Transversal (combinatorics)In mathematics, particularly in combinatorics, given a family of sets, here called a collection C, a transversal (also called a cross-section) is a set containing exactly one element from each member of the collection. When the sets of the collection are mutually disjoint, each element of the transversal corresponds to exactly one member of C (the set it is a member of). If the original sets are not disjoint, there are two possibilities for the definition of a transversal: One variation is that there is a bijection f from the transversal to C such that x is an element of f(x) for each x in the transversal.
Hall's marriage theoremIn mathematics, Hall's marriage theorem, proved by , is a theorem with two equivalent formulations. In each case, the theorem gives a necessary and sufficient condition for an object to exist: The combinatorial formulation answers whether a finite collection of sets has a transversal—that is, whether an element can be chosen from each set without repetition. Hall's condition is that for any group of sets from the collection, the total unique elements they contain is at least as large as the number of sets in the group.
