(A. J. Moakes M.A. (Auth.) ) The Core of Mathematic

THE CORE OF MATHEMATICS
INTRODUCTORY MONOGRAPHS
IN MATHEMATICS
General Editor
A. J. MoAKES, M.A.
Numerical Mathematics A. J. Moakes

Exercises in computing with a desk
calculating machine
Mathematics for Circuits W. Chellingsworth
The Core of Mathematics A.]. Moakes

An introduction to 'modern'
mathematics
THE CORE OF
MATHEMATICS
An introduction to
'modern' mathematics
BY
A. J. MOAKES, M.A.
SENIOR MATHEMATICS MASTER, ST. PAUL's SCHOOL
HAMMERSMITH, LONDON, W.6
Macmillan Education
Copyright © A.J. Moakes 1g64
MACMILLAN AND COMPANY LIMITED

StMartin's Street London WC 2
also Bombay Calcutta Madras Melbourne
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA LIMITED

Toronto
ST MARTIN'S PRESS INC

New Tork
ISBN 978-0-333-04818-4 ISBN 978-1-349-00327-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-00327-3
PREFACE
It is hoped that this short introduction to 'modern' mathematics

will be of value to young students who need or who desire more of
mathematics than to develop power of manipulation and problem-
solving, and to those teachers who have lacked opportunity to come
into contact with this approach.
The work is written at a time when, both in the U.S.A. and on the
continent of Europe, 'modern' teaching programmes are being widely
used and even imposed. In Great Britain and the Commonwealth
there is a certain hesitation about this trend, since up to now British
students at say 19 have met a wider range of techniques than their
opposite numbers elsewhere. In the long run, however, the practical
man is better equipped if he really knows what he is doing. Above all,
at a time when computing and theoretical physics have changed the
outlook of the mathematics user, a modern approach is seen to be not
only fundamental but also highly illuminating and thoroughly useful.
Teachers of experimental syllabuses are surprised at the ready re-
ception of a new approach by quite young children: it has come to
stay, though we do not yet see in what form or to what extent it will
appear in the syllabuses of say ten years hence. This book deals with
the fundamentals of the subject as far as they seem likely to affect
school courses either directly or indirectly in the years immediately
ahead. One would expect that in due course the A-level syllabus in
Pure Mathematics would contain much of the material of this book;
but, more important, it aims to provide a higher-level treatment of
work which in stage-A form is coming into the curriculum of the
younger pupil.
Mathematics is the least suitable of all subjects for passive reading;
accordingly, at all appropriate points in the text there are exercises,
for which solution notes are given at the end of the book.
It is the author's experience that suitable models can provide a great
stimulus to enquiry, and a way to deeper understanding. Suggestions
for various projects of this sort are made in the text; and details are
given in an appendix.
It would be possible to vary the order of study in some minor res-
pects, but the reader is advised to follow the given order as closely as
possible, taking 'the rough with the smooth'. It would however be
practicable to omit the treatment of ordering in Chapter 4, and to sit
v
vi PREFACE
lightly to the derivation of real number in Chapter 5, because one
could, at a first reading, base the remaining work entirely on an in-
intuitive appreciation of these concepts.
Chapter 5 is the most difficult in the sense that there appears to be
less in the way of graphic or tangible material. This will not be the
case for those who have gained insight into the nature of number pro-
cesses by using a desk machine: such readers will be readily able to
appreciate the logic of the integers as presented here.
One is keenly aware that the development of several topics has been
cut short at an early stage. Suggestions for further reading are made
in the Bibliography and elsewhere.
,The author wishes to thank, for their encouragement and criticism,
Dr. K. Gruenberg of Queen Mary College, London, Dr. W. Leder-
mann of the University of Sussex, Dr. G. Matthews of St. Dunstan's
College; and also for help in detailed revision, solutions to examples
and draughtsmanship his pupils Paul Binding, Steven Groak and
John Parker.
St. Paul's School, 1963. A. J. M.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Glossary of Notations viii
Chapter 1. What is mathematics? 1
2. Sets in association: relation and function 5
3. Structure in a set. Groups 28
4. More structure. Relations within a set: order,
equivalence 42
5. Some number-systems and their properties 52
6. The plane as seen by geometer and algebraist: a
joint policy achieved. Vectors, matrices 67
7. The algebra of sets and some applications: logic
into circuits and vice versa 86
8. The structure of a pure geometry 106
Appendix I. Models for the study of Klein's 4-group 111
II. Elastic network for 2 x 2 matrix transformations 115
III. Circuit for a binary adder, with notes on its
Boolean algebra 117
IV. Relay-circuit for demonstrating the 10 basic binary
logic-functions 119
Answers to exercises (with solution-notes) 123
Bibliography 146
Index 150
vii
GLOSSARY OF NOTATIONS
Phrases: V for all; I such that; E (is) in; ¢= (is) not in.
Sets: cp the null set;
J the set of all integers; J+ positive integers; J6 non-negative
integers;
R all rational numbers; R + positive rationals, etc.; R# all real
numbers.
[Where appropriate the same symbols denote fields.]
Laws and relations in sets: only the field symbols +, x, > are stan-
dard. Others(*, p, etc.) are defined whenever used.
Affixes(*' etc.): may have 'local' meanings, but in a given concourse
(Iff), S' means the complement of set S.
p' is the negation of statement p, but some write not-p as "'P·
Laws and relations on sets::::> includes; c is included by; u union;
n intersection; ll symmetric difference.
Logical connections: 1\ (sometimes&), and; V, either or both;
=, has the same truth-value as ... (i.e. <o>);
:;;!: , has not the same truth value as;
~. implies; <=, is implied by (negated as >'>, etc.).
For elements having a law of composition: i (or e) unique identity
element;
x- 1 unique (pre- and post-) inverse of element x.
For functions, etc.:
h: precedes definition of function denoted by h (e.g.
h:J _,.. J, n _,.. n 2 );
h- 1 inverse of function h;
M-1 inverse of matrix M (M' is its transpose);
IMI determinant of (square) matrix M;
A_,.. B (set A) maps into (set B) by rule specified;
~ is in 1-1 correspondence with;
(J, +, >) ~ (S, x, >) denotes correspondence covering the
laws and relations shown, i.e. a homomorphism.
In this book Q has been used for the 3-group of rotations of the
equilateral triangle, and ll for the 6-group of its symmetries.
We have used cursive capitals for defining conditions. For laws:
.91 associativity, C(J closure, .P Latin-Square .f1 existence of an iden-
tity, .f2 existence of unique inverses.
For relations:!!) dichotomy,~ reflexivity, Y symmetry, .r transitivity.
viii
1
INTRODUCTION
The reader will almost certainly prefer doing mathematics to read-

ing about it: so does the writer. We want to make it clear, though, at
the outset that mathematics now casts its net more widely than in
former times. It is concerned not only with 'number and space' but
with any material which can be dealt with in certain precise ways, e.g.,
designing the circuits for a traffic-light system is a mathematical prob-
lem. The thought-patterns, not the subject matter, show us what is
mathematical and what is not.
Our example--which demands more imagination and less pencil-
work than anything else in the book-is an apparatus designed for the
radio-control of the steering of a model boat. The mechanical part
which is installed on the boat is shown by a plan view (Fig. 1.1), and
by a sketch (Fig. 1.2).
There is a transmitter with a press-button, so that a radio pulse or
succession of pulses can be sent. On the boat is a receiver. When a
\Y.:Neutral mark
N
Slotted tiller
R
~ight mark
Fig. 1.1
1
2 THE CORE OF MATHEMATICS
Fig. 1.2
pulse is received an electric motor is switched on and rotates a disc

like the turntable of a record player. Like the motor of the player, this
unit switches itself off, in this case normally after a third of a revolu-
tion. The disc and the linkage by which it controls the rudder are
shown in the diagrams.
The rudder turns about a vertical rudder-post at 0. Integral with
the rudder is a tiller-bar with a slot along most of its length. The
direction of the tiller and rudder are determined by a peg P, con-
strained in the slot. The peg is fixed in, and projects vertically from,
the edge of a horizontal circular disc which rotates about a vertical
axis through its centre. This disc rotates clockwise as seen from
above. It turns through 120° on the receipt of a single radio pulse
which triggers off a relay.
It will be seen that the operator has effective control of the steering
of the moving boat owing to his power to choose at any time to do any
one of three things-(i) nothing; (ii) to send one pulse, which will
cause peg to move to R if it is at N, to L if it is at R, or to N if it is at
L; or (iii) to send two pulses,t with results which can be clearly seen
in each possible case. The sending of three or more pulses in one
operation clearly need not be considered.
This model which we have conceived embodies a mathematical
structure, and will teach us more about the nature of our subject than
any amount of abstract discussion.
We have said that it embodies this structure. Such a structure is
mental. Faced with the mechanism but without explanation we could
derive the mathematics; but the idea existed first in some form in the
mind of the designer. Three things were involved in the final outcome:
the operational problem, the mechanical know-how, and the abstract
'core' of mathematical thought.
t We will suppose that two pulses in quick succession will give a 240° rota-
tion, just as would two with an interval between.
INTRODUCTION 3
We can consider the mathematics alone quite apart from the radio
and mechanical components. By using symbols we can show the struc-
ture, and hence derive in compact form all the properties of the
system.
We have just three positions for the disc and its peg, indicated on
the figure by a pointer which can stop at marks N, R, L: correspond-
ing to these we have three positions of the tiller and rudder system:
we have called these n, r and !-neutral, right and left for the tiller.
We have also the distinct actions which can be taken by the control-
ler at any time, viz.: to send one pulse or two pulses, or to leave the
situation unchanged. It would be possible to symbolise these three by
1, 2 and 0; but if we started to treat these symbols in our accustomed
ways we should soon be in such trouble that it is wiser to write ex, {3, y
respectively.
The properties of the system can be shown in terms of these sets of
symbols, thus: operation ex changes n to r, or r to l, or l to n.
If we write the initial and final positions of the rudder in a bracket
we may say
ex corresponds to (n, r), (r, l) and (1, n)

f3 (r, n), (1, r) and (n, l)
'Y (n, n), (1, l) and (r, r).
There is no connection between ex or f3 or y and single members of

the set of positions. This is evidently tied up with the fact that ex, {3, y
represent actions. This leads us to another line of enquiry: what hap-
pens if two such actions are carried out in succession? For example,
we see that operation ex followed by ex produces the same effect as {3.
Ex. 1.1 The reader should think out all the nine possible combina-
tions and summarise them in a table such as is shown partially
completed here:
ex f3 'Y (First operation)
ex f3 ex The single operation which
Second { is equivalent to the two in
f3 ex succession is to be placed in
operation 'Y ex the appropriate square.
(The full solution is found in the notes at the end of the book.)
It will be seen in subsequent chapters that sets of abstract symbols

such as these may represent a great variety of practical situations. We
shall consider them as they arise, and shall draw this introduction to
a close by summarising the sets which we have derived from our

model:
(i) A set of positions (n, l, r) of the rudder which correspond one-to-
one to positions N, L, R of the indicator on the disc. The phrase one-
to-one, often written 1-1, implies that to any member of either set
there corresponds one and only one in the other.
(ii) A set of nine ordered pairs of positions of the rudder-(n, n)
(n, 1) (n, r) (l, n) etc.-corresponding to all the possible decisions
which can be made by the controller in the course of manreuvring his
boat; to keep it unchanged in a certain position is just as much a deci-
sion as to change it to another.
(iii) The set of three actions a, {3, y which can be taken by the con-
troller. Each action corresponds to three of the decisions in (ii).
The third set differs radically from the first in that it has a law of
combination, e.g.: if action a (one pulse) is required, and by accident
f3 ( = two pulses) is done, the right result can be obtained by doing f3
again. If we use the symbol EB to indicate combination we could write
f3 EB f3 = a. (This explains why we rejected the numerals as 2ymbols;
2 EB 2 = 1 would have been very confusing.)
A symbol for combination has been used which has a certain sugges-
tion of 'plus' : it has been safe to do this because this combination has
one thing in common with addition, viz. that the order in which the
actions are carried out makes no difference to the result. This feature
(called commutativity) is by no means always true of operations, as
the reader should verify by considering D (doubling) and S (squar-
ing) applied to integers. In trying this out, the reader will find a
bracket notation convenient for showing the order of operations, e.g.
D(SS) means D(ZS), i.e. 50; or more consistently we should write
D{S(S)} so that each operating symbol is followed, in a bracket, by the
number on which it acts.
Having examined a simple mechanism which is precise enough to
be studied mathematically, and which has generated some ideas about
sets, we shall go on in the next two chapters to develop more fully-
with as many concrete examples as possible-the theory of sets.
2
SETS IN ASSOCIATION:
RELATION AND FUNCTION
2.1 What exactly is a set?

The idea of a set is a very simple one. If we put together a collec-
tion of objects which are distinguishable from one another and from all
objects outside the collection, they are said to comprise a set, and are
members of the set.
To clarify the picture we used the word 'object', as if a member of
a set can always be handled. We have already seen in the set {a, {3, y}
of Chapter 1 an example to the contrary. There is no limitation on the
character of the members, and they are called by the neutral term ele-
ments: we only demand that there must be something about them
which distinguishes them.
A perfectly legitimate set would be:
{the number 73, the Nelson column, the quality of mercy}
but we are not likely to find much of interest unless a set is chosen
from elements which themselves have something in common, i.e.
from a larger collection which might be the positive integers, the
public monuments in London postal area, or quotations from Shake-
speare. Such a background set, within which we are for the time
working, is often called the concourse (or, less happily, the universal
set).
For elements of the concourse to comprise a certain set S we must
be able to test each element to see whether it belongs to S or not. If
the elements of S are listed, this is easy; but S may be defined in
another way, viz. that its members possess a certain property, which
is called the defining property of the set. One of the sets already named
is an example of this. If our concourse is the set of public monuments
in Great Britain, then it is highly likely that there is a list of those
which are in London. If we go further and define a subset of these by
the property of being more than 12 feet high, there is certainly no list;
but the set is well-defined by this height property.
Distinguishability among the members of a set has occasionally to
5
be watched, e.g. the members of a collection of loose roller-bearings

may be indistinguishable on ordinary inspection and do not qualify as
a set, but they are clearly distinguishable by their positions after
assembly in the bearing, and then comprise a set.
2.2 Definitions and notations used in set-theory

Before going on to do things with sets, some definitions and nota-
tions will be necessary.
If an element p is a member of a set S, we can also say that 'p be-
longs to S' or 'pis inS', and we write
pES (read this as 'p is in S').
If another element q is not in S we write

q ¢ S, i.e. q 'is not in' S.
The symbols p, q used above must be taken to represent members

of the concourse, i.e. the large set which contains all the elements with
which we are concerned. Those sets which come up often in our work
are given symbols, always capital letters, e.g.:
V is the set of all points of a given plane,

J + is the set of all positive integers and
Jt is the set J +, together with zero.
This allows us to write many set-specifications quite shortly, e.g. a set
S may consist of those members of J + which are less than or equal to
5. With the help of a sign I for 'such that', we write S as
{neJ+ In~ 5}.
The symbol n is here a place-holder for every member in turn of J+.

Those which satisfy the condition are taken and the others are dis-
qualified for membership of S.
Let us define a setS' as {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, or equally well as {5, 3, 2, 4, 1}
since order plays no part in a set definition. Then S and S' have the
same memb,ers, and we write
S = S'.
The new thing in this equation is the sign 'equals'. Two sets are
defined to be equal sets if and only if they consist of the same members.
This is the most thorough form of equality one can have: they are
only equal if they are the same! This is not however to say that the
statementS = S' is valueless. Far from it: a great many mathematical
SETS IN ASSOCIATION: RELATION AND FUNCTION 7
results are expressed in this form, viz. that a set defined in one way is
the same as the set defined in another way. Here is an example:
{n E Jt I n(n + l)(n - 2) 2 = 0} = {0, 2}.
The reader is familiar with the solution of equations, and will recog-
nise the right hand side as the listed form of the set of those solutions
of the equation n(n + l)(n - 2) 2 = 0 which are appropriate here.
The set {0, 2} is called the solution-set of the equation in the set J6 of
non-negative integers.
Notice that we are not permitted to write the solution set as {0, 2, 2},
because the integer 2 either is or is not a member of the set: it cannot
be a member twice. (But in the treatment of algebraic curves we
sometimes need to recall that this member arose from two equal
factors.)
2.3 The null set

Before we go on, the reader is reminded that sets can be made up
of any kind or kinds of elements. We are using mainly numerical sets
to develop our notations because it allows us to do so concisely.
Consider
S = {n E J+ In:::; 0}.
There is clearly no member of J+ which satisfies the defining condi-
tion. S is therefore a set with no members, i.e. it is an empty set. We
can go further and say it is the empty set, since all empty sets are
equal. The name preferred is the null set, and it is written 0 (phi).
Thus
{n E J+ In :::; 0} = 0.
This statement is read thus: 'The set of n belonging to J+, such that n
is less than or equal to zero, is phi.'
Ex. 2.1 Find the solution sets of:

(a) {n E J,j I n :::; 0},
(b) {neJ+ J (n- l)(n + 2) < 0}.
Write in symbolic form and also as a solution set the following:
(c) The set of n belonging to J+ such that (2n - 1)(2n - 5) = 0
(d) (Using J for the set of all integers, positive, negative or zero)
the set of m belonging to J such that m4 = 1.
Notice that the solution set, if non-empty, is a list of specific numbers;
so that the symbol m or n (or whatever it may be) is shown to be a
place-holder only, to link the parts of the set-specification: e.g. in Ex.

2.1 (a) it secures that whatever member of Jti is being considered, this
member is being tested against the condition that it must be less than
or equal to zero.
In the examples given the specification has two parts, but it may
have more. E.g.
{n; n = 2p - 1 I p E J+}
is the set of positive odd numbers. The punctuation between the
three parts can be variously written. (Every statement which follows
the initial symbol is a condition which has to be satisfied, and so long
as they are clearly separated the actual separation marks used are not
important.)
Another example is the set of ordered pairs (n, n), (n, l) etc. from
our boat example in Chapter 1. We know already what the symbols
n, l, r represent. If we write P = {n, l, r}, then the set of nine ordered
pairs could either be listed as in Chapter 1 or written as
{(x, y) I x, yEP}.
Here x and y are placeholders for every member in turn of the set
P. It is understood that every combination occurs, including those in
which x andy represent the same member of P.
2.4 Subsets
When we considered subsets at first, we pictured the selection of
some members of a set and the rejection of others. We must look at
the process again in terms of an extra condition to be satisfied for the
member to belong to the subset. Consider
S = {m; m = n 2 I n E J}
which is the set of perfect squares.
We may impose a further condition, e.g. m > 10, to get a subset.
There is no question of our being able to list completely either S or
the subset in this case, but the condition is quite clear, and gives a sub-
set which is neither equal to S nor is it empty; it is therefore called a
proper subset of S.
If the extra condition were m ~ 0, then all members of S would
belong to the subset, i.e. the subset is equal to the set itself. On the
other hand we can choose to impose a condition which is impossible
to satisfy, and obtain a subset which is the null set. Thus the null set is
a subset of every set.
Ex. 2.2 (a) Suggest different forms of conditions which will form
from the set {2, J!, -4, 7} the respective subsets: (i) {2, 3-!, 7},
(ii) {2, -4, 7}, (iii) {2, 7}, (iv) {2, - 4}, (v) {- 4}, (vi) 10, (vii) the
whole set.
(b) Devise some form of condition which, imposed on any set
to define a subset, will always give 0.
2.5 Sets in association

The sets which we have considered in 2.1 to 2.4 have shown how
the set-language is used. They have not had any striking properties in
themselves. One way in which interest arises, as has been suggested in
Chapter 1, is when two or more sets have some kind of association
between them.
Consider a man in public life, a diplomat perhaps, who has a num-
ber of suits in his wardrobe (including those for official as well as for
private wear). We will suppose that every pair of trousers has only one
jacket with which it can be worn.
Ex. 2.3 Does this imply that every jacket has only one pair of trousers
with which it can be worn? (The reader should notice that if he
thinks the answer to be 'no' it only requires one 'counter-
example' to prove his case, i.e. one example of a wardrobe in
which a jacket has more than one pair of trousers and still fulfils
the original conditions.)
The diplomat's younz daughter expends her dress allowance on

'separates'; i.e. she has a set of skirts and jeans in a cupboard C and a
set of pullovers in a drawer D. We shall use C and D as names for the
sets.
If every member of C could be used with every member of D, no
thought would be needed in associating them. The situation would
have, too, no mathematical interest. What gives it interest in both
senses is that there are some which do not go together, but that every
member of C will probably go with several of D and vice versa. A
relation is said to exist between the sets. Such a relation may vary from
almost full variety down to a one-to-one correspondence-the condi-
tion of the diplomat if he always bought suits of distinct patterns with
only one pair of trousers to each jacket.
We are not content to use the word relation in a vague way. In this
case it is the complete set of outfits which can be worn. This is a proper
subset of the complete set of pairs of type (c, d), i.e. a subset of
S = {(c, d); c E C, dE D}.
Thus a relation between sets C, D is defined as a stated proper subset

of the full set of ordered pairs from C, D.
Ex. 2.4 Form a significant relation for the matching of the garments
by putting a tick in some but not all of the squares of the follow-
ing table:
Members
of C
Blue Fawn Green Red
jeans tights skirt skirt
Brown
Black
Members
ofD Dark red
(pullovers)
Pink
Blue
I
There is no 'right' answer to Ex. 2.4 but a possible one is given in

the solutions. Even if the colours were specified precisely, some of the
entries would vary according to the taste of the reader: the important
point to note is that the reader's solution sets up a precise relation
between two sets.
The contrast between the daughter's wardrobe and her father's is
brought out by the fact, highly satisfactory to her, that she can show
examples of both the following:
(a) at least one pullover wearable with more than one garment from
her set of skirts, etc., and
(b) at least one of the latter set which can be worn with more than
one pullover.
Such a state of affairs is characteristic of a relation of the most
general type. We shall consider in the next section more restricted
types, of which her father's wardrobe is an example. It will be suffici-
ent to point out here that a great many statistical data take the form
shown in Ex. 2.4.
A statistical example would be the recorded height and weight
measurements of a set of men: each man would contribute one ord-
ered pair of measures to the relation. (We do not here consider the
complication which arises when more than one man gives rise to the
same ordered pair.)
NOTE: We have not considered the possibility that a member of one
set might not appear in the relation at all. But if in fact the girl had a
purple pullover which wouldn't go with anything else she would prob-
ably get rid of it. In a similar way we should usually 're-define set D'
to get rid of such troublesome members; but not always.
Ex. 2.5 Remembering that a relation is a set of ordered pairs chosen

from two given sets, consider which of the following pairs of sets
have relations over them, and if so which of them could be
general relations in the sense of Ex. 2.4, i.e. that at least one mem-
ber of set A has more than one 'mate' in B and that at least one
member of set B has more than one mate in A:
(i) The children in a school class, and the set of their parents.
(ii) The children in a school, and the set of teachers in charge
of classes.
(State clearly on what principle your ordered pairs are
formed.)
(iii) A set of music pupils and the set of kinds of instrument
which they learn.
(iv) The set of animals in a zoo and the set of planets.
(v) The set of animals in a zoo and the set of their cages or
other enclosures.
2.6 One-to-one correspondence over two sets

The most stringent relation which can exist over two sets A, B is
a one-to-one correspondence. This requires every member of A to be
paired with only one member of B, and every member of B with only
one member of A. (Both conditions (a) and (b) of Ex. 2.4 are then vio-
lated, andfurthermore we do not admit any unpaired member; so that
every member of both sets enters once and only once into the relation.)
By contrast with our earlier examples, the square grid is not always
the best way of showing this relation on a diagram. We may use the
following, which has the advantage that the members of each set are
not seen in any particular order:
Fig. 2.1
In practice we commonly order sets in some way for our conveni-

ence, e.g. the surnames of boys in a class are listed alphabetically.
There is clearly a one-to-one correspondence between the set of boys
and the set of their full names and we use this fact so often that we
sometimes speak as if they and their names were the same set: the
mathematician Lewis Carroll pokes fun at this confusion in the con-
versation between Alice and the Mock Turtle about a song and its
name and what the name of it is called I
Ex. 2.6 Is there a one-to-one correspondence between:
(a) names (in full as printed) and numbers in the telephone
directory of a large city?
(b) book titles-or, to be more precise, book catalogue cards-
and volumes, in a public library?
(c) motor vehicles entitled to travel on public roads in Britain,
and car registration 'numbers'?
(By 'a number' is meant a series of letters and figures written
on a current taxation disc.)
(d) names and prices in the following wine-list?
s. d.
Cadoza 15 6
Medoc 90
Egri 10 9
Orvieto 12 6
Beaujolais 9 3
Graves 9 0
In each ofthe cases in which you consider that a one-to-one corres-
pondence does not exist, state clearly whether it fails in one or more of
the following ways:
(i) because some member of A or of B is unpaired;
(ii) because some member of set A has more than one mate in B;
(iii) because some member of set B has more than one mate in A.
Ex. 2.7 We may name situation (ii) of the previous question as a

one-many correspondence, provided there are no examples of
situation (iii). Similarly the situation (iii), existing without (ii),
can be called many-one. Consider whether any of Ex. 2.6(a) to (d)
can be called by either of these names; and consider also (e) the
set of wine-bottles in cellar of the restaurant, in relation to the set
of names, and also (f) the set of prices, in relation to the set of
bottles.
2.7 Functions
We have seen examples of sets in association, ranging from the
stringency of 1-1 correspondence to the multiplicity of the relation
which was discussed in section 2.5.
We shall now consider a function, which is a relation subject to the
following requirements, not so restrictive as 1-1 correspondence, viz.
that every member of set A shall enter into it, and that each member
of A shall have a unique mate in set B.
The pattern of a function can be shown very clearly as in the follow-
ing diagram:
Fig. 2.2
This represents a function defined over set A into set B. Every
member of A is included: otherwise the function would not be de-
fined 'over' A. Furthermore every member of A has a unique mate in
B. This is like saying that every Moslem wife has a unique husband:
she has one, no more and no less, but another woman may have him
as a husband, too!
The relation shown by this diagram is not a function over B into A,
nor would it be if we dropped the 'spare men' from B. Marking
arrow-heads on the lines would help to remind us that the relation is
only a function when considered from set A to set B.
Another name for a function is a mapping. Set A is said to be mapped
into set B. If there are no spare members of B the mapping is said to
be onto B: the word into includes onto as a special case.
Simple examples of functions are shown by the following diagrams,
in which the 'currant bun' method of showing the sets has been
replaced by ordering along lines: this is forced upon us in the later
examples.
The set (A above) over which the function is defined is called its
domain, and set B is called the range.
Ex. 2.8 (a) Eight children at a party compared notes about their
summer holidays. The diagram shows where each had been:
Names of children
ABC DE F G H
v
~~))
,f/
c:§l
"'~"<:' ,_o<:<
<()e; <c?~
'?cP o"-.;
Fig. 2.3
This is a function over which set, into (or onto?) which set?
Which way should the arrows go?
(b) This diagram shows the wages in shillings per week for a
certain firm's apprentices, 'as a function of' the number of com-
pleted years of employment.
Weekly wage in shillings
Completed years
Fig. 2.4
What can you say about the direction of the arrows? Could you
give a name to this kind of mapping in view of two special things
about it?
(c) This diagram shows the cost of postage in Britain for par-
cels of all admissible weights:
Cost of postage
Weight of parcel in pounds
Fig. 2.5
The function is defined for every weight w in 0 < w ~ 22, the

cost being as shown. There is no ambiguity: for example 3s. 6d.
is the cost if w exceeds 6 but not 8. Notice that the domain in this
case has an infinite number of members, whereas the range has 11
only.
(d) This diagram shows in outline the form of the relation
between the set of positions of a car on a journey from Bristol to
London and the set of times during the journey:
Hour-hand
position
Fig. 2.6
It is apparent that time maps uniquely into position, but the pro-
longed stop at Marlborough makes it impossible for us to consider a
function the other way.
We will conclude this section with a more formal treatment.
DEFINITION. Given two sets X andY, a function is a set of ordered pairs
(x, y) where x E X, y E Y; and every member of X appears once and once
only.
(If the final provision is omitted, this is the formal definition of a
relation; which shows that a function is a special kind of relation.)
The set X is the domain and set Y the range. We have seen that
some members of Y may not appear: if we take the set Y', made up of
all the y's which do appear, we may call this the strict range. The func-
tion is then said to be onto the set Y' whereas it was into Y.
Since every member x of set X appears only once in the set of ord-
ered pairs (x, y), it has a unique mate in set Y. This mate is called the
image of x in set Y. The image of x could be written .Jf(x); but any
symbol, followed by x in brackets, may be used. Most commonly the
reader will have seen f(x) as the notation for a function.
The image y, or f(x), has x as its original; but we have seen that a
member of the range may have more than one original in the domain.
We have identifiedy with f(x). This statement has a familiar look;
but it should be realised that we have conceived the notion of function
in a way which is more comprehensive than is commonly associated
with this notation. An extreme example would be shown by writing
9s. = f(Medoc), the function being defined by our wine list in Ex. 2.6.
Naturally, many functions are defined with the aid of a formula
rather than a list of ordered pairs; but if we use a rule or formula it
must be accompanied by the statement of the domain over which the func-
tion is defined, and the range is commonly specified also. An example
is the following, R being a symbol for the set of rational numbers:
f: J ~ R where f(x) = cos (60x 0 ).
The symbol f is the 'name' by which the function is to be known.
After the colon we state the domain, and the range into which the
mapping takes place. Finally the rule or formula is stated, which
shows how the mapping is carried out.
Figs. 2.1 to 2.6 have exhibited functions by means of arrowed lines
joining originals to their images. At first sight this may seem a far cry
from the graphical methods used by scientists and others; but this is
not the case, as will now be shown.
132 ----------------~
:
I
8c:
...
I
I
0.
;
I
.5 I
... 110 ---------<?-- -----+------~
"+:
: :
I I I
] :
o I o
:g 100 ---------:-------+------~---9
0 I I I I
Q
!
1 I I I
96 ---------~------t---<jl
!
I
8 I : I
d: 90
I
---------,·-~
:
'
l : !
12 13 17 21 23 27
Fig. 2.7
The wine-waiter at a restaurant uses not the names of the wines but
the numbers which stand against them. Each such number x maps
into a pricey (in pence, say). Every ordered pair (x, y) can be plotted,
as in Fig. 2. 7, in which the pattern of points may remind us of the ticks
---. -·- --------- -~ ------------- ------~

