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A relation can be both symmetric and antisymmetric (in this case, it must be coreflexive), and there are relations which are neither symmetric nor antisymmetric (for example, the "preys on" relation on biological species). Antisymmetry is different from asymmetry: a relation is asymmetric if and only if it is antisymmetric and irreflexive.
For example, symmetric states must always be used when describing photons or helium-4 atoms, and antisymmetric states when describing electrons or protons. Particles which exhibit symmetric states are called bosons. The nature of symmetric states has important consequences for the statistical properties of systems composed of many identical bosons.
Exchanging and gives either a symmetric combination of the states ("plus") or an antisymmetric combination ("minus"). Particles that give symmetric combinations are called bosons; those with antisymmetric combinations are called fermions. The two possible combinations imply different physics.
Symmetric and antisymmetric relations By definition, a nonempty relation cannot be both symmetric and asymmetric (where if a is related to b , then b cannot be related to a (in the same way)). However, a relation can be neither symmetric nor asymmetric, which is the case for "is less than or equal to" and "preys on").
For example, "is a blood relative of" is a symmetric relation, because x is a blood relative of y if and only if y is a blood relative of x. Antisymmetric for all x, y ∈ X, if xRy and yRx then x = y. For example, ≥ is an antisymmetric relation; so is >, but vacuously (the condition in the definition is always false). [11] Asymmetric
For example, that every equivalence relation is symmetric, but not necessarily antisymmetric, is indicated by in the "Symmetric" column and in the "Antisymmetric" column, respectively. All definitions tacitly require the homogeneous relation R {\displaystyle R} be transitive : for all a , b , c , {\displaystyle a,b,c,} if a R b {\displaystyle ...
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A reflexive and symmetric relation is a dependency relation (if finite), and a tolerance relation if infinite. A preorder is reflexive and transitive. A congruence relation is an equivalence relation whose domain X {\displaystyle X} is also the underlying set for an algebraic structure , and which respects the additional structure.