Sets

Sets are a collection of members.


Description

A set is a collection of members. Generally, sets are defined and notated like {a,b,c}.

A set can also be defined by a condition. For example, {x ∈ R | x > 0} should be read as the set of all real values greater than 0.

The empty set is notated Ø.

Commonly Used Sets

The commonly re-used notations for basic sets of numbers are:


Logic

Membership

a ∈ A means a is a member of A. Conversely, a ∉ A means a is not a member of A.

Subsets

A ⊆ B means that A is a subset of B. This can be formally expressed as ∀ a ((a ∈ A) -> (a ∈ B)).

This gives a test for set equality: if A ⊆ B and B ⊆ A.

If A ⊆ B and A != B, then A is a proper subset of B. This is notated as either A ⊂ B or A ⊊ B.

The reverse relation could be notated as B ⊇ A, B ⊃ A, and so on.


Operations

The union of two sets contains all members of both. A ⋃ B = {x | x ∈ A or x ∈ B}.

The union of all subsets Ai can be expressed as:

union.svg

The intersection of two sets contains all members that are common between the two. A ⋂ B = {x | x ∈ A and x ∈ B}.

The intersection of all subsets Ai can be expressed as:

intersection.svg


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