[Math] Corresponding partition in equivalence relation

definitionelementary-set-theoryequivalence-relations

The relation $R$ on the set $A=\{2,4,6,8,10\}$ is defined by $$R=\{(2,2),(2,6),(2,10),(4,4),(4,8),(6,2),(6,6),(6,10),(8,4),(8,8),(10,2),(10,6),(10,10)\}$$

Question 1

Verify if $R$ is an equivalence relation on $A$.

Answer:

Reflexive, because $(2,2),(4,4)$

Symmetric, because $(2,6),(6,2)\in A$

Transitive, because $(2,6),(6,2)$ is $(2,2)$

Yes, it is equivalence relation

Question 2

Find the corresponding partition, $A/R$.

What does it mean by corresponding partition?

Sorry I can't get the idea to start this.

Best Answer

Your proof of the first part is lacking as well. You only show that there is an example for the transitivity. You don't show that for every two pairs $(a,b)$ and $(b,c)$ also $(a,c)\in R$. Similarly for reflexivity and symmetry.

So you did not, in fact, verify that this is an equivalence relation.

As for the second part, given an equivalence relation, the corresponding partition, also sometimes called "the set of equivalence classes" is the set $A/R$ whose elements are subsets of $A$ satisfying:

  1. For every $a\in A$ there is some $B\in A/R$ such that $a\in B$.
  2. For every $a,b\in A$, and $B\in A/R$, $a\in B$ and $b\in B$ if and only if $(a,b)\in R$.

Namely, each set in $A/R$ is composed of elements equivalent in $R$, and if $B$ is such set and $a\in B$, then all the elements in $B$ are equivalent in $R$ to $a$.

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