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Abstract Algebra

Ravi S Iyer, PhD


ravi@bsgassociates.com

Abstract Algebra

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Contents

1 The 1.1 1.2 1.3

Concept Of Sets Introduction To Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Few Common Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating New Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.1 Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.2 Intersection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.3 Dierence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.4 Symmetric Dierence . . . . . . . . 1.3.5 Complement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.6 The Cartesian Product Of Two Sets 1.3.7 The Power Set of a Given Set . . . . 1.4 De Morgans Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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2 Permutation & Combination 21 2.1 Permutation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2.2 Circular Permutations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 2.3 Combination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 3 Powers of (a + b) 29 3.1 The Binomial Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 3.2 A Few Important Results Derived From The Binomial Theorem . . . . . . . 31 3.3 Number of Proper Subsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 4 Getting Friendly with Numbers 4.1 Introducing Real Numbers 4.1.1 Division . . . . . . 4.2 Intervals . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 The Pigeonhole Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 35 37 41 42

Abstract Algebra
4.4 The Square Root of Any Prime Number Is Irrational . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

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1
The Concept Of Sets 1.1 Introduction To Sets
. It is impossible to dene every concept.

It is impossible to dene every concept. This is often due to the limitations of the language. Mathematicians often use some loosely dened concept that is widely understood by people, as starting point to communicate ideas in mathematics. One such word is Set.

The word set has the most denitions of any word in the English language with a record 464 denitions.a .
a http://www.omg-facts.com/Celebs/The-Word-set-Has-The-Most-Denitions-

Of/6320

Consider the phrases Set of all Real Numbers, The set of all people playing football (or soccer, if you insist) for Manchester United, or the set of all people whose height is more than 6 feet. Even people with little or no background in mathematics will have no diculty in understanding what is being said.

Abstract Algebra

The Concept Of Sets

We will therefore assume that everybody understands intuitively what a set means, and proceed with the development of concepts that emerge naturally from the concept of a set.

1. A set contains zero or more members (also called elements). Thus, the set of all people in this room whose height is greater than 6 ft may have the following elements Alex (62), Ajay (63), Arun (60.5) and Amitabh (63). It will however not include the following, who also happen to be in this room Bob (510), Bikram (50), Brown (58) and Tequila (60) the set includes only those whose height is greater than 6. Mathematically, if S is a set, and a is an element of that set, then we write a S . This is read as a is an element of the set S , or informally, a belongs to S . 2. We had used the phrase zero or more elements in a set. Consider a set dened as the set of all people in this room whose height is greater than 900 ft. Obviously, no human being would qualify. So, this set has no members, and is known as an empty set. Another example of an empty set is the set of all chimpanzees that know Linear Algebra. Mathematically, empty sets are denoted by . Empty sets are also known as null sets. 3. A set is always assumed to be well dened. This means that if S is a set and a is some object, then there are only two possibilities either a is denitely in the set S (i.e., a S ), or a is not in S (written as a S ). We should never have ambiguity regarding the membership of a set. Therefore, we should not make statements like, say, S is a set of some positive numbers. We would then never be sure whether 2 S or 2 S . On the other hand consider the set Z, which is the set of all integers. We have no ambiguity whatsoever, because a number can either be an integer or a non-integer. If it is an integer, it is an element of Z. Otherwise, it is not.

A set may therefore be dened with some degree of linguistic imprecision . as a well-dened collection of well-dened objects. This denition is as acceptable as any other

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4. The next logical question is how do we describe a set? We may describe a set in one of two ways

The Concept Of Sets

(a) Stating the property of its elements that make them members of the set (this is called the characterizing property). This is also called the set-builder notation; it is uses mathematical notation to describe a set by stating the properties that its members must satisfy. Forming sets in this manner is also known as set comprehension, set abstraction or as dening a sets intention. The standard way to describe a set using its characterizing property is if the characterizing property could be denoted as P (x), where x is an element of that set, then the set is described as: { x | P (x ) } This is read as the set containing those objects x for whom P (x) is true. As an example of describing a set by stating the property common to all its elements, consider the set of all people in this room whose height is greater than 6 ft. This states that all members of that set are a in this room, and b are over 6 feet in height. This could have been written as {x|P (x)}, where P (x) means x is a person in this room and x is over 6 feet tall. (b) By listing the elements in the set. We could have described the set in the previous example as consisting of the elements Alex, Ajay, Arun and Amitabh. The standard way to describe a set by listing its elements is to enclose the elements within parentheses (curly brackets), separated by commas. In our example we could have described the set as { Alex, Ajay, Arun, Amitabh}. 5. Once we have described a set, we would like to know how many elements it has. This is also known as the cardinality of the set, and is mathematically written as |S|, where S is the set whose size is of interest to us. Consider the following sets: S = { 1, 2, 3 }. |S| = 3. What about the set Z+ = { 1, 2, 3 . . . } ? |S| = . Z is said to be countably innite
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What about the set P = { x | x > 10, x R}1 ? |P| = . P is said to be uncountably innite What is the size of the null set? It is zero. Expressing this mathematically, if set A = , then |A| = 0. 6. We now know what a set is, how to describe it, and express its size. The next logical step is to compare dierent sets. A set B is a subset of the set A, if every element of B is also an element of A. This is expressed as either B A, or A B. Consider the following sets: A = { x | x is an even number } B = { 2, 4, 6 } and C = { 2, 4, 6, 7} It is obvious that B A, and B C. But C is NOT a subset of A ( mathematically written as C A). 7. Two sets, say, A and B are equal, if, and only if, every element of A is also an element of B, and every element of B is also an element of A. Mathematically, if B A and A B, then A = B. Otherwise, A B

8. Now, if every element of a set B is also an element of the set A, but not all elements of the set A are elements of the set B, then the set B is said to be a proper subset of the set A; this relationship is mathematically expressed as B A. Mathematically, if B A, and A B, then B A. Alternatively, if B A, and A B, then B A.

