Equivalences (me trying to understand an example)

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In summary, the symbol ≈ is used to represent the equivalence relation between two integers, m and n, where m-n is even. This relation is applied on the set of all integers, Z. The notations [0] and [1] represent the equivalence classes of even and odd integers respectively. The notation x→Z is used to indicate that x is an element of Z. Therefore, x≈0 means that x-0 is even, which is equivalent to saying that x is an even integer.
  • #1
PsychonautQQ
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Homework Statement


I'll be using ≈ as the equivalence symbol.

If m and n are integers, define m≈n to mean that m-n is even. Then ≈ is an equivalence on Z.

and
[0] = {x→Z | x≈0} is the set of even integers
[1] = {x→Z | x≈1} is the set of odd integers

where the x→Z was used to represent X is an element of Z.

So basically I'm having trouble making sense of this...
x≈0 means x-0, and if that has an equivalenet class of [0] somehow that means it's even? Can somebody try to explain what's going on here to me?
 
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  • #2
PsychonautQQ said:

Homework Statement


If m and n are integers, define m≈n to mean that m-n is even. Then ≈ is an equivalence on Z.
and
[0] = {x→Z | x≈0} is the set of even integers
[1] = {x→Z | x≈1} is the set of odd integers

where the x→Z was used to represent X is an element of Z.

So basically I'm having trouble making sense of this...
x≈0 means x-0, and if that has an equivalenet class of [0] somehow that means it's even? Can somebody try to explain what's going on here to me?

[0] and [1] are notations for equivalence classes. All elements of, say, [0] are related to 0 via the equivalence relation. This means that [0], for example, contains all integers, x, such that x ≈ 0. What does x≈0 mean? It means that for any x in the integers, x - 0 = x is even. Well this is simply the set of all even integers.

Does [1] now make sense?
 
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  • #3
PsychonautQQ said:
[0] = {x→Z | x≈0} is the set of even integers
[1] = {x→Z | x≈1} is the set of odd integers

where the x→Z was used to represent X is an element of Z.
Here, have an \in symbol: ∈

If you're going to use plain text, you can copy and paste that symbol instead of that rather confusing arrow. You can also use LaTeX. Type
Code:
##[0]=\{x\in\mathbb Z|x\approx 0\}##
to get ##[0]=\{x\in\mathbb Z|x\approx 0\}##. See the FAQ post for more information.
 
  • #4
PsychonautQQ said:

Homework Statement


I'll be using ≈ as the equivalence symbol.

If m and n are integers, define m≈n to mean that m-n is even. Then ≈ is an equivalence on Z.

and
[0] = {x→Z | x≈0} is the set of even integers
[1] = {x→Z | x≈1} is the set of odd integers

where the x→Z was used to represent X is an element of Z.

So basically I'm having trouble making sense of this...
x≈0 means x-0
It means that x-0 is an even number and since x- 0= x, that is the same as saying x os an even number.

, and if that has an equivalenet class of [0] somehow that means it's even? Can somebody try to explain what's going on here to me?
 
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