Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
This article lists mathematical properties and laws of sets, involving the set-theoretic operations of union, intersection, and complementation and the relations of set equality and set inclusion. It also provides systematic procedures for evaluating expressions, and performing calculations, involving these operations and relations.
The algebra of sets is the set-theoretic analogue of the algebra of numbers. Just as arithmetic addition and multiplication are associative and commutative, so are set union and intersection; just as the arithmetic relation "less than or equal" is reflexive, antisymmetric and transitive, so is the set relation of "subset".
A set is described by listing elements separated by commas, or by a characterizing property of its elements, within braces { }. [5] Since sets are objects, the membership relation can relate sets as well, i.e., sets themselves can be members of other sets. A derived binary relation between two sets is the subset relation, also called set inclusion.
If A is a set, then the absolute complement of A (or simply the complement of A) is the set of elements not in A (within a larger set that is implicitly defined). In other words, let U be a set that contains all the elements under study; if there is no need to mention U, either because it has been previously specified, or it is obvious and unique, then the absolute complement of A is the ...
So the intersection of the empty family should be the universal set (the identity element for the operation of intersection), [4] but in standard set theory, the universal set does not exist. However, when restricted to the context of subsets of a given fixed set X {\displaystyle X} , the notion of the intersection of an empty collection of ...
In set theory, the union (denoted by ∪) of a collection of sets is the set of all elements in the collection. [1] It is one of the fundamental operations through which sets can be combined and related to each other. A nullary union refers to a union of zero ( ) sets and it is by definition equal to the empty set.
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
The simple theorems in the algebra of sets are some of the elementary properties of the algebra of union (infix operator: ∪), intersection (infix operator: ∩), and set complement (postfix ') of sets. These properties assume the existence of at least two sets: a given universal set, denoted U, and the empty set, denoted {}.