In mathematics, a dependence relation is a binary relation which generalizes the relation of linear dependence.

Let be a set. A (binary) relation between an element of and a subset of is called a dependence relation, written , if it satisfies the following properties:

  • if , then ;
  • if , then there is a finite subset of , such that ;
  • if is a subset of such that implies , then implies ;
  • if but for some , then .

Given a dependence relation on , a subset of is said to be independent if for all If , then is said to span if for every is said to be a basis of if is independent and spans

Remark. If is a non-empty set with a dependence relation , then always has a basis with respect to Furthermore, any two bases of have the same cardinality.

Examples edit

  • Let   be a vector space over a field   The relation  , defined by   if   is in the subspace spanned by  , is a dependence relation. This is equivalent to the definition of linear dependence.
  • Let   be a field extension of   Define   by   if   is algebraic over   Then   is a dependence relation. This is equivalent to the definition of algebraic dependence.

See also edit

This article incorporates material from Dependence relation on PlanetMath, which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.