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As another example, consider the positive integers, ordered by divisibility: 1 is a least element, as it divides all other elements; on the other hand this poset does not have a greatest element. This partially ordered set does not even have any maximal elements, since any g divides for instance 2g, which is distinct from it, so g is not
An antichain in a partially ordered set is a set of elements no two of which are comparable to each other, and a chain is a set of elements every two of which are comparable. A chain decomposition is a partition of the elements of the order into disjoint chains. Dilworth's theorem states that, in any finite partially ordered set, the largest ...
In a partially ordered set there may be some elements that play a special role. The most basic example is given by the least element of a poset. For example, 1 is the least element of the positive integers and the empty set is the least set under the subset order. Formally, an element m is a least element if:
The red subset = {1,2,3,4} has two maximal elements, viz. 3 and 4, and one minimal element, viz. 1, which is also its least element. In mathematics , especially in order theory , a maximal element of a subset S {\displaystyle S} of some preordered set is an element of S {\displaystyle S} that is not smaller than any other element in S ...
The least and greatest element of the whole partially ordered set play a special role and are also called bottom (⊥) and top (⊤), or zero (0) and unit (1), respectively. If both exist, the poset is called a bounded poset. The notation of 0 and 1 is used preferably when the poset is a complemented lattice, and when no confusion is likely, i ...
The first diagram makes clear that the power set is a graded poset.The second diagram has the same graded structure, but by making some edges longer than others, it emphasizes that the 4-dimensional cube is a combinatorial union of two 3-dimensional cubes, and that a tetrahedron (abstract 3-polytope) likewise merges two triangles (abstract 2-polytopes).
A lattice is an abstract structure studied in the mathematical subdisciplines of order theory and abstract algebra.It consists of a partially ordered set in which every pair of elements has a unique supremum (also called a least upper bound or join) and a unique infimum (also called a greatest lower bound or meet).
The supremum (abbreviated sup; pl.: suprema) of a subset of a partially ordered set is the least element in that is greater than or equal to each element of , if such an element exists. [1] If the supremum of S {\displaystyle S} exists, it is unique, and if b is an upper bound of S {\displaystyle S} , then the supremum of S {\displaystyle S} is ...