If B A, then A is called a superset of B. If B A, then A is called a proper superset of B, and B is called a proper subset of A It is obvious that B A stands for B is NOT a subset of A, and B B is NOT a proper subset of A.
1 R is the set of all Real Numbers, i.e. numbers that lie within { 0 }

A stands for

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Abstract Algebra

The Concept Of Sets

A Quirk: If B A, but B is not a proper subset of A (i.e., B . A, and should be called An Improper Subset of A. So, the term improper subset actually means equality A), then B =

9. The null set is a proper subset of every set. 10. Consider a set S. Let | S | = n. Obviously n is an integer, and n 0. Then, the total number of proper subsets that S has, is given by 2n 1 To nd out why, see Section ??. Consider the set S = { 1, 2, 3}. The proper subsets of S are , {1}, {2}, {3}, {1 , 2}, {2 , 3}, and {1 , 3}. In this example, the number of elements in the S is 3 ( i.e., |S|= 3 ). So, the number of proper subsets of S is 23 1 = 7, which was veried through enumeration.

1.2 A Few Common Sets


The Universal Set is a set which is usually expressed as U or , and contains all the objects of interest in a given context. We shall use U to mean the Universal Set in this book. Thus, if we are discussing positive integers, then U = Z+ ; if we are discussing the people in this room (see Section ??), then U = {Bob, Bikram, Brown, Tequila, Alex, Ajay, Arun, Amitabh }. Another example we could dene another set U = { x |x is an animal in the London zoo }. R is the set of all Real numbers. R = { x | < x < } Z is the set of all Integers.
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Z = { z | < z < , z is an integer } That is, Z = { 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, } The use of Z to represent this set, comes from the German word Zahlen meaning numbers. Z+ is the set of all Positive Integers. Z+ = { z | 0 < z < , z is an integer } That is, Z+ = { 1, 2, 3, } Z is the set of all Negative Integers. Z = { z | < z < 0, z is an integer } That is, Z+ = { 3, 2, 1 } Q is the set of all Rational numbers. Rational numbers are numbers that can be expressed as the ratio of two integers p, q.

Q={x|x=

p ,q q

0; p, q Z }

Since q may be equal to 1, every integer is a rational number. The use of Q to represent this set, comes from the Italian word Quoziente meaning quotient, and was rst used as such by Giuseppe Peano in 1895.

1.3 Creating New Sets


Sets can be used to create other sets by combining them in dierent ways. The dierent ways of combining sets are called set operations, and a few are discussed below.

1.3.1 Union
The union of two sets A and B is the set C that contains all the elements which are either in A, or in B, or in both. As an example, consider the two sets: A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 } B = { 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 }
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Figure 1.1: Venn diagram showing two sets A and B

Figure 1.2: Venn diagram showing union of two sets A and B

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Then, C which is formed by the union of sets A and B, is { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 }. Please note that A C, and B C (i.e., A and B are subsets of C). Mathematically, the union of sets A and B to result in a set C is expressed as C = A B.

Example 1
Consider the sets: A = {1, 3, 5, 7 , 25} = { x | 0 < x 25, x is an odd number } B = {2, 4, 6, , 24} = { x | 0 < x 24, x is an even number } Let, C = A B. Then, C = {1, 2, 3, , 25} = { x | 0 < x 25 }

Example 2
Consider the sets: A = {1, 2, 3, , 10} = { x | 0 < x 10 }; |A| = 10. B = {2, 4, 6, , 14 } = { x | 0 < x 14, x is an even number }; |B| = 7. Let, C = A B. Then, C = {1, 2, 3, , 10, 12, 14}. |C| = 12. Note: 1. Every element appears exactly once in C, even though some of them (e.g., 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10) appear once each in A and B 2. |C| |A| + |B|

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Figure 1.3: Venn diagram showing intersection of two sets A and B

An observation: A B = B A Operations, such as the set union, where the terms can be exchanged without changing the meaning of the expression are called Symmetric Operations. . operations are numeric addition Two common examples of symmetric and multiplication. a + b = b + a, and a b = b a, but subtraction and division are not symmetric. a b b a, and a b b a. We therefore say +, , and are symmetric operators, and and are asymmetric operators.

1.3.2 Intersection
The intersection of two sets A and B is the set C that contains all the elements which are common to both sets Aand B. Remember, the null set A, B. So, in the worst case, C = (when there are no other elements common to the two sets A and B). As an example, consider the two sets A and B dened in the previous section (Section ??)

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C which is formed by the intersection of sets A and B, is { 1, 3, 5 }. Please note that C A, and C B ( note carefully: unlike in union, C is a subset of the sets A and B). Mathematically, the intersection of sets A and B to result in a set C is expressed as C = A B. Intersection () is a symmetric operator because A B = B A

1.3.3 Dierence
This requires a mathematical denition, but is easy to understand. Consider the set C dened as the dierence between the set A and the set B (here the order is important), and expressed mathematically as C = A B. Or, C = A \ B. We will use the former notation. Then C consists of those elements which are in A, but not in B. Mathematically, we can dene set dierence as under if, C = A B then, C = { x |x A, x B}

Figure 1.4: Venn diagrams showing the two possible dierences of two sets A and B

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As an example, consider the two sets A and B dened in page ?? A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 } B = { 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 } C, which is formed by the dierence of sets A and B, is { 2, 4 }.