I
'
-------~-------1 !
-----------------1---
I
-~--------..q
Range
: +
0 I
~:-~~""!-- .. ·--+------~
1
I
1 I f I
i'
I
! ~ :
I
4 I 'I
I
:
'
'
I
'
'
I :
Domain
Fig. 2.8
in a relation pattern (see solution to Ex. 2.4). But they do more than
this: they show clearly how a series of arrows can be drawn to map
members of an X-set (the domain) into a Y-set (the range) as is
shown in Fig. 2.8.
A function of two argumentst is shown in the next two diagrams.
It is given by the expression
A = 100 (1 + rjlOO)n
which is the 'amount' of £100 invested at r% compound interest for n
years. We take integral r and n, and show values of A first in a table
(Fig. 2.9); and next by a perspective diagram representing a three-
dimensional model (Fig. 2.10).
Values of A
(in boxes)
etc.
4 104·06
c:
0
..""' 3 103·03 106·12
~ 2 102·01 104·04 106·09
101 102 103 104
2 3 4 etc.
Values of r
Fig. 2.9
(106·09)
Values of A
shown os heights
(A)
(102)
(101)
2~~-----+--~-------7
(r)
Fig. 2.10
t We use the word argument rather than 'variable' to specify the place-holding
symbols in a domain: it is the term now used in all tables of functions.
In Fig. 2.10 it is clear that the domain of the function is a set of

ordered pairs (r, n). They are shown as points on the plane. The dots
in space perform the same service as in Fig. 2.8, of directing the eye to
the value of A into which each pair maps.
We will conclude this section with examples of graphs of functions
familiar in algebra and trigonometry, to show that they accord with
our set-theory definition. The domain is in each case clearly indicated,
and some of the mapping arrows are shown, to emphasise how the
graph must be read.
Example 1
xeJ.
~------~4~----~
.,
"'c:
0
a:
-2 2
Domain (J)
Fig. 2.11
Example 2
x - x2 , x e R#, the set of all real numbers.
(The nature of R# is discussed in Chapter 5. It is the domain implied
for continuous graphs.)
x-...x 2,
x t: R#, the set of
reel numbers
Domain (R#)
represented by the whole x-axis
Fig. 2.12
The curve is regarded as made up of points, each of which is an
ordered pair (x, y), where x E R#, y E R#, andy = x 2•
Example 3
X - COS X,
Graph of the function y =cos x

Fig. 2.13
All points of the x-axis map into they-axis and exhibit the function
y = cos x, x in radians. The strict range is AB.
Ex. 2.9 (a) Show that y = v'(1 - x 2 ) can be used to define a func-
tion. State a suitable domain and range.
(b) Show that x 2 + y 2 = 1 does not define a function over the
set {x; x E R#, -1 ~ x ~ 1} as domain. Does it establish any
sort of association between the set of x's and a similar set of y's,
to which a set-theory name can be given?
The modern usage compels one to state exactly what one is doing,
no more and no less. The student will find that it is the business of
higher algebra and (especially) analysis, to consider the character,
over domains of greater extent or complexity, of functions which are
familiar over simple domains. An example is the function f(x) = a"',
which is considered first over J+, then J, and subsequently over the
sets of rational, real and complex numbers. (Each of these domains is
an extension of the previous one: the precise meanings of the terms
italicised are developed in later chapters.)
2.8 Conditions for existence of an inverse function

Look again at the functions exhibited in Figs. 2.3 to 2.6 on pp. 13
to 15. It is clear that we can only reverse the arrows and still have a
function in a case like that of Fig. 2.4, where a one-to-one correspond-
ence occurs.
To state a theorem precisely, we must define the inverse of a rela-

tion as the set of pairs obtained by reversing the order of every pair, i.e.
setting it out in form (y, x).
The inverse relation is a function if every y appears just once. It is
clear therefore that a function can have an inverse if and only if every
x has one y and every y has one x, i.e. if it is a one-one correspondence.
It is clear that since there are no unpaired members in either set,
the domain and the strict range interchange.
We shall apply this result at once to the examples shown in Figs.
2.11 to 2.13, on pp. 18 and 19.
(1) In Fig. 2.11 x-+ x 2 , x E J. The strict range is the set of perfect
squares. This fails to give an inverse mapping into J, even if we are
careful to take the set of perfect squares as the domain, because there is
no unique image.
We can however define a square-root function into the range J6. It
will be clear from this example why an alternative name for a one-one
correspondence is a 'reversible mapping'.
(2) In Fig. 2.12 we have again no unique destination for an arrow
from a given point on they-axis and thus no inverse mapping into the
set R# of real numbers. Again we can define a square-root function,
this time on and into the set of non-negative real numbers, and this is
what is meant by the function symbol y in the expression v x, de-
fined over domain {x E R#, x ~ 0}.
(Notice that yin does not define a
function over J+ unless we have as
range the set of real numbers.)
(3) Fig. 2.13 shows a very practical
example. We have y = cos x. Can we
give a meaning to the statement x =
cos -ly? The answer is yes, provided (i)
the set of points in AB becomes the
domain, i.e. the argument lies in
-1 ~ y ~ 1, and (ii) the range of the
-1
function is chosen so as to prevent
Range (8) ambiguity, by removing, e.g. the point
Graph af the function 9 = cos- 1 u R as a destination. The conventional
Fig. 2.14 range is 0 ~ x ~ 7T as shown in Fig.
2.14.
We have seen that if and only if a 1-1 correspondence· exists be-
tween damain and range then an inverse function exists. Consider the
following example. The 1-1 correspondence between the set P of per-
sons registered as voters in a certain edition of the registers and the
set N of their polling code-numbers implies that we can affirm the
existence of two functions which are inverses, and which can be
written
The function f can be expressed in words as 'having a poll-num-

ber' and can only be applied to persons in a certain set of persons,
while f- 1 is 'corresponding to a registered person' and only applies
to numbers in a certain set of numbers.
Ex. 2.10 (a) I is the set of inhabitants of an area at the time of a poll,
and V of voting-papers handed in at a general election. Set up as
many functions as possible between the sets I, P, N, V and des-
cribe each in words.
(b) F: J-+ A with F(n) = 2 cos (60nt + 2. Give a specifica-
tion of the set A if the function is onto A, and specify another such
set A', in any suitable form, if the function is into A'. When a
function is defined over a set, J for example, it is also defined
over any subset of this set. Specify a subset of J over which F
(above) is defined and is 1-1. What can you state about the rela-
tion of sets A, A' to each other ?
(c) The following is a salary scale.
Completed years Annual salary (£)

of service
0 800
1 830
2 860
3 890
4 950
5 1010
6 1040
7 1070
8 1100
9 1130
10 1160
11 1190
12 1220
13 or more 1250
Show that this satisfies the condition for a function, and specify
the~domain and range. Does an inverse function exist?
Ex. 2.11 Taking as both domain and range the set W of all women
whether now living or not,t consider whether functions can be
set up under the title 'being mother of', 'being daughter of' and
'being sister of'. What would be the effect in each instance of (i)
extending the range to include all men, (ii) taking the set of men
as the range?
Ex. 2.12 (a) A man in hospital plays a series of games of patience

with playing cards. Taking the set of decided games as the
domain, state a suitable range so that a relevant function can be
defined, and define the function.
(b) Modify (a) if your domain is extended to include games
which are started but not played to a decision.
(c) Taking a football team's fixture-list as your domain, define
a suitable range and a function based on the season's results.
(Your range will probably require four members.)
Ex. 2.13 We have seen in Ex. 2. 7 that there is a one-many relation

between names and telephone numbers in a large directory; be-
cause, e.g. there is more than one person listed with a common
name such as 'Brown, John' and each has a number.
Show that by choosing suitable base-sets X, Y, Z here, we can
derive (i) a set of ordered triples (or triads), (ii) a 1-1 correspond-
ence.
Ex. 2.14 which follows is a case in which the elements of the ordered
pair are drawn from the same set. Developing Ex. 2.12(c), we consider
the competitive fixtures of a self-contained football league. It is
assumed that no team plays two home matches against the same
opposing team:
Ex. 2.14 (a) Specify the domain and range, and show how to exhibit
the function.
(b) Describe in set-theory language the relation between (i)
the content of the 'classified football results' page of one Satur-
day newspaper-disregarding the actual number of goals scored;
and (ii) the content of a forecast, as made e.g. on a pools' coupon.
NOTE: The term value of a function has been used in this section.
When the range is a set of numbers this is always appropriate, and it
is used by some writers where the range is not a set of numbers.
t Eve, for simplicity, should be disregarded in this problem I
2.9 Implication
With the aid of precise definitions of terms, we have now developed
a mathematical apparatus which is, characteristically, applicable to a
variety of real situations. In building this apparatus we have used the
familiar processes of verbal logic, and we shall continue to do so,
although at a later stage we may look more closely at its structure: it
might turn out to be in some sense mathematical.
At this stage we must be content if we can use this logic correctly,
avoiding verbal pitfalls.
It has been pointed out that the word 'link' (used as a metaphor in
connection with 1-1 correspondence) is misleading if we apply it to
functional connection, where we need to write an arrow. Now it so
happens that the same link metaphor is used, and carried a stage
further, in the phrase 'a chain of argument'. This is misleading for the
same reason, as has been found to their cost by many young mathe-
maticians.
The statements which form the elements of an argument are set out
of course in serial form, but the argument also has a direction. We
often make this direction clear in speech; e.g. a cause-and-effect
situation is shown more clearly by 'If you touch that, you will get an
electric shock' than if we reverse the order of the sentences.
This practice of setting statements in order is familiar in the tradi-
tional geometry, sometimes in the form 'because p, then q' and more
often thus:
'p, :. q' where p and q stand for statements
e.g. p might stand for 'ABC: LMN are congruent'
and q for 'AC = LN'
or p ='0 is the centre of the circle Sand M is the midpoint of the
chord AB of S'
and q ='OM j_ AB'.
There is an increasing tendency wherever statements are not too
cumbersome (i.e. wherever concise symbolic forms can be used), for
the arrow which is implicit in the logic to be shown as such, thus:
p => q (read as 'p implies q').
This symbol warns the reader unmistakably that we should com-
mit a grave error, given only that q is a true statement, to assert any-
thing about the truth of p.t
t This is not to say that a certain kind of information about q may not tell us
something about p.
In fact not-q ;> not-p.
An example from elementary algebra is:

X= 2 ~ x2 = 4.
However, where a step in an argument can be reversed, i.e.
where two statements are equivalent, we can indicate it as shown in
this example:
x 2 = 4 ~ (x + 2)(x - 2) = 0.
This way of writing a piece of algebra lays bare very clearly the way
in which our statements are logically connected, but it has still to be
supplemented in a very essential way. It is a fruitless exercise to try
to convince a reader by a logical argument unless we are agreed from
the first on what we are arguing about. The symbol x in the above
work is a place-holder for any member of a certain background set;
but what is this set? We must state it clearly at the beginning, e.g.
xeJ.
In making further statements about x we narrow it down to subsets
of the background set. In solving equations the goal is an explicit
(listed) statement of the solution set, as it is called.
Example: To solve x 2 = 4 in the set of natural numbers.
Solution:
x2 = 4 ~ (x - 2)(x + 2) = 0
~ x = 2 or -2.
But x = 2 or -2} X= 2.
xeJ+
~
This may seem a heavy apparatus for so little and so obvious a

result: it is given to show how if it is necessary to write the whole
argument, it can be done. In practice such elementary steps are
omitted, and we write down results such as
{xeJ I x2 = 4} = {-2,2}
and {x E J I x2 = 5} = 0.
Another example is: to solve x E J, x 2 > 2x + 3.
=(x -
Solution:
x2 - 2x - 3 3)(x + 1)
(x - 3)(x + 1) > 0 ~ x > 3 or x < -1.
The solution set comprises integers > 3 and integers < - 1; or,
formally, the union of the disjointt sets
{x E J Ix > 3} and {x E J I x < -1}.
t Disjoint sets are those which have no common member: the term union for
such sets is self-explanatory. For a more general definition see Chapter 7.
Ex. 2.15 (a) x, y E J.
(A)
To solve{~;(;}~)(;_· 5) ·= 0 (B).
Here is a student's solution. Criticise and if necessary amend
it:
B => y = 0 or x = 5
{;: =~
-1 or
{xy = 510/3.
X=
A, B => { ; : ~ or or
=
(b) Solve the above problem with (A) revised to read 2x = 3y

+1.
Ex. 2.16 (a) We are concerned with three assertions concerning the
sets S and T. Any one of these may be true or false.
p =there exists a function from S into T,
=
=there exists a function from T into S.
q there exists a 1-1 correspondence between S and T,
r
What statements of implication can be made? (It is possible to
write six, if we exclude the trivial p => p etc. How many are
valid ?)t
(b) The statement p* is to be taken to mean p with 'onto' sub-
stituted for 'into'; and similarly we derive r* from r. How many
further valid implications can be made?
In Ex. 2.16( a) and (b) the reader should realise that he is only
asserting validity; which he will be doing on the basis of insight, with
or without the help of diagrams of specific cases. Such a diagram,
used e.g. to examine the validity of q => p, would not prove its validity,
which involves all possible cases to which the statements could be
applied (though it might well suggest lines on which on general proof
could be attempted). However, a single instance in which sis true and
t is not would suffice to prove that s => t is not valid. Such an instance
is called a counter-example.
2.10 Finite and infinite sets

The concept of a set, used in a precise form as in this chapter, is due
to the German mathematician Cantor. He saw that, by starting mathe-
matics on a basis of a simple structure and developing it, one could
t We use valid in connection with implications, and true or untrue with state-
ments. A wrong implication is useless always; but a valid one will yield results in
the light of whatever information is given about the truth or falsity of the state-
ments involved in it.
2
show the nature of mathematical entities, e.g. number, better than by

regarding them as born full-grown, 'rising like Venus from the foam'.
In particular, sets as defined do not have to be finite: it is not as-
serted that if we choose to list the members we must necessarily come
to an end. As a result Cantor was able to make his way through some
mathematical situations where others had fallen into difficulties with
the word 'infinity'.
Cantor took as his reference-set the set we have designated J+,
which he regarded as what we have called a set of 'names (or symbols)
for listing'. We suppose a method by which the symbols can be
developed indefinitely. The decimal notation provides a method based
on only ten kinds of symbol.
He regarded counting a finite set as the setting-up of a 1-1 corres-
pondence between it and the appropriate set of numerals (1 ton, say).
It was of course necessary for him to show that counting must give a
unique result.
Ex. 2.17 (a) Show that two sets which have 1-1 correspondences
with a third set have one with each other.
(b) Use this to show that a set cannot have a count of n and
also of n' where n '# n'.
Cantor developed this to include infinite sets. He. defined an equiva-
lence,t under the title 'having the same cardinal number', for sets
which can be put in 1-1 correspondence. Where the sets are finite,
this cardinal number is one of the familiar integers. Where one of the
sets is J+, he gave a new symbol N0 (Hebrew, read as aleph nought).
Ex. 2.18 (a) Set up 1-1 correspondences between J+ and

(i) the set E of even positive integers,
(ii) the set E' of odd positive integers.
(b) Show that J has cardinal number N0 •
Ex. 2.19 Prove rigorously the validity of one of the implications

which you have written down in Ex. 2.16(b}, commencing with
q. (It may help if the word correspondence is used, as it may be
when correctly followed by 'over S intofonto S", as a synonym
for function.)
Ex. 2.20 Show it is not possible to have a 1-1 correspondence be-

tween set S and a proper sub-set of itself if S is finite.
Cantor's definition of an infinite set is one for which such a corres-
t This term is defined in Chapter 3, but its everyday sense is sufficient for this
paragraph.
pondence can be set up, as we have seen in Ex. 2.18. (His definition of
a finite set is as in Ex. 2.20, whereas the reader will have used some
notion of counting which is hard to make quite rigorous.)
It will be appreciated that statements which can be readily seen
(and without great difficulty proved) for finite sets may present much
more difficulty for infinite ones, but by using a set-theory approach
we make it unnecessary to start all over again for the latter.
Summary
In this chapter the basic ideas, which will be used in the rest of the
book, have been introduced.
The concept of a set has been developed, and of a function defined
over a set (the domain of the function) into or onto another set (the
range). The range may in some cases overlap the domain or even be
the same set.
Throughout the chapter, where numbers have been used they have
been merely numerals, i.e. a universally accepted set of listing-sym-
bols with an agreed order when used in this way. Other sets have not
have had any prescribed order, but could be ordered if desired by
being placed in some 1-1 correspondence with the appropriate set of
numerals.
A clear and concise way of presenting logical arguments has been
shown. Here and elsewhere, symbols and notations have been intro-
duced which, though not essential to the work, can shorten and clarify
it.
The distinction between finite and infinite sets has been considered,
and the concept of cardinal number has been introduced.
The conditions for an inverse function to exist have been considered
in the case of finite sets.
Functions of two arguments have been discussed.
For further reading see Bibliography on p. 146.

3
STRUCTURE IN A SET. GROUPS
3.1 A law of combination in a set

The distinction was drawn in Chapter 1 between the set {l, r, n} of
positions of the rotary unit of the steering-gear, and the set {a, {1, y} of
possible movement-decisions. The latter was seen to have the property
that any pair of elements can be combined, and that every such com-
bination is itself indistinguishable from some single member of the
set. The table which exhibits such combinations was shown in full in
the solution of Ex. 1.1 and is repeated here.
a f1 y (first movements)
a fJ y a
f3 y a f3
y a f1 y
Fig. 3.1
Individual examples of such combinations could be written thus:

fJ((f)a=y
a ((f) y =a.
The set {a, {1, y}, which will be given the symbol n, is said to possess
a kind of structure which is lacking in {l, r, n} and in a number of other
sets which have been described; e.g. there is no sense in which the red
pullover and the black one can be combined to make another of the
pullover set (Ex. 2.4). The interest of that set lay in its relation to
another: the interest of {a, {1, y} is first in its internal properties, and it
is this aspect of sets that we shall develop in this chapter.
Ex. 3.1 Show that the table of Fig. 3.1 expresses the existence of a
function over the domain {(x, y); X E Q, y E Q}, i.e. over the whole
domain of ordered pairs of n. Into (or onto) what range is this
function?
Such a kind of structure within a set is so important that it needs a
short title. We write that the set has a law of combination (or composi-
28
STRUCTURE IN A SET. GROUPS 29
tion). Since the law (for which we shall use the symbol *) applies to
ordered pairs, the elements (x * y) and (y * x) might well be different;
and we shall soon meet examples where such differences are found to
exist. Meanwhile another aspect must be pointed out, viz. that the
result of every combination in n is itself in n. This property is called
closure.
DEFINITION. The setS is said to be closed under the law of combination*

if and only if
for all x,y E S (x * y) E S.
(including x = y)
A set which is closed under some law of combination is called a
groupoid; an ugly name which will serve to remind any reader who
may have heard of a 'group' that we are on the way to having a group;
but more properties are required before a set can deserve that title.
Ex. 3.2 Show that the set {0, 1, 2} is not closed under the law (+)of
ordinary addition; but that it is closed under the modified law
(for which we shall use symbol E£)) in which multiples of 3 are
'cast out' from the sum of two numbers, so that, e.g. 2 EB 1 = 0.
Draw the combination table for the set under this law.
The reader will be able to verify that the law shown in Ex. 3.2
corresponds to combination of radio pulses in the remote operation
of the steering-gear of Fig. 1.2 on p. 2.
Ex. 3.3 (a) Which of the following sets are closed under addition:
(i) the set E of even integers {2, 4, 6, ... }
(ii) the set E' of odd numbers {1, 3, 5, ... }.
(b) (i) (ii) Reconsider the above sets under multiplication ( x ),
subtraction (-) and division (-;- ).
(c) Consider, for all four laws, the following sets:
(i) F = {0, 2, 4, 6, ... } = {(2n- 2)/n E J+}
(ii) G = {-1, 1, 3, 5, 7, ... } = {(2n- 3)/n E ]+}.
(d) In the manner of Ex. 3.2, consider the set
{1, 2, 3, ... , 11, 12}
under a law of addition with casting out of 12's so that, e.g.
8 EB 7 = 3. Show that the set is closed under this law. Is it also
closed under multiplication done in the same way so that, e.g.
5®7=11?
3.2 The symmetry group of the triangle

Continuing our plan of developing abstract notions from concrete
situations we shall take as our next example the set of distinct opera-
tions which will bring an equilateral triangle into 'coincidence with
itself', i.e. so that the set of vertices will occupy the same set of three
points after as before the operation. We include the possibility that the
triangle may be turned over before being 'put back to fit the same
hole in the plane'.
It is advisable to construct a model in order to study this set of
operations. If it is to be demonstrated it will need to be a cardboard
triangle with sides of about 8 inches: otherwise stiff paper will suffice.
The vertices of the triangle must be identified in a way which will
be clear in any position. A convenient method is to put one, two and
three dots near the corner; on both sides of the card.
Three of the operations can be regarded as 180° rotations about
axes in the plane of the triangle, viz. the three altitudes. It is not
necessary to mark these in, but it will be seen on the diagram that cer-
tain data can well be coded on to the model to minimise error when it
is being used:
Front Back
(Central arrow upwards when (Small rin'ged arrow indicates
triangle is in basic position) direction of basic arrow on front)
Fig. 3.2
Every operation is most easily defined by starting from the basic

position 2 1 3 as in the left-hand diagram. The reader should verify
that only six distinct operations can be carried out, which bring the
triangle into geometrical coincidence with its initial position. The first
of these is clearly the operation of leaving it untouched. This is the
identity operation: we give it the symbol i. We use p for a rotation, in
its plane, which carries 2 to the position held by 1 ; and q for the re-
verse rotation, which carries 3 to the position held by 1. With a large
card these may also be marked on it. Since p is clockwise on the front
and anticlockwise on the back, this may be advisable.
Starting always with the basic position, our operations are shown
by the following finishing positions:
2 3 1 3 2
m&~~&&
2 33p11q23 22511 3
Fig. 3.3
It is advisable to have a reference set of these diagrams of the same

size as your model, and it will then be possible quickly and accurately
to find the answer to every question of the type: 'Which is the single
operation equivalent top followed by r ?' (The answer is s.)
Ex. 3.4 Form a complete table for the combination of these opera-
tions. It is essential that the order should be made clear. The
first operation should be the one shown on the top row of the
table.
NOTE. An alternative method of development uses axes fixed in space: p is then
always a 120° rotation clockwise, and q anticlockwise; while r, s, tare 180° turns
about the line of the hour-hand of a clock at 12, 8, and 4 o'clock respectively.
When teaching junior pupils, the space-method is preferable. Details, and the
resulting table, are given after the solution-notes for Ex. 3.4.
We shall continue in the text with the body-axis method, which links directly
with permutation groups. Cayley showed, in a theorem known by his name, that
every group can be matched by a permutation group: the generality of this
result causes us to choose this method for the more experienced student.
Since we now have a law of combination which is noncommutative,
e.g. 'p carried out after r' =P 'r carried out after p', it is important to
decide what we mean when we write p * r.
It is a convention that p * r = 'p carried out after r'; i.e. in order of
time p * r is read from right to left. The reason for this is as follows:
Lying behind the idea of a set of operations is a set of positions; e.g.
in Chapter 1 the set positions {n, l, r} of the tiller. a is an operation
which turns n into r, so that r is in fact a(n). If we now operate with {3,
the result must be written ,B[a(n)]. The complete operation thus ap-
pears naturally as ,Ba:; a having been done first and ,8 afterwards. (If,
as here, there is only one known kind of combination, the star may
safely be omitted.)
In the following exercise the six positions of the triangle shown in
Fig. 3.3 are numbered in order as I, II, Ill, IV, V, VI; so that p(I)
= II, q(I) = III, r(I) = IV and so on.
Ex. 3.5 Determine, with the actual triangle, the position r(II). By
rewriting this in the form r(p(I)], show that rp = s. Similarly,
identify the single operation equivalent to pr (i.e. to r followed by
p) by starting with a definite initial position: it is instructive to

start with, say, position VI this time, i.e. to determine operation
x such that p[r(VI)] = x(VI).
3.3 Can we solve equations in an algebra of this sort?

Consider the set of clock-numerals (in Ex. 3.3 (d) on p. 29) under
the operation ®. Can we solve an equation such as 5 ® x = 11?
Since the law expressed by ® is only defined over the clock set of
12 members, the solution set is a subset of this, and we can determine
its members by trial. The reader should verify that the solution set is
{7}.
Ex. 3.6 (a) Solve the equations:

(i) 3 (8;) X= 12 (ii) 5 (8;) X= 7 (iii) X (g) 8 = 4.
(b) Using the combination table for {i,p, q, r, s, t} =~.the
set of symmetries of the equilateral triangle, solve the following
equations in the set:
(i) p *X = t (ii) y *p = t (iii) q *X = p
(iv) y *s = s (v) t *x = t (Yi) S *X = i.
It seems from this example that the set ~ has the tidy property of
giving one and only one, i.e. a unique solution, to any equation of the
type a * x = b or y * a = b.
Ex. 3.6 (c) (i) What feature of the pattern of the combination table
secures the results that a * x = b gives a unique x for every a, b
(including a = b)?
(ii) What feature secures that y * a = b also gives a unique
solution?
These two features taken together give a very characteristic pattern
in the table; one which was much used by the Romans for decorative
tiling. It is known as a Latin square. In modern times a notable appli-
cation is in experimental farming: a field is gridded into say 36 square
plots, and those which have the same letter in the table of~ would
have the same experimental treatment; their arrangement then evens
out (as well as is possible) any natural variation in fertility across
andjor down the field.
We can take this Latin-square condition (.P) as our second major
requirement for a set to qualify as a group. It secures the unique
solution of the two types of simple equation; for the steering-gear, for
example, if any one operation has been done there is only one following
operation which can give any desired final result after both operations are
complete, e.g.:
x *a = y has only the solution x = fl.
Similarly, at the transmitter, one pulse must be followed by two, if the
final result is to be equivalent to zero.
3.4 Associativity
It is found. that a set with both properties~ (closure) and .!l' (Latin-
square) is still not necessarily rich enough in structure. It is found that
a wide range of practical examples of sets which have these properties
have also one more, which is not derived from them, viz. the property
called associativity. This is concerned with the effect of combining
three elements which we may designate as x, y and z (although two or
even three of the symbols might represent the same element).
When combining three elements x, y, z in that order we have a
choice of two ways of doing it. First, we may form (y * x) and subse-
quently combine the resulting element with z to form n(y * x).
Alternatively we may (i) hold x, (ii) combine y with z to form (z * y)
and (iii) now combine this latter element with x, to form (z * Y)*x.
There is nothing in the previous properties which compels these to
be the same. (In Ex. 3.11 we shall see a set which has properties~ and
.!l', yet does not have this 'bracket' property.) We shall formally state
this property:
DEFINITION. A set is said to be associative under a law of combination if,

for any three elements x, y, z (not necessarily distinct),
(z * Y)*x = n(y * x).
PROVISIONAL DEFINITION. A set is said to he a group under a certain law
of combination if it satisfies these conditions:
(~) that it is closed under the law
(.!l') that it gives unique solutions in x, y to all equations
a *x = b and y *a = b
(d) that it is associative under the law, i.e.
(a* b)*c = a*(b *c).
We will first consider associativity in a new group, small enough for
us to handle all possible cases and yet large enough to be interesting.
It concerns itself, like ~. with the symmetries of a plane figure; this
time a rectangle.
For demonstration we could use a cardboard rectangle, but a book

is a very satisfactory model; especially if four other books-identical
with it-can be exhibited in the background in the four standard
positions:
tlOOO
I II
Fig. 3.4
III IV
For clarity a bookmark is shown, inserted at the top of the page. The
letter T represents the title. (There would be no ambiguity if the book-
mark were omitted.) The books are considered as standing on the
table.
Starting with position I as standard, every position defines an
operation. The first operation is the identity (i). The second we will
write as a, such that a(I) = II, so that a is a rotation through 180°
about a horizontal axis along a line of print. b is a 180° rotation about
an axis parallel to the binding of the book; while cis a 180° rotation
about an axis through the thickness of the book. (It so happens that
these axes preserve their directions in space after every operation.
Thus they can be indicated on the table or on a blackboard if desired
-unlike the axes used for ~. which had to be marked on the card-
board triangle.)
Ex. 3.7 (a) Form the combination table for the set V of operations
{i, a, b, c} and show that it satisfies the conditions~ (closure) and
2 (Latin square).
(b) Verify that z*(Y * x) = (z * y)*x where x, y, z are:
(i) a, b, c in any order,
(ii) a, b, i in any order,
(iii) a, a, i in any order.
It will be realised that this particular group (as we are now entitled
to call it) happens to be commutative, i.e. x * y = y * x for all x, y.
This simplifies the task of testing for associativity, but does not dimin-
ish the importance of the result. Looking at Ex. 3.7(b) we see that the
left- and right-hand sides of the equation in x, y and z still mean differ-
ent processes. On the right, xis combined with the result of 'y with z',
and this is not what we do in evaluating the left-hand side.
This group of four elements is known by the symbol V from its
German title Vierergruppe ( = 4-group) given by Felix Klein. It is an
interesting study in itself, with a variety of constructible examples:
the whole of Appendix I is devoted to these.
Ex. 3.7 (c) Verify the associative law for the set~. the symmetries
of the triangle, for the special cases
(i) P*(t * q) = (p * t)*q,
(ii) P*(t * p) = (p * t)*P·
Remember to read from right to left; and to identify the single
element equal to each bracketed pair, before combining with an
outer element.
The labour of establishing completely the group character of ~
would be very heavy. It will be more satisfying to look at the associa-
tive law for such a system from a different viewpoint. We will consider
what happens at a particular location in a succession of operations.
Operation i makes no vertex move, and the others move the vertices
as follows:
p: 1 is replaced by 2, 2 by 3, 3 by 1;
q: 1 is replaced by 3, 3 by 2, 2 by 1;
r interchanges 2 and 3; s, 3 and 1 ; t, 1 and 2.
Thus q, t, p in that order cause at e.g. the lower left-hand corner the
following changes:
2 is replaced by 1, then 1 by 2, and finally 2 by 3.
Clearly the combination-of-the-first-two, followed by the third, is the
same as the first followed by second-and-third-combined. This holds
good not only for all cases in ~ but for all operations of this geometrical
type, i.e. in which we reorient symmetrical figures in two or three
dimensions, or (which is a situation of greater generality) permute a
set of elements among themselves.t
With space-axes we follow the locations of a given vertex of the tri-
angle, and it is instructive to establish associativity for Klein's group
(Ex. 3.7b) by this method.
t The group V of the rectangle has four members only; whereas four letters
naming the vertices, if permuted freely, would permit no fewer than 24 re-
arrangements. These form a group: associativity can be established in the same
way as above.
3.5 Further properties of a group, leading to a revised defini-

tion. An identity acting on every element: an inverse for
each element
An examination of the groups n, V, 6. shows the existence in each
of a unique identity element; i.e. one which, acting either before or
after any other, leaves it unchanged.
Formally, there exists an element i e S, such that for all x e S,
i *X = X and X *i = X.
The reader may wonder why we have not defined a group to in-
clude the important property of having such an element. (It was y in
the steering-gear.)
Furthermore, in each of these groups we can find for every element
x an inverse, viz. an element which, regarded as an operation, 'undoes'
the operation x. It undoes it either when operating after or before it,
e.g. in n the inverse of o: is {3; and f3o: = y as well as o:f3 = y.
In general, using the notation x- 1 for the inverse of x we have
x- 1 * x = i and also x * x- 1 = i.
Notice that an inverse is not an extra element of a group, e.g. the
inverse of pin 6. must be one of the set {i p q r s t}. Similarly the in-
verse of bin V must be one of i, a, b, c; in fact it turns out to be bit-
self. (This set has the curious property that every element is its own
inverse.)
Ex. 3.8 (a) By examination of the group table, or by experiment,
find the inverse of each element of 6..
(b) Using these results, evaluate
(P * r- 1)*r, S*(s- 1 * q}, (t * q)*q-1.
(c) Prove your answers to (b) by using the associative law.
The presence of an identity element and the existence of inverses
are important facts about a group. We could show them to be true for
any set which satisfies our provisional definition, viz. conditions (~)
(2') (d); but we shall not do this. Instead, we shall show that the
identity and the inverse conditions can together replace 2' in our
definition. We shall therefore take as our preferred definition of a
group:
A group is a set S, closed under a law of combination and associative
under this law and satisfying conditions (..1"1..1" 2 ).
(i) There exists a unique element i such that for all x E S,
i *X =X and X * i = X.
(ii) For every xeS, there exists an element x- 1 e S such that
x- 1 *x = i and x * x- 1 = i.
It is interesting to see these statements condensed by the use of the
symbols V ( = for all) and 3 ( = there exists).
(Condition..F1 ) 3ieSIVxeS, i•x=x and x•i=x.
(Condition..F2 ) V xES 3 x- 1 E S I x- 1 * x = i, x * x- 1 = i.
Ex. 3.9 To show that somewhat less exacting conditions would
actually do instead of the above, the reader should establish these
results:
(a) If there exists a left-hand identity i for all x and a right-hand
identity j for all x, then i = j. Hint: consider i * j.
(b) If an element a has a left-hand inverse a 1 , and a right-hand
inverse a 2 , then a 1 = a2 • Consider (a1 * a)*a 2 •
Conditions (..F1 ..F2 ) will not only be found to imply unique solu-
tions to a * x = b (i) andy* a = b (ii), which was property 2, but
will also show how to solve as follows:
Multiply (i) on the left by a- 1 :
a- 1 *(a * x) = a- 1 *b.
But by (d),
a- 1 *(a*x) = (a- 1 *a)*x = i*x = x.
:. x = a- 1 *b.
Ex. 3.9 (c) Show that
y *a = b => y = b * a- 1 •
(d) Solve the equations of Ex. 3.6(b) using the above results
and the inverses established in Ex. 3.8(a).
DEFINITION. The order of a group is the number of its members.
DEFINITION. Two groups are said to be isomorphic if a 1-1 correspond-
ence exists which holds over the whole combination table.
It will be seen from above that it is sufficient to show that the
identity maps into the identity and inverses map into inverses.
Ex. 3.10 Draw up, if possible, combination tables for:

