Partially ordered set

1. Mar 11, 2005

EvLer

I came across this sentence in one article and can't make too much sense out of it:
"... the set of points in a partially ordered set can be represented by its most general and its most specific elements".

Any explanation is very much appreciated.

Last edited: Mar 11, 2005
2. Mar 13, 2005

mathwonk

that is just horse s**t. does that help? i.e. get a better book.

3. Mar 14, 2005

HallsofIvy

I wouldn't say it quite the way Mathwonk did but I can't make anything out of it either. In particular, the elements of a partially ordered set are not necessarily points!
Is it possible that this is a in a specific application where "general and specific elements" has a given definition?

4. Mar 14, 2005

cronxeh

You refering to http://acl.ldc.upenn.edu/C/C96/C96-2149.pdf

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 21, 2017
5. Mar 14, 2005

matt grime

I think it's trying to say something like: to keep track of a partially ordered set that has finitely long chains only, then all we need to do is keep track of the ends of all the chains, ie the maxima and minima.

6. Mar 14, 2005

HallsofIvy

Ah- thanks to both of you- that is a very specialized vocabulary, then!

7. Mar 14, 2005

MathStudent

Is that a well known journal or something? How the hell did you (Cronxeh) recognize the original document from a couple of obscure lines. ( yoda? )

8. Mar 14, 2005

Muzza

Possibly by googling.

9. Mar 14, 2005

CrankFan

He googled for the phrase that EvLer provided.

Last edited: Mar 14, 2005
10. Mar 14, 2005

MathStudent

I see...pretty crafty, for a minute there I was thoroughly impressed.

11. Mar 14, 2005

cronxeh

yes.. impressed you were indeed :rofl:

12. Mar 16, 2005

EvLer

Didn't realize that meaning was so context-dependent.
Thanks much.