The Concept Of Sets

Please note that C A, but C B ( note carefully: unlike in intersection, C is only a subset of A, but not a subset of B). Similarly, if we were to dene C as C = B - A, then C (by denition) is = { x |x B, x A }. Hence, C = {7, 9 }. Note that C is now a subset of only B, and not a subset of A. The dierence operator (-) is not a symmetric operator because A B B A. Therefore, this operator is also called Asymmetric Dierence, to distinguish it from the symmetric dierence operator discussed in section ??.

1.3.4 Symmetric Dierence


This too requires a mathematical denition, but is easy to understand. Consider the set C dened as the symmetric dierence between the set A and the set B, and expressed mathematically as C = A B. OR C = A B. Then C consists of those elements which are either in A, or in B, but not in both. Mathematically, we can dene symmetric dierence as under if, C = A B then, C = { x |x A B, x A B } C = A BA B As an example, consider the two sets A and B dened in page ?? A = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 } B = { 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 } C, which is formed by the symmetric dierence of sets A and B, is { 2, 4 }. Please Note: A B=B A Hence the use of the word symmetric in symmetric dierence.
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Figure 1.5: Venn diagram showing the symmetric dierence of two sets A and B

1.3.5 Complement
Recall the denition of a Universal set U on page ??. Let A U. Then the complement of A (understood in the context of U) is expressed as Ac , and is dened as the set consisting of those elements of U, which are not in A. Mathematically speaking, Ac = { x | x U, x A, A U }

We could express Ac as a dierence expression. An equivalent denition of Ac is Ac = U - A

In almost all cases, the set U is conceptual and intuitive. Hence, the best denition of Ac is the set of all those elements which are not in A, without enumerating or elaborating what those elements are. . As mentioned in section ??, the Universal set and the complement of a set are concepts that do not lend themselves to very precise denitions; but then, they are very easy to understand in a given context

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Figure 1.6: Venn diagram showing set A and its complement set Ac

The operators , , +, , , , are called binary operators because they need two (hence bi-) terms to make sense. a+, for example, does not make sense. You need a second term b for the expression to make sense (a + b). Similarly, we have, a - b, a b, a b, A B, A B, . . The complement operator (c ), on the other hand, makes complete sense with a single term (e.g., in Ac ). Operators like the complement operator, which operator on a single term, are called Unary operators.

1.3.6 The Cartesian Product Of Two Sets


Consider two sets A and B. Then, the Cartesian Product of the two sets is dened as follows: C=AB C = { (a , b) | a A and b B } The Cartesian product is an ordered operator because the rst element in the vector (a, b) comes from the A, and the second element comes from the B.
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The Cartesian Product of two sets helps create a set of a higher dimen. sion than that of the sets used to create it. The set R R is the famous Euclidean Plane, usually written as R2

Please Note: The Cartesian Product is NOT a symmetric operator. Unless A = B, A B BA

Example
Let A = { 1, 3, 5, 7} and B = { 2, 4, 6 } 1. If C = A B, then C = { (1,2), (1,4), (1,6), (3,2), (3,4), (3,6), (5,2), (5,4), (5,6), (7,2), (7,4), (7,6) } As |A| = 4 and | B| = 3, |C| = 4 3 = 12 2. If D = B A, then D = { (2,1), (2,3), (2,5), (2,7), (4,1), (4,3), (4,5), (4,7), (6,1), (6,3), (6,5), (6,7) } |D| = 3 4 = 12 3. Note: C D (unless A = B, C will never be equal to D)

C D = ( A B = ) if A B , then there would have been elements in both sets C and D of the form (a,b) such that both a and b A B = C D For example, if A = { 1, 2, 3 } and B = { 3 , 5, 7 }, then 3 A B. Set C = A B, would have an element (3,3). Similarly, D = B A, would have an element (3,3). Hence the element (3,3) is common to both sets C and D = C D (in this example, it has one element (3,3) ) |C| = |D| = |A| |B|

1.3.7 The Power Set of a Given Set


For any set A, the set that contains all subsets of A is called its Power Set. Mathematically the power set of A is denoted as P (A).

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P (A) = Consider a set A = { 1, 2, 3 } Then, P (A) = { , {1}, {2}, {3}, {1,2}, {1,3}, {2,3}, {1,2,3} } Please note the following P (A) is a set of sets P (A) A P (A) if |A| = a, then |P (A)| = 2a (Why? see Chapter ??) {X|X A}

The Concept Of Sets

1.4 De Morgans Laws


Let U be the Universal Set under consideration. Then, a set A U if and only if A P (U). Let A and B be subsets of U. Then, De Morgans Laws state the following: 1. (A B)c = Ac Bc 2. (A B)c = Ac Bc

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2
Permutation & Combination
Permutation is the set of all possible arrangements of a collection of things, where the order is important . Combination is the set of possible arrangements of a collection of things, where the order does not matter . Factorials: The expression n! is read as n-factorial, and stands for the mathematical expression: . n (n-1) (n-2) 2 1 0! is dened to be equal to 1. For example, 4! = 4 3 2 1 = 24