(i) a group of order 1,
(ii) a group of order 2,
(iii) a group of order 3, not isomorphic with n,
(iv) a group of order 4, not isomorphic with V,
(v) a group of order 5.
A square and a regular pentagon may help with the last two.
Ex. 3.11 You are given the following table for a set closed under a
law of combination:
i u v w
i i u v w
t t i v w u
u u w i t v
v v u w i t
w w v t u i
(a) Use it to show that (~) (..'l') do not imply (d). It will be
sufficient to find one case of d untrue, in this situation in which
~ • ..'l' hold over the set.
(b) Show also that(~) (..F1 f 2) /;.(d).
For the reader who likes to handle examples of a group, Appendix I

provides the opportunity. Those who are interested in applications
to modern physics will find a superb short account in Eddington: 'New
Pathways in Science' (C.U.P.); and a valuable commentary on Ed-
dington's approach is to be found in 'World of Mathematics', vol. II.
See Bibliography (p. 146).
3.6 What are division and subtraction?

A young pupil once asked the writer, during a lesson on Klein's
group: 'If the star is a sort of multiplication, can we divide?' This was
taken as an invitation to discuss the solution of a* x = b as the ana-
logue of 3x = 6.
Since we 'only knew how to multiply in this algebra' we tried every-
thing, discovering the answer from a * a * x = a * b; so that the
star was 'just as much a division as a multiplication', which was far
enough to carry the discussion at that point.
We shall see that in the analogue also we do in fact multiply; by t
which is the inverse (in the group sense) of the rational number 3/1 in
the group of non-zero rational numbers combined under multiplica-
tion (Chapter 5).
Both the terms division and subtraction are short for operating with
inverses: multiplication and addition are the defined laws of composi-
tion, as will be fully discussed in Chapter 5. The reader who keeps this
basic fact in mind will take much more easily to the treatment of
vectors and matrices, both in this book and at higher levels. It has
been well describedt as 'part of the grammar of mathematics'.
t by D. A. Quadling, lecturing to the S.M.P.Group at Southampton.

3.7 Cyclic groups
Consider an element a(# i) of a finite group of order n, i.e. with n
members, (n ;;:. 2).
Form the sequence
where a 1 is a and ar+l = a,* a for 1 ~ r ~ n.

If we think of the operation '* a' as a sort of multiplication, we can
Fegard the element a, as a sort of 'rth power' of a in the group. There
is nothing misleading in this; although we defined it by operating on
the right, associativity allows us to drop the brackets; and an expres-
sion of the type a * a * a * a, etc. is indifferent to order. We therefore
see the index laws for positive powers being applicable, e.g. ar+s
=a,* a8 •
We will now consider how many of the sequence a 1 to an+ 1 can be
distinct. We have:
(i) they cannot all be distinct, since the set has only n members;
and
(ii) successive members are distinct, since a # i.
Consequently at least two in the succession are equal, and they are not
successive. Write two such as ak, ak + 1 where 2 ~ l ~ n. (If k were 1,
l could ben at most.)
But
a1 = i.
We have established that if we build up the 'powers' a1 = a * a * a,

etc. for any element of a group, then for some l not exceeding n, a 1 is
the identity.
DEFINITION. If we form the element a1 = a* a* a ... (I factors) then

the least value of l such that a1 = i is called the order of the element a in
the group.
Ex. 3.12 (a) Find the order of each element in the groups f.l, V, D..
(The order of i is unity.)
DEFINITION. If a group of order n has at least one member of order n,
then the group is said to be cyclic.
Ex. 3.12 (b) Is any group in (a) cyclic?
Examine also your other groups in Ex. 3.10.
Ex. 3.13 (a) Show that a cyclic group of order n, in which a is a

member of order n, is given completely by forming 'powers' of a
up to an.
[an is most clearly defined as i postmultiplied n times by a.]
(b) Show that two cyclic groups of the same order n are iso-
morphic. Hint: consider elements a, A (in the groups) which have
order n, and their powers. ·
(c) Show that in a cyclic group of prime order p, the order of
every element (except i) is p.
Ex. 3.14 In any group, every element is commutative with i, with it-
self and with its inverse. Is it true that for a group of order n:
(a) If n ~ 3 every element is self-inverse?
(b) If n > 3, every element is commutative with at least 3 ele-
ments?
If either is untrue, suggest a simple amendment to make it true.
Ex. 3.15 (a) Construct a cyclic group of order 4, based on move-

ments of a square in its own plane. Name the elements i, a, a2 , a 3 •
(b) By considering one more movement r of the square into
itself, by rotation about some space-axis in its plane, develop
further movements ra, ra 2 , ra 3 • Show that the resulting set of
order 8 is a group. Is it cyclic? Is it commutative? (Note that a
counter-example will prove the latter; but the existence of an
element of order less than 8 will not establish non-cyclic charac-
ter.)
NOTE. In the following exercises m and n are positive integers.
Ex. 3.16 Show that a cyclic group of order n is isomorphic with the
group 0, 1 ... , n - 1 under addition modulo n.
Ex. 3.17 Show that a cyclic group of order mn possesses subgroups

of order m and n. See summary for subgroup.
Ex. 3.18 Show that a cyclic group of order m can give rise to an ex-
tension group (i.e. a group of which it is a proper subgroup) of
order mn.
Ex. 3.19 Show that l:i is isomorphic with the group whose members
are the six ways of re-ordering three objects placed in a row, i.e.
of permuting three objects.
Ex. 3.20 Show that (a- 1 )- 1 = a.

Summary
An internal law has been considered, i.e. a function on ordered
pairs of a set into that set; and hence the definition of closure of a set
under such a law.
From examples of sets with other structures in addition to closure
(and counter examples) has emerged the definition of a group as a set
closed under a law with two further conditions, viz. the Latin-square
or cancelling condition and associativity under the law.t
The order of an element in a group has led to the definition and
properties of a cyclic group.
A subgroup is defined as a subset which satisfies the conditions of
a group under the same law. A proper subgroup has order less than
that of the group.
The inverse of an element of a group has been defined. Certain
properties of an inverse have been derived, and we have developed a
definition system for a group involving four conditions: ('{;') closure,
(d) associativity, (..F 1 ) the existence of a unique identity element, and
(..F 2 ) the existence of a unique inverse for each element.
The 'grammar' of the solution of equations has been discussed.
For practical work see Appendix I and for further reading see the
Bibliography.
t This is the most convenient definition for finite groups.
4
MORE STRUCTURE. RELATIONS

WITHIN A SET:
ORDER AND EQUIVALENCE
4.1
The following skeleton statements are examples of relations:
(i) is brother of ..... .
(ii) was successor to ..... .
(iii) is descended from ..... .
(iv) lives at ..... .
(v) is included in ..... .
(vi) is mother of ..... .
The terms to be inserted on the left and on the right may be mem-
bers of different sets, or the same set. In (vi) the first terms must be
members of a set of women if the relation is not to be null.
A relation is defined to be a set of ordered pairs over which a certain
statement can be made. In practice a particular context is taken, i.e.
ordered pairs chosen from a particular pair of sets, e.g. in (iv) em-
ployees at a certain factory and certain named areas; or it could be a
single set, e.g. in (ii) the kings of England, though we have some
difficulty about the first king!
We have seen that a relation is more general than a function be-
cause it can be one-many: there is no unique 'image', It can even be
one-many and many-one over the same members, as in (v). A func-
tion is a special case of a relation.
We shall consider in this chapter only relations within a single set.
Every relation in a set gives rise to an inverse relation. If A p B ex-
presses a relation p between the ordered pair (A, B) then a is the in-
verse relation, provided
ApB => BaA
e.g. the inverse of (v) in any set is
includes
42
MORE STRUCTURE. RELATIONS WITHIN A SET 43
Ex. 4.1 What are the inverses of the relations (i), (ii) and (vi) of
section 4.1 above, in the following sets:
(i) in a set of men,
(ii) in a set of monarchs,
(vi) in a population?
4.2 The concept of order in a set

In considering the structure of a set it is important to know whether
any relation exists in it which can be used to establish chains, or a
chain, of elements, i.e. which can order the set, either wholly or par-
tially. It is clear that some of the relations (i) to (vi) in section 4.1,
have verbal suggestions of order; but we wish to make an abstract
analysis, for which purpose a relation will be written symbolically as
A p B, where p stands for the relation 'formula' and A, B for the ordered
pair which stand in the relation. It would be possible to indicate
which of the ordered pairs (chosen from the set) stand in relation p,
by inserting pin the appropriate squares of the square grid, thus:
A B C D (1st element)
B p
2nd element
c ? p
Fig. 4.1
A first requirement for a chain to be set up even of as few as three

elements, is that an element appearing as the second in one related pair
shall also appear as the first in another pair, e.g. A p B and B p C as
shown on the grid.
That this is not sufficient is shown by a counter-example, viz.,
A can be brother (full blood-brother) of B and B of C but this is con-
sistent with both orders ABC and BAC (because B is also brother of
A).
Ex. 4.2 (a) For the above, why can we not claim an order CAB to
exist?
We shall aim at establishing conditions in the form if-and-only-if;
or in terms of implication we seek conditions C 1 , C 2 , C3 , etc. (as many
THE CORE OF MATHEMATICS
as are required), linked with the statement K ('the set S is simply

ordered') thus:
~ K
4.3 An ordering problem in a set

The Lutetian army has an athletic championship each year. It is
run as a pentathlon, i.e. it is based on five different events, and each
competitor must take part in every event. The men's placings in the
five events are added, and the man with the lowest total wins the
championship.
In every track and field event the results give a placing immediately
provided that some method of avoiding a tie is laid down. However,
by long tradition the final event is a fencing competition. In one par-
ticular year owing to an emergency the fencing had to be stopped
after a few bouts. An artillery colonel, as the only mathematician
present, was asked whether a valid order could be obtained from the
incomplete results. His first question was:
'Has every man fenced at least twice?'
In fact four had not done so; but on enquiry it was ruled that two more
bouts could be fought if necessary. He therefore asked to see the
results in detail. They had been put down thus, a win being placed
under the name of the winner and level with the name of the man he
defeated:
Fig. 4.2
There was also the letter L inserted in each square where a dot is
shown. The colonel rubbed them out, saying they gave no more in-
formation than was already known.
He then decided on the following plan:
(1) To assume all results to be consistent with order. 'If X has
beaten Y and Y has beaten Z, I assume that X would beat Z: if in fact
X has fenced Z and lost, then the relations form a closed cycle, the
results are inconsistent with order, and the project is to be abandoned.'
(2) To put the names down at random on a piece of paper and to
join every winner to his loser by an arrow, e.g. E ~ B. Then assump-
tion 1 is equivalent to considering the arrow to continue onwards to
the man whom B defeats, and so on. A cycle would involve the arrow
getting round again to E who would so to speak defeat himself!
,<'
The plan was carried out, and the resulting diagram is shown:
,~·
C D
Fig. 4.3
He then made the following announcement. It is left (Ex. 4.2(b)) to

the reader to identify the members of the set referred to anonymously
in it.
'I must know first the winner of X versus Y. After this bout is de-
cided, then a simple chain could be completed if the loser of X versus
Y beats Z; or another way if U beats V.'
In this problem the colonel could have failed for either of the follow-
ing reasons:
(a) Lack of information.
E.g. (i) if B or D were not available to fence again, so that the
branched chain remains (i.e. partial ordering) or (ii) if bouts could
not be arranged so as to join existing chains into one.
(b) Information inconsistent with order.
E.g. (i) if B beat F and C beat E so that the chain became a ring,
or (ii) if any tie match were allowed to stand.
The clerk of the competition, on re-examining the grid of results,
noticed that with the required amount and kind of information avail-
able" (and developed on the colonel's consistency principle) he was
able to write either W or L in every white square of the grid, i.e. either
the relation W or its inverse L is true for every ordered pair of men.
We can summarise the conditions for simple ordering by a relation

w, whose inverse is 1, thus:
(i) A w A is untrue for all A
i.e. the relation is non-reflexive (we shall call this Condition
Not-PA).
(ii) For all distinct A, B E S,
either Aw B
or A 1 B.
This condition is called dichotomy (Condition~). one of two possi-
bilities being satisfied. Neither a tie nor a 'don't know' is permissible.
(iii) A w B, B w C => A w C.
A relation satisfying this is called transitive, and the condition
transitivity (Condition :T).
These are necessary and sufficient conditions for simple ordering
under w. The example of the pentathlon will serve as a reminder that
there may be a number of other relations which will order the set
differently.
Ex. 4.3 Test relations (i), (ii), (iii), (v) and (vi) of section 4.1 to
decide whether they can set up simple ordering of the following
sets. In case of failure state which of the conditions is (or are)
violated. These are the sets over which the relations are to be
tested:
For (i) a mixed population.
For (ii) the monarchs of England. (William-and-Mary can be
regarded as a single monarch.) Successor is to be read (a) in a
strict sense, as immediate successor (F), and (b) in an extended
sense, to include Fn, a successor at any remove.
For (iii) the men of a family, e.g. the Forsyte family as in the
chart of Galsworthy's novel.
(Why can we not ask the question for (iv) ?)
For (v) geographical areas, using inclusion in the everyday
sense.
In the next section we shall consider another type of relation, the
conditions for which will throw light, by contrast, on the conditions
Not-PA, !?2, and :T required for simple ordering.
4.4 Equivalence
Equivalence is developed from the idea of equality. The geometry
books at one time used, in place of the modern word congruent, the
phrase 'equal in all respects' meaning in fact 'equal in every respect
except position'. The word equivalent may be taken to mean 'equal in
certain respects', e.g. ordered triples (x, y, z) might be taken as
equivalent in a certain context if they have the same first and second
elements. (In a plan projection of a solid figure on to the x, y plane,
equivalent points of the solid would appear as the same point on the
plan.)
It is a property of equivalence that members of a set which are
equivalent to the same member are equivalent to each other. This is
condition S" again-transitivity. Equivalence, however, has also a
two-way property:
a p b =:. b p a • (9'), symmetry
and lastly we have
a pa • (&l), reflexivity.
These three (usually quoted in alphabetical order &l, 9', S") define an
equivalence relation.
Ex. 4.4 Which of the following are equivalence relations?
(a) 'is equal to'
(b) (of lines in a plane), 'is parallel to'. Decide first whether
coincident lines are to be taken as parallel.
(c) (of lines in a plane) 'is perpendicular to'
(d) (of triangles) is 'congruent to'.
Suggest another relation for triangles which might be an
equivalence.
(e) (of males) 'is brother of'
(f) (of a mixed group) 'is brother of'
(g) (of telephone lines) 'is allotted to the same subscriber as'
(h) (of film stars) 'has or has had as a husband the same man
as'
(i) (of golfers) 'has played with'.
Ex. 4.5 Which of the following equations set up an equivalence rela-
tion between positive integers p and q?
(a) p - q = rn where n is a fixed and r a variable integer.
(b) p2 - q2 = rn.
(c) p + q = Zrn.
(d) pq = n, a fixed integer.
(e) pq = r, any integer.
(f) Does the following equation establish an equivalence be-
tween ordiered positive integer pairs such as (p, p') (q, q')?
PIP' = qfq' = afb
where a, b are fixed integers.
Ex. 4.6 Are these equivalences?

(a) (of straight lines) 'is a tangent to the same (fixed) curve as'
(b) (of straight lines) 'is a tangent to the same fixed curve at the
same point as'
(c) (of circles in a plane) 'has an orthogonal circle in common
with'.
4.5 Equivalence classes

The notion of equivalence runs through all branches of formal
mathematics and underlies much other thinking. It provides an inter-
pretative scheme in complicated situations, the formal treatment of
which is as follows.
A set is said to be partitioned if we form discretet subsets such that
every member belongs to (exactly) one.
One possible partition is into subsets each of which is an equivalence
class. Such a class ( = set) is formed by taking together all the mem-
bers which are equivalent to some chosen member. The next class is
obtained in the same way from some member still unchosen; and so
on. Some classes may contain only one member: in fact it would be
possible for all to do so, but this would give a trivial 'partition' into
single members.
The equivalence class procedure irons out irregularities in a very
pleasing way. E.g., in the set of words {un, deux, three, trois} meaning
establishes an equivalence class embracing the last two. The others
are singleton classes, and the three classes can be ordered. A whole
class or a representative member-either point of view will serve--
enters into the order relation, and there is no anomaly.
Ex. 4.7 A given set of elements is to be tested under a relation with

a view to partitioning it into equivalence classes. E.g. the set (E)
of equations
lx + my + n = 0 (l, m, n E J).
Every such equation represents a locus, i.e. a set of 'points' (x, y);
x, y E R. It is clear that the correspondence between equations
and loci (lines), far from being 1-1, is in fact that there are in-
finitely many equations for every line L. The set S(L) of all lines
in the plane is in 1-1 with the set of equivalence classes in E.
Test whether the sets listed below can be partitioned in this
way, under the relation suggested in each case. (The symbol
t I.e. having no common members one with another. By virtue of 'exactly',
the word could be omitted here.
given after each is to be used in the next question to represent the
set of equivalence classes if it exists.)
(a) Set of points in a plane under relation 'equidistant from
the origin' [S(D).
(b) Set of equations lx + my + n = 0 representing
parallel lines [S( II).
(c) Set of equations lx + my + n = 0 representing
perpendicular lines [S(P).
(d) Set of ordered pairs of integers o. in the same ratio 0
[S(R).
(e) Set of complex numbers o having the same modulus
0 •
[S(C).
(f) Set of ordered integer triples (1, m, n) . o. in the same 0
ratio [S(T)o
Ex. 4.8 Which pairs of the sets of equivalence classes discovered and
named in Ex. 4o 7 have 1-1 correspondences with each other? E.g.
is it true that S(L) ~ S(T) ?
Ex. 4.9 What is the inverse of an equivalence relation? If for every
ordered pair (a, b) we know that one of relations p, a, -r holds,
then 'not-p' is the same relation as 'a-or--r'. This is called the
complementary relation of p: it completes the possibilities for (a, b).
Ex. 4.10 In a set of men, there is a relation 'is father of'. State the
inverse relation. Is there a complementary relation? If so, put it
in a a--r form as well as a not-p form.
Ex. 4.11 What is the complementary relation of < in a set of integ-
ers? Is it transitive? Does it satisfy!?)? Does it give a strict order-
ing? Draw a few diagrams to illustrate this situation: can it be
said to be ordering of a kind?
Ex. 4.12 Consider the set of integers 2, 3, 6, 9, 12 and the relation
0 0 o o divides o.
0 0 0 0 0 0
written as d, e.g. 2 d 6; of which the inverse is the relation

0 ooooo is divisible by ..... .
Use the symbol b (or the word by) for the latter.
(i) Show the relations existing between ordered pairs, by
means of a square table. Both relations can be taken to hold
between n and n.
(ii) Set out the numbers at random and show by arrows that a
kind of order (partial ordering) is established by this rela-
tion, which is seen to be transitive.
4.6 A relation holding within a set, seen as an example of a

function
The relations which we have considered exist 'between' two mem-
bers of a set: their full title is 'binary relations in a set'. A relation is
however, if a suitable range is chosen, also an example of a function
over some or all of the set (S x S) of ordered pairs in S. The square
tables which have been used so much, to exhibit relations, are clear
indications of this. Each square (a, b) is mapped into a set of symbols
which include p, the relation-symbol, and the possible alternatives
which may include p' the inverse relation. If these are the only two
which are available for all distinct pairs, then we have dichotomy; but
we may have some squares blank as in Ex. 4.12, andjor we may have
some squares filled by another relation a.
The following diagram gives numbers to the squares for use in the
next example:
a b c d (1st member
1 2 3 4 of pair)
a
5 6 7 8
b
2nd member
9 10 II 112
c
13 14 15 16
d
Fig. 4.4
Ex. 4.13 The relation is an equivalence e. Which squares must have

e in; if squares 3 and 5 also contain e, can you deduce any others
which do so?
The reader can trace out the consequences, in the pattern, of
various assumptions about the nature of r and the extent of its
definition over {S x S}.
Ex. 4.14 For this question the definition of symmetry is repeated
here:
Relation p is said to be symmetrical in S iff, for all
a, b E S, a p b => b p a.
Is 'being inverse under a group property' a relation in a set?
Can it be (a) transitive, (b) symmetrical, (c) reflexive? Can it be
considered as a function on S into S?
Summary
A binary relation has been defined over ordered pairs (a, b) where
a E S, bE S'.
Binary relations in a set S have been considered. Each relation has
been set out in the form of a square table which shows it to be a func-
tion over ordered pairs in S.
Relations have also been tested to determine which, if any, of the
following conditions they satisfy:
(i) reflexivity {~). viz.:
For all a E S
a p a.
(ii) symmetry (!/'), viz.:
For all a, bE S
a pb c.c> b p a.
(iii) transitivity (ff), viz.:

For all a, b, c E S
ap
bpc
b} => a p c.
A relation p is called an equivalence relation iff it satisfies condi-

tions ~. !/', ff, i.e.:
~. !/', ff -¢> p is an equivalence.
The inverse relation p' is defined by
apb -¢> b p' a.
A further condition which a relation may satisfy is:
(iv) dichotomy (~). viz.:
For all distinct a, b E S, either a p b or a p' b (but not both.)
(Notice that ~ => Not-S.
A relation p sets up a simple ordering in a set S iff it satisfies the
conditions not-~, ~ and ff.
If~.!/ hold for some members, these may be grouped into equiva-
lences and order maintained, as in section 4.6.
If for some pairs in the set neither p nor p' holds, i.e. ~ fails, order
may nevertheless be established to a greater or less extent, as shown
in the unfinished fencing competition (section 4.2) and for integers
under divisibility (Ex. 4.12), which is an example of a partial ordering.
5
SOME NUMBER-SYSTEMS
AND THEIR PROPERTIES
5.1 The nature of number

A much-quoted saying which bears on the nature of number is that
of Kronecker: 'God made the integers: all else is the work of man'. A
mathematician in the mid-20th century might analyse this into two
statements: (i) the positive integers arising directly in nature are, as
we say, the 'natural numbers'; and (ii) all other number-systems are
mental constructs derived from these.
The second statement is, as we shall see, universally acceptable: we
shall consider in outline in this chapter how various number-systems
are derived from the natural numbers, by addition or modification of
structure.
The first statement, which is deliberately imprecise in its wording,
raises again the problem (see Chapter 1) of abstract ideas and their
concrete embodiments. If it is taken to imply that the positive integers
are not mental constructs, then we must reject it. Kronecker himself
would hardly fail to do so if he were able to read later work on the
nature of the integers.t
The theological problem is: whether it is true that to create nature,
including the power of the human mind, is to create also those ideas
which human minds have generated.
5.2 The natural numbers

We started in Chapter 2 by considering the numerals as listing-sym-
bols. The requirements of such a set are (i) chain-ordering, which
could be based on the relation 'is successor to'; (ii) provision for the
succession not to end, i.e. that every numeral has a successor; and (iii)
a beginning, i.e. a unique member which is not a successor.
This is enough for listing purposes, and the integers satisfy it. Other
symbol-systems would do so too if we took the trouble to deal with
(ii), which has been neatly done for integers.
t There is no reason to suppose that Kronecker meant his statement to stand
up to strict analysis. His aim was probably to make his readers think: he cer-
tainly succeeded in this.
52
SOME NUMBER-SYSTEMS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 53
Unfortunately, although J+ satisfies (i) (ii) (iii), so also do certain
subsets and certain extensions.
Ex. 5.1 Show that the even numbers satisfy; and invent other sub-
sets of J+ which would do for listing purposes, including one
which is not 'equally spaced' in J+. What characteristic do these
subsets have in common?
Ex. 5.2 (a) Show that {a to z, J+} will serve for this purpose, and (b)
that {1, 1f, 2, 2!, 3, ... } will also; (c) will J?
Before we can go on to develop arithmetical properties for our
numerals, we must be sure that we have the set and not some other
which is masquerading as it.
5.3 The natural numbers with zero (Set }6)

We need make no secret of the fact that our full integer-system J,
when we have established it, will be a group under 'addition'. Our
first step is therefore to add one extra element z, the familiar zero,
which will be the unique identity element when we complete J. For
the moment its status is that of a new 'beginner' (a special case of the
extension discussed in Ex. 5.2), i.e. the unique element which is not a
successor.
We shall have to consider the nature of addition, and show by
stages that our set satisfies (commutative) group conditions under it,
but an intuitive approach will be more helpful in a problem which
must be solved first and which we have mentioned above, viz.: have
we enough knowledge of J to be sure that we are discussing a unique
set or, could another set 'masquerade' as J without detection?
We must look again at the set 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, ... which satisfies order
(based on succession), and the same three of the four properties of a
group under addition as does Jci [i.e. closure, associativity, unique
identity but not the existence of inverses, which would secure the solu-
bility of m + x = n for all m and n, in the form x = n + (m')]. We
will call the three conditions C{?, d, f.
Ex. 5.3 (a) Show that {0, 2, 4, 6, 8, ... , 2n, ... } satisfies conditions
C{?, d, f, under addition, but that the set {0, 2, 4, 8, ... , 2", ... }
fails.
(b) Does {0, h, 1, (1 +h), 2, (2 + h), ... } satisfy conditione
C{?, d, f, provided the order is as written and h + h = 1?
We must evidently settle O's successor uniquely. It is no good stat-

ing that it is '1' unless this symbol is tied to a unique property.
The answer is that unity is the unique identity element for multipli-
cation. It is not necessary for our present purpose to have other group
properties satisfied by multiplication (and we shall see later that it

never achieves all these properties in any number context).
The scene is now prepared for a more rigorous discussion of the
properties of J, which would appear to be uniquely determined. But
before proceeding, we should look at the kind of method which will
best serve.
5.4 Computers and the method of induction-a digression

