Is this proof that $A \times B = \emptyset$ iff $A=\emptyset$ or $B=\emptyset$ correct

elementary-set-theoryproof-writingsolution-verification

Can someone verify if this proof is correct, and if not, where can I improve? I'm kinda nervous that the part highlighted in red is circular reasoning.

Proof: We first show that if $A \times B = \emptyset$ then $A=\emptyset$ or $B=\emptyset$.

Let $(x,y)\in A\times B$.
$\implies x \in A$ and $y \in B$.
But $(x,y)\in\emptyset$ since $A \times B=\emptyset$.
$\color{red}{\implies x \in \emptyset \:\text{or}\:y \in \emptyset}$
Since $x \in \emptyset$ and $x \in A$, or $y\in\emptyset$ and $y\in B$, $A=\emptyset$ or $B=\emptyset$.
$\therefore$ if $A \times B = \emptyset$ then $A=\emptyset$ or $B=\emptyset$ is true.

Now we show that if $A=\emptyset$ or $B=\emptyset$ then $A \times B = \emptyset$.

WLOG, assume $A=\emptyset$ and $B \neq \emptyset$.
Let $x\in A$ and $y \in B$.
Since $x \in A$ and $A = \emptyset$, $x \in \emptyset$.
By definition of the cartesian product of sets, $A \times B = \{(x,y)|x\in A \:\text{and}\:y\in B\}$.
But $x\in \emptyset$, so there are no coordinate pairs $(x,y)$ that exist.
$\implies A \times B$ has no elements, and $A\times B= \emptyset$.
$\therefore$ if $A=\emptyset$ or $B=\emptyset$ then $A \times B = \emptyset$ is true.

$\therefore$ by TT, $A \times B = \emptyset$ iff $A=\emptyset$ or $B=\emptyset$ is true $\forall$ sets $A$ and $B$. $\blacksquare$

EDIT: Thank you for all your helpful feedback! I've posted a new and improved proof in the answers. Thoughts on that proof?

Best Answer

Yes, it's unclear what reasoning you are using in the highlighted step, or in the line that follows. The logic behind the second part of the proof is also obscure. In particular, the step from the fourth to the fifth line makes little sense to me. It seems to me that you are making formal manipulations about whose meaning you are not entirely certain.

The key point is the fact that there is no $x$ such that $x \in \emptyset$. That's literally the definition of the empty set. Consequently, it does not really make sense to start your proof by assuming that $x \in \emptyset$.

Instead of proving that $A \times B = \emptyset$ if and only if $A = \emptyset$ or $B = \emptyset$, you can (by elementary propositional logic) prove that $A \times B \neq \emptyset$ if and only if $A \neq \emptyset$ and $B \neq \emptyset$. In plain English, $A \times B$ is non-empty (contains some element) if and only if $A$ and $B$ are both non-empty (both contain some element).

But this is a triviality: if $A \times B$ is non-empty, then it contains some element of the form $(x, y)$ for some $x \in A$ and $y \in B$, so $A$ and $B$ are both non-empty. Conversely, if $A$ and $B$ are non-empty and contain, respectively, the elements $x$ and $y$, then $A \times B$ is non-empty because it contains the pair $(x, y)$.

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