Math-Chapter 1

Chapter #1: Introduction
Math Econ (MEF)

Raúl Bajo (rbajo@unav.es)
Set theory
• A set is a collection of elements/objects.
• Operations on sets: (i) Intersection X ∩ Y ; (ii) Union X ∪ Y ; (iii) Com-
plement: Z → Z c ; (iv) Difference: X ∩ Y c .
• Union and intersection are commutative and associative.
. The commutative laws: A ∪ B = B ∪ A; A ∩ B = B ∩ A

. The associative laws: A ∪ (B ∪ C) = (A ∪ B) ∪ C; A ∩ (B ∩ C) =
(A ∩ B) ∩ C
• Additional laws:
. The distributive laws: A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C), A ∩ (B ∪ C) =

(A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)
. The De Morgan’s laws: (A ∪ B)c = Ac ∩ B c , (A ∩ B)c = Ac ∪ B c
• Cartesian product: X × Y is the set of ordered pairs (x, y) with x ∈ X,

y ∈ Y . Note: the product X × X is not the same as the set of subsets of
X with two elements.
Functions, mappings
• f : X → Y has domain X and values/image in Y . It associates with every
x ∈ X an element y = f (x) in Y .
• The range of f is the set f (X) = {y ∈ Y |∃ x ∈ X : y = f (x)}.
• The graph of f is the subset of X × Y : Γf ⊂ X × Y = {(x, f (x) | x ∈
X, f (x) = y ∈ Y )}.
It is sometimes convenient to identify a function with its graph: then a
function is defined as a subset X × Y such that every x-section contains
exactly one y ∈ Y .
• The set of functions from X to Y is denoted X Y .
• The set of subsets of X is denoted 2X .
1
• Some definitions: let f : X → Y .
. A function f ∈ Y X is onto Y (or surjective, a surjection) if f (X) = Y .

It means that for every element y ∈ Y , there exists at least one
element x ∈ X s.t. f (x) = y.
. A function f ∈ Y X is one-to-one (or injective, an injection) if x 6=
x0 ⇒ f (x) 6= f (x0 ).
. A function f ∈ Y X is a bijection if it is one-to-one and onto.
In the latter case, we can speak of the inverse of f , the function f −1
from Y into X defined by y = f (x) ⇔ x = f −1 (y).
Note: if f ∈ Y X is not a bijection, its inverse as a function from Y to
X is not defined. However, if f is one-to-one, we may identify it with
a function g from X into f (X), and that function has an inverse g −1
from f (X) into X. But it is always necessary to specify the domain
for a function.
• Composition of f ∈ Y X , g ∈ Z Y : g ◦ f (x) = g(f (x)).
. idX denotes the identity mapping of X, i.e. idX (x) = x for all x. If
f ∈ Y X is a bijection, we have f ◦ f −1 = idY ; f −1 ◦ f = idX .
. The composition is an associative operation, but it is not commuta-
tive.
. If f ∈ Y X and g ∈ X Y are such that g ◦ f = idX , we cannot deduce
g = f −1 , or f = g −1 . If g ◦ f = idX and f ◦ g = idY , we can.
• Permutations: in general, a bijection from X into itself is called a per-

mutation. That is f : X → X. The set of permutations of X is denoted
by A(X), i.e. f ∈ A(X). The permutations of X form a group for the
composition: every f ∈ A(X) has inverse f −1 ∈ A(X).
Note: idX is just a specific case of permutation.
• Correspondences: A correspondence F , with domain X and values Y
associates with every x ∈ X a non-empty subset F (x) ∈ Y . Alternative
definition: a subset of X × Y such that every x-section is non empty.
. Notation: F : X ⇒ Y or F : X Y .
. The graph of F is the set ΓF = {(x, y) ∈ X × Y | y ∈ F (x)}.
. The range of F is F (X) = ∪x∈X F (x).
. Composition of F : X Y and G : Y Z is G ◦ F (x) ∪y∈F (x) G(y).
The composition is associative.
Cardinals
• It is the measure of “how big is a set” (# of elements). We call |X| the
cardinal of X.
• The equivalence relation “X and Y have the same cardinality” is charac-