Every computing device which is pre-set and then carries out its
work without further human intervention must work on a step-by-
step principle.
Even for a hand-operated desk machine it is clear that there is no
sense in which the machine 'knows where it is': cog engages with cog
no matter how many turns may have been made already. To bring out
this idea as clearly as possible, it will help to consider a machine in
which the advantages of decimal operation are sacrificed: the numbers
from zero upwards expressed decimally, are in succession on two tapes,
each running through behind a display window thus:
Tape 1 Tape 2
Fig. 5.1
Mter the initial setting of the tapes, the cogs on the two tape
spindles are engaged, so that further movement must be 1-1, through
the successors of the numbers originally set.
To add n tom, i.e. to form (m + n), the procedure is:
(1) Set 0 m,
(2) Engage,
(3) Move until n appears in S.
Then the number in A is m + n.
We may regard this result as true by definition, the logic being that of
the machine.
For the tapes themselves we have the Peano axioms:
Every number has a unique successor: every number has a
unique predecessor (except zero which has none): every number
can be obtained by succession from zero.
For the addition process we have:
(i) By definition m + 0 = m . . . see (1) and (3); (ii) one further
movementfrom(m +x)willcause(m + x)*,thesuccessorof(m + x),
to appear in A; and x* to appear in S. Thus by (3)
(m + x)* = m + x* . . (R).
The addition process as performed step-by-step by the machine is
thus equivalent to definition (i) along with equation R for all x. The
two together form a recursive definition of addition.
It is no part of the definition that addition is commutative. If we
wish to prove this, we need a method which ties in with the recursive
process: this is the familiar proof by induction (which Peano included
as a logic-axiom in his system).
In a proof by induction we have: (i) an initial statement for a
special value of r; (ii) an implication from the statement, with any r
inserted in it, to a successor-statement with (r + 1) in it; (iii) the
assertion as a result of (i) and (ii), that the statement is true for all
numbers subsequent to the initial value. Symbolically if we write
S(r) as the statement with r in it, the structure of the proof is:
S(O) }
S(r) => S(r + 1) => S(n) for all n ;:.: 0.
This example shows that similar analysis into elements of process

is used in situations which would strike the lay mind as quite un-
related-abstract mathematics on one hand, and computing on the
other. In fact design and operation of a computer demand not only
numerical analysis but also a deeper level of abstraction, viz.: analysis
of logical process (see Chapter 7).
With this preamble we can return to the problem of the structure
of sets of numbers, knowing that the pattern of argument has a wide
and thoroughly practical reference.
5.5 The structure of Jri more closely examined

We have defined the addition process in machine-terms. We can,
as it were, programme the machine to print an addition table for us-
as large, each way, as is required. Working on the columns in turn it
would give us
Values of m
(successors)
~
0 1 2 3
r
0 1 2 3
Values ofn I 1 1 2 3 4
(successors) ~ 2 2 3 4 5
etc.
By definition the figures in each column are successors: this is the

way the machine works. If those in each row (below the first) turn out
to be successors this is an empirical result. If, however, it can be
proved to be true it establishes the table to be symmetrical about the
'main diagonal', i.e. from left-hand top corner.
Ex. 5.4 (a) What would this diagonal symmetry tell us about the
operation of addition of one integer to another?
A demonstration of symmetry is as follows:
(P) (Q)
m m1
I
I
I I
I I
I I
' I
nr------------------ f-- ---(k)

n1 -----------------(5)
Fig. 5.2
The letters PQRS refer to certain positions in the table, not numbers
situated there. Then the stages in the route P-+ Q-+ R are in 1-1
correspondence with those of P-+ S directly. Both are moving
through J + from number to successor: thus the numbers at R and S
are the same. But R (or S) could be any location of the table; and this
implies, by what is an induction argument if it is set in algebraic
terms, that all the locations in such a diagonal are filled by equal num-
bers, i.e. that m + n = n + m.
The reader should notice that this sort of enquiry into the nature of
the integer-system can be carried out at two levels. Either one can be
content to see and describe structure of a proof, on a diagram like that
of Fig. 5.2; or one may translate it into strict algebraic terms. What is
of no mathematical value whatever is to 'read' the result off the dia-
gram. By definition the numbers are successors across the top and down
any column; and (m + n) is the number below m and across from nand
no other until we have proved it.
Ex. 5.4 (b) Show
(i) that if m + n = n + x = x + n, then x = m;
(ii) that if m < x, then m + n < x + n;
(This is the first time we have considered two kinds of structure in
relation to one another.)
(iii) that (m + n) + p = m + (n + p).
(c) What further properties would one need to establish before
we could assert this set to be a group under addition? NOTE: it
will be advisable to state the essential properties in the fourfold
form-closure, associativity, unique identity element, unique in-
verse for each element.
(d) Show that the last two conditions are equivalent to the
cancellation property a + x = a + y ~ x = y.
5.6 The set J
We can always extend a set which has structure, provided we (i)
show that the new elements are suitable and (ii) prove the structure
to hold over all. The example which follows is as good as can be
found, to illustrate this procedure; but the details of consistency are
left to the reader. It is inspired by the following geometrical figure:
n
. (m +n')"l
p 2' 1' 0 2 m
• G:iJ • E2l
Fig. 5.3
Shortly, we add for every element n( =ft 0) an inverse n' under addi-
tion, i.e. so that n + n' = 0. Addition among these is by m' + n'
= (m + n)' and m' + n is defined thus:
(i) if m < nit is (n - m), defined as the solution of m + x = n;
(ii) if m = n it is clearly zero;
(iii) if m > nit is (m - n)'.
The ordering rule is that n' is the successor of (n + 1)'. These
provisions give us a set which is a group under addition.
The multiplication structure must also be secured. We have con-
sidered it, up to this point only as a way of 'fixing' unity as the succes-
sor to 0.
We shall return now to discuss the theory of multiplication for
positive elements only.
5.7 The completed structure of the non-negative integer

system Jri
(This section could well be omitted on a first reading.)
We must programme the multiplication process for the machine as
repeated addition: what other method could there be ?
As a matter of notation we must decide which way round to inter-
pret n x m. We shall take it to mean the number m taken n times.
3
The operator 'n x ' is put in front of the symbol on which it operates:
this is universal in operator contexts.t
The multiplication table is worked by the machine column by
column; but here the initial setting (i.e. for n = 0) is in every case
zero. The number added steadily down any column is peculiar to that
column, the number being shown clearly by the top non-zero entry
in the column.
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4) (Value of m)
Table of
n xm
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 2 3 4
(Value of n) 2 0 2 4 6 8 etc.
3 0 3 6 9 12
4 0 4 8 12
etc.
Fig. 5.4
The starting instruction is 0 x m = 0, whatever m may be.

The operating rule is n* x m = n x m + m.
There is only one way of reaching each location in the table when
following these instructions.
It remains to work out the properties (i) of the set under the multi-
plication law, e.g. it appears to be commutative: is it associative? and
(ii) of multiplication in relation to ordering and to addition. For both
types of enquiry the method of induction is tailored to fit. It is easy to
see the situation at a specific point in the corner or perhaps on the top
edge. If a link-implication can then be established, a general result
will follow.
With a number of such results to prove, the main difficulty is to
know which depends on which. We have an order relation among
theorems; probably one like that in Fig. 4.2. It will be necessary, for
(i), first to prove multiplication to be distributive over addition; by
which we mean, since at this stage r x s and s x r have not been
proved equal, both
(a) (m + n) x p = m x p +n x p
t Addition is an exception to this. For this process only, by custom, we 'read'
from left to right, i.e. in m + n we regard' +n' as an operator acting on m.
and
(b) p x (m + n) = p x m +p x n.
A less exacting task is the following, which can be answered straight
from the definitions (with guidance probably from the table):
Ex. 5.5 Prove in J6

k > h -¢> nk > nh, n '# 0.
5.8 Rational numbers

The equation 8x = 5 has no solution in J + ; yet the problem must
have posed itself, in practical situations involving measurement, in
very early times. In fact it was not answered as a piece of mathematics
in such situations. What happened was that a new scale of measure-
ment was created such that what was previously unit length became
8 units. In terms of these new units the answer was 5 ; so we see that
the problem became mathematically an integer one: the fact that the
length in question, measured off 8 times, gives a length which would
in old units be 5 is a piece of jugglery between two units of measure-
ment. (It is reminiscent of swift financial operations carried out partly
in numbers of 'new francs' and partly in 'old francs', after revaluation
in France.)
Mathematically we wish to admit a number for which 8x = 5,
whereas for integers either 8n > 5 or 8n < 5. We wish to 'insert' a
number where with some trouble we have specifically refused to allow
one. We must rebuild our system from the ground up, and get the in-
tegers again in the process. Fortunately they can be used again in a
new way in the rebuilding.
By analogy with the extension of Jet into J, we might define an in-
verse-multiplicative this time-for each positive integer n. We could
write it jn, or ljn, and proceed from there; but in fact a better method
is to follow up the Greek idea of a ratio; e.g. 'r to s', where rands are
integers. To put the idea in modern terms we define a member of our
new set by an ordered pair (r, s) of integers, as explained in the next
section.
5.9 The set Ret of positive rational numbers with zero

This treatment makes use, from the start, of our knowledge of the
set Jet. We proceed thus:
(i) The element of our new set is an ordered pair (p, q) of members
of Jt, but q '# 0. (p can be zero.) One can think of the element
as 'the ratio p to q'.
(ii) We form equivalence classes in our set:

(p, q) = (P, Q) iff pQ = Pq
or we may write
pQ = Pq ~ (p, q) = (P, Q).
E.g. (1, 2) = (2, 4) = (3, 6), etc., comprise such a class, and
any one can be used as 'representative member' for all relevant
purposes.
(iii) We define addition by
(p, q) E8 (r, s) = (ps + qr, qs)
and multiplication by
(p, q) ® (r, s) = (pr, qs).
These are, in ratio form, the familiar results for arithmetic
fractions.
The elements of Rt are, strictly speaking, the classes referred to in
(ii). It is clear that (3, 1) and (7, 1) behave in all respects like the in-
tegers 3 and 7 in Jt, but the part of Rt which simulates 3 is in fact the
class (3, 1) = (6, 2) = (9, 3), etc.
It is simple to show that:
(a) the set is closed under addition and multiplication as defined;
(b) these laws are commutative; and
(c) associative; and
(d) multiplication is distributive over addition,
x(y + z) = xy + xz.
(e) we have identity elements for addition and for multiplication.
Ex. 5.6 What are these identity elements?

These results go some way towards establishing the set to be a
group under addition and under multiplication. Two of the above are
irrelevant to this end: which are they?
We were only able to make U a group under addition by extending
it to J by including additive inverses (negative integers), but neither Jt
nor J was a group under multiplication. We can think of this as be-
cause a x x = b does not always have a solution-the reader will re-
call that this was the starting-point of this section-or because a has
in general no inverse for multiplication.
We have succeeded in making a set which has just the one addi-
tiona! property which we wanted: there has been no bonus! In fact
the set R + has the required inverses for all its members except zero.
We can extend negatively as before, to make the set a group under
addition, i.e. we can add and subtract throughout in the proper fashion;
we can also multiply throughout, and divide by any member except zero.
This would seem to have laid the foundation satisfactorily; but we
also need order in the set, defined as follows. Since there is a simple
ordering for integers, it is always true for unequal integers (pq'),
(p'q) that
either pq' < p' q (i)
or pq' > p' q (ii)
In case (i) we write that
(p, q) @ (p', q')
and for (ii)
(p, q) G (p', q').
Then for members of the set of rationals we find that the new rela-
tion orders the set. The subset which simulates the integers is then
seen to have all the properties of J, i.e. if we call this subset S we can
write
(S; Ef>, 0, @) +--+ (J; +, X, <).
The two sets have a correspondence which covers three distinct
internal structures. Only one of these is a group-structure, but the
term isomorphism is not restricted to this. The criterion is that
the stated laws or relations 'go over': for a relation we require
aRb+--+ a p f3 where a, b map to a, f3 and vice versa.
It is not surprising that the set which we named S is tacitly treated
as identical with J. Taxed with an inconsistency here, a mathematician
will usually say it is identical 'short of an isomorphism'.
5.10 Number-fields
In the set R, which is Rti extended 'negatively', we have a number-
system adequate for all everyday applications of mathematics. In
giving it as full a group structure as possible we have succeeded also
in making it dense, i.e. in making it possible to go on inserting indefi-
nitely. This allows us, as Eudoxus pointed out, to get as near as we
please to the solution of a wide range of equations (involving a single
unknown). Thus practical computing, which works to specified mar-
gins, uses R for expressing its results; in fact a subset in which the
denominator q is a power either of 10 or of 2.
Before building any more structures we ought to record, as it were,
the postal addresses of some of the buildings already made. In the
street called 'Number Fields' we find several with these common

architectual features:
(i)group structure under addition;
(ii)the same under multiplication, if zero is omitted;
(iii)commutativity under both addition and multiplication;
(iv) a distributive law governing the operation of multiplica-
tion upon addition, expressed in symbols as a(b + c)
= ab + ac; and
(v) that there are no divisors of zero, i.e.
ab =0 => a = 0 or b = 0.
This last provision may be somewhat unexpected. It is not inde-
pendent of the others-it is tied up with unique inverses under multi-
plication-but is inserted as a useful test to show that some systems
do not qualify which might be expected to do so. A good example is
arithmetic modulo 6: this or any other which has a zero in the body of
its multiplication table is not accepted as a number-field. The propriety
of excluding it is shown by the bizarre behaviour of an equation such
as 3x(x + 1) = 0 in arithmetic modulo 6. The reader should verify
that every one of the values (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) in fact satisfies the equa-
tion; whereas if (v) were true-as it is, for example, modulo 7-we
could deduce at once that either x = 0 or x + 1 = 0 and only two
solutions, exist.
Among the systems which have all these features in common and
which therefore qualify as fields, we are able to see considerable differ-
ences, e.g. they may
(a) be infinite (a1 ) or finite (a 2 );
(b) be simply ordered (b 1 ), have partial order (b 2 ) or have no order
(ba);
(c) have the property (c1 ) of being dense in itself, i.e. that between
any two distinct members we can name as many more mem-
bers as we please; or (c2 ), not have this property.
Ex. 5.7 (a) Put the fields, described above, into their categories
under this a, b, c classification.
(b) Show that certain combinations of the form ah b1, ck are
contradictory.
We shall see that no combination represents tha ultimate in fields.
The Greek geometers were still not satisfied with the field of rationals.
They were looking for a type of number which linked with geometry
and which required a further property which has come to he called
completeness. This will be considered in the next section.
5.11 Real numbers. The set R#
The subject of analysis, with its idea of a limit and the development
of differential and integral calculus, requires a set which is an exten-
sion of R, called the set of real numbers. It is of course, infinite, dense
in itself, and ordered.
The Greeks had a clear idea of rational number although their
notations were clumsy. They were well aware that there was no
rational solution to the equation x2 = 2 for example i.e. no integral
solution to p 2 = 2q 2 • (The reader should satisfy himself of this.) They
were able, however, to approximate as closely to a solution as they
wished. In our time a set of decimal approximations is the most
familiar approach; but alternatively we may use iterative formulae to
give sets of fractions which approach astonishingly fast. Two examples
follow.
We have the sequence of rational numbers Prfqr subject to one or
other of the following rules :
(A). ···Pr+l = Pr + 2qr and qr+l = Pr + qr
which gives fractions alternately too large and too small; or
(B) Newton's formulae
Pr+l = P~ + 2q~ and qr+l = 2pr qr.
This gives a sequence steadily changing in one direction ('monotone').

For either formula we may start with p = 7, q = 5. The reader
should satisfy himself of the rapidity and nature of the convergence of
these sequences.
It is one thing to be able to obtain numbers which satisfy x2 = 2
more and more nearly: it is quite another to have a number field in
which the equation is actually soluble. The Greek geometers were so
concerned about this that they were discouraged from pursuing alge-
braic or numerical theory: it was the practical school of Alexandrine
astronomers who pressed on, by-passing theoretical difficulties as did
many others in the following centuries.
The difficulty is brought out by the following example from co-
ordinate geometry. Consider these graphs to be drawn:
(i) the straight line y = x, and
(ii) the rectangular hyperbola (t, 3ft).
We shall say confidently that the graphs meet in two 'points'; i.e.,
in algebraic terms, that there are two numerical values of t such that
x = t, y = 3ft will satisfy equation (i). In rational numbers, however,
this is simply not true! We are in the paradoxical situation that, where-
as we can have as many rational values of t as we please, i.e. an 'in-
finity' of points throughout the hyperbola-we even have infinitely
many between t = 1·7320 and t = 1·7322-yet none of them lies on

the straight line.
The full answer to this classic problem must be mastered by every
serious student, at the higher levels of pure mathematics, but it is
sufficient here to sketch out the construction of R#, which we need to
use in the remainder of this volume as if it had been fully established.
We shall follow up the special case of x 2 = 2 since it illustrates the
essential features of the extension of R to R#.
By virtue of equations (A) we have a sequence of rational numbers
p 0 jq0 , P 1 /q 1 , etc. The even members p 0 fq 0 , P 2 /q2 , p 4 fq 4 form an increas-
ing sequence L and the odd members a decreasing sequence U.
Every member x2 ,_ 1 of U exceeds every member x 28 of L. We can
make the difference x 2 , _ 1 - x 28 as small as we please by increasing r
and s, but it is still true that x~r-l > 2 and x~. < 2.
So long as we think of the x's we are still in the set R. The decisive
step is to define a number N by means of the two sets of members of the
sequences. This will be perfectly satisfactory so long as we can lay down
satisfactory rules by which we can (i) add such numbers, which we do
by adding the corresponding terms of their sequences; (ii) multiply
them-in a similar way; (iii) test to discover when the numbers are
equal, and if not, which is the greater; and (iv) show that our new set
includes the old, viz. R.
Once established, this extended set R# satisfies all our graphical
demands. By using this field of real numbers for values oft, we do ob-
tain two intersections of the hyperbola and the straight line. More-
over we do get a 'bonus' in this instance. The extended field has a
property which might not have been anticipated, viz. the property of
completeness. Repeating the sequence-procedure, for example, gives
us nothing new; and it appears as though, subject to our retaining the
ordering, we have reached finality. Certainly we have 'filled up the
line with points' as the geometer has demanded from Greek times on-
wards.
The reader will appreciate that the next major development in
algebra, made in the first instance with little regard to its logical basis,
was to develop complex number: a step involving the sacrifice of strict
ordering so as to gain a large freedom of manreuvre and the full
n-fold solubility of the polynomial equation of degree n.
Ex. 5.8 (a) Show that the set a + by'p is a field, where a, b are
rationals and pis a fixed prime integer.
(b) Why not, if a, b are integers?
Ex. 5.9 (a) Show that in the system of integers modulo 10 the equa-
tion 7x(x + 3) = 0 has more than 2 roots.
(b) Show that the system in (a) is not a field. Which of the
conditions is violated?
Ex. 5.10 See below in the summary.
Summary
We have considered in turn the properties of various number-
systems.
First J+, the set of natural numbers was defined as a listing-system,
but some variants were seen to perform this task equally well.
The set J+ was then developed as follows :
(1) Addition was defined and the set was extended, first to Jri and
then to J, the set of integers, to obtain group-structure under
addition.
t
(2a) Multiplication was defined over J by a step-by-step definition,
and extended to J.
(3) Both addition and multiplication were shown to be commutative.
(4) Again from their definitions it was shown that multiplication is
distributive over addition, i.e.
a(b + c) = ab + ac.
From ordered pairs in J we developed the set R of rational numbers
with all the above properties and the further one of being:
(2b) a group under multiplication except that x x 0 = a fails, i.e.
division by zero impossible.
Properties (1), (2a and 2b), (3), (4) were subsequently taken to define
a number-field.
R was seen to have the property of being dense in itself. Neither this
nor the property of being infinite, nor of being ordered, were essential
to a field; nor again of being complete. This last property was merely
referred to as being needed, along with the three in italics, for estab-
lishing the calculus, and was met by extending R to the set R# as
shortly outlined in section 5.11.
An additional property of a number-field was mentioned, viz. that
ab = 0 =? a = 0 or b = 0, i.e. that there are no divisors of zero. This
was seen to eliminate arithmetic modulo n where n is a composite in-
teger (i.e. not a prime).
A Review of the Number-Fields Considered:

The field R# of real numbers. This is the kind of number in terms of
which we tend to think when using the term 'variable', or when draw-
ing any sort of continuous graph. Number-pairs or triples in every-
day co-ordinate geometry are understood to be composed of 'real
numbers'.
The field R of rational numbers (pairs p; q of integers, one of which
may be negative). All numerical calculations which are not purely in-
tegral are done in this field, of which decimal numbers form a subset
(not a sub-field. Ex. 5.10. Why?). Such numerical results may be
approximations to members of more highly developed fields, e.g.
2·2321 for! + y3 in field r + sy3, where rands are rationals.
The field of complex numbers (pairs of real numbers, with the required
laws of combination characteristic of this field) in which every poly-
nomial of degree n has n linear factors.
A simple finite field is obtained by taking the set of integers 0, 1, 2,
3, ... (p - 1) under addition and multiplication modulo p, where p
is prime.
6
THE PLANE AS SEEN BY GEOMETER AND

ALGEBRAIST: A JOINT POLICY ACHIEVED.
VECTORS, MATRICES
(The reader is recommended at first reading to concentrate on

sections 6.2, 6.3, 6.6, 6.7.)
6.1 Intuitive geometry as an aid to algebra
Initially we made use of number as it is customarily accepted. We
have now refined our ideas: if we think of oil-refining this is a good
metaphor because we have as it were distilled off from the crude
material a number of products with allied structures but with marked
structural differences which are shown by their properties. We now
know how to use the appropriate product for each situation in which
we find ourselves.
In our discussions we have not hesitated to use geometrical repre-
sentations. These have greatly helped us to appreciate relations and
have been fruitful in suggestions. We have however, been careful not
to base our proofs upon diagrams. Every diagram is a special caset and
we should have been in the position of the schoolboy who 'proved'
x 2 - y 2 = (x + y)(x - y) by the statement 52 - 32 = 16 = (5 + 3)
(5 - 3). He could as easily have 'proved' that x 2 - y 2 = 2(x + y).
At some stage one must face the task of lifting geometry out of this
mathematically humiliating position; it is such a prodigious reversal
of the situation among the Greeks, for whom geometry was the
supreme mental discipline, and who knew just enough about number
to find it inadequate to deal with certain geometrical situations.
In emphasising the limitations of diagrams we have not lost sight of
the fact that we may be convinced that a diagram shows in all relevant
respects the relations existing in all the diagrams which could be
drawn: that it is in fact a representative member of an equivalence
class of all diagrams made to the given prescription. We may be per-
haps quite sure that certain relations which we perceive in it are also
t E.g. the 1-1 correspondence in Fig. 5.2 can be stated algebraically though
we did not hold up the argument to do this.
67
properties of the whole class. The algebra has however, at the level we
have now reached, ways of testing assertions at every stage; and we
should discard this safeguard at our peril: nevertheless the 'transla-
tion' into geometrical terms is of incalculable value in suggesting
what assertions should be made, i.e. geometry is often the creative
part of mathematics.
A good example is provided by the technique of extending a set, as
in section 5.6. The idea of negative numbers as 'points on a line on
the other side of an origin' is familiar to the reader from early mathe-
matical teaching: the treatment given in section 5.6 was based on it.
The problem was, having extended Jri to include an inverse (under
addition) n' for every n E J+, to define addition of n' to m. The rules
given in section 5.6 do not come out of thin air: they are suggested
by the geometrical picture given (Fig. 5.3), in which the inverses (the
familiar negative numbers) are in order along the line; and adding n'
means a movement through n stages backward.
We are agreed that mathematics, as such, deals in mental constructs
comprising elements; and these elements must be undefined, since
definition must start somewhere. Geometry therefore will be expected
to conform to this pattern: is there any reason then why the geometry
which has appeared in an algebraic context should not be allowed a
mathematical 'existence'?
We may feel that we are treating the geometer as if he were a foreign
mathematician: he speaks a subtle and expressive tongue which we
have to translate into the algebraic language. This is all to the good:
as 'algebraists' we use a vocabulary which is not large, but the gram-
mar is precise; and where we have no terms to correspond with his,
we will adopt his and use them (carefully defined) as our own.
We start by translating point on a line as 'number'; but our language
does not admit us to use this term unqualified, and we have to add
'in a stated number-field'. For a satisfactory translation we find that
only R#, the field of real numbers, will fit the ordinary usage. Line
itself is evidently a set of points, and to lie on a line is to be a member
of the set.
Geometer: 'This only allows you to talk about one line; the geometry
of such a system is soon exhausted.'
Algebraist: 'We can get over this, I am sure; but first of all what about
some of the properties of my real numbers: they are precisely de-
fined and include order. I have read your Euclid, and he just says
"on this side" and "on that side", with one of your drawings to ex-
plain it-most unsatisfactory.'
Geometer: 'You don't really despise our drawings; I know you use
them yourself when nobody is looking. The answer to your ques-
THE PLANE AS SEEN BY GEOMETER AND ALGEBRAIST 69
tion is that with Euclid order as such (which you so clearly define
at the outset) is left to intuition at first, but the idea of length
carries order with it.'
Algebraist: 'We all get ideas from time to time, and I owe a great
many to you people, but when I write mine down they are in the
form of definitions or of theorems based on them. What is this
length when we come to analyse it?'
Geometer: 'Euclid started by defining AB and CD as equal lengths if
AB can be made to coincide with CD, just as material bodies are
measured.'
Algebraist: 'This is fair enough if it is stated clearly at the outset as a
property of your mathematical lines. I hear that your Euclidean of
today has to list twenty-two properties, which seems to me to be
rather formidable before one can even begin.'
Geometer: 'This is true. It is the price we must pay for using our own
ways of thought from the start. Remember that my language
developed by description of the physical space in which we both
live, and its graphic character is due to this. You must admit that
when Euclidean space is made mathematically respectable it is
superb.'
Algebraist: 'I admit it very readily; but as you know I have my own
version of it.'
Geometer: 'My ideas, and your theory of them! Yes, these make a
formidable combination: young mathematicians, particularly, seem
to thrive on it these days.'
Algebraist: 'They feel they are getting two branches of mathematics
for the price of one. Some of their teachers, too, encourage them in
this; by saying that a point (in a plane) is an ordered pair of real
numbers.'
Geometer: 'As a pure geometer by upbringing I deprecate this, of
course. It suggests that it was your language, not mine, which was
spoken in the Garden of Eden ! All the same, if I understand your
term isomorphism rightly, I don't see how we can object to two
abstract systems which are fully isomorphic being regarded as the
same system. You yourself do this for example when you say that
such-and-such a set of operations is Klein's 4-group.'
Algebraist: 'This is not quite a fair analogy. I should more naturally
say that a certain system based on algebraic definitions is a geo-
metry, than I would say that a point is an ordered pair of real num-
bers.'
Geometer: 'It depends. There is pure projective geometry, of course,
which owes nothing to algebraic ideas; but on the other hand
geometries of dimensions greater than three are bound to work on
an algebraic basis.'
Algebraist: 'Clearly we must leave pure projective geometry as a

unique exercise in your language. For the rest, you think we are
now inextricably tied up together?'
Geometer: 'Yes, I would like the young mathematician to be as fluent
as possible in my language, but your translation of anything may be
the one in which points of validity are best decided-the "definitive
version", as the framers of international treaties say.'
Our friends have agreed on a policy, and we shall adopt it. For the
rest of this chapter we are working in 'the Euclidean plane' defined
algebraically as the set of ordered pairs of real numbers:
E = {(x,y) I x,y E R#}.
When we write of 'the line ax + by + c = 0' we mean the solution
set of ordered pairs (x, y) for this equation; and all other geometrical
terms which appear are understood to be defined algebraically, though
they will not necessarily be thought of in this way: they will be 'seen'.
6.2 An exercise in algebra-geometry

It is familiar that when a number of dots are seen on a piece of
paper they are perceived as a complete pattern. If there is any excuse
to do so, we see them as a curve, a straight line, or a picture made up
of these. It will be convenient to fall in with this fact so that even if,
e.g. we are dealing with integers x andy we shall still speak of 'the' line
2x + 3y = 1.
Take two pieces of squared paper,t i.e. two realisations of (parts of)
the Euclidean plane, or as we shall say 'two planes'. Mark one sheet D
(domain) and draw coordinate axes x' ox, y' oy on this sheet (o being
central and x' ox being the longer dimension). The second sheet
(labelled R for range) has similar axes labelled X' OX, Y' OY.
Start with a small domain D of integer pairs in which - 2 ~ x ~ 2,
-2 ~ y ~ 2 and map this domain into R by the function M:
M:D~R, (x, y) ~(X, Y)
where X= 2x + 3y
Y =X+ 2y.
Since this mapping is specified completely by the four coefficients
(in their correct pattern) it is convenient to write M symbolically as
(i ~)· Such a pattern is called a matrix. A matrix used as in this
example is called a linear transformation matrix.
'A mapping', a term which comes so naturally in this context, has
t Use either centimetre or half-inch units.
come to be used as synonymous with a function in any context. The
point on the 'map' is the image of its original. Mark series of points
near the origin o with letters a, b, etc. and their images A, B, etc. (and
0, of course). It is important that the reader should discover for himself
the character of this mapping, but some guidance is to be found in
section 6.5.
The pattern o, a, b, etc. is transformed into the pattern 0, A, B,
etc. Certain relations which we could see in D are apparent also in the
image-pattern.
Ex. 6.1 List properties of the first pattern which apply (precisely,
in corresponding parts) in the image pattern.
List also some which do not apply.
Another term used for such a function process, and which again has
a visual connection, is transformation: 'form' has gone 'across'. In
technical terms, some structure has been preserved under the trans-
formation.
Ex. 6.2 Which of the following have been preserved under M?
(a) Of points on a line;
(i) strict (i.e. chain-)ordering?
(ii) distances, e.g. P 1 P 2 = Q1Q2. P2Pa = Q2Q3?
(iii) any relation involving distances?
(b) Of points in a plane:
(i) any kind of order? Failing this, 'proximity' conceived in
some intuitive way and not to be examined too closely;
(ii) area of triangle P 1 P 2P 3 ?
(iii) any relation involving areas?
(c) Of lines in a plane :
(i) the (transitive) relation of being parallel (how defined
algebraically?)
(ii) the (non-transitive) relation of being at right angles? How
would you define this algebraically?
Ex. 6.3 (a) Show that the function (i.e. the mapping M), has an in-
verse function M - 1. Map in the reverse direction from (0, 0),
P(O, 1), Q(1, 0), R(1, 1), etc. Show M- 1 (i) as a pair of equations
for (x, y) in terms of (X, Y) and (ii) as a square matrix.
Notice that domain and (strict) range have interchanged. In some
ways it is easier, as the elastic sheet suggests, to think of the trans-
formation as shifting points in one plane, from the Euclidean plane
into itself.
Ex. 6.3 (b) Repeat 6.3(a) for the cases
(i) M = G ~) (ii) M = ( 75 23)·
The structure of the set of transformations (; ~) is of such inter-

est and importance in pure and applied mathematics, that the reader
should experiment to discover its essential features before going
further. Three points of guidance are:
(i) Integers could well be used for the M arrays; though rationals
may be found in the resulting inverse matrix M- 1 • (If integers
are chosen such that ad - be = ± 1, the inverse matrix has
integral coefficients.)
(ii) Whereas one may restrict x, y; X, Yin certain simple instances
to be integers, this restriction will generally be found impos-
sible to maintain.
(iii) The value of ad - be is found to be a critical 'parameter' of the
transformation. The reader-or a group of readers-should
try cases where it is (a) negative, especially - 1, (b) large and
positive, (c) small and positive, (d) zero.t It will be valuable to
list, from these results, those relations (between points, lines,
or other subsets) which are preserved under such of the trans-
formations as are non-singular. A list is given in the solution
notes for Ex. 6.1.
6.3 Vectors in a plane: M as a vector-to-vector mapping

