BIJECTIVE FUNCTION

INTRODUCTION

A bijection, bijective function or one-to-one correspondence is a function between

the elements of two sets, where every element of one set is paired with exactly one element of
the other set, and every element of the other set is paired with exactly one element of the first
set. There are no unpaired elements. In mathematical terms, a bijective function f: X Y is a
one-to-one (injective) and onto (surjective) mapping of a set X to a set Y.

Function

x f(x)

By domain and codomain

X B Bn B

X Z X

X R X Rn X

X C X Cn X

A bijective function, f: X Y, where set X is {1, 2, 3, 4} and set Y is {A, B,

C, D}. For example, f(1) = D.

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 A bijection from the set X to the set Y has an inverse function from Y to X. If X
and Y are finite sets, then the existence of a bijection means they have the
same number of elements. For infinite sets the picture is more complicated,
leading to the concept of cardinal number, a way to distinguish the various
sizes of infinite sets.
A bijective function from a set to itself is also called a permutation.
Bijective functions are essential to many areas of mathematics including the
definitions of isomorphism, homeomorphism, diffeomorphism, permutation
group, and projective map.

Definition

For more details on notation, see Function (mathematics) Notation.

For a pairing between X and Y (where Y need not be different from X) to be a bijection,
four properties must hold:

1. each element of X must be paired with at least one element of Y,

2. no element of X may be paired with more than one element of Y,
3. each element of Y must be paired with at least one element of X, and
4. no element of Y may be paired with more than one element of X.

Satisfying properties (1) and (2) means that a bijection is a function with domain X. It is
more common to see properties (1) and (2) written as a single statement: Every element of X
is paired with exactly one element of Y. Functions which satisfy property (3) are said to be
"onto Y " and are called surjections (or surjective functions). Functions which satisfy
property (4) are said to be "one-to-one functions" and are called injections (or injective
functions).

Batting line-up of a baseball or cricket team

Consider the batting line-up of a baseball or cricket team (or any list of all the players
of any sports team where every player holds a specific spot in a line-up). The set X will be the
players on the team (of size nine in the case of baseball) and the set Y will be the positions in
the batting order (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) The "pairing" is given by which player is in what
position in this order. Property (1) is satisfied since each player is somewhere in the list.

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 Property (2) is satisfied since no player bats in two (or more) positions in the order.
Property (3) says that for each position in the order, there is some player batting in that
position and property (4) states that two or more players are never batting in the same
position in the list.

Seats and students of a classroom

In a classroom there are a certain number of seats. A bunch of students enter the room and
the instructor asks them all to be seated. After a quick look around the room, the instructor
declares that there is a bijection between the set of students and the set of seats, where each
student is paired with the seat they are sitting in. What the instructor observed in order to
reach this conclusion was that:

1. Every student was in a seat (there was no one standing),

2. No student was in more than one seat,
3. Every seat had someone sitting there (there were no empty seats), and
4. No seat had more than one student in it.

The instructor was able to conclude that there were just as many seats as there were students,
without having to count either set.

More mathematical examples and some non-examples

For any set X, the identity function 1X: X X, 1X(x) = x, is bijective.

The function f: R R, f(x) = 2x + 1 is bijective, since for each y there is a unique x =
(y 1)/2 such that f(x) = y. In more generality, any linear function over the reals, f: R
R, f(x) = ax + b (where a is non-zero) is a bijection. Each real number y is obtained
from (paired with) the real number x = (y - b)/a.
The function f: R (-/2, /2), given by f(x) = arctan(x) is bijective since each real
number x is paired with exactly one angle y in the interval (-/2, /2) so that tan(y) = x
(that is, y = arctan(x)). If the codomain (-/2, /2) was made larger to include an
integer multiple of /2 then this function would no longer be onto (surjective) since
there is no real number which could be paired with the multiple of /2 by this arctan
function.

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 The exponential function, g: R R, g(x) = ex, is not bijective: for instance, there is
no x in R such that g(x) = 1, showing that g is not onto (surjective). However, if the
codomain is restricted to the positive real numbers , then g becomes
bijective; its inverse (see below) is the natural logarithm function ln.
The function h: R R+, h(x) = x2 is not bijective: for instance, h(1) = h(1) = 1,
showing that h is not one-to-one (injective). However, if the domain is restricted to
, then h becomes bijective; its inverse is the positive square root
function.

A bijection f with domain X ("functionally" indicated by f: X Y) also defines a

relation starting in Y and going to X (by turning the arrows around). The process of
"turning the arrows around" for an arbitrary function does not, in general, yield a
function, but properties (3) and (4) of a bijection say that this inverse relation is a function
with domain Y. Moreover, properties (1) and (2) then say that this inverse function is a
surjection and an injection, that is, the inverse function exists and is also a bijection.
Functions that have inverse functions are said to be invertible. A function is invertible if
and only if it is a bijection.

Stated in concise mathematical notation, a function f: X Y is bijective if and only if

it satisfies the condition
For every y in Y there is a unique x in X with y = f(x).

CONCLUSION

The reason for this relaxation is that a (proper) partial function is already undefined
for a portion of its domain; thus there is no compelling reason to constrain its inverse to be a
total function, i.e. defined everywhere on its domain. The set of all partial bijections on a
given base set is called the symmetric inverse semigroup.

Another way of defining the same notion is to say that a partial bijection from A to B
is any relation R (which turns out to be a partial function) with the property that R is the
graph of a bijection f:AB, where A is a subset of A and B is a subset of B.

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 When the partial bijection is on the same set, it is sometimes called a one-to-one
partial transformation. An example is the Mbius transformation simply defined on the
complex plane, rather than its completion to the extended complex plane.

References

Wolf (1998). Proof, Logic and Conjecture: A Mathematician's Toolbox. Freeman.

Sundstrom (2003). Mathematical Reasoning: Writing and Proof. Prentice-Hall.
Smith; Eggen; St.Andre (2006). A Transition to Advanced Mathematics (6th Ed.).
Thomson (Brooks/Cole).
Schumacher (1996). Chapter Zero: Fundamental Notions of Abstract Mathematics.
Addison-Wesley.
O'Leary (2003). The Structure of Proof: With Logic and Set Theory. Prentice-Hall.
Morash. Bridge to Abstract Mathematics. Random House.
Maddox (2002). Mathematical Thinking and Writing. Harcourt/ Academic Press.
Lay (2001). Analysis with an introduction to proof. Prentice Hall.
Gilbert; Vanstone (2005). An Introduction to Mathematical Thinking. Pearson
Prentice-Hall.