Ordered pair
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In mathematics, an ordered pair is a collection of objects having two coordinates (or entries or projections), such that one can always uniquely determine the object, which is the first coordinate (or first entry or left projection) of the pair as well as the second coordinate (or second entry or right projection). If the first coordinate is a and the second is b, the usual notation for an ordered pair is (a, b). The pair is "ordered" in that (a, b) differs from (b, a) unless a = b.
Cartesian products and binary relations (and hence the ubiquitous functions) are defined in terms of ordered pairs.
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[edit] Generalities
Let (a1,b1) and (a2,b2) be two ordered pairs. Then the characteristic (or defining) property of the ordered pair is:
The entries of an ordered pair can be other ordered pairs, enabling the recursive definition of ordered n-tuples (ordered lists of n terms). For example, the ordered triple (a,b,c) can be defined as (a, (b,c)), i.e., as one pair nested in another. This approach is mirrored in computer programming languages that enable constructing a list of elements from nested ordered pairs. For example, the list (1 2 3 4 5) becomes (1, (2, (3, (4, (5, {}))))). The Lisp programming language employs such lists as its primary data structure.
The set of all ordered pairs whose first element is in some set X and whose second element is in some set Y is called the Cartesian product of X and Y, and written X×Y. A binary relation over the field X∪Y is a subset of X×Y.
If one wishes to employ
to denote the open interval on the real number line, the ordered pair may be denoted by the variant notation 
[edit] Defining the ordered pair using set theory
The above characteristic property of ordered pairs is all that is required to understand the role of ordered pairs in mathematics. Hence the ordered pair can be taken as a primitive notion, whose associated axiom is the characteristic property. Strikingly, this was the approach taken by the N. Bourbaki group in its Theory of Sets, published in 1954, long after Kuratowski discovered his famed reduction. The Kuratowski definition was added in the second edition of Theory of Sets, published in 1970.
If one agrees that set theory is an appealing foundation of mathematics, then all mathematical objects must be defined as sets of some sort. Hence if the ordered pair is not taken as primitive, it must be defined as a set. Several set-theoretic definitions of the ordered pair are given below.
[edit] Wiener's definition
Norbert Wiener proposed the first set theoretical definition of the ordered pair in 1914:
He observed that this definition made it possible to define the types of Principia Mathematica as sets. Principia Mathematica had taken types, and hence relations of all arities, as primitive.
[edit] Kuratowski definition
The standard Kuratowski definition of the ordered pair (a, b) is:
- (a, b)K := {{a}, {a, b}}.
Given some ordered pair p, the property "x is the first coordinate of p" can be formulated as:
The property "x is the second coordinate of p" can be formulated as:
Note that this definition remains valid when the first and the second coordinate are identical, so that p = (x, x) = {{x}, {x, x}} = {{x}, {x}} = {{x}}. In this case, the right conjunct
is trivially true, since Y1 ≠ Y2 is never the case.
[edit] Variants
The above Kuratowski definition of the ordered pair is "adequate" in the sense that it satisfies the characteristic property that an ordered pair must satisfy, namely that
. This definition is also arbitrary, as there are other adequate definitions of similar or lesser complexity, such as:
- (a, b)reverse := {{b}, {a, b}};
- (a, b)short := {a, {a, b}};
- (a, b)01 := {{0,a}, {1, b}}.
The "reverse" pair is of little interest, as it has no obvious advantage (nor disadvantage) over the Kuratowski pair. The "short" pair is so-called because it requires two rather than three pairs of curly braces. A drawback is that proving that it satisfies the characteristic property requires the ZFC axiom of regularity. Moreover, if one accepts the standard construction of the natural numbers, then 2 is the set {0, 1} = {0, {0}}, which is indistinguishable from the pair (0, 0)short.
[edit] Proving the characteristic property
Prove: (a, b) = (c, d) if and only if a = c and b = d.
Kuratowski:
Only if. Two cases: a = b, and a ≠ b.
If a = b:
- (a, b)K = {{a}, {a, b}} = {{a}, {a, a}} = {{a}}.
- (c, d)K = {{c}, {c, d}} = {{a}}.
- Thus {c} = {c, d} = {a}, which implies a = c and a = d. By hypothesis, a = b. Hence b = d.
If a ≠ b, then (a, b)K = (c, d)K implies {{a}, {a, b}} = {{c}, {c, d}}.