At this point we must elaborate, for the sake of readers who have
not met it in algebraic form, the idea of a vector in a plane. Vector
quantities such as displacement, velocity and force-at-a-point are
familiar in mechanics; but it is very convenient to discuss the proper-
ties of vectors in the abstract. We shall show their fundamental charac-
ter (just as we have done for number) apart from their application.
When a certain coordinate system has been set up, we may define
a vector in a plane as an ordered pair of numbers (x, y), the numbers
being drawn from a specified number-field (e.g. the set J of integers).
Since points in a plane have been defined in a precisely similar
fashion, it would seem at first sight that we have nothing new; but the
geometry of the situation should indicate that we are about to deal
with a new structure, although we see at the outset a correspondence
with an older one. The first distinction is that vectors can be added
according to the parallelogram law, e.g. if a is the vector (1, 0) and b
is (2, 1), then their sum a EBb is (3, 1).
t If ad - be = 0 the 2 x 2 matrix is called singular.
We have the option of (i) defining the sum by geometry (parallelo-
gram construction) and proving that
(xl, Y1) EB (x2, Y2) = (xl + x2, Y1 + Y2)
or (ii) defining the sum algebraically and deriving the geometry from
it if required. In accordance with the policy laid down earlier, we
adopt the second method.t
For technical reasons we shall hereafter write vectors always in column
form G)· Use of this notation implies the additive property defined
above. (x, y) denotes the corresponding number-pair, which has no
such property.
We shall also use single bold letters for vectors, thus: a = (~)·
b = (~)·
Consider the points P(1, 0), Q(2, 1) and R(3, 1) in the plane. To tie
in with the geometry it is useful to regard the vector b as represented
-->-
on a diagram by the line drawn from 0 to Q, written OQ. Such a
notation was once commonly used to define vectors, but it is giving
way to the fully algebraic b in bold type (written in manuscript 6').
This is because b would be equally well shown by any line equal and
-->- -->-
parallel to OQ drawn in the same sense. P R, for example, which has x-
and y-projections equal to +2 and + 1, equally well represents
b = (~) · (This representation would allow us to us:the triangle con-
struction for addition.) More generally the line ST joining (h, k) to
(h + 2, k + 1) would represent b: if we use lines to represent vectors
then we must set up equivalence classes among such lines, and b is in
correspondence with a whole class.
Ex. 6.4 It is an exercise for the reader to establish that the set of
vectors in a plane form a group under addition.
Since this is an infinite set, it will be advisable to use the defini-
tion system for a group in the form: (~) closure, (d) associativ-
ity, (J 1f 2 ) unique identity and an inverse for every element.
We are now in a position to state that the pair of linear equations,
t Since our (algebraically defined) vector is tied to a certain pair of coordinate

axes, its full generality is not established until the effect of change of axes is dis-
cussed; but we shall not consider this here.
which maps points in a plane D into another plane R, may also be re-
garded as mapping vectors in D into vectors in R.
6.4 The algebraic machinery of matrices

The reader has been given the opportunity to approach the proper-
ties of 2 x 2 matrices by intuitive geometrical methods. One cannot
improve on this as a way of studying a single transformation; but to
examine how the matrices themselves are related (in the set of all
matrices) it will be advisable to examine the algebraic machinery.
The key to the procedure is the original array by which the pair
(X, Y) was calculated from (x, y):
(x) t t
(y)
( a b)
~x
c d ~ y
This array may be regarded as a slot-machine into which xis fed (into
the first column) andy (into the second column); the row-sums giv-
ing X and Y respectively out of the right- or left-hand side.
It is noticeable that the final ordered pair appears as a column. This
is such a convenience that it will be adopted for all number pairs in
this context. The final pair appears as ( ; ) , and for uniformity the
initial pair as G). As an algebraic entity such an array is called a

column vector.t This implies properties discussed in section 6.3.
We write our equation, by analogy with the everyday function pro-
cedure v = f (u), as
(;) (; !)(~)·
The evaluation of the right-hand side is carried out by taking (i) the
serial product! of the top elements a, b of the matrix with the elements
x, y of the column vector, to form ax + by; and (ii) the serial product
of c, d with x, y to form ex+ dy. The second expression is placed
below the first, to form the new column-vector which is the result of
the operation.
Thus (; !) acting upon (~) always produces
( ax+ by)·
ex+ dy
t It can also be regarded as a 2 x 1 matrix, though we shall not enquire here
into the linear transformation associated with it.
t This term is used as a convenient short name for the sum a1 b1 + a 2 b2 +
etc. taken over two ordered sets (a 1, a2, ... , a.) and (bt, b2, ... , b.).
Since we name this ( ; ) here and the two are ordered pairs, the
statement
(X)
Y
= (ax + by)
ex+ dy
implies at the same time
X=ax+by
and
Y =ex+ dy.
In order to gain facility it is advisable to repeat in notational form some

of the calculations already done in Ex. 6.3. The value of the notation,
which has stood the test of time, will later appear.
The rule is: multiply, by 'serial' multiplication term by term, from
the first row into the column to give the first row, and from the second
row into the column to give the second row, of the result.
To see the next moves clearly, the analogy should be kept in mind
between our present process and that of a function of a simple argu-
ment, e.g. cos fJ. We may have a table for values of this function and
we may use it for finding say cos 40°. Subsequently this value may be
the argument of another function 'log' for which we also have a table;
but if cos 40° itself happens to be of no importance to us, the 'com-
pound function' will be used directly, i.e. we shall refer to the table
headed 'log cosines'.
Suppose our first function is (; ~) and our second, in order of
application like 'log' above, is (; !)·We can discover the combined

function by application of these in the correct order, to the general
column vector ( x) ·
s
First we obtain
(; ;)(;) = (;:! ;~)·

Then (; ~) transforms this, in the same way as it would any other
column vector, to:
a(px + qy) + b(rx + sy)) l.e. ap + brx + aq + bsy)·

( (
c(px + qy) + d(rx + sy) cp + drx + cq + dsy
Thus the same result would have been obtained by applying a single
matrix
( ap + br aq + bs)·
cp + dr cq + ds
The combination function could also be written in terms of its com-
ponent functions (like log cos) by putting them adjacent, with the
first to be used on the right. We should therefore write
(a b)
(P
c d r
q) = (ap
s cp
+ br
+ dr
aq
cq
+ bs).
+ ds
This is an operator equation, neither side having any meaning unless
it is followed, e.g. by a column vector 2 x 1 on which it can operate.
We are interested in the relation between the operations, and this
equation is exactly what we want-it gives the rule for finding a single
matrix equal to successive applications of two given matrices. Mat-
rices combined in this way are said to be multiplied. There is no danger
of confusion in using this term. The matrices are either written adja-
cent, or with x or . between, as is customary for elementary multipli-
cation; but it is very important to note that this multiplication is not
commutative.
It will be seen that to obtain the first element of the product matrix
we form the serial-product of first row (left) and first column (right).
The general rule of formation is mostly clearly seen by using the nota-
tion P;1 for serial product of ith row (left) with jth column (right).
Then the product matrix is (pp
' 21
11 pp12 ) and this rule will be found to
22
hold good also for more complicated matrices.t
Ex. 6.5 Find the product matrices of the following (the symbols
referring to the numerical matrices of Ex. 6.3):
M- 1 x M.
Verify that the product matrix in each case is the identity-matrix,
denoted by I, which transforms every point into itself.
6.5 Addition preserved under the mapping. Homomorphism

The reader may well have used, in plotting one or more of the
transformations in Ex. 6.3, the fact that after the first few images have
t The character of the serial product shows that the left matrix must have the
same number of rows as the right-hand matrix has of columns. It is simple to
check that our formula reads 'eleven, twelve, ... ; twenty one, twenty two, ... ';
and so on for higher order matrices.
been plotted, the rest can be found by addition in the R-plane. The
procedure is shown formally in the following diagram.
Nome and c=a+b

0 a b Any vector p
Original { vector symb ol
point
Co-ordinate s (0,0) (1,0) (0,1) (1,1) = (1,0) + (0, 1) (x,y)
X 0 2 3 5 2x+3y
Image point
co-ordinates
{
y 0 1 2 3 X +2y
Nome and vector symb ol 0 A B C=A+B p

of image
Fig. 6.1
It will be seen that every vector in the domain is derived by addition

of suitable multiples of a and b. (These two are called in vector terms
the basis of a vector space.) The image is in every case obtained by the
same multiples of the images A and B. The simplest example ts
c = a + b mapping to C = A + B.
We may restate this, since A = M(a), etc., in the form
M(a + b) = M(a) + M(b).
In words this states that we get the same result whether we (left-hand-
side) add first and map afterwards; or (right-hand-side) map the ele-
ments first and add the images. When a mapping, from one addition
group to another, obeys this condition it is said to be a homomorphic
mapping. When, as in our examples up to this point, the mapping is
reversible, the term isomorphic is applicable.
The special character of this condition will be seen by some
counter-examples:
(1) The mapping 8 ~sin 8. (Not in general reversible.)
It is not true that sin (a + b) = sin a + sin b.
(2) The mapping x ~ y'x. (Reversible.)
It is not true that y'(a +b)= y'a + y'b.
(3) A physical example. A nucleus is determined by the ordered
pair of integers (p, n) where p is the number of protons and n
of neutrons. Every nucleus maps into a real number its mass
M(p, n).
If two nuclei can be fused to form (p 1 + p 2 , n1 + n2 ) it is not
true that
The discrepancy, on fusion or fission, is the basis of atomic energy.

Finally we may look at a positive example: The steering-mechan-

ism in Chapter 1 showed an isomorphism between the group S{O, 1, 2}
of integers, under addition modulo 3, on one hand; and the group Q
of rotations, under combination of rotations, on the other.
Symbolically we may write (S, EB) +-+ (Q, *), and if a symbol is used
for the mapping we write the arrows separately, e.g. (D, EB) ~ (R, EB)
and if an inverse mapping exists we also have a reversed arrow
marked M- 1 •
6.6 More geometrical considerations

Aided by the preservation of the parallel relation-an equivalence
-under matrix transformation, we see that congruent trianglest in D
become congruent triangles (another equivalence) in R; and they
may be combined. We might expect therefore an area-relation to hold,
and this is apparent for the complete 'wallpaper units'.
The reader should satisfy himself that if A is (X1 , Y1 ) and B is
(X2 , Y2 ), the area of the triangle OAB is !(X1 Y2 - X 2 Y1 ) and that
if OACB is a parallelogram its area is X 1 Y 2 - X 2 Y1 •
--x
-y
Fig. 6.2 Fig. 6.3
(It should be noticed that the formula will give the area with a
positive sign if the circuit OACBO is anticlockwise, and a negative
sign if clockwise.)
As in Section 6.1, we take ABC to be the images of a(1, 0), b(O, 1) and
c(l, 1); but the matrix is to be taken as (; ;). Then A is (p, r) and
B is (q, s) and the area OACB is (ps - qr), whereas that of oacb is
unity. The value (ps - qr) is therefore an area-multiplying factor, and
it clearly operates on any polygonal figure into its (polygonal) image-
figure. This fits with results discovered empirically in Ex. 6.3; in
particular (i) if ps - qr is negative, the image is reversed in sense, e.g.
clockwise if its original was anticlockwise, and (ii) if ps - qr is zero
t With the same orientation.
the parallelogram collapses into a line; and every point of D has its
image on the line, which becomes the strict range of the function. It
is not surprising that in this case no inverse transformation exists. If
the image point P lies on the line, its original p is not unique: if P
does not lie on the line, p does not exist.t
The quantity ps - qr is called the determinant of the matrix
(~ ~) and is written ~~ ~~
enclosed in straight lines. It is a number associated with a matrix M
and is often symbolised by jMj. If we can establish that its area-
multiplying character holds good in general, there will follow a rule
for multiplication of determinants, on the same pattern, viz.:
q
s
I= Icpap ++ drbr aq
cq
+ bs I·
+ ds
Ex. 6.6 Verify this by direct multiplication of the expressions
(ad - be) and (ps - qr).
Ex. 6. 7 Verify for two numerical cases that IM -lj is the reciprocal
of jMj, both numerically and as a signed number.
Ex. 6.8 Which of the conditions for a group under multiplication
have been established in this chapter for the set of non-singular
2 x 2 matrices with rational elements? If any further condition
remains the reader may be content to test it for some numerical
cases.
Ex. 6.9 Suggest a general form for (a) a matrix which transforms
a triangle into a congruent triangle, and (b) a matrix which pre-
serves shape, i.e. transforms any triangle into a similar triangle.
Ex. 6.10 Show that (1, m, n) is an ordered triad sufficient to deter-
mine a line, by virtue of the equation lx + my + n = 0. Show
that the matrix
G! :) •oting on ilie column vocto• (;)
will transform it into another 'line'. Find the condition (i) that
the lines should be coincident; (ii) that the lines should be paral-
lel, for all, l, m, n in both cases.
t These results can be restated in terms of the unique solubility of linear

equations, which depends on the 'determinant' of the coefficients not being zero.
Ex. 6.11 Pick a 2-group and a 4-group from among the following
matrices, combined under multiplication:
Describe the transformations and identify the 4-group. Is it

commutative?
Ex. 6.12 Show that the following matrices form a group under
multiplication, and identify it:
(~ ~ ~ ~) (! ~ ~ ~) (~ ! ~ ~) (~ ~ ~ ~}
Ex. 6.13 (a) Show that (~ ;) can be interpreted as a change of co-
ordinates of a fixed point under a transformation of axes.
(b) Show that a matrix transformation which moves the origin,
as well as changes axes, requires to operate on either a column
vector
(yxl) or on 'homogeneous coordinates'
where the triad (x, y z) =(kx, ky, kz) for all k =J 0.

Ex. 6.14 (a) Show that the following matrices commute with one
another:
( c?s a
sm a
-sin
cos a
a), ( cos fJ
sin fJ
- sin
cos fJ
f1)
and interpret the results geometrically.
(b) State the inverse of each of the above.
Ex. 6.15 Show that the matrix (~ ~ ~) projects any point

(x, y, z) on to the x 0 y plane. Can any linear transformation get
it back again?
Interpret the transformations:
(a) (!0 00 !0)

1!
(d) ( - 5 5
0
0)
It may help to apply this to the vertices of a
cube of side 5 with one vertex at the origin.
6.7 Informational matrices

The emphasis in this chapter has been on matrices for spatial
linear transformations, since their properties are so clearly linked with
geometry and can be visualised.
The practical application of matrices lies overwhelmingly in other
fields. First, in the solution of sets of linear equations, which we shall
not consider here; and secondly in processing arrays of information.
We shall consider this aspect very briefly by means of an example.
A factory delivers two grades of product in bulk to each of four
packing and distributing centres. Each centre can pack each product
in three sizes of container and does so in different proportions in
accordance with its regional sales pattern (which is the same for both
grades of product).
The data are as follows:
Deliveries (tonsfwk)
Higher grade Lower grade
Centres A 10 15
B 20 30 (Matrix M)
c 15 35
D 25 50
Proportion packed in different sizes
Large Medium Small
Centres A l.
5 t ~
5
B t~ t t (Matrix N)
c 5 t ~
5
L 1.
D t 10 5
It would clearly be possible to process these figures to find, e.g., the

tons per week of each size of each grade which go out from centre A
(six results) and so on, 24 results in all. If, however, we are not inter-
ested in the separate centres, but only in the totals over all of them, we
require a grid of six results with two grades set against three sizes, the
tonnages being in the body of the array.
We can obtain a 2 x 3 matrix by multiplying a 2 x 4 in front of a

4 x 3; and we can get a 3 x 2 matrix by (3 x 4) times (4 x 2). In
either case, one of the data matrices must be transposed, but it would
be rash to assume that it does not matter which one: a proper analysis
must be made.
If we transpose M, its first row will be ha hb he ha, the tonnages of
higher grade. This row, (pre)multiplying the first column of N will
give
(1/S)ha 1- (lj4)hb 1- (2/S)hc 1- (lj2)ha
which is the total tonnage of higher-grade large. Similarly the second
column of the result will be
(2j5)ha 1- (lj2)hb 1- (1/S)hc 1- (ljlO)ha.
Thus the product M' x N (the dash standing for transposition) gives
the required matrix in the form:
Amount distributed (tonsfwk)
Large Medium Small
Higher grade
Lower grade
Ex. 6.16 The reader should evaluate the coefficients of this matrix
and check the total tonnage with that given by M.
The matrix N links with another matrix application. It will be real-
ised that the figures, which add to unity in each row, are based on an
analysis of previous experience at each centre. Of every ton which
reaches A, the demand is expected to divide the sales in the propor-
tion shown, i.e. these represent sale probabilities.
Furthermore, the centres are supplied in accordance with experi-
ence: the quantities sent are dictated by recent demand, used as a
guide for future demand. (It will be seen that the proportions are f,
!, !, i for A, B, C, D.) Thus of every ton manufactured the expected
fraction sold in each form can be exhibited in a probability matrix of
which the total sum of the elements is unity.
Ex. 6.17 (a) Show that the row matrix (t, !, !, i), which gives prob-
able demand over the centres, can be combined with N to give
an overall probability matrix: annotate its rows and columns.
(b) If the weight of packaging material required for the three
sizes is in the proportion 6 to 4 to 3, find the proportion by
weight of material used by the four centres.
(c) If the gross profit per ton of higher grade sold is to that of
lower grade in the ratio of 5 to 4, compare the gross profits earned
by the four centres.
Ex. 6.18 Consider this electrical network (purely resistive):
--
;,
~
i i
+
Input
v, !; v2 Output
t 1
voltage
+;--
/1
Fig. 6.4
-
;2
(For simplicity we may regard the lower conductor to be at zero

potential.)
By Kirchhoff's laws (i) for current at the junction, and (ii) for
potential difference across input and output, we have:
i2 +i= il . (1)
v2 =iS. (2)
V1 = i 1 R +iS (3)
Solving for i 2 , V 2 in terms of i 1 , V1 we have:
i2 = i1 (1 + RfS) - V1 (1/S),
V2 = i1 ( -R) + v1·
In matrix form
Solve the following:

(a) Given that R = 100, S = 500, i 2 = 0·35, V2 = 75, find
the input values.
(b) The output i 2 , V 2 is applied as input to a similar network.
Find the output i 3 , V3 and verify that
(This question illustrates a technique used principally in alternat-

ing current networks: i and V are then represented by complex
numbers, and some of the matrix coefficients are complex. See
Chellingsworth: 'Mathematics for Circuits', Macmillan Introduct-
ory Monographs in Mathematics.)
Ex. 6.19 Show that if we define addition of two matrices of the same
order by addition of corresponding coefficients, that this is con-
sistent with
(a) the informational application of matrices; and
(b) the statement, if M 1 and M 2 map k into the same plane, as
K1 and K2 , that (M 1 + M 2 )k = K1 + K2 .
6.8 Solution of simultaneous equations

Generalising the procedure carried out by the reader for Section
6.2, we see that when we substitute the elements of column-vector
(:~) into the expressions
ax1 + bx2 = x1
cx1 + dx2 = x2
we are in fact pre-multiplying (:~) by M to get (~~) · Symbolically
Mx =X, where M = (; !)·
Solving the equations consists, given X, in finding x. We have seen
this to be the inverse mapping. It is shown formally by premultiplying
the equation by M - 1 :
M- 1 (Mx) = M- 1 X
::::> (M- 1 M)x = M- 1 X
::::> x=M- 1 X
This is not to suggest that it is easier to solve linear equations by in-

verting the matrix. Above order 2 x 2 (for which inverses can be writ-
ten by inspection, by the method shown in Solution 6.4a) it is a longer
process since n2 numbers have to be found; but once found, M - 1 will
solve every equation with the given coefficients, whatever may be the
column-vector of the right-hand sides. See Moakes: 'Numerical
Mathematics', Chapter 8; and further references in the Bibliography.
Summary
Geometry and algebra have been considered in relation to one
another, and a provisional policy has been adopted of using geo-
metrical names and illustrative diagrams for algebraic processes.
2 x 2 linear-transformation matrices, first of all with integral co-
efficients, have been considered, both alone and in combination.
The importance of the associated determinant has been shown, and
thereafter only non-singular matrices (i.e. those with non-zero deter-
minant) have been considered.
The unit 2 x 2 matrix has been defined, and the inverse M - l of a
non-singular matrix M.
The non-commutative character of the combination of linear-
transformations has been shown, i.e. that in general M 1 M 2 ¥- M 2 M 1 ,
the case of inverse matrices being exceptional.
Linear transformation of a column-vector by a matrix is seen to obey
the general rules of combination of m x n with n x p matrices.t
Examples have shown that certain finite sets of matrix transforma-
tions have the properties of some already familiar groups.
Informational applications have provided examples of rectangular
matrices and their multiplication: combination by addition has also
been mentioned.
Matrices have been seen in an electrical context, for the simple case
of a direct-current network consisting of 4-terminal units in cascade.
t Since multiplication is by row into column, it is clear that we must be using

'm x n' as a description of a matrix which is 'm down and n across', so that it is
possible to use it as pre-multiplier to a matrix 'n x p', to give a product which
is 'm x p', e.g. (1 x 3)(3 x 2) gives (1 x 2) thus:
(a b c) (~ :) = (ax + by + cz au + bv + cw).
7
THE ALGEBRA OF SETS AND SOME

APPLICATIONS: LOGIC INTO CIRCUITS
AND VICE VERSA
7.1 Algebra with sets as its elements

In this chapter we shall take our units of discourse to be sets with-
out considering the elements, as such, of which they are composed.
The members of the sets will affect our discussion only when they en-
able us to establish relations, e.g. inclusion; or functions on a pair of
sets-such as union. These and other terms will now be rigorously
defined.
The first criterion of a set is that we can tell whether a given ele-
ment belongs to it or not. We can therefore tell whether all the ele-
ments of s2 are members of sl, or not. If they are, we say that sl in-
cludes S 2, the relation being called inclusion (and S 2 is included by S 1 ,
the inverse relation). The definition takes in equality as a special case
of inclusion. The symbol ::> is used for 'includes', with c as the in-
verse, e.g. here S1 => S2 and S2 c S 1 • Both relations are clearly
transitive, e.g.
Proof:
S2 ::> S3 => any member m of S 3 also E S2
S1 ::> S2 => mE S2 also E Sl.
Therefore
which expresses sl ::> s3.

The rigour of this proof is emphasised. It does not depend on a
diagram, though one sees it on a diagram thus (drawn for the case
where no two are equal):
86
THE ALGEBRA OF SETS AND SOME APPLICATIONS 87
Fig. 7.1
Such diagrams illustrating relations of inclusion are called Venn

diagrams. They are very helpful up to a point but fail in generality, as
is the weakness of all diagrams; but a single Venn counter-example will
show an implication to be invalid. As an example consider the implica-
tion
sl :P s2, s2 ::;) s3 => sl :P s3.
This could have been affirmed on the basis of the left-hand figure, but
the right-hand figure shows a case of failure.
Fig. 7.2
Ex. 7.1 Examine the validity of:

(i) S1 ::;) s2, s2 ::;) sl => sl = s2.
(ii) sl :p s2 => sl c s2,
(iii) sl = S2 => sl ::;) s2.
(iv) sl ::;) 82, 82 = 83 => 83 c sl.
7.2 The null set 0 and the concourse (or universal set) tff
We saw in Chapter 2 that the null set is a subset of every set. 'Being
a subset of' is another name for the relation of inclusion. (Notice that
the insertion of the word 'proper' before 'subset' would make the
statements no longer equivalent.) We see that 0 c S for every setS.
The term universal set might suggest 'all existing elements', but this
raises a serious difficulty of definition. It is applied in fact to the set
of all the elements which are relevant, e.g. if we are discussing transla-
tion it will be the set of all words in a certain language. A better name
is the concourse. We shall use the symbol tff (short for the French word
ensemble).
We have S c tff for every set S under discussion.
Notice that in a series of distinct sets it is possible that a chosen pair
may have no inclusion relation existing between them. We have in
general among sets no chain-ordering such as exists for distinct num-
bers (by virtue of the dichotomy of ~ ).
Ex. 7.2 Draw a Venn diagram to show a series of sets which have
the same relations under inclusion as holds good under divisi-
bility (i.e. the factor-multiple relation) among the integers 1, 2, 3,
5, 6, 10, 30. Take 0 for unity, which divides all integers, and
show tff on your figure. State what number you are taking tff to
represent.
7.3 Functions on a pair of sets: intersection and union

Given two sets S 1 , S2 , then the set of all elements common to both
is called the intersection of S 1 , S 2 and is written S 1 n S2 , read as 'S 1
cap S 2 ' or 'S 1 section S2 ', the latter being in some ways preferable. If
two sets have no common member they are discrete by definition.
Thus:
sl () s2 = 0 -¢> sl, s2 are discrete.
Ex. 7.3 State in simpler form the intersections S n 0 and S n C.
Ex. 7.4 Show that set-intersection is commutative.
Ex. 7.5 Which of these are valid?
(i) sl => s2 => sl n s2 = s2.
(ii) sl :p s2 => sl n s2 = 0,
(iii) tff ::> s, s ::> 0 => tff ::> 0'
(iv) S 1 n S2 = 0 => (S 1 n S 3 ) n S 2 = 0.
Part (iv) of the example raises the question of associativity for this
function. Venn diagrams drawn in various ways will verify that asso-
ciativity holds: when it is established the brackets in (iv) can be
omitted. Since we also have commutativity, the function S 1 n S2 n S 3
is a function on the triple regardless of order-clearly the set of ele-
ments common to all three sets.
The term intersection as used in coordinate geometry has the same
force as in set-theory: there is only a slight difference in usage, the
plural form 'intersections' being used in the former where the singu-
lar is used in the latter to comprise the set of all the points in common.
E.g. the intersection of xy = 8 andy = 2x is the solution set (2, 4),
(- 2, -4) of ordered pairs, i.e. points.
It will be noted that a locus is a set of points satisfying a given condi-
tion-in practice a condition represented by an equation, whereas a
set of points could just as well be defined by an inequality. Thus the
intersection of sets
sl = {(x,y) I x 2y < 2} and 82 = {(x,y) I X~ 3}
is the region shaded in the figure.
Fig. 7.3
Notice that the intersection includes the straight boundary of the

shaded area, but excludes the curved boundary.
Ex. 7.6 Locate on a diagram the point-sets specified below and

shade the intersections in each case.
(A) xy < 8 and x :::;; 4.
(B) xy < 8, x = 4 and y = 1.
(C) xy < 8 and x = 4.
Show that inclusion relations exist between sets A, B, C and
state them by equations.
Union. The union of two sets S1o 8 2 (written 8 1 u S2 ) is defined as the
set of all elements which are in either S 1 or S 2 or both. All the follow-
ing implications are true:
a E 81 => a E (81 U 82)
a E s2 => a E (Sl u S2)
a E (Sl u S2) => a E sl or a E 82.
A Venn diagram for union has a very different appearance accord-
ing to whether the sets are discrete or not. This should be a reminder,
if one is needed, that two or more separated portions of a concourse,
e.g. of a plane, can comprise a single set.t This is one of the ways in
which a Venn diagram can mislead the unwary.
t Like the County of Flintshire, with its detached portion.
4
Ex. 7.7 Give a specification for each of the following sets A to G.

