MATH2081 | MATH2328: Math for Computing

1
Lecturers: Dr Nguyen Hieu Thao & Dr Jeff Nijsse
Email: thao.nguyenhieu@rmit.edu.vn

Lecture Notes: Sequences, Strings and

Relations
(2024C, Week 5)1

A sequence s is a function whose domain D is a subset of integers. The notation sn is

typically used instead of the more general function notation s(n). The term n is the index of
the sequence. If D is a finite set, we call s a finite sequence; otherwise, s is an infinite sequence.

(a) A sequence s is increasing (respectively, decreasing) if for all i and j in the domain of s,
if i < j, then si < sj (respectively, si > sj ).
(b) A sequence s is nondecreasing (respectively, nonincreasing) if for all i and j in the domain
of s, if i < j, then si ≤ sj (respectively, si ≥ sj ).
(c) A subsequence of a sequence s is a sequence obtained from s by choosing certain terms of
s in the same order in which they appear in s.
(d) If {ai }i=m is a sequence, we define
n

n n
(1)
X Y
ai = am + am+1 + · · · + an , ai = am am+1 · · · an .
i=m i=m

The formalism i=m is the sum (or sigma) notation and i=m is the product notation.
Pn Qn
In (1), i is the index, m is the lower limit and n is the upper limit.

A string over X, where X is a finite set, is a finite sequence of (repeatable) elements from
X. Since a string is a sequence, order is taken into account.
(a) Repetitions in a string can be specified by superscripts. For example, the string ‘110001’
over the binary set {0, 1} can be written as ‘12 03 1’.
(b) The string with no element is the null string and is denoted by λ.
(c) X ∗ denotes the set of all strings over X including the null string, and X + denotes the set
of all nonnull strings over X.
(d) The length of a string α, denoted by |α|, is the number of elements in α.
(e) If α and β are two strings, the string consisting of α followed by β, written αβ (or α + β),
is the concatenation of α and β.
(f) A string β is a substring of a string α if there are strings γ and δ such that α = γβδ.

1 Most of the content of this document is taken from the book [1].
2

Let X be a finite set of unambiguous symbols (the alphabet). A language L over X is a

subset of X ∗ .

A grammar G is a quadruple consisting of

(i) a finite set N of nonterminal symbols (or variables),

(ii) a finite set T of terminal symbols (or leaves), where N ∩ T = ∅,
(iii) a finite subset R of [(N ∪ T )∗ \ T ∗ ] × (N ∪ T )∗ , called the set of rules,

(iv) and a starting symbol σ ∈ N .

The language generated by G, written L(G), consists of all strings over T derivable from S
using the set of rules R.

Example. The set of all integers N is the language generated by the following grammar.

(i) N = {integer, digit, signed integer, unsigned integer}.

(ii) T = {+, −, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}.
Johnsonbaugh-50623 book February 3, 2017 14:2
(iii) The set of rules is below:

< integer > −→ < signed integer > | < unsigned integer >,
< signed integer > −→ < + >< unsigned integer > 142
| < unsigned3 integer
− >< Chapter ◆ Functions,
>, Sequences, and
< unsigned integer > −→ < digit > | < digit >< unsigned integer >,
< digit > −→ 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8| | 9.

(iv) The starting symbol σ = integer.



A (binary) relation R from a set X to a set Y is a subset

Example 3.3.4 Let R be the relation
of the Cartesian product X × Y . If (x, y) ∈ R, we write
R = {(1, 1), (1
xRy and say that x is related to y. If X = Y , R is a
1 2
relation on X. An informativ
graphs are discussed
connection with rela
An informative way to picture a relation on a set is to draw dots or vertices to r
its digraph. To draw the digraph of a relation on a set X, vertices to represent
(x, y) is in the relatio
we first draw dots or vertices to represent the elements of 3 4
ure 3.3.1, we have d
Example 3.3.4. Noti
X. Next, if the element (x, y) is in the relation, we draw directed edge from x
an arrow (a directed edge) from x to y. An element of Figure 3.3.1 The digraph of the Figure 3.3.1.
Figure 1: Digraph
relation of Exampleof the relation
3.3.4.
the form (x, x) in a relation corresponds to a directed edge xRy if x ≤ y on {1, 2, 3, 4}.
from x to x. Such an edge is a loop. Example 3.3.5 The relation R on X
❦ (b, c), (c, b), (d, d)}.
 3

Let R be a relation on a set X.

(a) R is reflexive if (x, x) ∈ R for every x ∈ X.

(b) R is symmetric if for all x, y ∈ X, if (x, y) ∈ R, then (y, x) ∈ R.

(c) R is antisymmetric if for all x, y ∈ X, if (x, y) ∈ R and (y, x) ∈ R, then x = y.

(d) R is transitive if for all x, y, z ∈ X, if (x, y) and (y, z) ∈ R, then (x, z) ∈ R.

(e) R is an equivalence relation if R is reflexive, symmetric, and transitive. Let R be an

equivalence relation on a set X. For each a ∈ X, let [a] = {x ∈ X | xRa}. Then S =
{[a] | a ∈ X} is a partition of X. The set [a] is the equivalence class of a in X given by
the relation R.

(f) R is a partial order if R is reflexive, antisymmetric and transitive. If R is a partial order

on a set X, the notation x  y is used to indicate that (x, y) ∈ R. This notation suggests
that we are interpreting the relation as an ordering of the elements in X. Let R be a partial
order on X. If x, y ∈ X and either x  y or y  x, we say that x and y are comparable.
If x, y ∈ X and x  y and y  x, we say that x and y are incomparable. If every pair of
elements in X is comparable, R is a total order.

Let R be a relation from X to Y . The inverse of R, denoted by R−1 , is the relation from Y
to X defined by
R−1 = {(y, x) | (x, y) ∈ R} .

Let R1 be a relation from X to Y and R2 be a relation from Y to Z. The composition of

R1 and R2 , denoted by R2 ◦ R1 , is the relation from X to Z defined by

R2 ◦ R1 = {(x, z) | (x, y) ∈ R1 and (y, z) ∈ R2 for some y ∈ Y } .

A matrix is a convenient way to represent a relation R from X to Y . We label the rows

with the elements of X (in some order) and the columns with the elements of Y (again, in some
order). We then set the entry in row x and column y to 1 if xRy and to 0 otherwise. This matrix
is the matrix of the relation R relative to the chosen orderings of X and Y .

References
1. Johnsonbaugh, R.: Discrete Mathematics - Eighth Edition. Pearson Education, New York
(2018).