In set theory, the union (denoted by ∪) of a collection of sets is the set of all elements in the collection.[1] It is one of the fundamental operations through which sets can be combined and related to each other. A nullary union refers to a union of zero () sets and it is by definition equal to the empty set.
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For explanation of the symbols used in this article, refer to the table of mathematical symbols.
Union of two sets
editThe union of two sets A and B is the set of elements which are in A, in B, or in both A and B.[2] In set-builder notation,
- .[3]
For example, if A = {1, 3, 5, 7} and B = {1, 2, 4, 6, 7} then A ∪ B = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}. A more elaborate example (involving two infinite sets) is:
- A = {x is an even integer larger than 1}
- B = {x is an odd integer larger than 1}
As another example, the number 9 is not contained in the union of the set of prime numbers {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, ...} and the set of even numbers {2, 4, 6, 8, 10, ...}, because 9 is neither prime nor even.
Sets cannot have duplicate elements,[3][4] so the union of the sets {1, 2, 3} and {2, 3, 4} is {1, 2, 3, 4}. Multiple occurrences of identical elements have no effect on the cardinality of a set or its contents.
Algebraic properties
editBinary union is an associative operation; that is, for any sets , Thus, the parentheses may be omitted without ambiguity: either of the above can be written as . Also, union is commutative, so the sets can be written in any order.[5] The empty set is an identity element for the operation of union. That is, , for any set . Also, the union operation is idempotent: . All these properties follow from analogous facts about logical disjunction.
Intersection distributes over union and union distributes over intersection[2] The power set of a set , together with the operations given by union, intersection, and complementation, is a Boolean algebra. In this Boolean algebra, union can be expressed in terms of intersection and complementation by the formula where the superscript denotes the complement in the universal set .
Finite unions
editOne can take the union of several sets simultaneously. For example, the union of three sets A, B, and C contains all elements of A, all elements of B, and all elements of C, and nothing else. Thus, x is an element of A ∪ B ∪ C if and only if x is in at least one of A, B, and C.
A finite union is the union of a finite number of sets; the phrase does not imply that the union set is a finite set.[6][7]
Arbitrary unions
editThe most general notion is the union of an arbitrary collection of sets, sometimes called an infinitary union. If M is a set or class whose elements are sets, then x is an element of the union of M if and only if there is at least one element A of M such that x is an element of A.[8] In symbols:
This idea subsumes the preceding sections—for example, A ∪ B ∪ C is the union of the collection {A, B, C}. Also, if M is the empty collection, then the union of M is the empty set.
Notations
editThe notation for the general concept can vary considerably. For a finite union of sets one often writes or . Various common notations for arbitrary unions include , , and . The last of these notations refers to the union of the collection , where I is an index set and is a set for every . In the case that the index set I is the set of natural numbers, one uses the notation , which is analogous to that of the infinite sums in series.[8]
When the symbol "∪" is placed before other symbols (instead of between them), it is usually rendered as a larger size.
Notation encoding
editIn Unicode, union is represented by the character U+222A ∪ UNION.[9] In TeX, is rendered from \cup
and is rendered from \bigcup
.
See also
edit- Algebra of sets – Identities and relationships involving sets
- Alternation (formal language theory) – in formal language theory and pattern matching, the union of two sets of strings or patterns − the union of sets of strings
- Axiom of union – Concept in axiomatic set theory
- Disjoint union – In mathematics, operation on sets
- Inclusion–exclusion principle – Counting technique in combinatorics
- Intersection (set theory) – Set of elements common to all of some sets
- Iterated binary operation – Repeated application of an operation to a sequence
- List of set identities and relations – Equalities for combinations of sets
- Naive set theory – Informal set theories
- Symmetric difference – Elements in exactly one of two sets
Notes
edit- ^ Weisstein, Eric W. "Union". Wolfram Mathworld. Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ a b "Set Operations | Union | Intersection | Complement | Difference | Mutually Exclusive | Partitions | De Morgan's Law | Distributive Law | Cartesian Product". Probability Course. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
- ^ a b Vereshchagin, Nikolai Konstantinovich; Shen, Alexander (2002-01-01). Basic Set Theory. American Mathematical Soc. ISBN 9780821827314.
- ^ deHaan, Lex; Koppelaars, Toon (2007-10-25). Applied Mathematics for Database Professionals. Apress. ISBN 9781430203483.
- ^ Halmos, P. R. (2013-11-27). Naive Set Theory. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781475716450.
- ^ Dasgupta, Abhijit (2013-12-11). Set Theory: With an Introduction to Real Point Sets. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781461488545.
- ^ "Finite Union of Finite Sets is Finite". ProofWiki. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
- ^ a b Smith, Douglas; Eggen, Maurice; Andre, Richard St (2014-08-01). A Transition to Advanced Mathematics. Cengage Learning. ISBN 9781285463261.
- ^ "The Unicode Standard, Version 15.0 – Mathematical Operators – Range: 2200–22FF" (PDF). Unicode. p. 3.
External links
edit- "Union of sets", Encyclopedia of Mathematics, EMS Press, 2001 [1994]
- Infinite Union and Intersection at ProvenMath De Morgan's laws formally proven from the axioms of set theory.