)’ = A' ∩ B'
(ii) (A ∩ B)’ = A' U B'
 Relation
Relation or Binary relation R from set A to B is a subset of AxB which can be defined as
aRb ↔ (a,b) € R ↔ R(a,b).
A Binary relation R on a single set A is defined as a subset of AxA. For two distinct set, A and B with cardinalities
m and n, the maximum cardinality of the relation R from A to B is mn.
 Types of Relations
➢ Empty Relation
➢ Full Relation
➢ Reflexive Relation
➢ Irreflexive relation
➢ Symmetric Relation
➢ Anti-Symmetric Relation
➢ Asymmetric Relation
➢ Transitive Relation
1.Empty Relation: A relation R on a set A is called Empty if the set A is empty set.
 Types
2.Full Relation: A binary relation R on a set A and offullRelations
B is called if AXB. Part1
3.Reflexive Relation: A relation R on a set A is called Types of ifRelations
reflexive (a,a) € R holds Part1
for every element a € A
.i.e. if set A = {a,b} then R = {(a,a), (b,b)} is reflexive relation.
4. Irreflexive relation : A relation R on a set A isTypes of Relations
called irreflexive if no (a,a) € RPart1
holds for every
element a € A.i.e. if set A = {a,b} then R = {(a,b), (b,a)} is irreflexive relation.
• Symmetric Relation: A relation R on a set A is called symmetric if (b,a) € R holds when (a,b) € R.i.e.
The relation R={(4,5),(5,4),(6,5),(5,6)} on set A={4,5,6} is symmetric.
• Antisymmetric Relation: A relation R on a set A is called antisymmetric if (a,b)€ R and (b,a) € R
Types of Relations Part2
then a = b is called antisymmetric .i.e. The relation R = {(a,b)→ R|a ≤ b} is anti-symmetric since a ≤ b
and b ≤ a implies a = b.
• Asymmetric relation: Asymmetric relation is opposite of symmetric relation. A relation R on a set A
is called asymmetric if no (b,a) € R when (a,b) € R.
 Types of Relations Part4
• Transitive Relation: A relation R on a set A is called transitive if (a,b) € R and (b,c) € R then (a,c) €
R for all a,b,c € A.i.e. Relation R={(1,2),(2,3),(1,3)} on set A={1,2,3} is transitive.
 Equivalence Relation and Partial Order
Equivalence Relation
A relation R on a set A is said to be an equivalence relation if and onlyRelation
if the relation R is reflexive, symmetric
and transitive.
Reflexive: A relation is said to be reflexive, if (a, a) ∈ R, for every a ∈ A.

Symmetric: A relation is said to be symmetric, if (a, b) ∈ R, then (b, a) ∈ R.

Transitive: A relation is said to be transitive if (a, b) ∈ R and (b, c) ∈ R, then (a, c) ∈ R.

 Equivalence Relation and Partial Order
Partial order Relation Relation
A relation R on a set A is said to be an Partial order relation if and only if the relation R is reflexive,
antisymmetric and transitive.
Reflexive: A relation is said to be reflexive, if (a, a) ∈ R, for every a ∈ A.

Anti-symmetric: A relation R on a set A is called antisymmetric if (a,b)€ R and (b,a) € R then a = b is called
antisymmetric .i.e. The relation R = {(a,b)→ R|a ≤ b} is anti-symmetric since a ≤ b and b ≤ a implies a = b.

Transitive: A relation is said to be transitive if (a, b) ∈ R and (b, c) ∈ R, then (a, c) ∈ R.