2.1 Permutation
Given n elements (or items or objects. We will use these terms interchangeably in this chapter), the number of permutations of these n objects tells us the number of dierent ways they can be strung together. Another way of looking at this is, if we are given a linear sequence in which these objects have been strung together one after the other, and through a process of changing the position of these objects within the linear sequence, arrive at a dierent sequence, then the 21

Abstract Algebra

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new sequence is said to be a permutation on the rst sequence. For example, let us start with the linear sequence NUCLEAR, and by swapping the positions of the letters U and N, we get the sequence UNCLEAR. UNCLEAR is a therefore a permutation on NUCLEAR. In this section we will focus primarily on counting the number of possible permutations under dierent conditions. Consider the following examples

Example: Permutation
Consider the set A = {a, b, c } The set of possible permutations of the elements of the set A is = { abc, acb, bac, bca, cab, cba} ( 6 possible permutations) Consider the set O = { , 1, , a } The possible permutations are: { -1--a, -1-a-, --1-a, --a-1, -a--1, -a-1-, 1- -a-, 1- --a, 1-- -a, 1--a- , 1-a- -, 1-a-- -a-1- , -a- -1, - -1-a, - -a-1, -1-a- , -1- -a, a- -a-, a- --a, a-- -a, a--1- , a-1- -, a-1-- } Phew!! We got 24 possible permutations. So, given a set of, say, n objects, what is the number of possible permutations? Imagine a sequence of n vacant slots, numbered 1, 2, , n. We need to ll these vacant slots using the n objects from our set.

1. Any one of the n objects can be chosen to ll the rst slot. So, there are n ways of lling the rst slot 2. For each choice we make to ll the rst slot, the second slot can be lled by one of the remaining (n 1) objects. So, there are a total of n.(n 1) ways of lling the rst two slots 3. For each choice we make to ll the rst two slots, the third slot can be lled by one of the remaining (n 2) objects. So, there are n.(n 1).(n 2) ways of lling the rst three slots
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4. Proceeding this way, we can conclude that the number of permutations of n distinct objects is n.(n 1).(n 2). .3.2.1 = n! Let us verify this using the examples earlier in this section. 1. In the rst example, set A = { a, b, c }. Hence, |A| = 3. So, the number of permutations possible on the elements of the set A should be 3! = 321 = 6. Which is exactly the count we got in our example. 2. In the second example, set O = { , 1, , a }. Hence, |O| = 4. So, the number of permutations possible on the elements of the set O should be 4! = 4321 = 24. Exactly what we had got. In the previous exercise we had discussed the number of ways n distinct elements could be arranged in n vacant slots. Let us now consider a dierent situation. What if we had to ll only k vacant slots, where k < n. Let us proceed exactly as we did before. But instead of talking about vacant spaces, let us talk about choosing objects. We could choose 1. 0 objects in exactly 1 way (Yes, we choose precisely 0 objects ) 2. 1 object in exactly n ways, because each of the n given objects can be selected distinctly once, and hence we have n dierent ways. 3. 2 objects The rst object can be selected in n ways (we saw that in the previous bullet). Once the rst object is selected, the second object can be selected from the remaining (n 1) objects in n 1 ways. So, the total number of ways 2 objects can be selected is n.(n 1) ways (for each selection of the rst object, (n 1) second objects can be selected) 4. Extending the same logic, we can select k objects from a given set of n objects in n.(n 1). .(n k + 1) ways, where k n Plug in k =0, 1 and 2 in Equation ?? and verify our earlier assertions. Now, 5. n.(n 1). .(n k + 1), k n n.(n 1). .(n k + 1).(n k).(n k 1). .3.2.1 = (n k).(n k 1). .3.2.1 n! = (n k)! This is mathematically expressed as nPk
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2.2 Circular Permutations


In the previous section, the permutations were in a linear sequence. What if they were in a loop? Let us, for the sake of illustration take three objects A, B and C, and put them in a circular sequence.

Figure 2.1: Dierent ways the 3 objects A, B and C can be located within a circle

Consider Figure ??. We have put the 3! possible permutations (cab, bca, abc, bac, cba, acb ) in a circle, with the rst letter of the sequence indicated by a blue triangle. But, wait a minute ! Our choice of the starting point was arbitrary. A circle has no beginning!. What matters is a sequence. Consider the rst row in Figure ??, and let us start with the object A. Note that: 1. In all the three pictures in row 1, B comes next (clockwise), followed by C. The three pictures are identical except that they have been rotated clockwise. They cannot therefore be considered distinct, and can be replaced by a single representative picture. 2. Furthermore, the 3 identical pictures are generated by rotating a single picture so as to make each of the elements C, B and A appear in front of the blue arrow. 3. Thus, row 1 represents a single instance of the circular permutation of the objects A, B and C. 4. Applying the same logic as row 1, row 2 represents a dierent instance of the circular permutation of the objects A, B and C. 5. Therefore, in reality, there are only 2 distinct circular permutations of the 3 objects A, B and C. Let us generalize our observations to n distinct objects, where n Z+ .
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1. When we talk about the circular permutation of n distinct objects, we start with creating circles with an arbitrary starting point and string the n! permutations clockwise from that starting point, giving us n! pictures. 2. We then note that we can partition these pictures into groups of n pictures each. 3. Within a group, the clockwise sequence in which the n objects appear is the same; the pictures within the group dier only in the object appearing at the starting point. Therefore each group represents exactly one distinct circular permutation of the n distinct objects 4. As there are n! possible permutations of n distinct objects, and as each group contains n! exactly n permutations, hence there are = (n 1)! groups n 5. As each group represents one distinct circular permutation, there are exactly (n 1)! distinct circular permutations of n distinct objects.

