Skip to main content
Mathematics LibreTexts

19: Partially ordered sets

  • Page ID
    83498
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    • 19.1: Motivation
      In many of the sets we encounter, there is some notion of elements being “less than or equal to” other elements in the set.
    • 19.2: Definition and properties
      Notice that in each of the examples in Section 19.1, the notion of “is smaller than” is defined via a relation.
    • 19.3: Graph for a partial order
      Hasse diagram: a diagram for the graph for a partial order on a finite set A, omitting reflexive loops and transitive “composite” edges, and placing “smaller” elements lower on the diagram instead of using arrows
    • 19.4: Total Orders
      Comparable Elements: elements a,b in a partially ordered set such that either a⪯b or b⪯a
    • 19.5: Maximal/minimal Elements
      Each of the following definitions are for a subset B of a partially ordered set A.
    • 19.6: Topological Sorting
      Sometimes we want to turn a partial order into a total order. What makes an order partial instead of total is the presence of pairs of incomparable elements.
    • 19.7: Activities
    • 19.8: Exercises


    This page titled 19: Partially ordered sets is shared under a GNU Free Documentation License 1.3 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jeremy Sylvestre via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

    • Was this article helpful?