In mathematics, the reflexive closure of a binary relation on a set is the smallest reflexive relation on that contains A relation is called reflexive if it relates every element of to itself.
For example, if is a set of distinct numbers and means " is less than ", then the reflexive closure of is the relation " is less than or equal to ".
The reflexive closure of a relation on a set is given by
In plain English, the reflexive closure of is the union of with the identity relation on
As an example, if then the relation is already reflexive by itself, so it does not differ from its reflexive closure.
However, if any of the reflexive pairs in was absent, it would be inserted for the reflexive closure. For example, if on the same set then the reflexive closure is
In mathematics, a binary relation associates elements of one set called the domain with elements of another set called the codomain. Precisely, a binary relation over sets and is a set of ordered pairs where is in and is in . It encodes the common concept of relation: an element is related to an element , if and only if the pair belongs to the set of ordered pairs that defines the binary relation.
In 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. A simpler example is equality. Any number is equal to itself (reflexive). If , then (symmetric). If and , then (transitive).
In mathematics, especially order theory, a partial order on a set is an arrangement such that, for certain pairs of elements, one precedes the other. The word partial is used to indicate that not every pair of elements needs to be comparable; that is, there may be pairs for which neither element precedes the other. Partial orders thus generalize total orders, in which every pair is comparable.
In mathematics, especially in order theory, a preorder or quasiorder is a binary relation that is reflexive and transitive. The name preorder is meant to suggest that preorders are almost partial orders, but not quite, as they are not necessarily antisymmetric.
In mathematics, a total order or linear order is a partial order in which any two elements are comparable. That is, a total order is a binary relation on some set , which satisfies the following for all and in :
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. Equality between A and B is written A = B, and pronounced "A equals B". In this equality, A and B are the members of the equality and are distinguished by calling them left-hand side or left member, and right-hand side or right member. Two objects that are not equal are said to be distinct.
In mathematics, a binary relation on a set is reflexive if it relates every element of to itself.
A symmetric relation is a type of binary relation. Formally, a binary relation R over a set X is symmetric if:
In mathematics, a binary 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.
In mathematics, the transitive closureR+ of a homogeneous binary relation R on a set X is the smallest relation on X that contains R and is transitive. For finite sets, "smallest" can be taken in its usual sense, of having the fewest related pairs; for infinite sets R+ is the unique minimal transitive superset of R.
In mathematics, a subset of a given set is closed under an operation of the larger set if performing that operation on members of the subset always produces a member of that subset. For example, the natural numbers are closed under addition, but not under subtraction: 1 − 2 is not a natural number, although both 1 and 2 are.
This is a glossary of some terms used in various branches of mathematics that are related to the fields of order, lattice, and domain theory. Note that there is a structured list of order topics available as well. Other helpful resources might be the following overview articles:
In mathematics, especially order theory, a weak ordering is a mathematical formalization of the intuitive notion of a ranking of a set, some of whose members may be tied with each other. Weak orders are a generalization of totally ordered sets and are in turn generalized by (strictly) partially ordered sets and preorders.
In mathematics, an asymmetric relation is a binary relation on a set where for all if is related to then is not related to
In mathematics, a partial order or total order < on a set is said to be dense if, for all and in for which , there is a in such that . That is, for any two elements, one less than the other, there is another element between them. For total orders this can be simplified to "for any two distinct elements, there is another element between them", since all elements of a total order are comparable.
In mathematics, a homogeneous relation on a set X is a binary relation between X and itself, i.e. it is a subset of the Cartesian product X × X. This is commonly phrased as "a relation on X" or "a (binary) relation over X". An example of a homogeneous relation is the relation of kinship, where the relation is between people.
In mathematics, a relation denotes some kind of relationship between two objects in a set, which may or may not hold. As an example, "is less than" is a relation on the set of natural numbers; it holds, for instance, between the values 1 and 3, and likewise between 3 and 4, but not between the values 3 and 1 nor between 4 and 4, that is, 3 < 1 and 4 < 4 both evaluate to false. As another example, "is sister of" is a relation on the set of all people, it holds e.g. between Marie Curie and Bronisława Dłuska, and likewise vice versa. Set members may not be in relation "to a certain degree" – either they are in relation or they are not.
In mathematics, the symmetric closure of a binary relation on a set is the smallest symmetric relation on that contains
In order theory, the Szpilrajn extension theorem, proved by Edward Szpilrajn in 1930, states that every partial order is contained in a total order. Intuitively, the theorem says that any method of comparing elements that leaves some pairs incomparable can be extended in such a way that every pair becomes comparable. The theorem is one of many examples of the use of the axiom of choice in the form of Zorn's lemma to find a maximal set with certain properties.
In mathematical logic and theoretical computer science, an abstract rewriting system is a formalism that captures the quintessential notion and properties of rewriting systems. In its simplest form, an ARS is simply a set together with a binary relation, traditionally denoted with ; this definition can be further refined if we index (label) subsets of the binary relation. Despite its simplicity, an ARS is sufficient to describe important properties of rewriting systems like normal forms, termination, and various notions of confluence.
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