2.3 Combination
As was mentioned before, in Combinations, order does not matter. Let us explain this. Consider the set A = {a, b, c } The possible permutations were { abc, acb, bac, bca, cab, cba} ( there are 6 possible permutations). But if order is not of consequence, then it is just a matter of selecting the three elements, and putting them in a string, say, (abc). Let us take another example. We are required to look at the number of ways 3 elements can be picked from a given set of ve elements (say {a, b, c, d, e })1 . The previous section 5! 120 tells us that there are = = 60 possible permutations when we care about the (5 3)! 2 order in which they are picked (No, we are not going to list those). But, when order is not an issue 2 , we have only the following 10 combinations, viz., abc, abd, abe, acd, ace, ade, bcd, bce, bde, cde, and each combination represents a unique way of selecting 3 elements from our set. Consider the combination cab. It is already there in our set because cab stands for the selection of c, a and b, and this is represented by the selection abc. Order of selection is not important! Let us dwell on this a little longer. abc, in this case, is the sole representative of all permutations of the elements a, b and c. We have taken away the sequences abc, acb,bac, bca, cab and cba, and replaced those 6 ( = 3!) by a single representative
1 Think of a rae. There are ve people whose names are written on slips of paper and put in a bowl. The rst name you pick is the winner. The next, the runner-up, and the third gets the consolation prize 2 Imagine you are selecting 3 volunteers out of 5 people who have oered to volunteer the order doesnt matter

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sequence. abc just happens to be our candidate of choice.

Permutation & Combination

Thus, our set of combinations is smaller than the corresponding set of permutations by a factor of 3! (= 6). Therefore, the number of possible ways of choosing 3 elements out of 5, without regard for the order in which they were selected, is
5P 3

3!

60 = 10 6

and this was borne out by our process of listing. Mathematically, this can be written as
5

C3 =

5P

3!

In general, one can select k elements out of n elements in nCk ways, and
n

k! ( ) n n An alternative way of writing Ck is . k

Ck =

nP

n! k ! (n k )!

(2.2)

Note: ( ) n n! = k k !(n k )! ( ) n n! n! = = (n k )!(n n + k )! (n k )!k ! nk ( ) ( ) . n n = k nk Think about it: The above equation is telling us that the number of ways of selecting k objects to take away is exactly the same as the number of ways of selecting n k objects to leave behind. See Figure ??.

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Permutation & Combination

Figure 2.2: Taking k objects away is the same as leaving n k objects behind

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Permutation & Combination

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3
Powers of (a + b)
Consider the Pascals Triangle shown in Figure ??.

Figure 3.1: The rst six rows of the Pascals triangle

1. All rows begin and end with a 1. 2. The rst row ( known as the row number 0 we will explain this weird numbering later in this section ) consists of one entry (the number 1). 3. The next row (known as row number 1) consists of two 1s. 4. The nth row has n + 1 entries 29

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Powers of (a + b)

5. The numbers are arranged in the form of an equilateral triangle, with the row 0 at the vertex. 6. From the third row onwards, each intermediate entry within a row is the sum of the two numbers in the preceding row that lie to its north-east and north-west. (follow the arrows in Fig. ??) Now, consider the following identities: (a + b ) 0 = 1 (a + b)1 = 1a+ 1b (a + b)2 = 1a2 + 2ab + 1b2 (a + b)3 = 1a3 + 3a2 b + 3ab2 +1b3 (a + b)4 = 1a4 + 4a3 b + 6a2 b2 + 4ab3 +1b4 (a + b)5 = 1a5 + 5a4 b + 10a3 b2 + 10a2 b3 +5ab4 +1b5 Consider the coecients marked in blue in each of the above identities, and compare them with the Pascals triangle (Fig. ??). They are identical ! The coecients in the expansion for (a + b)n (where n = 0, 1, 2, ) give the entries for the nth row in the Pascals Triangle (hope this explains the weird numbering scheme for the rows in the Pascals Triangle). How do these numbers come about? It turns out that these numbers can be expressed ( ) n as , which gives the value for the k th entry in the nth row of the Pascals Triangle k (remember, n = 0, 1, 2, ). ( ) n The expression is explained in the box below. k

3.1 The Binomial Theorem


The Binomial Theorem summarizes the above discussion and states that ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) n n n n1 n nk k n n n n 1 n1 (a + b ) = a + a b + + a b + + a b + b 0 1 k n1 n This can also be written using the summation symbol as
n ( ) n nk k a b (a + b ) = k n k =0

(3.1)

(3.2)

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Powers of (a + b)

Let us not get intimidated by all those expressions. To understand he Binomial Theorem better, let us dirty our hands a bit. Consider, (a + b)2 . Here, n = 2, the power of (a + b) under consideration. To get the Binomial expansion, let us plug this value of n into equation ??. We get ( ) ( ) ( ) 2 2 2 21 1 2 22 2 (a + b ) = a + a b + a b 0 1 2 ( ) ( ) ( ) 2 2 2 2 2 = a + ab + b 0 1 2
2

(3.3)

( ) n n! We know that = k k !(n k )!

