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'''Definition''' <math>\qquad</math> <math>\{A_i, i</math>∈<math>I</math> is '''disjoint''' if <math>A_i</math>∩<math>A_j</math> = Ø ∀ i,j∈I, i≠j.
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'''Definition''' <math>\qquad</math> <math>\{A_i, i</math>∈<math>I\}</math> is '''disjoint''' if <math>A_i</math>∩<math>A_j</math> = Ø ∀ i,j∈I, i≠j.
 
   
 
   
  
'''Definition''' <math>\qquad</math> the collection <math>\{A_i, i</math>∈<math>I</math> is a '''partition''' of ''S'', the sample space, if it is disjoint and if  
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'''Definition''' <math>\qquad</math> the collection <math>\{A_i, i</math>∈<math>I\}</math> is a '''partition''' of ''S'', the sample space, if it is disjoint and if  
 
<center><math>\bigcup_{i \in I} A_i = \mathcal{S}</math></center>  
 
<center><math>\bigcup_{i \in I} A_i = \mathcal{S}</math></center>  
  

Revision as of 06:45, 24 September 2013


Random Variables and Signals

Subtopic 1: Set Theory Review



Definitions and Notation

Definition $ \qquad $ A set is a collection of objects called elements, numbers or points.

Notation $ \qquad $ $ \omega $$ A $ means $ \omega $ is an element of the set $ A $. $ \omega $$ A $ means $ \omega $ is not in the set $ A $.

There are two common ways to specify a set:

  • Explicitly list all elements, e.g. $ \{1,2,3,4,5,6\} $
  • Specify a rule for membership, e.g. $ A=\{\omega $$ Z:1 $$ \omega $$ 6\} $, i.e. the set of all integers between 1 and 6 inclusive. I prefer this notation for large or infinite sets.

Note that there is always a set that contains every possible element of interest. This set, along with some structure imposed upon the set, is called a space, denoted

$ \mathcal{S} $ $ \qquad $ or $ \qquad $ $ \Omega .\ $

Definition $ \qquad $ Let $ A $ and $ B $ be two sets. Then,

$ \begin{align} A = B &\Longleftrightarrow \omega \in A \Rightarrow \omega \in B \;\and\; \omega \in B \Rightarrow \omega \in A \\ &\Longleftrightarrow A \subset B \;\and\; B \subset A \end{align} $

The proof that the second statement is equivalent is trivial and follows from the definition of the term subset, which is presented shortly.

If $ A $ and $ B $ are not equal, we write

$ A\neq B $

Definition $ \qquad $ If $ \omega $$ A $$ \omega $$ B $, then $ A $ is said to be a subset of $ B $. if If $ B $ contains atleast one element that is not in $ A $, then $ A $ is a proper subset of $ B $. We will simply call $ A $ a subset of $ B $ in either case, and write $ A $$ B $.

Definition $ \qquad $ the set with not elements is called the empty set, or null set and is denoted Ø or {}.



Venn Diagrams

A Venn diagram is a graphical representation of sets. It can be useful to gain insight into a problem, but cannot be used as a proof.

Fig 1: An example of a Venn diagram



Set Operations

Definition $ \qquad $ The intersection of sets $ A $ and is defined as

$ A\cap B \equiv \{\omega \in \mathcal{S}: \omega \in A \and \omega \in B\} $
Fig 2: A∩B is shown in green


Definition $ \qquad $ The union of sets $ A $ and is defined as

$ A\cup B \equiv \{\omega \in \mathcal{S}: \omega \in A \or \omega \in B \; or\; both\} $
Fig 3: A∪B is shown in green


Definition $ \qquad $ The complement of a set $ A $, denoted $ A^c $, Ā, or A' is defined as

$ A^c \equiv \{\omega \in \mathcal{S}: \omega \notin A\} $
Fig 4: $ A^c $ is shown in green


Definition $ \qquad $ The set difference $ A-B $ or A\B is defined as

$ A-B \equiv \{\omega \in \mathcal{S}: \omega \in A\and \omega \notin B\} $

Note that

$ A-B=A\cap B^c $
Fig 5: $ A-B $ is shown in green


Definition $ \qquad $ Sets $ A $ and $ B $ are disjoint if $ A $ and $ B $ have not elements in common ie

$ A\cap B = \varnothing $

In figure 1, A and C are disjoint. B and C are also disjoint.