Aim at giving it as simply as is consistent with precision.
(a) {(x, y) I xy > 8} n {(x, y) I x > 0} (A).
(b) {(x, y) I xy > 8} n {(x, y) I x < 0} (B).
(c) C =Au B.
(d) {(x,y) I xy ~ 8} n {(x,y) I x > 0} (D).
(e) {(x, y) I xy ~ 8} n {(x, y) I x < 0} (E).
(f) F =DuE.
(g) G = C u F.
Verify that G is also the union A, B, D, E combined in a different

order. It will be clear to the reader that set-union is both a com-
mutative and an associative function.
In defining point-sets we have made considerable use of numerical
equality and the relations >, ~, <, ~. In any number-field the rela-
tions > and ~ are complementary, so that for every ordered pair one
or other must be true-but not both. Thus for any condition K, if we
form the sets
sl = {(x, y) I K and X > y}
8 2 = {(x,y) I K and x ~ y}.
then we know that (i) 8 1 and 8 2 have no common members, and (ii)
the union of 8 1 and 8 2 comprises the set of all (x, y) which satisfy K.
Let us call this set K, simply. In this situation 8 1 and 8 2 are said to be
complements in K, and if K is the whole concourse, they are described
without any qualification as complements, and we can write:
,
S, S are complements ~
{sS n S'S' = Iff.
U
= 0
Ex. 7.8 Show that the complement relation is an involution, i.e. that
(S')' = S.
We have already seen above an example of union of sets 8 1 and 8 2
defined as intersections of other sets. In that example if we write
P = {(x, y) I x > y} and Q = {(x, y) I x ~ y},
then
81 = K n P and 82 = K n Q.
We combined the S sets under union, and had no hesitation in affirm-

ing 8 1 u 8 2 = K n (P u Q). Then because P u Q = Iff the result
was K n Iff = K.
In full:
(K n P) u (K n Q) = K n (P u Q) = K n t! = K . . . . (D.L.l).
The equation labelled (D.L.l) is a verification in a special case, of a
general theorem of set-algebra, viz. that
intersection is distributive over union.
Symbolically we write
S n (A u B) = (S n A) u (S n B)
analogous with the equation in the algebra of number fields
s( a + b) = sa + sb
which represents that multiplication is distributive over addition.
There is of course a certain connection between union and addition
in the special case of discrete sets; but there seems nothing to suggest
an analogy between multiplication of numbers and intersection of sets
unless we regard it as sufficient that it is
(i) a second combinatory function (i.e. one distinct from addition)
which is defined for every pair of sets;
(ii) that it is commutative;
(iii) that it is associative;
(iv) that it is distributive over the first function (addition).
Since this looks like the beginning of a formidable case for the ana-
logy one should remind oneself of the important contrast. The only
transitive relation (other than equality) which we have found, fails to
give a strict ordering; it is as if we had numbers which could be
tested against each other for divisibility but not in any other way.
With this warning we can proceed, noticing on the way some places
where the analogy holds and others where it does not.
Ex. 7.9 Form (i) the unions and (ii) the intersections of S with 0,
with t! and with S. Those formed from S with itself are the
results which provide the most marked contrast with numerical
algebra. The property exhibited merits a name and it is called
idempotence (the 'same power', by contrast with the familiar
index-laws).
We have considered an intersection made over a union. Let us now
look at the union of a set S with the intersection of sets P and Q, i.e.
S U (P n Q). If numerical algebra is any guide we should expect to
find no distributive law to hold for this. t If so, we ought to be able to
t Addition distributive over multiplication would demands+ pq = (s + p)
(s + q).
devise a Venn diagram which demonstrates it to be false. The reader

should try this: he will find that it obstinately holds in diagram after
diagram. It should therefore be possible (Ex. 7.10) to establish the
result by logical arguments to be true. In fact a new piece of structure
has appeared, as if to console us for the lack of strict order.
NOTE: If Ex. 7.7 is written out fully in terms of n and U from the
ground up, writing A 1 for {(x, y) I xy > 8}, A2 for {(x, y) > 0} and
A = A 1 U A2 , etc., the two different solutions to the question will be
found to use the distributive laws in different ways.
7.4 Applications of Boolean algebra

We have spent some time in examining the structure of an abstract
system, and we have seen its application in the context of algebraic
geometry; but it would be a heavy piece of equipment for the mathe-
matical workshop if this were its only or its main usefulness. In fact,
as has often been the case, the structure was first examined with a
particular goal in view.
The mathematician Boole was the first to apply algebraic methods
to logic, which up to that time was completely verbal in its technique.
He took statements as his elements, and the connectives and, or pro-
vided him with ways of forming composite statements. If we use &
for 'and'-resisting the temptation to write 'plus'-and write or in
full, statements p, q can give rise to (p & q) as well as (p or q).
We are not considering the justification of statements whether
simple or composite: we merely require a criterion which will allow
us to equate or refuse to equate two statements. What Boole did was to
equate say (p & q) with r provided that r is true whenever p & q is
true, and r is false whenever p & q is false; in modern notation
P&q -¢> r.
r is then regarded as a single symbol for the function (p &.q) on a pair

of statements. Such functions are called logic-functions. More than
two can be constructed, but we shall consider at present only these
two.
Our statements are in the algebraic sense the 'arguments' of our
function, but this is an unfortunate word to bring into such a context:
we shall call it a 'variable', though in fact it can only take two 'values',
true or false; unless we are prepared to widen our scope like a public
opinion poll by including 'don't know' as a third value.
We have seen that a constant is a perfectly good example of a func-
tion, and in this context we only have two available; (i) a supposed
statement t which has to be true, and (ii) another, f, which has to be
false. t= x = x and f = x "# x will satisfy our requirements. We
have (p & t) is true, when p is true, and false when p is false; and thus
by our definition of equality (p & t) = p. Appending'& t' as we say
'adds nothing to the situation'. On the other hand:
(p or t) is always true
(port)= t.
Ex. 7.11 Simplify (p & f). This is not in fact a very likely form of
statement; but (p or f) is a favourite: 'He'll hit his fingers with
that hammer or I'm a Dutchman.' (It is assumed that the speaker
is not a Dutchman.)
Ex. 7.12 Simplify (p & p), (P or p).
The idempotent character of'&', 'or' under both types of function
is the property which showed Boole so clearly that he had a strange
new algebra, but realising the commutative and associative properties
of his functions he proceeded to use an ordinary algebraic method
quite freely, with a dot for and; a plus sign for or.
He used pn = p, i.e. multiplicative idempotence, in place of the
index laws of multiplication. (He also had to bear in mind that
p EB p = p, 'additive idempotence'.) An example would be
(p + q)(p + r) = p 2 + pr + qp + qr
= P + pr + pq + qr.
We can 'substitute' for p, q, r in order to interpret this result, but it is
not yet in its most economical form. We started with p-or-q and p-or-r.
We then regarded it as an improvement to put it into the form 'this or
that or the other' which is a common form of multiple statement; but
the right-hand side is still very clumsy, viz.:
'p or (p-&-q) or (p & r) or (q & r)'
which has the same force as 'p or (q & r)'.
The simplicity of the equation
(p or q) & (p or r) = p or (q & r)
shows that it was a great mistake to get mixed up in ordinary algebra
at all.t This equation states the distributive law for or over &. The
same law is true for & over or:
(p & q) or (p & r) = p & (q orr).
Enough has been said to show the brilliant originality of Boole: the
very awkwardness of his machinery underlines the difficulty of taking
t Hoole established the Lemma p + pr = p for all r, and other dodges for
adapting ordinary algebraic processes.
up a completely new approach. The reader, who has the advantage

over Boole of having met the algebra of sets first, will appreciate that
we have in this the model which we need: we shall proceed to develop
the comparison. All the properties which we have considered in the
algebra of statements-[B] for Boole--can be paralleled in the
algebra of sets [A] (i.e., there is an isomorphism in respect of these
structural patterns). This affirmation has been very carefully framed.
On one hand it suggests the existence of logic functions in [B] other
than &, or: neither-nor is an example. Are there parallel functions on
two sets in [A]? On the other hand, we have seen some properties of
[A] which we have not yet seen in [B]. An immediate development is
the following:
(a) Every set S has a unique complementary set S', such that
(i) S n S' = 0,
(ii) S u S' = ~. i.e. an element xES orES', not both.
If a statement p has a 'complement' p', then either one is true
or the other, but not both.
It is not difficult to identify p' with not-p. Thus every sen-
tence has a (unique) complement.
(b) We have in [A] a transitive relation which gives a 'partial order-
ing', viz.: Is there anything similar among sentences? Certainly
there is, or we could not carry out an argument. Boole would
not have initiated his enterprise if he had not had this in view:
the title of his classical work was 'The Laws of Thought'.
An ordering relation among sentences is what the reader has seen
printed in so many places in this book, viz. implication:
(i) p => q, q => r giving p => r,

(ii) r => s, s => r giving r <o:> s, an equivalence.
(iii) No dichotomy: it is possible that there be no implication either
way between u and v.
This is the feature which makes an ordering only 'partial', as in the

sets
Sa 0 , S 10 , S 6 , S 5 , Sa, S 2
where each set includes those whose suffix divides its suffix. (If we in-
sert another set Svb different only in its name, we have S 6 and Sv1
including each other and equivalent under this relation.)
We can picture this relation if we wish by graphic inclusion-the
Venn diagram; but a far better representation which eliminates all
irrelevant-and possibly misleading-features is this:
Fig. 7.4
One direct arrow is missing : insert it.
7.5 Practicallogic-problems
It is one thing to lay bare the structure of logic: it is quite another
to use it effectively. Has our analysis of structure, in which we have
followed the ideas of Boole, helped us to argue more effectively in a
complex situation? It could even be that it hinders us.t
The same combination is very likely to be successful here as else-
where: diagrams suitably drawn to bring out relations, and checked
by rigorous tests.
We have shown how Venn diagrams illustrate set-inclusion. With
the same warning they can be used for implication. They were in fact
invented as an aid in the logic of propositions, a study founded by
Aristotle and developed in the 19th century by Lewis Carroll and
others. We shall not pursue this aspect further in this book.
7.6 Logic-functions and their electric models

Any function on two distinct sets, P, Q, into a third R, can be
clearly shown by a table provided there are not too many members
('values') involved. In this case every one of the three sets has only
two values, called T and F in each case.
We can, as it were, issue a questionnaire form for each function in
the following form:
Value of P
N arne of function T F
vruuo ofQ {: I
Each function must fill in the squares, stating what its truth-value
would be in each of the four cases enumerated. Only one letter T or F
goes into each square, and every square must have a letter in it.
t As it is said to have done in the case of the centipede who was asked in what
order he put his feet down!
Ex. 7.12 How many distinct functions of this sort can there be?
Enumerate them and eliminate:
(a) the ones which are 'logical constants', i.e., which are quite
unaffected by the P or Q values;
(b) the ones which are affected by the value of P only, or of Q
only: these are not true binary functions.
How many are left?
Further analysis is more clearly shown by introducing our electrical
model. P and Q are represented by simple on-off switches; and it is
natural to associate T with the 'on' position, F with the 'off'. R is
represented by a lamp, which is either alight (T) or not (F). Then
every one of the genuinely binary logic functions is represented by a
circuit in which the setting of both switches matters.
The simplest example is shown in Fig. 7.5, in which the switches
P, Q are wired as make-or-break switches in series with the lamp R:
•F •F ~
Battery _ /~•• _._ _ __.'R',____....;Battery-
+ T T (usually earthed)
(P) (Q) (R)
Fig. 7.5
Since the lamp lights only if both P and Q are in the 'on' position,
this circuit clearly represents the logic-function (P-&-Q). The three
other data-situations all give the value 'false':
Value of P
Value of Q
{(P;Q)I ; I;
Notice that if we wrote 0 for F and 1 for T this would be a multipli-

cation table.
Three other logic functions have the value Tin only one of the four
settings. These could all be represented by two switches in series, e.g.
(P' & Q), but the first switch would have to be on when P is dead and
off when P is live. {It will be remembered that P' means not-P.) We
must face this problem directly (i.e. not by reinterpretation of sym-
bols), because P could easily be the output from a prior function-
circuit.
Before considering details of the circuitry it will be wise to adopt
the engineer's device of a block-diagram, which shows the nature of
the inputs and the outputs of each 'black box' and labels the box to
show its function. For example the block diagram for Fig. 7.5
would be
--4r~P--td; ~OJ tp
Fig. 7.6
It is understood that if P has value T then the input terminal on the

left is at a positive potential; otherwise it is earthed. The same applies
to Q. The output is at + potential only if P and Q both are so, and the
output may be used to light an indicator lamp or may be the input for
a further function such as (P & Q) or S.
If we wish to set up the function (P' & Q), its block diagram would
be
(P'&Q)
Fig. 7.7
where P' is 0 when Pis +ve and +ve when Pis 0. At this point the
convenience of using 0 and 1 to represent false and true becomes
apparent. Not only can we think of (P & Q) as the simple product PQ,
but also we can take P' as (1 - P).t
The reader will want to see the inside of a NOT-box. One possible
device is to have an electromagnetic relay, operated when P is live, to
break a switch leading from battery +. If the switch springs back to
the closed position when Pis dead, then the output is P'. The circuit
is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 7.8, and in the Appendix is an
'omnibus' circuit using two relays by which any one of the binary
logic-functions can be demonstrated.
~-----ln~p~ul_P__~
~----------·---1 •'"'""'"
~\Spring force
Ou1pu1 p'
Fig. 7.8
t Earlier examples should warn us not to proceed with ordinary algebra

beyond this point.
A more convenient way of operating the NOT-functiont is by a

two-wire system. On this system every input and every output con-
sists of two wires, the extra one being the complement wire, e.g. we
have a P and a P' wire. When P is live (1), P' is dead (0) and vice
versa. No more information is conveyed by the two than by either
separately, but power is available: this makes it unnecessary to have
auxiliary circuits as in the relay system. On this system, a NOT-box
is simply a cross-over connection.
-----tp.----t--~::::-::::::__~ --------
I .... _ -- I
p p'
Fig. 7.9
The lines which are dotted are those which would not appear in the
block-diagram.
Ex. 7.14 For the function (P & Q)', or 'not (P & Q)':
(i) Write down the function-table.
(ii) Is it correctly represented by the function (1 - PQ) of ordin-
ary algebra?
(iii) For how many of the four possible inputs has the function
the truth-value T?
(iv) Remembering that P, Q represent statements p, q which
may be true or false, suggest a name for the function.
Ex. 7.15 Draw the function table for (P' & Q') and suggest a name
for it. Hence do the same for (P' & Q')'.
The reader after seeing how many functions we can make by com-
bination of one AND with NOTs, might be tempted to suppose that
we can get them all. A little examination will show that a single AND
always gives 3F's and one T, and a NOT interchanges F's for T's
wherever it goes. Thus the functions with two of each will need
further thought. (It is possible, but it will certainly need another
block.)
Up to this point we have thought of the contents of the black boxes
in terms of steady-current circuits. We might for example regard the
function-circuit for P & Q as one controlling a railway signal for entry
tIt is a function, not binary but unary, i.e. over P only.

It will be apparent that circuits can be made for the functions (P & Q') or
(P & Q)' with one AND together with one NOT box. In the second case the
NOT will be in the output from the AND.
to a section; where P is relay-actuated by the absence of a train in the
section, and Q by certain points being closed.
More commonly in these days the black-boxes are electronic; and
in a computer they may be working at a steady rhythm of say one set
of input data every micro-second (l0- 6 second). An electronics engi-
neer calls his basic boxes by the name gate, e.g. an AND-gate. Transis-
torised gates are of such high reliability that they are tending to oust
others even for relatively slow tasks like traffic-light control.
7.7 The OR-function P v Q

In developing the parallel (isomorphism) between the algebra of
sets and Boole's algebra of statements (in Section 7.4), we saw the
union function and the corresponding logical OR-function playing a
considerable part. The pattern of the latter is as follows:
Value of P
PorQffiijT
F F T
Value of Q { ---
T T T
Since this is a three-and-one function we may have met a circuit for

it already in Ex. 7.15, but its simple logical character suggests a new
start. In Fig. 7.5 we wish to light R if either Pis closed or Q or both.
We can do this by connecting the switches in parallel with each other:
Fig. 7.10
When we shorten the name of this function in English we may tend

to forget that the 'or both' part of it: it is therefore usual to write the
function as
PvQ
where V stands for the Latin word vel, which unambiguously means
what we want. (The Romans used aut .•. aut when they meant
'either ... or, but not both'; and we use the symbol =1- between P and
Q if we mean this. t)
The two-wire equivalent of this circuit will be seen in the Appendix,
incorporated in an adding unit for binary numbers. We shall continue
this section by working out more Boolean theory, so that the design of
such units may be understood. The only remaining circuitry we give
here is a block-diagram, showing in dotted form the actual internal
connections for a single-wire system:
~~---tl>---------+--1 - Pv,_o
Fig. 7.11
Ex. 7.16 (a) A two-way switching device for a staircase light, con-
trolled from top and bottom of the staircase, is an example of the
function P =1- Q. Sketch a circuit for this. (The reader will
notice that when a house switch is wired in this way it is arbitrary
to call one of its positions 'on' and the other 'off'. We may sup-
pose here that 'down' is regarded as 'on' and-what is more
important-that the light is on when the switches are oppositely
set, one down and the other up.)
(b) If the function P =1- Q is to power a further circuit, then
we may require another output which is the logical complement
of the first-as if the householder had an indicator light showing
when the staircase light is off. The reader should consider how
this can be done: does it require a virtual duplication of the cir-
cuit?
Ex. 7.17 Perform the following additions in the binary scale. (For
uniformity all the numbers are shown by 4 binary digits, even if
this requires O's at the beginning.)
0101 0101 0110 1100
0001 0110 0111 0111
7.8 The logic of binary addition

We need only consider the addition of two numbers. (It will be
remembered that addition is by definition a law of combination of two
elements: the resulting sum is an element which we may then add to
=
t (P Q) is true if P, Q have the same truth-value, and the negation of this
is (P ;t Q), true if P, Q have different truth-values.
another, and so on.) We may break down our analysis still further: the
unit of process is the addition of two digits. Since each of these is
either 0 or 1, we see that we have the same inputs as to our basic logic-
functions. We have, however, two 'outputs', (i) the sum digit which
is to be written down, and (ii) the digit to be carried to the next
column. This will cause no difficulty if we consider them one at a
time: each, since the output will be either 0 or 1, must be one of the
basic logic functions which we have already considered. We shall con-
sider first the current sum-digit, and then the carrying figure.
The function pattern for the sum-digit, s is:
s 0 1 (Value of p)
"" {:
0 1
Volu Sum-dig it: the function
pattern
1 0
Fig. 7.12
This is immediately recognisable as the exclusive either-or function,

which we wrote asp ;jE q (Pis not the same as q). One cannot fail to
see in it also the pattern of the group of order 2, which is cyclic; so
that any device which returns to the same setting after being actuated
twice will serve-and an electronic valve device for this (the flip-flop)
was the first step towards high-speed computing.
The pattern for the carry-digit c is:
c 0 1 (Value af p)
0 0
Volu • of q {: Corry- digit: the function
0 1 pattern
Fig. 7.13
This is seen to be the AND-function, expressible algebraically as

the product (p.q).
If we wish to construct an adder which is not electronic we know
that the OR-function and the AND-function are simple parallel and
series connections; and if we are prepared to work on a two-wire
system the NOT is also simple. We must therefore restate the func-
tion ;jE in terms of these three.
An examination of Fig. 7.12 for this s-function shows that
s(p, q) = pq' V p' q.
(Each alternative on the right refers to one of the squares of s-function
which contains a unity.)
In the corresponding algebra of statements we are equating the

following statements:
(a) p or q but not both,
(b) (p & not-q) or (not-p & q).
Ex. 7.18 The analogue of the above in the algebra of sets can be ob-
tained by taking as p the statement 'element x E A', and
q = 'x E B'. Then condition (a), or (b), defines a new set, a
function on A, B: it is called the symmetric difference of A, B and
written A~ B.
Draw Venn diagrams for the three cases:
(i) A and B discrete, i.e. A n B = 0 ;
(ii) A is a subset of B, i.e. A n B = A;
(iii) where neither (i) nor (ii) is true.
Shade A~ B for each case, and show that definitions (a) and (b)
are equivalent for all the diagrams.
Also state A~ Bin terms of the functions U, non A, B &for
their complements A',B'.
Ex. 7.19 If we write the logic-function also asp~ q or ~(p, q), the
arguments p, q can take either of the truth-values F(false) or
T(true); or we may write 0 for F, 1 forT.
Evaluate ~(0, 0); ~(1, 0); ~(0, 1); ~(1, 1) and hence identify~
with an arithmetic function on its arguments regarded as num-
bers.
Ex. 7.20 (a) Two binary digits x andy are added to give a binary
number with two digits c, s in this order.
What logic-functions on (x, y) are required to form (i) s,
(ii) c? (The symbols may be put on the block-diagram below in
place of the numbers i, ii.)
Fig. 7.14
(b) Elaborate the above problem, which refers to the addition

of only two digits, to the case where there is a carry-digit z (from
the right) to be added also to x, y; and s, c are to be the correct
sum and carry digit, i.e. break down the block below into smaller
elements of the above type:
Sum-digit
s
Carry-digit (out) Carry-digit (in)

c
ADD 1--..._-=z-
.___ _ _ :}Standing digits
Fig. 7.15
A solution on these lines would in fact be very clumsy, because it is

based on two-argument functions. It is more practical to evaluate the
three-argument functions required, by Boolean methods, before
translating into circuitry. A circuit and its analysis are given in
Appendix III.
Ex. 7.21 Show that the following two logic-circuits represent the
same function:
p
(i)
Q
=>
p'
(ii)
p
•
Q
Fig. 7.16
(It will be recalled that the simple junction of two parallel in-
puts acts as function V, i.e. 'either ... or ... or both'.)
Ex. 7.22 Show, preferably by more than one method, that
(p & q')' = (p' v q).
This is an example of a de Morgan law. In set theory the two de
Morgan laws are written
(a) (X n Y)' = X' u Y',
which is the analogue of the above result, and
(b) (X u Y)' = X' n Y'.
In using the two-wire system one can frequently use this with ad-
vantage: one always wishes to write down in the simplest form the
nature of the function in the complementary wire. E.g. the comple-
ment of u = x &y is (x &y)' and we have u' = x' v y'.
In circuits:
u' =x ' v y '
Fig.7.17
Ex. 7.23 (a)
Up-line
A 8 c 0
Fig. 7.18
The figure shows three 'sections' of a railway track. Entry to

section AB is governed by a three-colour signal (red-orange-
green) at A, controlled by the condition in sections AB &forBC
A driver is to be allowed (by orange light) to proceed slowly into
a section if a train is in the section beyond. The statements that
a train is in AB is p, in BC is q and in CD is r.
Express each indication of signal A as a function of any or all
of p, q, r. (Check that indications G, 0, R of the signal are mutu-
ally exclusive and exhaustive.)
(b)
A (p) B (q) C (r) 0 (s) E
.:_·____·___,_-:y<z: do~-U~ UP=<~ From '":"'

0
Fig. 7.19
The figure shows a siding used to transfer a train from the

down- to the up-line.
t =points X are set for through running
u = points Y are set for exit to up-line
(i) Modify the functions obtained in (a) for the indications of
signal A.
(ii) State functions for the siding exit-signal F (assumed, if
clear, to confer the right to pass C).
Summary
Considering a set of sets, we have defined a relation, inclusion; and
two binary functions viz. : union and intersection of two sets.
The relation was seen to set up a partial ordering of sets, with the
reference sets rS (the concourse) and 0 (the null set) as the extremes.
An algebra of sets has been built up on these, for which the Venn dia-
gram can give some guidance, but no certain assurance of general
validity.
The complement of a set (relative to the concourse considered) was
defined and used.
It was shown that both union and intersection are associative and
commutative; but by contrast with the algebra of number-fields each is
distributive over the other.
An additional contrast is idempotence (in place of powers or mul-
tiples) viz. that
Sn S = S; idempotence under intersection
and
SU S = S; idem potence under union.
The pattern of combination of sentences under 'and' (intersection)
and 'or' (union) is shown to parallel the algebra of sets precisely, with
not as the process equivalent to complementation(').
The de Morgan laws of complementation have been considered.
Electrical circuit models of the same pattern have also been con-
sidered in detail. Their analysis by block-diagrams reveals a third case
of the Boolean algebraic structure, along with that of sets and of state-
ments.
8
THE STRUCTURE OF A PURE GEOMETRY
8.1 Introduction
We have seen a point defined as an ordered number pair (x, y), and
a line defined as the solution set of an equation such as lx + my + 1
= 0. The pair (1, m) defines a unique line, and two distinct lines have
an intersection, a point, except when lm' = I'm; this is a relation
between two lines which is familiar as the equivalence relation defin-
ing a set of 'parallel' lines.
We can picture our friend the geometer, after a long spell of speak-
ing algebra (which he even now feels to be foreign) dipping as a
recreation into one of the old classics of his own language, and subse-
quently musing:
'Two lines in a plane define a point, and of all the other lines in the
plane there is a subset, a pencil which are all tied to this point. The
whole concourse of lines can be settedt into pencils, one pencil for
each point and one point for each pencil. But it all falls down if the
original lines were parallel-but stay-does it? parallel lines form an
equivalence too. Couldn't this be just as good? Two lines define the
whole class, and a lot more lines belong to it. Why not call this also a
pencil-a good geometrical word? But this pencil defines not a point
but something else. I don't like the word direction .• .'
At this stage perhaps he goes to sleep-certainly into that state
where conscious thought is suspended and the subconscious mind
seems to work on our unresolved problems-and when conscious
thought returns this idea achieves full clarity: 'Every pencil corresponds
to a point.' We do not define a point, as Euclid tried to do. (We must
start with undefined elements.) Two lines always determine a 'point'
and a whole pencil of lines 'belong' to this point. If we have to distin-
guish one kind of 'point' from the rest, call these 'ideal points'. A
pencil of parallel lines defines an ideal point, but it is only a special
case of a pencil defining a point and vice versa.
t Not a partition because each line appears in many pencils-as many as it has
points on it!
106
THE STRUCTURE OF A PURE GEOMETRY 107
8.2 Tentative statement of the structure
Our geometer sits down with pen and paper and works out his sys-
tem of ideas :
We have two sorts of thing, lines and points. Certain points belong
to each line, certain lines to each point; but two points are needed and
are enough (if distinct) to specify a line, and similarly two distinct
lines suffice to determine a point.
A promising system; but is everything tied up? Can we now be sure
that every pair of distinct lines defines a unique point and every pair of
distinct points a unique line? Two parallel lines, /1 , li define an ideal
point 11 , but we seem to run into some difficulties:
First query: Is it not true that 11 alone will define 11 , which can be
specified as 'the sole ideal point on 11 '?
Second: Other parallel lines 12 , l~ (or 12 alone) define a second ideal
point 12 ; but do 11 and 12 define a unique line?, and if so, does this
line have the essential property that other points lie on it ?t
Tentative answer to query: perhaps two ideal points could define
an ideal line.
Ex. 8.1 Assuming this formulation, the reader should consider the
following:
(a) Do we only need to postulate one ideal line?
(b) If so, does it behave as the scheme requires, in meeting
every other line in just one point?
(c) Have we disposed of the difficulty that 11 seemed to need
only one line, say 11 , to determine it?
(d) Which is the line determined by points (i) 11 and (ii) an
'ordinary' point P? (N.B. Clearly it must be an 'ordinary'
line.)
This comprises a tidy scheme which appears to have no inconsist-
ency!: it is a model for a geometry. It only concerns itself in the first
instance with statements of two kinds: (i) of three distinct points
P Q R that they either do or do not belong to a single line; and (ii) of
the lines 1 1 , 12 , 13 , that they do or do not belong to a single point.
If this seems to the reader to restrict us to a rather trivial range of
geometrical theorems, there are ways in which he could be convinced
to the contrary.
First, there is nothing to prevent us defining a certain type of sub-
set (of the set of all points of the plane) to be 'point-conics', and
t For a finite geometry, we might be content with one more point.
:): The possibility exists, in making up a purely abstract system, that we might
build in a contradiction. If we have in mind--or can construct-a real system on
the same lines, we are automatically safeguarded against this.
following this up by theorems on concurrency or collinearity in con-

nection with these. We shall not pursue this.
Secondly, the reader should verify in the physical geometry of the
plane, by actual construction of figures, these by no means trivial
theorems:
Pappus' Theorem
Given points P 1 , P 2 , P 3 on line p and Q1 , Q2 , Q3 t on line q, the
intersection of lines P 1 Q 2 and P 2 Q 1 is named R 3 and R 1 , R 2 are
similarly obtained. Then R 1 , R 2 , R 3 lie on a line.
Desargues' Theorem
Two point-triads ABC, A'B'C' are such that lines AA', BB', CC'
concur. Points P, Q, Rare found as follows: BC, B'C' intersect in P;
CA, C' A' in Q; and AB, A' B' in R. Then PQR lie on a line.
It is clear that nobody could dismiss the geometry of collinearity
and concurrency as trivial. Our geometer wrote a short account of his
approach to it and sent it to the algebraist, making these two points:
(a) On one hand it seems superior to an algebraic approach which
represents a point as a number-pair (x, y), because this fails to make
the two lines ax + by + c = 0 and ax + by + c' = 0 meet in a
point: 'my geometry with its ideal points and ideal line is complete
and tidy'. (b) On the other hand I find that I cannot prove Pappus' or
Desargues' Theorems without building in some more structure. My
system seems to allow R to be anywhere: it is like a framework with one
bar too few to hold it firm, e.g. like a quadrilateral of jointed bars
which needs a diagonal bar to make it rigid. I wonder whether I am
forced to assume Pappus' Theorem before my geometry is definite, or
what?
The algebraist replied thus:
'Dear G.,
I am very interested in your pure-geometry structure. It is a
fascinating logical development; but I feel that in handling the
raw material of points and lines my approach is still "one up". I
can meet your objection (a) quite simply by not using a number-
pair at all, but a number-triad (x, y, z) with a provision that
(rx, ry, rz) represents the same point unless r = 0. The equation
of a line is lx + my + nz = 0. (You can insist on making say z
equal to 1 for all your "ordinary" points and x, y will be like our
old number pair.) Parallel lines are, e.g.
ax + by + cz = 0 ax + by + c' z = 0.
These meet on the "line" z = 0, which is clearly your ideal line.
t Nothing in the theorem states the points shall be in a certain order on the
lines: the suffixes are merely distinguishing, not ordering, the points.
THE STRUCTURE OF A PURE GEOMETRY 109
The specific point where they meet can be written as (- b, a, 0).
All points with 0 as their third co-ordinate are ideal points, a
distinct point for each set of parallel lines; and all the ideal points
lie on the ideal line z = 0.
So much for difficulty (a). With regard to (b) I have never had,
as you know, any difficulty in proving Pappus or Desargues pro-
vided that I avoided the awkward cases in which a pair of lines
became parallel. Every such special case had to be considered
separately and this made the whole thing very clumsy; but you
you will see that by using the ordered triple as my "point", I can
do all cases in one proof. I feel inclined to call these three num-
bers homogeneous coordinates for the point. The method rounds
off the geometry of a plane in the way you want, but using my
approach. The x, y, z must have all the properties I demand of
real numbers, and your difficulties about Pappus and Desargues
(and converse theorems too) disappear.'
The answer came as follows:
'Dear A.,
The scheme of algebraic geometry for the plane which you
sketched in your letter is very elegant, and I am sure many
students will learn readily how to prove theorems of collinearity,
etc. in plane geometry in this way: but I was not content to give
up and to leave the problem of "pure" geometry at this point. I
was unwilling to accept the whole apparatus of real number as
the price of getting Desargues' theorem proved-on which I
find I can build all the rest of plane geometry.
The answer is surprisingly simple. If I start all over again in
three dimensions, I must have three kinds of basic (undefined)
element-points, lines and planes. I state the relations of "be-
longing", which I have decided to call incidence relations, point-
line and line-plane and point-plane (transitively). Then I can
prove Desargues' theorem in any of my planes. Thus the theorem
is true in a plane system which is "embedded" in three dimen-
sions; and the descriptivet geometry of the plane is established
independently of any idea of number.
I have added a sketch to illustrate the way I prove Desargues
in 3-D. It is a little ironic that the sketch has perforce to be in 2-D,
but I will get my students to make a 3-D model.'
t The term can be used as equivalent to non-metrical. If the idea of length is
admitted in the full sense (i.e. beyond bare statements of equality and inequality
which would require only congruence and order of points on a line) then we are
faced with the number-problem which the Greeks so clearly posed and which
took eighteen centuries to solve.
Fig. 8.1
The figure shows a view of a tetrahedron VABC with ABC 'on' a

horizontal plane. Another plane cuts VA in A', VB in B', VC in C'
and meets the base plane in a line on which, from the incidence rela-
tions, P, Q and R are all shown to lie.
The actual printed lines on the paper exemplify Desargues' theorem in
a plane, and their perspective relations with the solid 'out behind'
show that it is deducible from the theorem in 3 dimensions.
Commentary
Before this chapter, geometry has filled the roles of (i) a generator
of ideas and as (ii) an illustrative technique for relations of many
kinds; but the status (which it had among the Greeks) of primary
medium for establishing results by deductive logic, has been denied
to it. This situation has been discussed at length, and an example has
been worked out of a self-contained deductive geometry, viz. a purely
'descriptive' geometry of points lines and planes, for which a simple
logical basis is possible.
The reason why a more familiar 'metric' type of geometry has not
been used for this exercise is that its logical basis-if it is to be done
as a pure geometry independent of the concept of a 'linear' geometry
set of number-pairs-is by comparison extremely complicated; much
more so than the historic but now unacceptable treatment by Euclid
would make it appear. The primary reference-medium for logical
analysis and exposition is seen to be the coherent system of general-
ised algebra to which this book is an elementary introduction.
The remainder of this volume consists of (i) notes on models and
(ii) solutions to examples, with some brief notes arising from these.
Appendix I
MODELS FOR THE STUDY
OF KLEIN'S 4-GROUP
Cardboard rectangle, etc.