Hence, ( ) 2 2! 2! = = 1 ( Because 0! = 1) = 0 0!(2 0)! 0!2! ( ) 2 2! 21 = = = 2 ( Because 1! = 1) 1 1!(2 1)! 11 ( ) 2! 2 2! = = 1 ( Because 0! = 1) = 2!(2 2)! 2!0! 2 Plugging in these values into equation ??, we get (a + b)2 = 1.a2 + 2.ab + 1.b2

3.2 A Few Important Results Derived From The Binomial Theorem


A couple of important derivations using the Binomial Theorem are given below: Setting both a and b in equation ?? to 1, we get: (1 + 1)n ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) n n n n1 n nk k n n n 1 n1 = 1 + 1 1 + + 1 1 + + 1 1 + 1 0 1 k n1 n ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) n n n n n 2 = + + + + + + 0 1 k n1 n
n

Simplifying, we get (3.4)

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By setting a =1, and b = -1 in equation ??, we get (1 1)n

Powers of (a + b)

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) n n n n1 n nk n n k 1 n1 = 1 + 1 (1) + + 1 (1) + + 1 (1) + (1)n 0 1 k n1 n ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) n n n n n k 0= + + (1) + . . . + 0 1 k n1 n

1. When n is even : (3.5)

2. When n is odd :1 ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) n n n n n k 0= + + (1) + . . . + 0 1 k n1 n What does this mean? ( ) ( ) n n It means that the sum of all , where k is even, is equal to the sum of all , k k where k is odd. Zero (0) is treated as an even number. Mathematically, we can express this as (n) (n) nk k a b = ank bk k k
k is even k is odd

(3.6)

Example
Let us verify the last result. Let n = 4. Then, according to equation ??, ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) n n n n n + + should be equal to + 0 2 4 1 3 4! 4! 4! + + 0!4! 2!2! 4!0! [ ] 1 1 1 = 4! + + 24 4 24 [ ] 8 = 24 =8 24 L.H.S =
1 Note the dierence in signs at the end of equations ?? and ??

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4! 4! + 1!3! 3!1! [ ] 1 1 = 4! + 6 6 [ ] 2 =8 = 24 6 Bears out!! R.H.S = Let n = 5. Then, according to equation ??, ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) n n n n n n + + should be equal to + + 0 2 4 1 3 5

Powers of (a + b)

5! 5! 5! + + 0!5! 2!3! 4!1! 5! 5! 5! + + R.H.S = 1!4! 3!2! 5!0! Compare the terms. Both sides of the equation have the same number of terms (3 each in this case). L.H.S = The last term on the R.H.S = the rst term on the L.H.S The second term is identical on both the L.H.S and R.H.S The rst term on the R.H.S = the last term on the L.H.S Hence the sums are equal, and validates equation ??. In general, when n is odd, validation of equation ?? is simple. Write out the L.H.S and R.H.S of the equation. The rst term on the L.H.S = The last term on the R.H.S The second term on the L.H.S = The second last term on the R.H.S . The third term on the L.H.S = The third last term on the R.H.S The last term on the L.H.S = The rst term on the R.H.S Why?

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Powers of (a + b)

3.3 Number of Proper Subsets


Consider the set S; | S | = n, where n Z+ . To count the number of proper subsets in S, consider the following: ( ) n The number of proper subsets with 0 elements is = ( = 1, the null set) 0 ( ) n The number of proper subsets with 1 element is = ( = n) 1 ( ) n The number of proper subsets with 2 elements = 2 n The number of proper subsets with n-1 elements = n1 ( )

Therefore the total number of proper subsets of S ( ) ( ) ( ) n n n = + + + 0 1 n1 [( ) ( ) ( ) ( )] ( ) n n n n n = + + + + 0 1 n1 n n ( ) n = 2n (vide equation ??) n = 2n 1

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4
Getting Friendly with Numbers 4.1 Introducing Real Numbers
All this while we have taken for granted the existence of a set of Real Numbers. But mathematically, what are real numbers and what are their properties? Well, let us imagine an endless line, disappearing to our left and right. Let us arbitrarily choose a point on this line, and let us call it the origin. Without much ado, let us call it O for short. Let us also assume there is another point to our right (let us call it P), and we are keen on nding out how far P is from O. If we were to walk from O to P and could count the number of steps we took, then we could say it is a certain number of steps away. It is but natural to count the number of steps using the ten ngers on our hands (hence the decimal system), and we get the system of whole numbers numbers that can be counted on your ngers. This introduces ve new concepts Addition If it take x steps to go from O to P, and y steps to go from P to a point R, on the other side of P (vis-a-vis O), how many steps do I have to take to go from O to R. Imagine a bunch of ancient travellers going to city B through city A saying It will take us 12 days to go to A, and from there we will need an additional 10 days to reach B. So, our trip will take a total of 12 + 10 = 22 days. Subtraction If P is x steps away from O, and I have walked y steps, how many steps more do I have to walk to reach P?

