National Higher School of Mathematics
Preparatory Cycle Academic Year : 2023/2024
First Year Course : Algebra 1
Worksheet 3
Binary Relations
Exercise 1.
Let E be a nonempty set, A a subset of E and R a relation defined on P(E) by :
∀X, Y ∈ P(E) : XRY ⇐⇒ X ∩ A = Y ∩ A.
1. Prove that R is an equivalence relation.
2. Determine ∅, E.
Exercise 2.
On R we define the relation R as follows :
∀x, y ∈ R : xRy ⇐⇒ x − y ∈ Z.
1. Verify that R is an equivalence relation.
2. Determine x.
3. Show that R/R = {x | x ∈ [0, 1[}.
Exercise 3 (Construction of Z and Q).
I) We define on N20 the relation R by :
∀(x, y), (x0 , y 0 ) ∈ N20 : (x, y)R(x0 , y 0 ) ⇐⇒ x + y 0 = y + x0 .
1. Show that R is an equivalence relation.
2. Determine the quotient set N20 /R.
II) Define on Z × N the relation R by :
∀(p, q), (s, t) ∈ Z × N : (p, q)R(s, t) ⇐⇒ pt = sq.
1. Show that R is an equivalence relation.
2. Determine the quotient set Z × N/R.
Exercise 4.
Let E and F be two sets, and f : E → F a map. We define on E the relation R as follows :
∀x, y ∈ E : xRy ⇐⇒ f (x) = f (y).
1. Show that R is an equivalence relation. Describe the class x of an element x ∈ E.
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2. Consider the map :
f : E/R −→ F
x 7−→ f (x).
(a) Show that f is well-defined.
(b) Show that f is injective.
(c) What can you conclude about the quotient set ?
Exercise 5.
We define on R2 the binary relation R by :
(x, y)R(x0 , y 0 ) ⇐⇒ x + y = x0 + y 0 .
1. Show that R is an equivalence relation.
2. Describe the equivalence class of (0, 0), then describe all the equivalence classes.
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3. Consider the map φ : R /R → R defined by φ (x, y) = x + y. Verify that φ is well-defined and
bijective.
Exercise 6.
On the set of complex numbers C, we define the binary relation R by : ∀z, z 0 ∈ C, zRz 0 ⇐⇒ |z| = |z 0 |.
Show that R is an equivalence relation and determine C/R.
Exercise 7 (Real projective line).
Let R be the binary relation on the set R2 \ {(0, 0)} defined as follows :
−−→ −−→
∀M, M 0 ∈ R2 \ {(0, 0)} : M RM 0 ⇐⇒ ∃λ ∈ R∗ , OM = λOM 0 .
1. Show that R is an equivalence relation.
2. Describe the equivalence classes and the quotient set RP 1 = (R2 \ {(0, 0)})/R.
3. Show that there exists a bijection between RP 1 and the circle of center (1, 0) and radius 1.
Exercise 8.
We define on N the relation R by :
∀p, q ∈ N : pRq ⇐⇒ ∃n ∈ N, q = pn .
1. Show that R is an order relation. Is it a total order ?
2. Is the subset {2, 3} upper bounded ?
3. Let A = {2, 4, 16}. Determine the maximal and minimal elements of A.
Exercise 9 (Lexicographical order).
We define on R2 the relation R by :
∀(x, y), (x0 , y 0 ) ∈ R2 : (x, y)R(x0 , y 0 ) ⇐⇒ ((x < x0 ) or (x = x0 and y ≤ y 0 )) .
1. Show that R is an order relation 1 . Is it a total order ?
2. Determine the set of upper bounds and lower bounds of {(a, b)} and represent them in R2 .
1. R is called lexicographical order
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3. Let X = {(a, b), (c, d)}. Determine sup X and inf X.
4. Define the lexicographical order of R3 , then generalize to Rn .
Exercise 10.
1. Let R be an equivalence relation on a set E and Cx is the equivalence class of x ∈ E. Show that
∀x, y ∈ E, x 6= y =⇒ (Cx = Cy or Cx ∩ Cy = ∅) .
2. Let E be a set. Show that the inclusion ” ⊂ ” is an order relation on the set P(E). Is (P(E), ⊂) a
totally ordered set ?
3. Let E be a totally ordered set. We say that E is well-ordered if ∀A ⊂ E, A 6= ∅, there is m ∈ A,
such that: ∀x ∈ A, m ≤ x.
(a) Show that the set N0 is well-ordered.
(b) Show that the sets Q and R are not well-ordered.
Exercise 11 (Combination of relations).
Let E be a set.
I) Let ≤ be an order relation on E. Let ≺ be the binary relation on P(E) \ {∅} defined as follows :
∀A, B ∈ P(E) \ {∅} : A ≺ B ⇐⇒ ∀x ∈ A, ∀y ∈ B, x ≤ y or A = B.
Show that ≺ is an order relation.
II) Let R1 and R2 be two relations on E. We define two relations S and T on E :
xSy ⇐⇒ xR1 y ∧ xR2 y
xT y ⇐⇒ xR1 y ∨ xR2 y.
S is called the intersection of R1 and R2 . Similarly, T is called the union of R1 and R2 .
1. Show that the intersection of two equivalence relations is an equivalence relation. What can we
say about their union ?
2. Show that the intersection of two partial order relations is a partial order relation. Give an
example where the union of two partial order relations is not a partial order relation.
III) Let R be a reflexive and transitive relation on E. We define the relations S 0 and T 0 as follows :
xS 0 y ⇐⇒ xRy ∧ yRx;
xT 0 y ⇐⇒ xRy ∨ yRx.
1. Show that S 0 is an equivalence relation. Is T 0 also an equivalence relation ?
2. Show that R allows us to define an order on E/S 0 .
Exercise 12 (Trellis).
Let E be a set and ≤ a reflexive and antisymmetric relation over E such that any pair of elements
(a, b) ∈ E 2 has a supremum denoted (a ∧ b) and an infimum denoted by (a ∨ b). A set with such a property
is called trellis, and is denoted by (E, ≤, ∧, ∨).
Show that the following statements are equivalent :
i). (E, ≤, ∧, ∨) is a trellis.
ii). The operations ∧ and ∨ are associative.
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iii). One of the two operations ∧, ∨ is associative.
Citation tirée du livre ”Géométrie” de Michèle Audin :
”Il faut faire des exercices. Il faut chercher les exercices. Un exercice n’est pas quelque chose dont il faut
connaı̂tre <<la>> solution pour la réciter à un jury. Aucune notion ne peut être comprise ou assimilée
sans un minimum de pratique, de recherche, d’échecs. Un exercice sur lequel on n’a pas <<séché>>
est un exercice inutile.”
