Transitive relationIn mathematics, a relation R on a set X is transitive if, for all elements a, b, c in X, whenever R relates a to b and b to c, then R also relates a to c. Each partial order as well as each equivalence relation needs to be transitive. A homogeneous relation R on the set X is a transitive relation if, for all a, b, c ∈ X, if a R b and b R c, then a R c. Or in terms of first-order logic: where a R b is the infix notation for (a, b) ∈ R. As a non-mathematical example, the relation "is an ancestor of" is transitive.
Reflexive relationIn mathematics, a binary relation R on a set X is reflexive if it relates every element of X to itself. An example of a reflexive relation is the relation "is equal to" on the set of real numbers, since every real number is equal to itself. A reflexive relation is said to have the reflexive property or is said to possess reflexivity. Along with symmetry and transitivity, reflexivity is one of three properties defining equivalence relations.
Asymmetric relationIn mathematics, an asymmetric relation is a binary relation on a set where for all if is related to then is not related to A binary relation on is any subset of Given write if and only if which means that is shorthand for The expression is read as " is related to by " The binary relation is called if for all if is true then is false; that is, if then This can be written in the notation of first-order logic as A logically equivalent definition is: for all at least one of and is , which in first-order logic c
Equality (mathematics)In mathematics, equality is a relationship between two quantities or, more generally two mathematical expressions, asserting that the quantities have the same value, or that the expressions represent the same mathematical object. The equality between A and B is written A = B, and pronounced "A equals B". The symbol "=" is called an "equals sign". Two objects that are not equal are said to be distinct. For example: means that x and y denote the same object. The identity means that if x is any number, then the two expressions have the same value.
Antisymmetric relationIn mathematics, a binary relation on a set is antisymmetric if there is no pair of distinct elements of each of which is related by to the other. More formally, is antisymmetric precisely if for all or equivalently, The definition of antisymmetry says nothing about whether actually holds or not for any . An antisymmetric relation on a set may be reflexive (that is, for all ), irreflexive (that is, for no ), or neither reflexive nor irreflexive. A relation is asymmetric if and only if it is both antisymmetric and irreflexive.
Converse relationIn mathematics, the converse relation, or transpose, of a binary relation is the relation that occurs when the order of the elements is switched in the relation. For example, the converse of the relation 'child of' is the relation 'parent of'. In formal terms, if and are sets and is a relation from to then is the relation defined so that if and only if In set-builder notation, The notation is analogous with that for an inverse function. Although many functions do not have an inverse, every relation does have a unique converse.
Congruence relationIn abstract algebra, a congruence relation (or simply congruence) is an equivalence relation on an algebraic structure (such as a group, ring, or vector space) that is compatible with the structure in the sense that algebraic operations done with equivalent elements will yield equivalent elements. Every congruence relation has a corresponding quotient structure, whose elements are the equivalence classes (or congruence classes) for the relation. The prototypical example of a congruence relation is congruence modulo on the set of integers.
Binary relationIn mathematics, a binary relation associates elements of one set, called the domain, with elements of another set, called the codomain. A binary relation over sets X and Y is a new set of ordered pairs (x, y) consisting of elements x in X and y in Y. It is a generalization of the more widely understood idea of a unary function. It encodes the common concept of relation: an element x is related to an element y, if and only if the pair (x, y) belongs to the set of ordered pairs that defines the binary relation.
Connected relationIn mathematics, a relation on a set is called connected or complete or total if it relates (or "compares") all pairs of elements of the set in one direction or the other while it is called strongly connected if it relates pairs of elements. As described in the terminology section below, the terminology for these properties is not uniform. This notion of "total" should not be confused with that of a total relation in the sense that for all there is a so that (see serial relation).
Equivalence relationIn mathematics, an equivalence relation is a binary relation that is reflexive, symmetric and transitive. The equipollence relation between line segments in geometry is a common example of an equivalence relation. Each equivalence relation provides a partition of the underlying set into disjoint equivalence classes. Two elements of the given set are equivalent to each other if and only if they belong to the same equivalence class.