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Figure 4.1: Natural Evolution of the Real Number System

Imagine our ancients saying The distance to city A is 12 days, and we have been travelling for 9 days. So we will reach our destination in 12 - 9 = 3 more days Negative numbers Subtraction can be thought of as the addition of negative numbers. Addition involves moving a number of steps to the right. Subtraction means moving a number of steps in the opposite direction (left). Thus 30 -12 is equivalent to writing 30 + (-12) meaning take 30 steps to the right on the real line, and then take 12 steps to the left. Zero what is the net distance covered by me if I were to walk from O to P, and walk back from P to O? Integers The set of all positive and negative whole numbers and zero. This is the familiar set Z But suppose the point P were not a whole number of steps away from O. How would you measure the part? Enter the inch (See the box below). 12 inches made a foot, and part of the foot was measured in inches. We still use that today we say people are 5 ft and 6 inches tall. The part measure minimizes errors in measurement. It also introduces three important concepts: Multiplication how many inches from O to P Division Divide the foot into 12 equal parts. Divide the distance between two points into steps. ( )th 1 Fractions The inch is 12 of a foot one divided into 12 equal parts. We note the following about integers:
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1. if a,b Z, then a + b Z 2. if a,b Z, then a - b Z 3. if a,b Z, then ab Z

Getting Friendly with Numbers

4. For every x Z, there exists a corresponding y Z such that x + y =0. y is written as -x.

The English word inch comes from Latin uncia meaning one-twelfth part (in this case, one twelfth of a foot) But, the equivalent word for inch in . other languages (such as Sanskrit) reminds us that an inch was the length of the thumb.
thumb = angushta; inch = angulam ( also means nger) in Sanskrit; pouce for both inch and thumb in French; pollice for both inch and thumb in Italian

4.1.1 Division
( )th 1 It is evident that 1 inch is 12 of a foot. It expresses a number arrived at by dividing one whole number (in this case 1), by another (12). Can this concept of a fraction be extended to whole numbers? negative whole numbers in both the numerator and the denominator? Enter the concept of Rational Numbers. Rational numbers are numbers that can be expressed as the ratio of two integers, say p and q, where q 0. Some salient points about rational numbers 1. Both p and q can be positive and negative whole numbers 2. only p can be 0; q (by the denition of rational numbers) is not allowed to be 0. 3. The set of all rational numbers is expressed as Q 4. The set of all integers (Z) is a subset of Q because any integer z can be expressed z as the ratio of two whole numbers, viz., 1 .

Let us note a few very important observations.


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1. Let us denote (on our endless line) the following

Getting Friendly with Numbers

1 means one unit distance from the origin O to the right -1 means one unit distance from the origin O to the left. 2 means one unit distance to the right of O; -2 means two unit distances to the left of O, and so one. We can thus denote positions on the line (let us call it the Real Line) for all the integers, with 0 being the denoted position of the origin O. 2. Every rational number also has a position on the Real line because each rational 25 number indicates a distance from the origin. Thus, the rational number indicates 17 a distance equal to the distance obtained by dividing 25 units of distance into 17 equal parts 1 3. As all numbers are nothing but measurements, we can use numbers to give the length of the distance between two points on the Real line. Thus the distance between the points 5 on the real line, and the point 7 on the real line is 7 -5 =2 (The positive sign for 2 indicates that if we were to travel to the right of 5 along the Real line a distance of 2 units, we will reach the point denoted 7.) Similarly the distance between the points 6 and 3 = 3 -6 = -3, which indicates that if we travel from the point 6 to the left (indicated by the - sign for the result ) for a distance of 3 units, we will reach the point denoted as 3. The same logic applies to all real numbers. 4. Ordering. The position of a number x along the real line vis-a-vis the position of a dierent number y on the real line, allows us to order the numbers using the following symbols (>, <, =). If x is located to the right of the number y along the real line, it is said to be greater than y, and the relation is expressed as x > y . If x is located to the left of the number y along the real line, it is said to be less than y, and the relation is expressed as x < y .
1 How this can be done using geometry will be shown later

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if x is neither greater than y, nor less than y, then x and y are said to be 1 equal. This is mathematically expressed as as x = y . For example, if x = , and y 2 4 = , then x = y 8

Note the directions of the arrows > and <. The greater-than arrow . x > y, it tantamounts to saying points to the right. So, when we say x is to the right of y on the real line. A similar logic applies to <.

Returning to rational numbers, we notice another property there are an innite number of rational numbers. Why? Proof Let x and y be two distinct rational numbers, and x < y. p a and let y = , where p, q, a, b are all integers, and q and b are q b x+y Then, is a rational number. Why? 2 Let x = 0.

x+y = 2 =
pb+qa qb

p q

a +b

2 pb + qa 2qb x+y is a rational number. 2

which is a ratio of integers; hence

Now, x <

(x + y ) < y. Why? 2

x+y 2 x+y <y As x < y, adding y to both sides of the inequality, we get x + y < 2y. Therefore, 2 As x < y, adding x to both sides of the inequality, we get 2x < x +y. Therefore, x <
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Hence, x < (x + y ) <y 2

Getting Friendly with Numbers

As there is nothing special about x and y, we could say that there is a rational number between any two given rational numbers. (x + y ) So, there is a rational number between x and , and another rational number be2 tween x and this newly discovered rational number, and so on. We could do this forever, and keep discovering new rational numbers. Hence, there are an innite number of rational numbers.

