Axiomatic Boolean algebra

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2.3 Axiomatic Definition of Boolean Algebra

 Boolean algebra is an algebraic structure defined on a set of

elements B together with two binary operators + and . provided the
following Huntington postulates are satisfied:
1. Closure with respect to operator (+) and operator (.)

2. Identity element is 0 for operator (+) : 0+x=x+0=x and 1 for

operator (.) : 1. x=x.1=x
3. Commutativity with respect to (+) and (.)

x+y = y+x, x · y = y · x
4. Distributive of (.) over (+), and (+) over (.)

x ·(y+z) = (x · y)+(x · z) and x+(y · z) = (x+y) · (x+z)

5. Complement for every element x is x’ with x+x’=1, x · x’=0
6. There exists at least two elements x,yB such that xy

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Comparison of Boolean Algebra with Ordinary
Algebra

 The distributive law of + over •, i.e., x + (y • z) =(x+ y) • (x + z),

is valid for Boolean algebra, but not for ordinary algebra.
 Boolean algebra does not have additive or multiplicative
inverses; there­fore, there are no subtraction or division
operations.
 Postulate 5 defines an operator called complement which is not
available in ordinary algebra.
 Ordinary algebra deals with the real numbers, which constitute an
infinite set of elements. Boolean algebra constitute an finite set
of elements. In two valued Boolean algebra

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 Boolean Algebra

In order to have a Boolean Algebra one must show:

1.The elements of the set B.
2.The rules of operation for the two binary operators.
3.The set of elements B together with the two operators, satisfies the
six Huntington postulates.

One can formulate many Boolean Algebras, depending on the

choice of elements of B and the rules of operation.
Here we deal with Two valued Boolean Algebra i.e. one with only
two elements.

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 Two-Valued Boolean Algebra

 A two valued Boolean Algebra is defined on a set of two elements,

B = {0, 1} with rules for the two binary operators (+) and (.) as
shown in the following operator tables:

AND OR NOT
x y x .y x y x+y x x’
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0
1 0 0 1 0 1
1 1 1 1 1 1

 These rules are exactly same as AND, OR and NOT operations.

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 Postulates of Two-Valued Boolean Algebra

Verify Huntington postulates are valid for the set B = {0, 1}with the two binary
operators (+) and (.)

1.Closure is obvious from the tables since the result of each operation is either 1 or
0 and 1, 0  B.

2. From the tables we see that:

0+0=0 0+1=1+0=1
1•1=1 1•0=0•1=0
which establishes the two identity elements 0 for + and 1 for • as defined by
postulate 2.

3.The commutative laws are obvious from the symmetry of the binary operator
tables.

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Postulates of Two-Valued Boolean Algebra
4. a. The distributive law x • (y + z) = (x • y) + (x • z) can be shown to hold true
with the help of truth tables considering all the possible values of x, y, and z.
For each combination, we derive x • (y + z) and show that the value is the
same as (x • y) + (x • z).

x． x． (x ． y)+
x y z y+z x . (y+z)
y z (x ． z)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1
b. The distributive law of + over • can be shown to hold true by means of a truth table
1 to1the one
similar 0 above.
1 1 1 0 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

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Postulates of Two-Valued Boolean Algebra

5. Complement
 x+x'=1 → 0+0'=0+1=1; 1+1'=1+0=1
 x.x'=0 → 0.0'=0.1=0; 1.1'=1.0=0

6. Postulate 6 also satisfies two-valued Boolean

algebra that has two distinct elements 1 and 0, with
0≠1

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