The group was introduced (p. 34) as a set of 180° rotations of a
book, about three axes such that the rectangular plan of the book on
the table is unchanged by the rotation. It is thus the symmetry group
of the rectangle, and a cardboard model can be made on the same
principles as the triangular model in Section 3.2, using axes fixed in
the rectangle. (It should be noted that, by contrast with the triangle
case, these axes occupy the same positions in space also, so that the
combination-table is the same whichever basis of description is
used.)
If the corners of the rectangle are numbered, the succession of num-
bers (read say clockwise from 9 o'clock) indicate a position uniquely,
and the elements of V form a subset (in fact a subgroup) of the full
group of 24 permutations of 4 distinct elements.
Models combining two 2-groups

The book-experiment shows a clear way of seeing the subgroups of
V. Consider the subgroups (i, a), (i, b), which we may call A, B. The
whole of A, post-multiplied in turn by each member of B, gives 2 x 2
distinct elements of the group. (The group properties ensure the itali-
cised words to apply in general.) Since this is the full number, we
have generated the group, which may be regarded as i, a, b, ab( = ba).
This view of the group is helpful in designing further models, as will
be seen below.
An electrical model. This has a panel with a row of four
switches and a display of two pea-lamps (L 1 , L 2 ). Ideally the switches
should be of the press-button on-off-on but this is not essential. The
first switch (I) is not connected. The circuit is such that pressing
'A' changes the state of L 1 , 'B' changes L 2 and 'C' = AB changes
both.
111
The circuit is as follows:
--c
+ 1 (A)
-....___(/\
2
~--2
-J:y-----0,1-
/'\.
2
_____+
C is a reversing switch or
d-pole switch wired for re-
versing.
+ 2 (~ (~
Fig.A.l
A mechanical model. The model should show (i) four operating

levers or push-rods. Ideally these should spring back 'in neutral' to a
standard position after actuation, but this is difficult to achieve and
not essential. The display has two panels seen in a window. Each
shows either white or black. The rest is Meccano plus ingenuity.
Geometrical
A tetrahedron has each pair of opposite edges coloured, e.g. we may
have a red, a green and a blue pair. The figure is fixed, and the opera-
tions are movements of a point along the edges. i is zero movement,
'a' along a red, 'b' a green and 'c' a red edge.
A perspective drawing of the tetrahedron will do equally well, or
any deformation of it, including a rectangle or a square with its
diagonals:
Fig.A.2
This example immediately recalls the second section of this Appen-

dix. If corner 0 is the origin and the side is unity, the changes are (a)
of the x-coordinate, (b) of they-coordinate, (c) of both. In fact the
elements of the group are the number-pairs (0, 0) (0, 1) (1, 0) (1, 1)
combined under addition modulo 2.
Permutation models
Peals of bells, as sounded by change-ringers, provide a beautiful
example of permutations. Ringers show the pattern of changes by a
'plait' diagram, thus (in code):
APPENDIX 113
Reading down the diagram at each

stage shows the order of bells in
that peal.
Fig.A.J
If we now dissect such a diagram into vertical strips and reproduce it

without colour or code, each strip represents an element of the permu-
tation group.
The elements for the Klein-group are:
-
- X
- X
- I a b
In any order of names

c
Fig. A.4
Putting a alongside b (either side) shows the combination of permu-

tations to be equivalent to c.
This strip-procedure should be developed further, to make clear
that permutations do not in general commute. It can be carried out
for P 3 , the full permutation group on three objects (already met as !:J.
in Ex. 3.12).
Plaiting of coloured cords can be used for larger groups.
Other developments
(a) Take the rectangle formed by points ( ± h, ± k), with centre at
the origin. Then a 180° rotation about the y-axis reverses the x-coor-
dinate (only) of every point, i.e. applies the operation
x' = -x
y'= y
for which the linear transformation matrix is (- ~ ~)· Similarly we

obtain matrices for i, b and c.
(b) In set-theory, Ex. 7.18, we have met the function A (symmetric
difference of two sets), defined as the union of A n B' and A' n B.
Since for all A, A A 0 = A we have in 0 a unique (pre- and post-)
identity under the combination A.
Also A A A = 0 (and 0 A 0, a special case of this).
Thus { 0, A} forms a 2-group under A, and so does { 0, B}. Taking
the 'extended product' under A { 0, A, B, A A B} we obtain a 4-group
under A.
Verify by Venn diagram or otherwise that this is V.
Appendix II
ELASTIC NETWORK FOR 2 x 2
MATRIX TRANSFORMATIONS
The idea of elastic deformation suggests itself at once in connection

with these transformations. Woven materials with elastic threads pro-
vide convenient media for this. A square of material is cut and turned
back along each edge to form in each case a hem, which is stuck down
with Copydex to provide a channel in which a 352 -inch Meccano rod
can be inserted (as a dowel-rod is inserted in the hem of a light net-
curtain).
The rods can be mounted to form a rectangular frame of any chosen
dimensions by using four Meccano brass 'couplings'. Each rod is held
by a grub screw in one of the transverse positions, i.e. across the axis
of the brass cylinder:
I I
! :
Fig.A.S
(The fact that the rods are not quite in a plane causes no great
difficulty in practice.)
The lattice pattern of 'points' on the 'plane' is shown by small
press-it dress fasteners. (Two types, black and shiny allow two super-
posed patterns.) The author uses an optical projector made from an
old half-plate camera. The rod-frame replaces the plate-holder, with
a housed lamp and diffusing sheet (of tissue-paper) behind it. An en-
larged image is cast on white paper and marked off. The recording of
115
the patterns before and after the stretching can be done on the same
sheet of paper: this allows centring of the second pattern on an
arbitrary origin in the first.
Interesting results are obtained by using a non-isotropic material
(e.g. Lastonet stocking material, in which the warp only is elastic). A
square of material is cut 'on the cross', at about 30° to the axis of
weave. One need only extend the frame in one direction to get, e.g. a
circle converted to an ellipse with principal axes inclined both to the
axes of weave and of stretch.
Projection of pattern:
Diffuser tissue
Fig. A.6
Appendix III
CIRCUIT FOR A BINARY ADDER
(We adopt the convention that lines which cross indicate separate
leads unless a dot is shown. Switch contacts are shown as square dots.
The suffix n is taken to apply to all letters unless another is shown.
Only the nth-digit unit is shown.)
The unit requires two 4-pole two-way switches. One is set to the
value Xn of the nth binary digit (counting from the right) of the first
number, and the other to digit Yn of the second number. Leads bring
in the value Cn-l of the carry figure, which is for convenience also
written as z. Throughout, the two-wire system is used, so that the
complement is also available. The Boolean function determining the
state of each lead is shown on it:
:x lx
•I':x
:x
® I'
IX
I'
,x IX
I'
+
!-
en cn-1 (=z)
(carry in)
c'n ~
(x'z')
~
_+
z'
x+x'z)
~
:Y :Y IIY :y
I'
IY ;y' ly'
lY' (y'z)
(xz)
(y'z')
Fig.A.7
The connections will be understood if it is realised that all the letters

can represent 1 or 0. (If x = 1, x' = 0 and vice versa.) The expression
relating to any conductor is unity if it is live.
The Boolean function for the sum digit of two given digits y, z is
(zy' + z'y) and the complement of this is (yz + y' z').
117
Then if x is added the sum digit for the three is

s = x(yz + y'z') + x'(y'z + yz').
For the carrying digit to be zero, two or three of the digits must be
zero, therefore
c' = x'y' z' + x'y' z + xy' z' + x'yz'
= x'y' + xy' z' + x'yz'
= y'(x' + xz') + y(x'z').
and the complement of this is

c = y'(xz) + y(x + x'z).
Appendix IV
UNIVERSAL CIRCUIT FOR
LOGIC-FUNCTIONS ON TWO STATEMENTS
The circuit for any particular function is simple. It is interesting to

tackle the problem of designing a circuit which can be adapted, by
plugging-in in various ways or by switching, to give any one of the set
of functions on two statements p and q. We can neglect those which
are constant or dependent on p or q only and we can restrict ourselves to
unsymmetrical functions one way round only; e.g. (p & q') will make
it unnecessary to consider also (p' & q). This leaves only 8 of the 16,
and of the 8, four are negations of the other four: a single reversing
switch can be made to deal with these.
The three distinct functions which are true for only one of the four
possible states are shown as tables
0 1 (p)
p-&-q 0 fOOl p' -&-q' f10l p-&-q' fOll
1~ ~ ~
(q)
It happens to be easier to devise a simple circuit for the negations
of the first two, viz.:
(i) NOT BOTH:
0 1 (p)
ojlll
1~
(q)
(ii) p-OR-q or both:
0 1 (p)
as)
~~'
( Symbolised
pvq
(q)--
119
The third is left as it is

(iii) p & q'
0 1
o[Oll Sometimes written p #- q
because its negation
1~ is p => q (see later)
(q)
To these we add the function which looks like addition modulo 2
('symmetric difference').
(iv) p NOT EQUIV. q

0 1 (p)
o[Oll P "¥ q
1~ orpl!iq
(q)
The basic circuit is as follows:
~ tz222??t,.---I?-Z7?1-~ +
X z
Fig. A.S
The lower component is a pair of small solenoids as in a battery-

driven bell or buzzer: in fact one of these can be adapted (but a double-
input relay or two singles in parallel work better). Passage of current
from X to Y through rectifier R 1 actuates one solenoid, and from Y to
Z through R 2 the other. Either solenoid will attract the armature,
breaking the connection from battery + to B and closing that from
+ to A, which lights a lamp to signify that the function has the value
TRUE. The indication of a lamp in circuit B shows that the negated
function is true.
For functions (i) to (iv) we have A connected to a FUNCTION
APPENDIX IV 121
TRUE lamp, and B to a FUNCTION FALSE lamp. X, Y, Z are
connected as follows by means of wander-plugs:
X y z
(i) NOT BOTH + p Q
(ii) p y q p Q
(iii) p & q' p Q +
(iv) p NOT EQUIV. q p Q p
The reader will easily verify that these satisfy the truth tables.
Omitting the components in Fig. A.S we can complete the circuit thus:
.J[] I
A ---t--;~---ir-'
True
-----{L}---.
1----- Battery
I
•
I
Folse
Fig.A.9
Two-way double-pole switch. (Upper position is primary
and lower is secondary.)
X y z
+ p Q
Fig. A.10
Three plug-in cables are needed to make
the appropriate connections. They are
shown in position for function (iv) p 'F q.
Sockets P, Q are each connected through a two-way switch to battery

+ or -, the switches being marked TRUE, FALSE accordingly:
True ...- - - - · Bo~ery
p ~I
False ••'_ _ _... Bot!ery
Fig. A.ll
5
The full instruction table reads thus:

Primary Connections Secondary
function X y z function
NOT BOTHp,q + p Q &,AND
p v q p Q NEITHER NOR
-:~>,i.e. p & NOT q p Q + p => q, i.e. (p & q')'
p NOT EQUIV. q p Q p P EQUIV. q (p = q).
ANSWERS AND SOLUTION NOTES
1.1 {3 y a
y a {3
a {3 y
2.1 (a) {0}.
(b) 0.
(c) {nEJ+ I (2n- 1)(2n- 5) = 0} = 0.
(d) {mE} I m4 = 1} = {-1, 1}.
2.2 (a) {x E A I x > 0}.
(i) (ii) {x E A I x E J}.
{x E A I x E J+}.
(iii) (iv) {x E A I xf2 E J}.
{x E A I x < 0}.
(v) (vi) {x E A I x2 > 49}.
(vii)
We need no condition and can write the set as A; but
since a condition has been asked for we could write
{xE A I x = x}.
2.3 No. It may or may not be true that he has only one pair of
trousers to each jacket. What we are told about the suits is consistent
with either state of affairs.
2.4 A possible solution is
I I I
- - -- -
I I I
- - -- -
I I I
- - -- - -
I I
I
I I
2.5 (i) Could be quite general only if a Mr. X has two children in the
class.
(ii) If we pair children with their own class-teachers each child
is paired with only one teacher.
(iii) This relation would be general if any one child learns to play
more than one instrument.
(iv) No relation.
(v) A relation but not general. An animal is in only one enclosure.
123
2.6 (a) e.g.: Brown, John is the name of several entries. (Failure ii)
(b) No. A title and a card may refer to a work in 3 volumes. There
could also be two copies of a one-volume work. (Failure ii and iii)
(c) Yes, if the Queen's car is excluded. (Holders of trade plates are
entitled to use them on any car, but the form of words used here refers
to the status of the vehicle itself.)
If the Queen's car is included, failure (i)
(d) No. The price 9s. appears twice. (Failure iii)
2.7 (a) Some names, and even some subscribers, have more than one
number listed. (One-many)
(b) One-many.
(d) Many-one.
(e) Many-one.
(f) One-many. (e) and (f) can occur although bottles and prices
are not one-to-one.
2.8 (a) Over the set of children, into (not onto) the set of regions. The
arrows must go down, from the children.
(b) This is a reversible mapping, over the whole of either set into
the other, i.e. a one-to-one correspondence. Arrows could be drawn
all one way or all the other.
(c) Note that only representative arrowed lines can be drawn, but
every image is given precisely.
(d) Here only representative lines can be drawn, but certain
images can only be estimated. Notice that what we have earlier called
'many-one' relation is a function, and so also is a one-to-one corre-
pondence.
2.9 (a) x-+ y; {x E R# I -1 ~ x ~ 1} as domain
{y E R# I 0 ~ y ~ 1} as strict range.
(b) There is no unique image for any x, except x = ± 1. A rela-
tion is established, to which belong all the pairs, (x, y) such that
x2 + y2 = 1.
2.10 (a) (1) The numerically largest set is I, and Pis a subset of I.
There is a function on P into I, the image being identi-
cal with 'its' original. (There is no function on I into P,
since persons not entitled to vote are not linked in any
way with those who are.)
(2) There is a 1-1 correspondence between P and N, as
shown on the register itself. This implies functions
onto, both P -+ N and N -+ P; and by virtue of the
latter and (1), a function N into I.
ANSWERS AND SOLUTION NOTES 125
(3) People who vote (set V) are a subset of these entitled to
vote (set P). Thus there is a function on V into P, and
consequently into N and, by (2), into I.
In summary:
Fig. S.l
all being into except the reversible P ~ N.

(b) A = {0, 1, 3, 4} and A' must include A, e.g.
A' = U or A' = {n E U, n ~ 4}.
A is a proper subset of A'.
(c) Domain as defined is U. Common sense would suggest a sub-
set, say I n ~ 50. The range could be J+, or say
{10n I nEJ+, 80 ~ n ~ 125}.
There is no inverse function, as 1250 has no unique image in the first
set.
2.11 (Write set W as W 1 when used as domain and W 2 when as
range.)
'Being mother of' is not applicable over all W 1 , whichever range is
being considered.
'Being daughter of' is applicable over all W 1 into W 2 or into M the
set of men; but not into MW, since every woman is daughter of two
members of this set. There is such a function into the set of pairs of
which (m, w,) is typical.
'Being sister of' is not defined over all W 1 •
2.12 (a) The set of results has two members, 'win' and 'lose'. The
function is ' ... has the result .. .', and is onto.
(b) Extend the range to include 'undecided': onto.
(c) Assuming that teams X andY arrange to meet only once, the
strict range for any team's list is won, lost, drawn, scratched-or-un-
finished. If some games are duplicated, home and away, we must ex-
tend the range to allow for this.
2.13 A suitable domain is the set of private (i.e. non-call-box) tele-
phone lines. Every line is rented by a unique subscriber: this sets up
a function but not a 1-1 correspondence, since some subscribers rent
more than one line. The combination name-and-address identifies a
subscriber. The set of triples (name, address, number) is also a state-

ment of the function, in place of more usual set of pairs. The fact that
every name-and-address appears once only in the set of triples ensures
that the relation is a function.
2.14 (a) It is a set of pairs (q, r), where q E {day's fixtures} and
r E {win, loss, draw, postponed, unfinished}.
It is a function on the former into the latter.
(b) This is another such function, i.e. set of pairs. Its value as a
forecast depends on the number of common members of the two sets.
2.15 (a) The last two solutions are inadmissible: any (x, y) must
have both numbers in J.
(b) y = 0 yields no solution.
x = - 1 gives y = - 1.
x = 5 gives y = 3.
Thus the solution set is ( -1, -1); (5, 3).
2.16 (a) q ::- p, q ::- r.
(b) q ::- p• ::- p and q ::- r• ::- r. Also (p• & r•) ::- q.
2.17 (a) Element x EX has mates y E Y and z E Z ::- y and z are
mates in a 1-1 correspondence.
(b) Suppose it is true. Then by (a) there is a 1-1 between
A {1, 2 ... , n} and B {1, 2, ... , n'}, A being in order. But B in any
order has a 1-1 correspondence with B in numerical order (B' say).
Thus, A, B' have a 1-1 correspondence in order. This is impossible if
n :F n'.
2.18 (a) rEJ+.-.(2r)EEand.-.(2r -1)EE'.
(b) The union of E and E' is J +. Set up correspondence of J with
J+ by making
(i) zero and - ve integers ~ E' by s ~ 1-2s for s ~ 0.
(ii) +ve integers~ E as above.
The union of these correspondences gives J .-. J +.
2.19 Suppose x is any member of S andy its mate in T, unique
(each way) by statement q. Then the set of pairs (x, y) satisfies the
conditions (i) every xES appears once, with a unique mate E T; and
(ii) every y E T appears.
Condition (i) is p.
Condition (i)-and-(ii) is p•. Therefore q ::- p•. Also p• ::- p,
and q ::- p.
2.20 For a finite set S we can establish a 1-1 correspondence with
members of J+ in order from 1 to some number n: this is the (unique)
cardinal number of the set S (by 2.17(b)). For a proper subset the
process gives n', and continuing the correspondence further to in-
clude the member of S would given > n', which proves the result.
3.1 Onto n.
3~ 0 1 2
0 0 1 2
1 1 2 0
2 2 0 1
3.3 (a) E but notE'.

(b) For x E and E'
-neither
+neither.
(c) For + F
xF
-neither
+neither.
(d) Closed under + and x if 0 is written 12.
3.4
First operation
i p q r s t
i i p q r s t
p p lf i t r s
q q p s t r
r r 's t i p q
s s t r q i 1!
t t r s p q
'
Axes fixed in space
Take P to rotate 120° clockwise, Q anticlockwise. R, S, T give a half-
turn about the fixed axes shown:
cpR
~
& Front ':i}
Fig. S.2
The positions of the triangle after one operation are the same as for
p, q, r, s, t; but the composition table comes out as follows:
I p Q R s T
(first)
I I p Q R s T
p p Q I s T R
Q Q I p T R s
R R T s I Q p
s s R T p I Q
T T s R Q p I
This is structurally the same group; writing Q for p and P for q
(with rearrangement of order of results, if desired) shows this. The
geometry of the relative motion of the axes explains why.
3.5 X= t.
3.6 (a) (i) 4, 8, 12, (ii) 11, (iii) 2, 5, 8, 11.
(b) (i) r, (ii) s, (iii) q, (iv) i, (v) i, (vi) p.
(c) Each element appears once and only once in each row.
Each element appears once and only once in each column.
3.7 (a)
i a b c
i i a b c
a a i c b
b b c i a
c c b a i
3.8 (a) p- 1 = q q- 1 = p i- 1 = i r- 1 = r s- 1 = s t- 1 = t.
3.9 (a) i * j = i (j as identity)
i * j = j (j as identity) therefore i = j.
(b) (a 1 *a)*a 2 = i*a2 = a 2 •
(a1 *a)* a 2 = a 1 *(a* a 2 ) = a 1 * i = a 1 :. a1 = a2 •
3.10 (i)
(ii)
i a
i~
a Ia i
(iii) No such group exists.
(iv)
i a b c
i i a b c
a a b c i
b b c i a
c c i a b
(v)
i a b c d
i a b c d
a 'a b c d i
b b c d i a
c c d i a b
d d i a b c
3.11 (No solution is given.)

3.12 (a) n: , ; 1 a; 3 fJ ; 3.
V: i; 1 a;2 b; 2 c; 2.
~: i; 1 p; 3 q; 3 , ; 2 s; 2 t; 2.
(b) n is cyclic
3.10 (i) }
(ii) .
(iv) cychc
(v)
3.13 (a) By the definition of the order of a: i, a, a 2 , ••• , a"- 1 are
all distinct. (If not a 1 * a~< = a~< where 1 < n.)
(b) Take a, A of order n in the two groups. Map aT-+ AT for all r
(1 : : : ; r : : : ; n). The result is an isomorphism because we can either (i)
combine and map, or (ii) map and combine, to get the same result:
(i) aT* a• = aT+s-+ Ar+s.
(ii) aT-+ AT, a•-+ A•; AT (J A• = AT+s (and also conversely from
A to a).
(c) If a is of order p (prime) in group of order p then a11 = i by
definition. Then for all r, (1 < r < p), (aT)P = (a 11 )' = iT = i and no
smaller power of aT has this property.
3.14 (a) Not true. For n < 3 true.
(b) Every element commutes with i, with itself and with its in-
verse; but these last are not necessarily distinct. Self-inverse elements
may be found only to commute with i and themselves: this is the case
or r, s, t in ~. which shows the statement to be untrue.
Amendment: if n > 3 and there are no elements of order 2 ...
3.15 (a)
i a a2 aa
i i a a2 aa
a a a2 aa i
a2 a2 aa i a
aa a3 i a a2
If a 2 = - 1 we have a group under multiplication in complex algebra.

(b) A group, but not cyclic. Non-commutative.
3.16 A group under addition modulo n is cyclic since its members

are (0, 1, ... , n- 1), i.e. (0, 1, 12, 13, ... , 1,._ 1) where 1, = 1 + 1
+ ... + 1 (r 'ones').
By Ex. 3.14 it is isomorphic with any cyclic group of order n.
3.17 Consider the rows and columns headed by

{,•, a", a2", a3" ' ... , a<m -1>n} .
These form the set {i, (a")l, (a") 2, (a") 3, ... , (a")m- 1} and hence this
group under index-addition modulo m - 1 is a proper subgroup
(order m). Similarly for the group of order n.
3.18 Reverse the process in 3.17, for both m and n (say n = 2) and
combine.
3.19 Read the numbers of the vertices of the A anti-clockwise for

ordered triads viz.: i(123), p (231), q (312), ... , t (213). All possible
orders are represented and hence all possible operations. By the nature
of the problem the two groups are therefore isomorphic.
3.20 a *b = i :;. { ~ : !=~}

:;. a = (a-1)-1
4.1 (i) 'is brother of' ..... .

(ii) 'was predecessor to' ..... .
(vi) 'is child of woman' ..... .
4.2 (a) Because C is not known to be male, which is necessary for

order CA.
(b) X andY are Band D. Z is F, U is C, Vis E.
4.3 (i) A w B, B w A ~ A w A, i.e. condition fA. Ordering not
possible.
(ii) (a) No, as not-ff holds.
(b) Ordering possible.
(iii) No. Not-2J holds. Inverse of 'is descended from' is 'is
ancestor of'. Brothers are neither.
(iv) The relation is not between members of the same set.
(v) Inverse of 'included in' is 'includes'. Two areas, e.g. U.S.A.,
U.S.S.R., may do neither.
(vi) A is mother of B, B is mother of C but A is not mother of C.
Not-9" and no simple ordering.
4.4 (a) Yes.

(b) Yes if coincident lines are considered to be parallel; other-
wise not-fA holds.
(c) No. Not-fA holds and not-9".
(d) Yes. Similarity.
~;; } Not-al :. no.
(g) Yes.
(h) No ·: not-9'".
(i) No ·: not-fA not-9".
4.S (a) Yes.
(b) Yes.
(c) No.
{d) No.
(e) No. Already under closure this true for every p, q :. we do
not set up equivalence classes.
(f) Yes.
4.6 (a) Yes.

(b) No. The set has only one member.
(c) Yes, but trivial since any pair of coplanar circles has a com-
mon orthogonal circle.
4.7 S(L), S(D), S(//), S(R), S(C), S(T). For (.l) Not-al holds.
For S(L) 1: m: n = a : b : c cf. Ex. 4.5(f). For S(D) x2 + y 2 = k2
for all (x, y).
For S(//) (l : n) : (m : n) = k. For S(R) cf. Ex. 4.5(f).
4.8 S(L) ~ S(T), S(R) ~ S(/f), where the ordered pair is (lfn, mfn),
S(D) ~s(C).
4.9 Itself.
4.10 'Is son of'.

Yes, i.e. 'is not father of'
i.e. 'is son of' or is 'neither son nor father of'.
4.11 fT satisfied, fi) satisfied, a ~ a is true. :. not simple ordering,
e.g. 10 ~ 5 ~ 3 + 2 ~ 1, 10 ~ 3 + 2 ~ 5 ~ 1.
4.12
First number
2 3 6 9 12
2 db b b b = is divisible by
d =divides
3 db b b b
6 d d db b
9 d db
12 d d d db
s
®
® >------~®
'
Fig. S.J
4.13 1, 6, 11, 16; 2, 7, 9, 10.
4.14 Yes.
(a) Iff a* a = 1 for all a in the group.
(b) Yes.
(c) Iff a* a = 1 for all a in the group.
(d) Yes.
5.1 (i) 2 ~ 4 ~ 6 ~ 8 ~ . . . (ii) continues ad inf. (iii) 2 has no
predecessor, and is unique in this. For listing we could use, e.g.
{1, 3, 5, ... } and equally well {1, 4, 9, 16, 25, ... }. All suitable sets
can be put in 1-1 with J+.
5.2 (a) a~b~c~ ... ~y~z~ 1 ~2~ ... ; a the unique
element.
(b) 1 ~ 1! ~ 2 ~ etc.; 1 the unique element.
(c) No, unless we reorder; e.g. when Jt was extended to form J by
inclusion of additive inverses we might (rather perversely) have them
ordered thus: {0, 1, -1, 2, -2, 3, ... }; with 0 as the unique element
as before.
5.3 (a) 2r + 2s = 2(r + s) for all r, s E Jet~~: d and J also fol-
low at once from the properties of Jri under addition. However,
2T + z• is not in general an integral power of 2; thus closure under
addition does not hold for {0, 2, 4, ... ' 2n, ... }.
(b) If we add an element to a set we must secure that it conforms to
all the properties, or the new set is less rich in structure than the old.
Here d and J do not necessarily apply to h unless we stipulate so: J
only requires 0 + h = h, but d must be postulated for every com-
bination involving h (and commutativity also if that were demanded).
Thereafter, h + h = 1 => ~.
5.4 (a) That it is commutative under addition: a + b = b + a.
(b) Informal proofs are given for (i) and (ii), formal for (ii) and (iii)
(i) x + n = m + n . (A).
We have seen that a series of sums x + 0, x + 1, x + 2, etc. comprise
numbers in succession. We will move back from both numbers in (A),
and at every stage x + r = m + r, back to x + 0 = m + 0, i.e.
x = m.
(ii) < must be defined in terms of succession: thus m < x means
on the figure that m is to left of x in the top row. We have proved in
(a) the symmetry about diagonal, which implies all rows also are in
succession, therefore moving down these two columns to the rth row:
m + r < x + r.
Formally we require the lemma k < h => k* < h*, where x < y
means that y can be obtained from x by succession.
Proof k* = h* => k = h.
Also h* < k* } '* k < h < h* < k*
k < h impossible since k*' is the (immediate) suc-
cessor of k.
But one of the three relations holds between k* and h*
:. lemma is proved.
Then we have the induction
k+O<h+O
{
k + r < h + r =:> k + r* < h + r*.
(iii) Inductive definition of addition is:
{ x+O=x
x + p• = (x + p)*.
R.T.P. (m + n) + p = m + (n + p), we prove by induction on p.
We have (m + n) + 0 = m + (n + 0) and all that remains is to
establish the link
(m + n) + p = m + (n + p) => (m + n) + p* = m + (n + p*).
Now by succession on left-hand equation, along with definition of

addition:
(m + n) + p* = m + (n + p)*
= m + (n + p*)
by definition of addition again. Therefore theorem is proved.
(c) We have proved all except inverses, 0 being the identity. These
must be solutions of x + a = 0, e.g. x + 1 = 0 which contradicts
the statement that 0 has no predecessor.
(d) If a unique identity and unique inverses exist, suppose we have
two solutions of x o a = b, so that, e.g. x o a = y o a. Postmultiplying
by a' the inverse of a, (x o a) o a' = (yo a) o a', i.e. x o (a o a')
=yo (a o a'), :. x o i =yo i, i.e. x = y.
5.5 From the table, just as in Ex. 5.4(b) (ii); or thus: by definition of
multiplication
{ Oxm=O
r* x m = (r x m) + m
r x k > r x h => r* x k > r* x h.
This is the link for an induction on r, starting with (N.B.) r = 1
which is true since 1 x k = k, 1 x h = h and k > h given. The
result is therefore true for all n ~ 1.
5.6 Addition (0, 1) or (0, n), n =/= 0. Multiplication (1, 1); or (m, m),
m =/= 0.
5.7 (a) Rand R#: a 1 , b1 , c1 • Complex numbers: a 1 , b2 , c2 • (The set
can be partially ordered under the relation lz1 1> iz2 1.) Integers
modulo p (prime): a 2 , b3 , c2 • J is NOT a field.
(b) Density-in-itself implies strict order-or there is no 'between'
-and also that the set is infinite.
5.8 (a) Addition (a + byp) + (c + dy'p) E S :. closure, and asso-
ciativity also is clear. 0 + Oyp is the identity, and (-a) + ( -b)yp
the inverse of a + byp.
(b) Multiplication
(a + byp)(c + dyp) = ac + bdp + (be + ad)yp;
1 + Oyp is the identity, and (ajK) - (bjK)vP is the inverse where
K = a 2 - b2p, =1= 0 except for a = b = 0, the permitted exception.
(For fields the addition-identity is anomalous in the inverse of multi-
plication.)
(c) Both the above are clearly commutative.
(d) Distributive law: directly verifiable.
5.9 (a) By trial the solution set is {0, 2, 5, 7}. This is the same as for
x(x + 3) = {) since 7 is prime to 10.
(b) The set is not a group under multiplication, e.g. 2 x x = 1 has
no solution, i.e. 2 has no inverse under multiplication.
5.10 One counter-example is enough. 0·7 is a member of the decimal
subset of R. Its reciprocal, although it may be approximated by mem-
bers of this subset (viz. 1·4, 1·42, 1·428, etc.) is not itself a member.
6.1 Preserved: collinearity of points, parallelism or concurrency of
lines; strict ordering of points in lines; ratio of lengths on parallel
lines (or on the same line); ratio of areas.
Not in general preserved: lengths; and also angles, concyclicity of
points, etc .... all dependent on non-parallel lengths preserving
their ratios (if not their actual values).
6.2 (a) (i) Yes, (ii) No, (iii) Ratios: P 1 P 2 /P 2 P 3 = Q 1 Q 2 /Q 2 Qa.
(b) (i) Order and proximity are preserved as illustrated in Fig. 8.4.
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
Fig. 8.4
(ii) No. (iii) Ratios of areas.