Note, the above proof does not assume anything with regard to the distance along the real line between x and y. x and y could be very very close, and there would still be an innite number of rational numbers between them. We therefore say that the real line is dense in rational numbers. Let us dene an operator called Square Root. We say that the square root of a number x is that number y, such that y y = x. Mathematically, we express this as y = x. It is evident that 1. if x R, then x 0 2. For every x, x R, there are two ys in R, such that y2 = x. Let these be y1 and y2 . Then, y1 = -y2 . This is succinctly expressed as y = x. Consider the number 2. Is it a rational number? No. It is not. Let us show you why. p Let us, for the sake of argument, assume that 2 is a rational number. Let 2 = , where q p,q Z, q 0, and p and q are relatively prime2 . if p p2 2 = , then (squaring both sides), we get 2 = 2 q q 2q2 = p2 = p2 is even
q common factors between the numerator and denominator and no further simplication is possible. For 18 3 example, the ratio can be simplied through the cancellation of common factors to . 3 and 7 are 42 7 mutually prime because they have no common factors. Draft 40
2 What the phrase mutually prime means is that the ratio p has been simplied by cancelling all the

Abstract Algebra
= p is even. So, p could be written as p = 2m 2q2 = (2m)2 = 4m2 or, q2 = 2m2 = q2 is even

Getting Friendly with Numbers

So, both p and q are even, and hence have a common factor 2. But this contradicts our basic premise that p and q are mutually prime. Hence our assumption that 2 is a rational number is incorrect. Hence 2 is not a rational number, and is said to be irrational.

A few observations about irrational numbers which are very easy to prove. 1. The square root of a prime number is irrational. See section ?? for proof 2. if a is irrational, then a is irrational 3. if a is irrational, then 1 is irrational a

4. The product of an irrational number and a rational number is irrational. 5. The sum of a rational number and an irrational number is irrational. 6. But, the irrational numbers may be rational. For example, we know that sum of two both 2 and (1 2) are irrational, but their sum is 1, a rational number. 7. Likewise, the product of two irrational numbers may be rational. For example, we know that 2 is irrational, but 2 2 is 2, a rational number.

4.2 Intervals
In mathematics, a (real) interval is a set of real numbers with the property that any number that lies between two numbers in the set is also included in the set. For example, the set of all numbers x satisfying 0 x 1 is an interval which contains 0 and 1, as well as all numbers between them. Other examples of intervals are the set of all real numbers R ( < x < ) , the set of all negative real numbers ( < x < 0 ) , and the empty set ().

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To indicate that one of the endpoints is to be excluded from the set, the corresponding square bracket can be either replaced with a parenthesis, or reversed. Both notations are described in International standard ISO 31-11. Thus, in set builder notation (See Page ??): (a, b) = ]a, b[ = { x R | a < x < b } interval where both the end-points are excluded. For example, the interval (1, 2), does not include both 1 and 2, but includes every point between them. [a, b) = [a, b[ = { x R | a x < b } interval where the left end-point is part of the set, but the right end-point is not. For example, the interval [1, 2), includes every point between 1 and 2, including the point 1. It however does not contain the right end-point 2. (a, b] = ]a, b] = { x R | a < x b } interval where the right end-point is part of the set, but the left end-point is not. As an example, consider the interval (1, 2]. It includes every point between 1 and 2, including the point 2. It however, does not contain the left-end point 1. [a, b] = [a, b] = { x R | a x b } interval where both the end-points are included For example, the interval [1, 2], includes both 1 and 2, and every point between them.

4.3 The Pigeonhole Principle


The pigeonhole principle states that if n items are put into m pigeonholes with m < n < , then at least one pigeonhole must contain more than one item. A more general version of the principle states that if mn +1 items are placed in m pigeonholes, then there will be at least one pigeonhole with more than n + 1 items in it.. Although this seems fairly straightforward, it nds important use in mathematics.

Example
Consider a sequence of any 7 random distinct real numbers (x1 , x2 , . . . , x7 ). Prove that there will always be at least two of them, say x and y, such that 0< xy 1 < 1 + xy 3
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Figure 4.2: Illustrating the Pigeonhole Principle with 10 pigeons and 9 pigeonholes

How does one even begin to prove such a statement? This is where the pigeonhole principle comes in useful. Proof:

1. As < tan( ) < , we can always nd, for a given x, an in the interval < < , such that tan( ) = x, 2 2

< < because tan is a periodic 2. 2 function with period , i.e., tan( ) = tan( + ). But within a given interval of length , it is one-to-one and onto R.

Note: We chose in the interval

2. Therefore, for each of the 7 numbers we were given, we can nd a corresponding i , such that xi = tan(i ), for i =1,2, , 7.
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3. Now, let us divide the interval intervals: ( , 2 3 ) [ (
2 ,2

Getting Friendly with Numbers ) into 6 equal intervals. We get the following

, 3 6

,0 6

[ 0,

, 6 3

, 3 2

4. The Pigeonhole principle says that out of the 7 s that we have for our 7 distinct numbers, there will be at least two which will fall within the same interval. Let us choose two within the same interval, and let these be a and b . Without loss of generality, assume that a < b . ( ) 5. Because, all the intervals are of equal lengths 6 , the dierence between b and a can be a minimum of 0 , and a maximum of 6 . Hence, 0 < b a < 6 (4.1)

6. Taking tan across the inequalities in equation ??, we get, tan(0) < tan(b a ) < tan( ) 6 tan(b ) tan(a ) 1 or, 0 < < 1 + tan(a ) tan(b ) 3 xb xa 1 or, 0 < < 1 + xa .xb 3 which is the result we want.

4.4 The Square Root of Any Prime Number Is Irrational


The proof is through contradiction. Let p be prime, and suppose that and n such that: p is rational. Then, there exist natural numbers m

m p= n m2 = p = 2 n 2 = n p = m2

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Any prime in the prime factorizations of n2 and m2 must occur an even number of times because they are squares. Therefore, p must occur in the prime factorization of n2 p an odd number of times. Therefore, p occurs as a factor of m2 an odd number of times, which is a contradiction. Hence, p must be irrational

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