Important Definitions

1. union: The union of the sets A and B, denoted A B, is

A B := {x | x A or x B}.
2. intersection: The intersection of the sets A and B, denoted A B, is
A B := {x | x A and x B}.
3. difference: The difference of the sets A and B, denoted A B, is
A B := {x | x A and x
/ B}.
4. complement: The complement of the set A in the universe U , denoted
A is
A := U A.
5. subset: The set A is a subset of the set B, denoted A B, if every
element of A is an element of B.
A B (x A = x B)
6. set equality: Sets A and B are equal if A B and B A.
A = B (A B, B A)
7. power set: For a set A, the power set of A, denoted P(A), is the set of
all subsets of A.
P(A) := {X | X A}
8. Cartesian product: The Cartesian product of the sets A and B, denoted
A B, is
A B := {(a, b) | a A, b B}.
9. disjoint: Sets A and B are disjoint if A B = .
10. converse: The converse of the proposition p = q is the proposition
q = p.

11. contrapositive: The contrapositive of the proposition p = q is the

proposition q = p.
12. integer: An integer is an element of the set {. . . , 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, . . . }.
13. even: An integer a is even if there is an integer b such that a = 2b.
14. odd: An integer a is odd if there is an integer b such that a = 2b + 1.
15. rational: A real number x is rational if there are integers p, q such that
x = p/q.
16. irrational: A real number is irrational if it is not rational.
17. binary relation: A binary relation R from a set X to a set Y is a subset
of X Y . If (x, y) R then we write xRy. If X = Y then we say that
R is a binary relation on X.
18. function, domain, codomain: A function f from a set X to a set Y ,
denoted f : X Y is a binary relation from X to Y that satisfies the
following property:


x X, !y Y (x, y) f .
Recall that ! means there exists a unique. If (x, y) f then
we also write f (x) = y. The set X is the domain of f and Y is the
codomain of f .
19. range: The range of the function f : X Y , denoted range(f ) is given
by
range(f ) := {y Y | x X(f (x) = y)}.
20. onto: The function f : X Y is onto if it satisfies the following
property:


y Y x X f (x) = y
21. 1-1: The function f : X Y is 1-1 if it satisfies the following property:


x1 , x2 X f (x1 ) = f (x2 ) = x1 = x2
22. bijective: The function f : X Y is bijective if it is 1-1 and onto.

23. composition: The composition of the functions f : X Y and g : Y

Z, is the function g f : X Z given by g f (x) := g(f (x)).
24. inverse: If the function f : X Y is bijective then the inverse of f is
the function f 1 : Y X given by
f 1 (y) = x f (x) = y
25. identity function: The identity function on a set X is the function
idX : X X given by idX (x) = x.
26. interval in Z: An interval in Z is a set of consecutive integers, or
equivalently the intersection of Z and an interval in R.
27. sequence: A sequence s in a set X is a function s : I X where I is
an interval in Z. If I is the interval {j, j + 1, . . . , k}, we often denote s
by {si }ki=j and write si for s(i).
28. increasing, decreasing, non-decreasing, non-increasing: A sequence s :
I R is increasing if it satisfies the following property:


i1 , i2 I i1 < i2 = s(i1 ) < s(i2 ) .
The terms decreasing, non-decreasing, and non-increasing are defined
similarly.
29. subsequence: If s : I X is a sequence then a subsequence of s is a
n
s
sequence of the form J I X where n : J I is an increasing
sequence.
30. sum and product of a sequence: If {si }ki=j is a sequence in R then we
use the following notation:
k
X

si := sj + sj+1 + + sk

i=j

and

k
Y
i=j

si := sj sj+1 . . . sk

31. reflexive: A relation R on a set X is reflexive if

x X(xRx).
32. symmetric: A relation R on a set X is symmetric if
x, y X(xRy = yRx).
33. transitive: A relation R on a set X is transitive if
x, y, z X(xRy, yRz = xRz).
34. composition of relations: If R is a relation from a set X to a set Y and
S is a relation from Y to a set Z, the composition of R and S, denoted
S R, is the relation from X to Z given by
S R := {(x, z) X Z | y Y (xRy, ySz)}.
35. inverse of a relation: If R is a relation from the set X to the set Y ,
then the inverse of R, denoted R1 , is the relation from Y to X given
by
R1 := {(y, x) Y X | (x, y) R}.
36. equivalence relation: A relation on a set is an equivalence relation if it
is reflexive, symmetric, and transitive.
37. equivalence class: If R is and equivalence relation on the set X then
the equivalence class of x X, denoted [x], is given by
[x] := {y X | yRx}.
38. partition: A partition of the set X is a set of subsets of X with the
property that each element of X is in exactly one of the subsets.
39. big oh notation: Suppose f, g : N R. We write f = O(g) if there
is C > 0 such that |f (n)| C|g(n)| for all large enough n N. We
also say that g is an asymptotic upper bound for f .
40. big omega notation: Suppose f, g : N R. We write f = (g) if
there is C > 0 such that |f (n)| C|g(n)| for all large enough n N.
We also say that g is an asymptotic lower bound for f .

41. big theta notation: Suppose f, g : N R. We write f = (g) if

f = O(g) and f = (g). We also say that g is an asymptotic tight
bound for f .
42. recurrence relation: A recurrence relation for the sequence a1 , a2 , . . . is
an expression for an in terms of previous terms.