Sets & Notations: What Do S* and S* Mean?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the meanings of the notations S* and S* in the context of set theory. Participants explore potential interpretations and seek clarification on their definitions, particularly in relation to a test involving these notations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses confusion about the meanings of S* and S*, noting that they have seen various notations in different books.
  • Another participant suggests that without context, it is difficult to determine the meanings, proposing possibilities like "upper Riemann sum" and "lower Riemann sum" or "push forward" and "pull back" of a morphism, but acknowledges these may not apply to sets.
  • A third participant suspects the notation relates to basic set theory concepts, proposing that A* could represent elements greater than those in A, while A* could represent elements smaller than those in A, based on a test they received.
  • One participant notes that the notation was likely explained prior to the test questions, indicating a lack of clarity in the current discussion.
  • Another participant confirms that A* is defined as the set of all elements greater than all elements in A, and A* as the set of all elements smaller than all elements in A, after obtaining the relevant textbook.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the meanings of S* and S*, with multiple interpretations and uncertainty expressed throughout the discussion. The final clarification provided by one participant suggests a specific definition, but it is not universally accepted as the only interpretation.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights the ambiguity of the notations without context, and the definitions provided are contingent upon the specific textbook referenced by one participant, which may not be universally applicable.

RedGolpe
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I have seen different notations on different books but I couldn't find anywhere what S* and S* mean, being S a set. Anyone can help?
 
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Without knowing the context, I doubt if anyone can say. I can think of a few possiblities such as "upper Riemann sum" and "lower Riemann sum" for an integral or "push forward" and "pull back" of a morphism, but those don't apply just to "sets".
 
Thank you for your quick answer. I doubt it to be anything more complicated than very basic set theory. Unfortunately, I don't know the context myself, all I have is a simple test asking to answer true or false to several questions:

if l belogs to A* then l+1 does not belong to A*;
if l belogs to A* then there exists an epsilon>0 such that l-epsilon belongs to A*.

I suspect it's something like "A together with its supremum/infimum" or something pretty straightforward like that. I just wanted to know if anyone had seen this notation before, as I can still ask the person who gave me those tests to show me his textbook.
 
The notation was surely explained just before the questions applying to it.
 
Unfortunately not. As I said, this was a test sheet and I don't have access to the relevant textbook. Anyway I'd say it's obvious now that this is not standard notation, I'll check it on the book itself when it becomes available.

Edit: For all the curious here, I managed to obtain the textbook. A* is defined as the set of all the elements greater than all the elements in A. Similarly, A* is the set of all the elements smaller than all the elements in A.
 
Last edited:

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