Bijection, Injection, and Surjection

In summary, a bijection is a one-to-one mapping between two sets, while an isomorphism is a function that preserves the operations of a specific structure, such as groups, rings, or vector spaces. A bijective homomorphism is a combination of both a bijection and an isomorphism, but it is not always equivalent to an isomorphism. In some categories, isomorphisms may not necessarily involve bijections or even act on elements of a set.
  • #1
amcavoy
665
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I was just looking at the definitions of these words, and it reminded me of some things from linear algebra. I was just wondering: Is a bijection the same as an isomorphism?
 
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  • #2
funny, 'cause I was wondering what a bijection was earlier today while riding the train. I can't really follow the line of thought in the book I'm reading without a good idea of what a bijection is.
 
  • #3
A mapping f:A->B is injective if it's one-to-one. But elements of B may be unmapped. f is surjective if every element of B is mapped from some a in A by f(a). f is bijective if it's surjective and injective simultaneously.

It's not an isomorphism because an isomorphism is a function between two rings that preserves the binary operations of those rings, on top of which the function is bijective.
 
  • #4
Icebreaker said:
A mapping f:A->B is injective if it's one-to-one. But elements of B may be unmapped. f is surjective if every element of B is mapped from some a in A by f(a). f is bijective if it's surjective and injective simultaneously.
It's not an isomorphism because an isomorphism is a function between two rings that preserves the binary operations of those rings, on top of which the function is bijective.

I think that an isomorphism can preserve any structure, so an isomorphism between groups preserves the group operation, isomorphisms between rings preserves ring operations, isomorphisms between vector spaces preserves scalar multiplication and vector addition, etc...

I could be wrong though.
 
  • #5
As the others have mentioned, the definition of "isomorphism" depends on the objects you're manipulating. Incidentally, a bijection is an isomorphism of sets.

An isomorphism is defined to be a homomorphism with an inverse that is also a homomorphism.

A homomorphism of sets is just a function.
A homomorphism of topological spaces is just a continuous function.
A homomorphism of vector spaces is a linear transformation.
 
  • #6
So would a bijective homomorphism be an isomorphism? I was taught (working with vector spaces) that a linear bijection is an isomorphism. Are these okay?
 
  • #7
You're not too far off, tokomak; strictly speaking an *invertible* homomorphism is an isomorphism, but if it helps you can use the bijective idea instead as it will suffice for most things you'll meet in undergraduate mathematics.
 
  • #8
matt grime said:
You're not too far off, tokomak; strictly speaking an *invertible* homomorphism is an isomorphism, but if it helps you can use the bijective idea instead as it will suffice for most things you'll meet in undergraduate mathematics.

What's the difference? Are there bijective homomorphisms which are not invertible?
 
  • #9
No, but there are invertible homomorphisms which are not bijective.
 
  • #10
Don't forget the bijective homomorphisms whose inverses aren't homomorphisms!
 
  • #11
Hurkyl said:
Don't forget the bijective homomorphisms whose inverses aren't homomorphisms!

Well, for a mapping to be an isomorphism, is it required that it's inverse be a homomorphism?
 
  • #12
No, but there are invertible homomorphisms which are not bijective.

I could've sworn that a function (homomorphism or not) was invertible iff it was bijective.
 
  • #13
Well, for a mapping to be an isomorphism, is it required that it's inverse be a homomorphism?
Yes! In some cases, the inverse is automatically a homomorphism, but not in all. For example, consider the identity map [itex]\bar{\mathbb{R}} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}[/itex] where I am using [itex]\bar{\mathbb{R}}[/itex] to denote the discrete topology. This is clearly an invertible map, but it is not a homeomorphism. (Which is what we call isomorphisms when doing topology)
 
  • #14
Hurkyl said:
Don't forget the bijective homomorphisms whose inverses aren't homomorphisms!

That does make more sense, looking up the catergory theory defintion of an isomorphism, a morphism isn't an isomorphism unless it is invertible and it's inverse is a morphism.

Still, the way that I informally think about homomorphisms, it is hard to imagine a bijective homomorphism whose inverse is not also a homomorphism. I'd guess that this is probably because in all the catergories which form my view of isomorphisms all bijective homomorphisms are isomorphisms.

Can you give me an example of a catergory with bijective homomorphisms which are not isomorphisms?
 
  • #15
For jcsd:

Hurkyl just did: the identity mapping from any set with the discrete topology to itself with some other topology.

The map of differential manifolds from [0,1] to itself x-->2^2 is not invertible in the space of differential manifolds with diffeomorphisms (the inverse has no tangent at 0).

For Muzza: There are also plenty of isomorphisms in categories where it does not even make sense to start talking about bijections since the morphisms in no meaningful way act on elements of a set: morphisms are just arrows, they do not have to be maps on any underlying sets. This is one distinction between category theory and set theory.
 

1. What is the difference between bijection, injection, and surjection?

Bijection, injection, and surjection are all types of functions in mathematics. A bijection is a function that is both injective (one-to-one) and surjective (onto). An injection is a function that is injective but not necessarily surjective. A surjection is a function that is surjective but not necessarily injective.

2. How can I determine if a function is a bijection, injection, or surjection?

A function is a bijection if and only if it is both injective and surjective. To determine if a function is injective, you can use the horizontal line test - if every horizontal line intersects the graph of the function at most once, then the function is injective. To determine if a function is surjective, you can use the vertical line test - if every vertical line intersects the graph of the function at least once, then the function is surjective.

3. What is the importance of bijection, injection, and surjection in mathematics?

Bijection, injection, and surjection are important concepts in mathematics because they help us understand the properties of functions and how they relate to one another. They also have practical applications in various fields, such as computer science and economics, where these types of functions are used to model real-world scenarios.

4. Can a function be both an injection and a surjection?

Yes, a function can be both an injection and a surjection. In fact, a bijection is both an injection and a surjection, as it is a function that is both one-to-one and onto.

5. How do bijection, injection, and surjection relate to inverse functions?

Bijection, injection, and surjection are all related to inverse functions. A bijection has an inverse function, which is also a bijection. An injection has a left inverse, while a surjection has a right inverse. In general, a function must be a bijection in order for it to have an inverse function.

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