(c) Yes, as follows: (l, m, l', m not all zero) 1
lx+my+n=O}
1 x +my+ n = 0
1 1 parallel I ~ lm = l m.
1 I
Inverse matrix M- 1 gives(~)= M- 1 ( ; ) . IfM- 1 is (: !)

first line-..,.. (la + mc)X + (lb + md) Y + n = 0
and
second line-..,.. (1 a + c)X + (l b + d) Y + n = 0.
1
m
1 1
m
1 1
These are parallel iff (lm 1 m)(ad- be) = 0. The vanishing of the
1
-
1
second factor has been ruled out, and thus parallelism in (x, y) plane
~the same in (X, Y) plane. .
(ii) No. Lines are at right angles~ ll + mm = 0. As above, ex-
1 1
pression in (X, Y) plane is

(la + mc)(l a + m c) + (lb + md)(l'b + m d)
1 1 1
= ll'(a2 + b2 ) + mm'(c2 + d 2 ) + (lm + l m)(ac + bd) 1 1
not in general vanishing with ll + 1

mml.
6.3 (a) We consider the general case (x,y) ~(X, Y) where
; : ;; : ~~ } or (;) = (; ~)G)·
By solving we have
l
dX-bY=(ad-bc)x
-eX+ aY =(ad- bc)y.
Then provided ad - be =P 0, we can write (putting ad - be = K):
and
x = fx + (- ~)y or
(x)
y
= (dfK -bfK)(X)·
- cfK aJK y
Y = (- f)x + (i) Y
In this example, K = 1, and the inverse matrix of (~ ~) takes the
simple form ( _ ~ -~)·

(b) (i) M- 1 = (_~ -;). (ii) M- 1 = (-; _;). Notice
here K = -1.
6.4 The properties for the single elements of J under addition
secure those in this system, e.g.:
X1 + X2 + Xa = X1 + X2 + Xa} ~ (xl + X2,Y1 + Y2) EB (xa,Ya)
Y1 + Y2 + Ya = Y1 + Y2 + Ya = (x1,y1) EB (x2 + Xa,Y2 + Ya)
and if we write (xl> y 1 ) as z 1 this result may be expanded in the form
(zl EB z2) EB Za = Z1 EB (z2 EB za)·
The symbol EB is used to emphasise again that addition is redefined
in any fresh set.
The unique identity is (0, 0), and the inverse of z 1 is z~ = (x', y'),
or in ordinary arithmetical notation ( -x1 , -y1 ).
6.5 One example:
( 3 5) ( 2 - 5) = (3(2) + 5(- 1) 3(- 5) + 5(3))
1 2 -1 3 1(2)+2(-1) 1(-5)+2(3)
= (~ ~) = I; and the same if commuted.
6.6 (ap + br)(cq + ds) - (cp + dr)(aq + bs)
= adps + bcqr - bcps - adqr
= (ad- bc)ps + (be - ad)qr = (ad- bc)(ps - qr).
6.7 Cases where K =P ± 1 are of greater interest, e.g.:
IMI =I~ ~I= -9

and since
M -1-
-
1)
(-!-i -!'
6.8 For 2 x 2 non-singular matrices under multiplication: Closure,
not as yet associativity, unique identity (~ ~}· unique inverses.
(Although in general AB =F BA, yet A.A - 1 = A - 1A = 1.)
[Notice that in ruling out all matrices for which ad - be = 0 we
have ruled out (~ ~} which would, like zero in arithmetic, be enough
by itself to destroy group-structure under multiplication.]
Associativity can be proved by direct algebra on the elements, a
heavy task which we need not undertake. Instead, we proceed thus,
using matrices M 1 , M 2 , M 3 to transform points from a plane into it-
self. M 3 transforms S to R, M 2 R-+ Q, M 1 Q-+ P. Then
M 1M 2 transforms R-+ P and (M 1M 2)M3 S-+ R-+ P
while
M 2 M 3 transforms S-+ Q and M 1(M 2 M 3 ) S-+ Q-+ P
:. (M1M2)Ma = M1(M 2Ma)·
This outline when expanded is seen to depend on there being a
unique S for each R, and so on, i.e. on existence of inverses. It is how-
ever clear that the associative law is true also for singular matrices.
6.9 (a) Consider the operation of rotating Cartesian axes in the
plane. Pis fixed but (x,y)-+ (X, Y). (The point (X, Y) could then
be plotted in another plane.) We have
; : ~~0:i::: ;i:o:8}
preserves all the lengths in a figure. E.g.
:. (;) = e~:i~ 8 ;~~ :)~)
( cos 45° sin 45°} transforming into the same plane,
-sin 45° cos 45° rotates all points about 0 clockwise 45°,
equivalent to preserving position and rotating axes anticlockwise.
y
y
(b) The matrix which magnifies while preserving direction is

(~ ~). and a more general 2 x 2 matrix which preserves shape is
(k0) ( cos 8 sin 8 ) ( k cos 8 k sin 8)

0 k - sin 8 cos 8 = - k sin 8 k cos 8
e.g. writing k = y2 and 8 = 45° we have ( _! D which magnifies
lengths by y2, and areas by 2 as the determinant 1- ~ ~I shows.
6.10 (a) (; : ; ) (~) = (;~: :: : :::)·

u v w n ul+vm+wn
i.e. another line. Iff the lines are coincident for all l, m, n, then al
+ bm + en = kl, and two similar equations with the same k. I.e.
(a - k)l+ bm + en = 0 }
pl + (q- k)m + rn = 0 for alii, m, n;
ul + vm + (w - k )n = 0
a = q= w = k and b =
= p = r = u = v = 0.
c
(b) As above without the third equation, giving a matrix
u v w
(~ ~ ~)·
6.11 Take the matrices in order as A, B, C, D, E. A, B, C represent
clockwise rotations of a point or vector through 90°, 180°, 270°;
D = I; and E is reflection in the x-axis.
2-groups are {D, B}, {D, E}; and {A, B, C, D} is the cyclic 4-group.
Both these are commutative (true of all groups of order ~ 5).
NOTE: E is a length-preserving matrix of form different from those
considered in 6.9, and can be used to add generality to the solution of
6.9(b).
6.12 Take them in order as A, B, C, D. D as the identity can be put
first and renamed I. The combination table is then
I A B c which is Klein's 4-group V. It
I I A B c will be seen that matrix B has its
A A I c B unities 'where B occurs in the
B B c I A table'. (This is a general result
c c B A I provided the table has I down the
whole main diagonal, which re-
quires the column-border to have the elements in the order of the in-
ANSWERS AND SOL UTI ON NOTES 139
verses of the row-border. For V all elements happen to be their own
inverses.)
6.13 (a) Integer lattice-points {(x, y); x, y E J} transform to a set
{(X, Y)} which forms a parallelogram lattice. If this is taken as a new
'graph-paper', the numerical coordinates are unchanged by the trans-
formation; e.g. c was (1, 1) on the old axes and Cis (1, 1) on the new.
If we now superpose the old graph paper on the new, C becomes
(~ ~)G) or (5, 3), i.e. the same matrix is a transformation, from the
oblique to the square coordinate system, and M - l is the reverse.
(b) (0, 0) 7+ (0, 0), .·. in general
X=ax+by+c Y = px + qy + r.
If we write the matrix as (; ~ ~),it will not multiply(;) but only
a 3 x 1 matrix, whioh could bo ( ~) ·

If we have to use three coordinates for a point in a plane, they can
as easily be x, y, z (where the ratios of the three, two of which are inde-
pendent, determine the point). Then the anomaly disappears and we
have a situation already met for lines in Ex. 6.10, viz. the matrix is
3 x 3 acting on a 3 x 1 to give another 3 x 1.
6.14 (a)
the product of two magnifications.
(a)({J) = ({J)(a) = (cS -s)

C
where
C = cos a cos fJ - sin a sin fJ = cos a + fJ
and
S = sin a cos fJ + cos a sin fJ = sin a + fJ
and clearly represents a rotation through an angle (a + {J). For Rand
(a) see Soln. 6.9(a).
(b) Inverse of R is C6' 1~,) and of(a)

= (-a) = ( c?s a sin a)·
-sm a cos a
6.15 ( 1 0 0) (
0 1 0 ~
x) = (x)y . z
Irreversible : is lost.
Pattern (2 X 3)(3 X 1) = (2 X 1).
(a) Projection onto the x 0 z plane followed by shrinking to half-

scale towards the origin.
(b) and (c) are the same as (a).
(d) Projection onto the x 0 y plane followed by rotation clockwise
")t
through cos- 1 (}).
25)(!t t
6.16 s s Large Med. Small
co15 20 15
30 35 50 I
t2 = ( 25-!- 19! 25 )Higher
49! 33 47! Lower
t fo [75 52-! 72!] Totals
c1 ")
6.17 (a) s s s
(t t t i) s
I1s s
= (i H 29)
80.
t -io- t
This array gives the probabilities of sale in various sizes of container.
It agrees with the totals above, expressed as fractions of 200 tons.
(b) We need, not the serial product but the separate products. The
proportions by weight are 6 x i, 4 x it, 3 x U, i.e. 60 to 28 to 29.
(c) If we use matrix M' (2 x 4) as above, we must premultiply it by
the row-vector (5 4) which is of shape (1 x 2). This agrees with the
sense of the data and gives:
(5 4) ( 10 20 15 25 ) = (110 220 215 325).

15 30 35 50
In lowest terms 22 to 44 to 43 to 65.
(1R 111s+ RfS) -_ (1001 0·002) giving

i1 = 0·5
v1
_ 1 _
6·18 M - 1·2 = 125
M 2 = (1·2 -0·002) 2 = (1·64 -0·0044) d i 3 = 0·27

-100 1 -220 1·2 an Vs = 40
Checks on the matrix work: that all the determinants IM I IM - 1 1, and

of course IM 2 1, are unity. (In numerical work it is usual to transpose
the second of two matrices and work from row to row: if results also
are written across, the product matrix is correctly situated.)
6.19 (a) The results in two arrays are clearly put together in an
array of the same form.
(b) If k is a plane vector, M 1 and M 2 are (2 x 2). Verify that
where + on the left represents vector addition. Similarly if M 1 , M 2

are (2 x n) and k is an n-vector.
7.1 (i) Valid. Every member of S 2 is a member of S1 and vice versa.
(ii) Invalid. E.g.: if S1 , S 2 have no common member, S1 ::P S 2
and sl ¢ s2.
(iii) Valid. S1 = S 2 => every member of S 2 is a member of
sl -¢> sl => s2.
(iv) Valid. S 2 = Sa => S2 => Sa (as above) and S1 => S2, S2 => Sa
=> Sl => Sa -¢> Sa c Sl.
7.2 The set of sets under the relation 'is in-

$ +-+ 30 eluded by' is isomorphic with the set of
0 +-+ 1 integers under the relation 'divides'.
10
ID Dl
6
30
I 51
Fig. S.6
7.3 (i) s ("\ 0 = 0; (ii) s ("\ $ = s.
7.4 S1 n S 2 = elements common to sets S 1 , S 2 •

= elements common to sets s2, sl = s2 ("\ sl.
7.5 (i) Valid as every member of S 2 is also in S 1 •

(ii) Invalid. S 1 ::p S2 could occur with some elements of S2 being
in sl.
(iii) Formally valid; but all the statements are always true inde-
pendently.
(iv) (S 1 f"'l Sa) f"'l S2 = elements common to (a) S 1 and Sa and (b)
S 2. Any in (a) are members of S 1 , :. (S 1 n Sa) n S2 = 0 as
no element is common to 8 1 , 8 2 • oR: prove associativity, and

this with commutative law gives validity at once.
7.6
Straight boundary included

in set A, but not either of
curved ones
Fig. 5.7
Fig. 8.8
\__(4,11·
Set C consists of o line

terminated at one end. ~ Set 8 consists
(a~) (4,2) of one point
--L-.I........l~
Fig. 5.9
A::> C ::::>B.
7.7 (a) -{(x,y); x,y E R# I x > 0, xy > 8}
(b) -{ Ix < 0, xy > 8}
(c) -{ I x ¥: 0, xy > 8}
(d) -{ Ix > 0, xy ::::; 8}
(e) { lx<O,xy::;;8}
(f) { I x ¥: 0, xy ::::; 8}
(g) { I X ¥: 0}.
7.8 Every member of iff not inS is a member of S' (definition)
, , , iff , S' , , , (S')' ,
No , , iff in S , , , S' ,
, , , iff , S' , , , (S')' ,
:. the whole of iff divides into S and S', :. not-S' is S. That
is (S')' = S.
7.9 S u 0 = S Sn 0 = 0
SU8=tf SnC=S
s u s = s s n s = s.
7.10 S u (P n Q) = elements of S united to all elements (if any)
common to P and Q.
SUP = elements of S + elements of P not inS (set A).
S u Q = elements of S + elements of Q not inS (set B).
(S u P) n (S u Q) = all elements common to A and B
= S + any elements common to P and Q
but not inS
= S + any elements common to P and Q
= s u (P n Q).
7.11 (p-&- f) is always false, :. (p & f) = f, whereas (p or f)
= p.
7.12 (p-&-p) = p; (p or p) = p.
-rn ~ m
7.13 There are 16 possible functions, i.e.
~ff+
F
T
T T
T T
F
T
T T
T F
F
T
T
F
T
F
F
F
m
(a)'s are logical constants.
Iff
(b) F T (a) F T
T F F T F F F F
F
ilF
T T T T T F F
F T F T T (b) F T
F T F F F T F F F T F
T F T T T F T T T T F
(b)'s are unaffected by one of p, q
T
F~ F~ ~~
T If f T I} f
T
~IF F
10 remain.
7.!4 0) (P & Q)'l F T
F T T
T T F
(ii) Yes.
(iii) 3.
(iv) Not 'pis true and q is true'.
7.15 P' & Q' F T

F 1' F 'not p and not q' = not 'p or q'.
1' F F
(P' & Q')' F T

F F T 'p or q'.
T T T
7.16 (a)
F F
-.--/M~
?~ (P) (Q)
Fig. 8.to
(b)
Fig. 8.11
7.17 0110, 1011, 1101, 10011.
7.18 A !:J. B shaded.
~M ff
Fig. 8.12
ff
All. B =(A() B') u (A'() B)= (Au B)() (A() B)'.
7.19 (0, 0) = 0 = (1, 1); (0, 1) = (1, 0) = 1; (p + q) = p + q re-

duced modulo 2.
7.20 (a) (i) s = xy' + x'y (b) s = xyz + xy'z' + x'yz'
(ii) c = xy. + x'y'z
c = xy + x'yz + xy'z
= xz + x'yz + xyz'
= yz + xy'z + xyz'.
7.21 (i) Gives (P & Q')'.
(ii) Gives (P' V Q).
(P & Q') = p and not q.
(P & Q')' = not p or q or both = (P'Q).
7.22 (i) As above.
(ii)
Fig. 8.13
Both forms of the function agree in the above diagrams, the relevant
area being shaded. They also agree in the truth table:
--~T (P)
F T F
T T T
(Q)
Further: the solution sets in {(x, y) I x, y = 0 or 1} of the following
equations are the same:
1 - x(l - y) = 0 and 1 - x + y = 0.
7.23 (a) R +-+ p.
0+-+p' & q.
G+-+ p' & q'.
(b) (i) R +-+ p.
0 +-+ p' & (q v t ') } £ A
G +-+ p' & q' & t or .
(ii) R +-+ q V u' V t V r }
0 +-+ u & t' & r' & q' & s for F.
G+-+u&t' &r' &q' &s'
8.1 (a) Yes: each 'direction' leads to one point on it.
(b) Yes: every line has a 'direction'.
(c) Yes: it needs 1 and this 'ideal line'.
(d) The line passing through P, parallel to the 'direction'
giving I.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Further reading related to the topics of the chapters is given first;

followed by a list of general works. Works mentioned more than once
are given their full titles only in the final list.
Chapter 1 (Sets)
For study: Stoll, Allen. For material: school texts.
Chapter 2 (Sets in association)

As above, and also: Bristol 'Graphing Relations and Functions'
(Harrap).
Chapter 3 (Groups)
Ledermann 'Theory of Finite Groups' (Oliver and Boyd mono-
graphs).
Papy 'Groups' (Macmillan). A comprehensive treatment. Its
coloured diagrams are.good class-room material.
Aleksandrov 'Theory of Groups' (Blackie) gives a full account of the
symmetry groups of the regular solids.
The subject of ring-structures is a self-contained topic between our
Chapters 3 and 5. See:
Sawyer =concrete Approach to Abstract Algebra' (Freeman).
The introductory pages of Hodge and Pedoe 'Algebraic Geometry'
(C.U.P.) give a high-level summary of the algebra of rings and
fields.
See also general works: Allen, Birkhoff.
Chapter 4 (Relations in a set)

See Allen, Stoll.
Chapter 5 (Fields)
Ringenberg 'A Portrait of 2' (National Council of Teachers of Math.,
U.S.A.).
Niven 'Numbers, Rational and Irrational' (Random House).
[Roberts 'The Real Number System' (Freeman) at a higher level.]
Spreckelmeyer and Mustain 'Complex Numbers' (Harrap).
146
BIBLIOGRAPHY 147
General works: Goodstein, for wider aspects of number; Courant and
Robbins, for an account of Cantor's work on transfinite number.
Analysis (i.e. function theory developed to include, e.g. limits and
the theory of integration) is well introduced in Burkill 'Mathematical
Analysis' (C. U.P.).
Chapter 6 (Vectors, matrices)

In conjunction with linear equations, an approach not developed here:
Cohn 'Linear Equations' (Routledge monographs).
The matrix in its machine-aspect is seen in:
Moakes 'Numerical Mathematics' (Macmillan monographs),
and developed in:
Wooldridge 'Introduction to Computing' (Oxford).
For theoretical development see especially, Birkhoff; and more on
manipulation in Archbold; or in all aspects in the monograph, Ait-
ken 'Determinants and Matrices' (Oliver and Boyd). For applications
in the non-technical field broadly known as operational research see
Kemeny, Snell and Thompson.
Technical applications are treated in Bickley and Thompson,
'Matrices' (E.U.P.) and separately in:
Tropper 'Matrix theory for electrical engineers' (Harrap); for
which Chellingsworth 'Mathematics for Circuits' (Macmillan) is
a suitable introduction.
Frazer, Duncan and Collar 'Elementary Matrices' (C.U.P.), for
mechanical engineering.
More generalised transformations are considered in topology; at high
level see Patterson 'Topology' (Oliver and Boyd monographs) and
more simply in Courant and in 'Insights', or in Donovan and Johnson
'Topology' (Webster; Exploring Series).
Chapter 7 (Set-algebra, logic, Boolean algebra)

Adler 'Thinking-machines' (Signet). A popular paper-back.
Stoll 'Sets, Logic and Axiomatic Systems' (Freeman).
Goodstein 'Boolean Algebra' (Pergamon).
Applied:
Hohn 'Applied Boolean Algebra' (New York: Macmillan).
Whitesitt 'Boolean Algebra and its Applications' (Addison Wesley).
Sets defined by inequalities lead to linear programming:
Vajda 'Linear Programming' (Methuen/Wiley).
Chapter 8 (Fundamentals of geometry)

Forder 'Geometry' (Hutchinson).
Coxeter 'Introduction to Geometry' (Wiley) is readable and well
illustrated as well as comprehensive.
The familiar geometry of the school course restated in set language:
Maxwell 'Deductive Geometry' (Pergamon).
A discussion of axiomatics in geometry is found in Courant, Robbins
and 'Insights'; for a fuller treatment see:
Blumenthal 'Modern View of Geometry' (Freeman).
General works in approximate order of difficulty:
Adler 'New Mathematics' (Mentor books). Popular paper-back.
Lieber and Lieber 'Human Values and Mathematics' (Norton). An
unusual approach, for the lay adult.
General background to the present work:
Sawyer 'Prelude to Mathematics' (Pelican). Very stimulating.
Littlewood 'Skeleton Key of Mathematics' (Hutchinson).
Richardson 'Fundamentals of Mathematics' (Collier-Macmillan) in
which some historical notes accompany the development.
By contrast, 'The World of Mathematics' (4 vols.) Ed. Newman
(Allen & Unwin) prints substantial classic extracts with comment-
ary.
Two books from the teaching angle: Felix 'Modern Aspect of Mathe-
matics' (Science Editions, New York), a general essay; and a wide
variety of topics fully treated in 'Insights into Modern Mathematics'
(National Council of Teachers in Math., U.S.A.).
Stimulating essays will be found in:
Courant and Robbins 'What is Mathematics?' (Oxford).
Jagjit Singh 'Mathematical Ideas' (Hutchinson).
General continuation of the present work:
Allen 'Basic Mathematics' (Macmillan).
Goodstein 'Fundamental Concepts of Mathematics' (Pergamon).
Good university texts of which part can be read earlier:
Birkhoff and Maclane 'Modern Algebra' (Collier-Macmillan).
Archbold 'Algebra' (Pitman). This by contrast lays more emphasis
on manipulation and less on structure, as an applied mathematician
may prefer.
Maxwell 'General Homogeneous Coordinates' (C.U.P.).
BIBLIOGRAPHY 149
General books on applications:
Kemeny, Snell and Thompson 'Finite Mathematics' (Prentice Hall).
Duckworth 'Operational Research' (Methuen).
Teaching courses for the Secondary School:
Mansfield and Thompson 'Mathematics, A New Approach' (Chatto
& Windus), has pupils' and teachers' volumes for three years of a
common course at a Comprehensive School.
Much organised course-material for teacher and pupil is pub-
lished in U.S.A. notably the S.M.S.G. series (Yale University
Press) of over 20 books.
Classified material for use in modern courses is published in a
single volume (edited T.J. Fletcher) 'Lesson Material' (C.U.P.).
Course-material appropriate to the U.K. and Dominions is in
preparation by several groups, notably the S.M.P. group based on
Southampton (C. U.P.), the Matthews group (Arnold), the St. Paul's
School group (Macmillan) and the Midlands group (Harrap).
INDEX
Adder, binary, 117 Domain, 13
Aleph, 26
Algebraist 67 et seq. Elements, 5
AND-function, 96 Equivalence, 46 et seq.
Argument, 17 Equivalence class, 48
Associativity, 33 Eudoxus, 61
Fields, 61 et seq
Basis (of vector space), 77 Function, 12
Binary addition, 100 -, compound, 75
Block-diagram, 97 · -, definition of, 15
-,inverse, 19
Cantor, 26
Cardinal number, 26 Generating a group, 111
Carry-function, 101 Geometer, 67
Cayley's Theorem, 31 Group, definition of, 33, 36
Clock numerals, 29 -, order of a, 37
Closure, 29 - symmetry, 30, 34
Combination, law of, 28 Groups, cyclic, 39
Commutative, 34, 90 Groupoid, 29
Complement of a set, 90
Homomorphism, 77
Completeness, 62, 64
Complex numbers, 66 Ideal line, 107
Composition (see combination) - points, 106
Computers, 54 ldempotence, 91
Concourse, 5, 87 Identity element, 36
Correspondence, 1-1 etc., 11 - operation, 30
Counter-example, 25 Image, 15
Counting, 26 Implication, 23
Incidence relations, 109
de Morgan laws, 103 Inclusion, 86
Density, 62 Induction, 55
Desargues' Theorem, 108 Infinite sets, 25
Determinant, 79 Inner product (see serial)
Dichotomy, 46, 51 Intersection of sets, 88
Discrete, 48 Into (mapping), 13
Disjoint, 24 Inverse element, 36
Distributive, 60, 91 Isomorphic mapping, 77
Divisibility as a relation, 49, 95 Isomorphism, 37
150
INDEX 151
J, the set, 57 Programming, 55
Proper subset, 8
Klein, 34, 111
Kronecker, 52 Range, 13
-, strict, 15
Latin-square, 32 Rational numbers, 59 et seq.
Locus, 89 Real numbers, 63
Logic-functions, 95 Recursion, 55
Many-one, 12 Reflexivity, 46, 51
Mapping, 13 Relation, 9
-, reversible, 20 -, complementary, 49
Matrix, 70 -, inverse of, 20, 42
-, informational, 81 -, order-, 46
-, probability, 82
Serial product, 74
Newton, 63 Set, background, 5
NOT-function, 94, 97 -, defining property of, 5
Null set, 7, 88 -, definition of, 5
Numbers, addition of, 53 - notations, 6
-, natural, 52 -, null or empty, 7, 88
-, rational, 59 --specification, 6
-,real, 63 -, universal, 5
Number-fields, 61 Singular matrix, 72
Numerals, 52 Solution-set, 7
Structure, 28
One-many, 12 Subgroup, 41
One-to-one correspondence, 11 Subset, 8
Onto (mapping), 13 Successor, 52
Operator, 58 Sum-function, 101
- equation, 76 Symmetric difference, 102, 114
Order, 43 et seq. Symmetry of a relation, 47, 51
- of an element, 39 Symmetry group, 30,34
Ordered pair, 9
OR-function, 99 Transformation, 71
Original, 15 Transitivity, 46, 51
Pappus' Theorem, 108 Unary function, 98

Parallel lines, 47, 49, 106 Union of sets, 89
Partitioning, 48
Peano, 54 V (Vierergruppe), 34, 111
Pencil of lines, 106 Valid, 25
Permutation groups, 113 Value of a function, 22
Place-holder, 24 Vectors, 72 et seq.
Plane, Euclidean, 71 Venn diagram, 87

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THE CORE OF MATHEMATICS

Numerical Mathematics A. J. Moakes

Mathematics for Circuits W. Chellingsworth

The Core of Mathematics A.]. Moakes

MACMILLAN AND COMPANY LIMITED

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA LIMITED

ST MARTIN'S PRESS INC

It is hoped that this short introduction to 'modern' mathematics

The reader will almost certainly prefer doing mathematics to read-

pulse is received an electric motor is switched on and rotates a disc

ex corresponds to (n, r), (r, l) and (1, n)

There is no connection between ex or f3 or y and single members of

It will be seen in subsequent chapters that sets of abstract symbols

a close by summarising the sets which we have derived from our

2.1 What exactly is a set?

be watched, e.g. the members of a collection of loose roller-bearings

2.2 Definitions and notations used in set-theory

pES (read this as 'p is in S').

If another element q is not in S we write

The symbols p, q used above must be taken to represent members

V is the set of all points of a given plane,

The symbol n is here a place-holder for every member in turn of J+.

2.3 The null set

Ex. 2.1 Find the solution sets of:

place-holder only, to link the parts of the set-specification: e.g. in Ex.

2.5 Sets in association

The diplomat's younz daughter expends her dress allowance on

S = {(c, d); c E C, dE D}.

Thus a relation between sets C, D is defined as a stated proper subset

There is no 'right' answer to Ex. 2.4 but a possible one is given in

Ex. 2.5 Remembering that a relation is a set of ordered pairs chosen

2.6 One-to-one correspondence over two sets

In practice we commonly order sets in some way for our conveni-

Ex. 2.7 We may name situation (ii) of the previous question as a

Weekly wage in shillings

Weight of parcel in pounds

The function is defined for every weight w in 0 < w ~ 22, the

---. -·- --------- -~ ------------- ------~

~ 2 102·01 104·04 106·09

101 102 103 104

In Fig. 2.10 it is clear that the domain of the function is a set of

Graph of the function y =cos x

2.8 Conditions for existence of an inverse function

To state a theorem precisely, we must define the inverse of a rela-

The function f can be expressed in words as 'having a poll-num-

Completed years Annual salary (£)

Ex. 2.12 (a) A man in hospital plays a series of games of patience

Ex. 2.13 We have seen in Ex. 2. 7 that there is a one-many relation

An example from elementary algebra is:

This may seem a heavy apparatus for so little and so obvious a

(b) Solve the above problem with (A) revised to read 2x = 3y

2.10 Finite and infinite sets

show the nature of mathematical entities, e.g. number, better than by

Ex. 2.18 (a) Set up 1-1 correspondences between J+ and

Ex. 2.19 Prove rigorously the validity of one of the implications

Ex. 2.20 Show it is not possible to have a 1-1 correspondence be-

For further reading see Bibliography on p. 146.

3.1 A law of combination in a set

Individual examples of such combinations could be written thus:

DEFINITION. The setS is said to be closed under the law of combination*

3.2 The symmetry group of the triangle

Every operation is most easily defined by starting from the basic

It is advisable to have a reference set of these diagrams of the same