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open interval – partition
open interval
An interval of the real number line (or any other totally ordered set) which does not include its endpoints. An interval containing only one of its endpoints is called half-open.
 Cf. closed interval.
open set
A subset U of a topological space X is open if every element x of U is contained in an open set of X that is also contained in U. In a metric space, U is open if for every x in U we may find a d greater than zero such that the d neighborhood of x is also contained in U.
ordered field
See field.
ordered pair
An ordered tuple (a,b), the first element of which is called the abscissa, and the second element the ordinate, and for which (a,b) = (b,a) if and only if a = b. Functions, graphs of functions, and binary relations are represented as sets of ordered pairs. In standard set theory, the ordered pair (a,b) is defined to be the set { {a}, {a,b} }.
Cf. flat pair.
ordered set
A set with an order relation defined on it.
Cf. partial order, total order.
order of operations
As a matter of convention, in any given expression involving arithmetic and/or algebraic operations, operations within parentheses (or other grouping symbols) are evaluated first. Within this constraint, exponentiation precedes multiplication and division, and the latter precede addition and subtraction. Within these constraints, operations are evaluated from left to right.
order-preserving function
A function f is called order-preserving if it preserves the order of its domain elements, that is, if whenever x and y are elements of its domain such that x  y then f(x) f(y). Also called isotone or inctreasing. If f reverses the order of its domain elements, then it is called antitone or decreasing. In either case f is called monotone or monotonic. If whenever x < y we have f(x) < f(y), then f is called strictly increasing (resp. decreasing).
order relation
A relation R on a set S is an order relation exactly if it is reflexive, transitive and antisymmetric. Order relations are usually denoted by “ < ” or “ ”.
Cf. partial order, total order
order topology
A topology on a totally ordered set that agrees with the order. Specifically, given a totally ordered set X with total order relation <, we define the order topology T on X to be the collection of all arbitrary unions of open intervals of X under <.
order type
See total order.
ordinal
The class of ordinals is defined by:- 0 is an ordinal;
- if a is an ordinal, then a + 1 = a union {a}) is an ordinal;
- if A is a collection of ordinals, then union(A) is an ordinal;
- nothing else is an ordinal.
The class of ordinals is transitive, and is a well-founded, linear ordering. An ordinal of the form a + 1 is called a successor ordinal, and is otherwise called a limit ordinal.
Cf. Von Neumann Heirarchy.
ordinate
The second element of an ordered pair.
Cf. abscissa.
outer measure
A non-negative extended real-valued set function defined on all subsets of a space X that is zero on the empty set, monotonic, and countably subadditive (see below) is called an outer measure. An outer measure is often used together with Caratheodory's Theorem (see below) to obtain a measure. Given a set X and a collection A of subsets of X which includes the empty set and X itself, and a positive real-valued function r whose domain is A and whose value on the empty set is zero, then for any F in X define m* by
Then m* is an outer measure. A set B in X is then called m*-measurable if
for all subsets C of X. (Cc denotes the complement of C in X.) Carathéodory’s Theorem states that if m* is an outer measure on X, then the collection M of m*-measurable sets is a s-algebra of sets, and the restriction of m* to M is a complete measure.
parabola
The locus of points in the plane whose distances from a fixed point, called the focus, and a fixed line, called the directrix, are equal.
Like the ellipse and hyperbola, the parabola is a conic section. See the related article for a full exposition.
Related article: Conics
paradox
A seemingly 'necessary' contradiction or absurdity. A paradox arising logically out of formal axioms is called an antinomy. True paradoxes may be broadly classified as paradoxes of logic, paradoxes of infinity, paradoxes of knowledge, paradoxes of language, and paradoxes of self-reference. See:Antistrephon Paradox
Banach-Tarski Paradox
Berry Paradox
Boundary Paradox
Finitude Paradox
First Boring Number Paradox
Grelling's Paradox
Grue-Bleen Paradox
Liar Paradox
Quine's Paradox
Prisoner's Dilemma
Russell Paradox
Santa Sentence Paradox
Sid's Paradox
Sorites Paradox
Unexpected Hanging Paradox
Zeno's Paradox of the Arrow
Zenos Paradox of the Moving Rows
Zeno's Paradox of the Tortoise and Achilles
Paradox of the Heap
See Sorites Paradox.
parallelogram
A quadrilateral with opposite sides (and opposite angles) equal.
parallel postulate
The 5th postulate of Euclidean geometry.
partially ordered set
A set with a partial order defined on it.
partial order
A partial order on a set X is a binary relation “” on X that is reflexive, transitive, and antisymmetric. A partial order in which every pair of elements is related is called a total order or linear order. A partial order on X imposes a lattice on X.
Cf. linear order, tree.
partition
General: A partition of a set X is a collection of subsets of X such that every element of X is in exactly one of the subsets. Such a partition is given by (and gives rise to) an equivalence relation on X. For example, division modulo 3 partitions the set of natural numbers into three subsets, each containing all those numbers leaving remainders of 0, 1, or 2 respectively when divided by 3.
Algebra: A partition of a matrix is a division of the matrix into conformable submatrices.
Analysis: A partition of a space is a collection of pairwise disjoint regions of the space whose union is the entire space. For example, a partition of an interval [a, b] of the real line is given by a finite set of points {xi} such that a = x1 < x2 < . . . < xn = b which divide the interval into disjoint subintervals.
Number Theory: Given a positive integer n, a partition of n is a set of positive integers whose sum is n. For example, 4 = 3 + 1 = 2 + 2 = 2 + 1 + 1 = 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 are the four possible partitions of the number 4.
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