terized as follows: |X| = |Y |.
2
. |X| > |Y | ⇒ |X| ≥ |Y | but not |Y | ≥ |X|.
. |X| = |Y | ⇔ there is a one-to-one f ∈ Y X and a one-to-one g ∈ X Y
⇔ there is an onto f ∈ Y X and an onto g ∈ X Y
⇔ there is a bijection h from X into Y (proof in Appendix).
. If X ⊂ Y , then |X| ≤ |Y |.
• A set X is finite iff for any X 0 ⊂ X, we have |X 0 | < |X|.
• A set X is infinite iff for some X 0 ⊂ X, we have |X 0 | = |X|.
. An infinite set can be countable or uncountable.
• The set N of natural integers is the set of finite cardinals. It is an infinite
set. Conventional notation N = {0, 1, 2, · · · , n, · · · }. Note that |N| is the
smallest infinite cardinal. A set with cardinality |N| is called enumerable.
Examples:
. Q, the set of rational numbers, is enumerable.
. R, the set of real numbers, is not: |R| > |N| (this important fact is
an easy consequence of the decimal development of real numbers).
. N × N × · · · × N is enumerable:|Nk | = |N|
| {z }
k times
Appendix : a proof on cardinals.
Proposition. If |X| = |Y | there is a bijection from X into Y .

Proof . (a) We prove an auxiliary result first. Let A, A1 , A2 be 3 nested sets,
A2 ⊆ A1 ⊆ A, and f a bijection from A into A2 . Then there exists a bijection
g from A into A1 . We construct a nested sequence A2 ⊇ A3 ⊇ A4 ⊇ · · · as
follows:
A3 = f (A1 ) (⇒ A3 ⊆ f (A) = A2 )
A4 = f (A2 ) (⇒ A4 ⊆ f (A1 ) = A3 )
A5 = f (A3 ) (⇒ A5 ⊆ f (A2 ) = A4 )
etc.
Note that f (A \ A1 ) = A2 \ A3 (because f is a bijection) and similarly
f (A2 \ A3 ) = A4 \ A5 , and f (A4 \ A5 ) = A6 \ A7 , etc.
Define g ∈ AA , g = f on A \ A1 , A2 \ A3 , A4 \ A5 , ...
g = identity on A1 \ A2 , A3 \ A4 , A5 \ A6 , ...
Write B = (A \ A1 ) ∪ (A2 \ A3 ) ∪ (A4 \ A5 ) ∪ ...
C = (A1 \ A2 ) ∪ (A3 \ A4 ) ∪ (A5 \ A6 )... and note that f (B) ⊆ B; id(C) = C.
Therefore, g is one-to-one on A. Moreover f (B) ∪ C = A1 , therefore g is a
bijection from A into A1 .
(b) We fix X, Y s.t. |X| ≥ |Y | and |X| ≤ |Y |. Thus, there are two one-to-one
mappings f, g, where f is from X into Y , and g from Y into X. Define A = X,
A1 = g(Y ), A2 = (g ◦ f )(X). Note that g ◦ f is a bijection from A into A2 , and
moreover A2 ⊆ A1 ⊆ A. By the auxiliary result, there is a bijection h from A
into A1 . Thus h−1 ◦ g is the desired bijection from Y into X.

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Chapter #1: Introduction

Math Econ (MEF)

. The commutative laws: A ∪ B = B ∪ A; A ∩ B = B ∩ A

. The distributive laws: A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C), A ∩ (B ∪ C) =

• Cartesian product: X × Y is the set of ordered pairs (x, y) with x ∈ X,

. A function f ∈ Y X is onto Y (or surjective, a surjection) if f (X) = Y .

• Composition of f ∈ Y X , g ∈ Z Y : g ◦ f (x) = g(f (x)).

• Permutations: in general, a bijection from X into itself is called a per-

• The equivalence relation “X and Y have the same cardinality” is charac-

Appendix : a proof on cardinals.

Proposition. If |X| = |Y | there is a bijection from X into Y .

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