Are there useful algebra of sets laws regarding cartesian products? How to manipulate cartesian products algebraically

abstract-algebraelementary-set-theory

The following post : Prove: $ (A \times C) \setminus (B \times C) = (A \setminus B) \times C $ made me think of the question I am now asking.

Are there frequently used / well known laws for cartesian products in the context of set algebra.

In case such laws exist, can they be proved without analysing the statements in terms of membeship relation ( I mean without using set theory proper)?

Is it possible to " manipulate" cartesian products algebraically and mechanically in the same way one "manipulates" more ordinary sets using DeMorgan's Law, Idempotency Law or Domination law ( for sets) etc. ?

Best Answer

There indeed do exist many well-known laws for Cartesian products, such as the following:

$(A \cap B) \times (C \cap D) = (A \times C) \cap (B \times D),$

$A \times (B \cap C) = (A \times B) \cap (A \times C)$ (distributivity of intersection),

$A \times (B \cup C) = (A \times B) \cup (A \times C)$ (distributivity of union),

$A \times (B \backslash C) = (A \times B) \backslash (A \times C)$ (distributivity of set difference),

and various other laws. For more, see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartesian_product#Most_common_implementation_(set_theory)

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