Cardinality

https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Combinatorics_and_Discrete_Mathematics/Supplemental_Modules_for_Discrete_Math/Additional_Discrete_Topics_(Dean)/Infinite_Sets_and_Cardinality

https://primes.utm.edu/glossary/page.php?sort=Infinite

https://www.britannica.com/science/set-theory/Operations-on-sets

https://www.probabilitycourse.com/chapter1/1_2_2_set_operations.php

https://www.cs.sfu.ca/~ggbaker/zju/math/set-oper.html

  • Cardinality is the number of elements in a set

  • finite sets: cardinality is denoted by a normal cardinal number

  • infinite sets: cardinality is denoted a transcendetal cardinal number

  • instead of a single infinity, set theory has discovered infinity of infinities, through the work of Georg Cantor, forever linking set theory as the field of mathematics that deals with infinities.

  • to obtain the cardinality of an infinite set S, we search for an injective function, i.e. a 1-to-1 mapping between S and ℕ; if we find such correspondance, then the infinity of S is enumerable (countably infinite set).

Finite sets

  • cardinality of a finite set is established by enumerating its elements

  • enumerating a set means putting it in a 1-to-1 correspondance with ℕ

  • this often means finding a suitable bijective function

  • to count means to mentally label (enumerate) elements

Infinite sets

  • with infinite sets, notion of cardinality goes beyond some concrete quantity, towards the notion of the size of the particular kind of infinity of a set.

  • it is more about finding an appropriate bijective function for enumeration

  • Equinumerousity is a property that two sets with equal cardinality have

  • there are 2 kinds of infinity: countable and uncountable

  • Countable set can be put in a bijection with ℕ

  • Uncountable set cannot be put in a bijection with ℕ

  • the smallest infinity is that of natural numbers, denoted by ℵ₀ (read "aleph naught"); this number is a cardinal number, c\mathfrak{c}

  • Two sets are equal iff they contain the same elements.

  • Two sets are equivalent iff they have the same cardinality.

  • Singleton or unit set is a set containing a single element.

  • Unordered pair is a set containing two elements.

  • Cardinality of a power set of a set XX is 2X2^{|X|}.

  • Cardinality of a power set of an empty set is: P()=1\mathcal{P}(\varnothing)=1.

  • Cardinality of a set XX is equivalent to N\mathbb{N} if there is a bijective function, f:NXf:\mathbb{N} \mapsto X, mapping elements in N\mathbb{N} to the elements in XX

Cardinalities

nn

P:2n\mathcal{P}: 2^n

C:n2\mathcal{C}: n^2

R:2(n2)\mathcal{R}: 2^{(n^2)}

0

202^0 = 1

020^2 = 0

202^0 = 1

1

212^1 = 2

121^2 = 1

212^1 = 2

2

222^2 = 4

222^2 = 4

242^4 = 16

3

232^3 = 8

323^2 = 9

292^9 = 512

4

242^4 = 16

424^2 = 16

2162^{16} = 65,536

5

252^5 = 32

525^2 = 25

2252^{25}

6

262^6 = 64

626^2 = 36

2362^{36}

7

272^7 = 128

727^2 = 49

2492^{49}

8

282^8 = 256

828^2 = 64

2642^{64}

9

292^9 = 512

929^2 = 81

2812^{81}

This table shows:

  • the first column shows the cardinality of a n-element set.

  • the second column shows the cardinality of the powersets of an n-element set

  • the third column shows the cardinality of the Cartesian product of an n-element set with itself.

  • the fourth column shows the number of ditinct relations of an n-element set

Cardinality

Cardinality of a set S, denoted by |S|, is the number of elements of the set. The number is also referred as the cardinal number. If a set has an infinite number of elements, its cardinality is ∞. |{1,2,3,4,5,…}| = ∞

|X|=|Y| denotes two sets X and Y having same cardinality. It occurs when the number of elements in X is exactly equal to the number of elements in Y. In this case, there exists a bijective function f from X to Y.

|X|≤|Y| denotes that set X's cardinality is less than or equal to set Y's cardinality. It occurs when number of elements in X is less than or equal to that of Y. Here, there exists an injective function 'f' from X to Y.

|X|<|Y| denotes that set X's cardinality is less than set Y's cardinality. It occurs when number of elements in X is less than that of Y. Here, the function 'f' from X to Y is injective function but not bijective.

If |X|≤|Y| and |X|≥|Y| then |X|=|Y|. The sets X and Y are commonly referred as equivalent sets.

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