- Suppose {c, d} = {a}. Then c = d = a, and so {{c}, {c, d}} = {{a}, {a, a}} = {{a}, {a}} = {{a}}. But then {{a}, {a, b}} would also equal {{a}}, so that b = a which contradicts a ≠ b.
- Suppose {c} = {a, b}. Then a = b = c, which also contradicts a ≠ b.
- Therefore {c} = {a}, so that c = a and {c, d} = {a, b}.
- If d = a were true, then {c, d} = {a, a} = {a} ≠ {a, b}, a contradiction. Thus d = b is the case, so that a = c and b = d.
If. If a = c and b = d, then {{a}, {a, b} = {{c}, {c, d}}. Thus (a, b)K = (c, d)K.
Reverse: (a, b)reverse = {{b}, {a, b}} = {{b}, {b, a}} = (b, a)K.
If. If (a, b)reverse = (c, d)reverse, (b, a)K = (d, c)K. Therefore b = d and a = c.
Only if. If a = c and b = d, then {{b}, {a, b}} = {{d}, {c, d}}. Thus (a, b)reverse = (c, d)reverse.
Short: For a formal Metamath proof of the adequacy of the short pair, see the proof of theorem opthreg.
If: This part is clear.
Only if: suppose { a, {a, b} } = { c, {c, d} }. Then a is in the left hand side, and thus in the right hand side. As equal sets have equal elements, we know that either a = c or a = {c, d}.
- If a = {c, d}, then by similar reasoning as above: {a, b} is in the right hand side, so {a, b} = c or {a, b} = {c, d}.
- If {a, b} = c then c is in {c, d} = a and a is in c, and this combination contradicts the axiom of regularity, as {a, c} has no minimal element under the relation 'element of'.
- If {a, b} = {c, d}, then a is an element of a, from a = {c, d} = {a, b}, again contradicting regularity.
- So a = c must hold. Again we see that {a, b} = c or {a, b} = {c, d}.
- The option {a, b} = c and a = c gives that c is an element of c, contradicting the axiom of regularity.
- So we have a = c and {a, b} = {c, d}, and so: {b} = {a, b} \ {a} = {c, d} \ {c} = {d}, so b = d.
This completes the proof for the short case.
[edit] Quine-Rosser definition
Rosser (1953)[1] employed a definition of the ordered pair, due to Quine and requiring a prior definition of the natural numbers. Let
be the set of natural numbers, and define
Applying this function simply increments every natural number in x. In particular,
does not contain the number 0, so that for any sets x and y,
Define the ordered pair (A, B) as
Extracting all the elements of the pair that do not contain 0 and undoing
yields A. Likewise, B can be recovered from the elements of the pair that do contain 0.
In type theory, and in set theories such as New Foundations that are outgrowths of type theory, the Quine-Rosser pair has the same type as its projections (and hence is termed a "type-level" ordered pair). Hence this definition has the advantage of enabling a function, defined as a set of ordered pairs, to have a type only 1 higher than the type of its arguments. For an extensive discussion of the ordered pair in the context of Quinian set theories, see Holmes (1998)[2].
[edit] Morse definition
Morse-Kelley set theory (Morse 1965)[3] makes free use of proper classes. Morse defined the ordered pair so that its projections could be proper classes as well as sets. (The Kuratowski definition does not allow this.) He first defined ordered pairs whose projections are sets in Kuratowski's manner. He then redefined the pair (x, y) as
, where the component Cartesian products are Kuratowski pairs on sets. This second step renders possible pairs whose projections are proper classes. The Quine-Rosser definition above also admits proper classes as projections.
[edit] Category theory
A category-theoretic product A x B in a category of sets represents the set of ordered pairs, with the first element coming from A and the second coming from B. In this context the characteristic property above is a consequence of the universal property of the product and the fact that elements of a set X can be identified with morphisms from 1 (a one element set) to X. While different objects may have the universal property, they are all naturally isomorphic.
[edit] References
- ^ J. Barkley Rosser, 1953. Logic for Mathematicians. McGraw-Hill.
- ^ Holmes, Randall, 1998. Elementary Set Theory with a Universal Set. Academia-Bruylant. The publisher has graciously consented to permit diffusion of this monograph via the web. Copyright is reserved.
- ^ Morse, Anthony P., 1965. A Theory of Sets. Academic Press








