Converse

🅟 Feb 21, 2026

  🅤 Mar 07, 2026

DEF-CV. Converse.

Let $R$ be a binary relation. The converse of $R$ is the relation

\[R^{-1} = \{(y,x):(x,y)\in R\}.\]

This is a set:

\[R^{-1} \subseteq \ran R\times\dom R.\]

PROP-CV-IVO. Involutivity.

For any binary relation $R$,

\[(R^{-1})^{-1} = R.\]

PROP-CV-SYM.

A binary relation $R$ is symmetric if and only if

\[R = R^{-1}.\]

PROP-CV-FC.

If $A$ and $B$ are finite and $f:A\to B$ is a surjection, then

\[\lvert A\rvert = \sum_{b\in B}\big\lvert f^{-1}[\{b\}]\big\rvert.\]

Proof.Since $f$ is a function,

\[A = \bigsqcup_{b\in B}f^{-1}[\{b\}].\]

PROP-CV-FC-C. Corollary of PROP-CV-FC

If $A$ and $B$ are finite and $f:A\to B$ is a surjection such that for every $b\in B$,

\[\big\lvert f^{-1}[\{b\}]\big\rvert = k,\]

then

\[\lvert A\rvert = k\lvert B\rvert.\]