Algebra of Sets

  1. Union is commutative ⇔ A ∪ B = B ∪ A
  2. Intersection is commutative ⇔ A ∩ B = B ∩ A
  3. Union is associative ⇔ A ∪ (B ∪ C) = (A ∪ B) ∪ C
  4. Intersection is associative ⇔ A ∩ (B ∩ C) = (A ∩ B) ∩ C
  5. Intersection is distributive over union ⇔ A ∩ (B ∪ C) = (A ∩ B) ∪ (A ∩ C)
  6. Union is distributive over intersection ⇔ A ∪ (B ∩ C) = (A ∪ B) ∩ (A ∪ C)
  7. (A')' = A
  8. DeMorgan's Law: (A ∩ B)' = A' ∪ B'
  9. DeMorgan's Law: (A ∪ B)' = A' ∩ B'
  10. S' = Ø, where S is the sample space
  11. A ∩ S = A
  12. A ∩ Ø = Ø
  13. A ∪ S = S
  14. A ∪ Ø = A
  15. A ∪ A' = S
  16. A ∩ A' = Ø



A Note on Sets of Different Sizes

We can categorize the sets we encounter three ways:

  • A set $ A $ is finite if it contains an finite number of elements, i.e. the number of elements in the set is some natural number $ n $. Then we can list the elements in $ A $; e.g. $ A = \{x_1,...,x_n\} $.
  • A set is countable if its elements can be put into a one-to-one correspondence (a bijection) with the integers. In this course when, we say countable, we mean countably infinite. We may write $ A=\{x_1,x_2,...\} $. The set of rationals is a countable set.
  • A set is uncountable if it is not finite or countable. A set that is uncountable cannot be written as $ \{x_1,x_2,...\} $. Note that the set of reals as well as any interval in R is uncountable.

If you are interested to learn more about countable and uncountable sets, you may find this Math Squad tutorial useful.

We will often consider indexed collections of sets such as

$ \{A_i, i\in I\} $

where $ I $ is called the index set.

The index set can be

  • finite: $ I=\{1,...,n\} $ for some finite natural number n so that the collection of sets is $ I=\{A_1,...,A_n\} $
  • countable: $ I $ is the set of natural numbers i.e. $ I=\{1,2,3,...\} $, so the collection is $ \{A)_1,A_2,A_3,...\} $
  • uncountable: so the collection is $ \{A_{\alpha}, \alpha $$ I\} $cfor an uncountable set $ I $. If $ I=R $, the set of reals, then the set in the collection can be written as $ A_{\alpha} $ for some real number $ \alpha $


Definition $ \qquad $ The union of an indexed family of sets is defined as

$ \bigcup_{i \in I} A_i = \{\omega \in \mathcal{S}:\omega\in A_i \; for \; at \; least \; one \; i\in I \} $

Note that if $ I $ is finite, we can write the union as

$ \bigcup_{i \in I}^n A_i $

If $ I $ is countable, we can write the union as

$ \bigcup_{i \in I}^{\infty} A_i $

If $ I $ is uncountable, we can write the union as

$ \bigcup_{i \in I} A_i $
as in the definition.


Definition $ \qquad $ The intersection of an indexed family of sets is defined as

$ \bigcap_{i \in I} A_i = \{\omega \in \mathcal{S}:\omega\in A_i \; \forall \; i\in I \} $

Note that if $ I $ is finite, we can write the intersection as

$ \bigcap_{i \in I}^n A_i $

If $ I $ is countable, we can write the intersection as

$ \bigcap_{i \in I}^{\infty} A_i $

If $ I $ is uncountable, we can write the intersection as

$ \bigcap_{i \in I} A_i $
.


Definition $ \qquad $ $ \{A_i, i $$ I\} $ is disjoint if $ A_i $$ A_j $ = Ø ∀ i,j∈I, i≠j.


Definition $ \qquad $ the collection $ \{A_i, i $$ I\} $ is a partition of S, the sample space, if it is disjoint and if

$ \bigcup_{i \in I} A_i = \mathcal{S} $



References



Alumni Liaison

Correspondence Chess Grandmaster and Purdue Alumni

Prof. Dan Fleetwood