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In mathematics, the power set (or powerset) of a set S is the set of all subsets of S, including the empty set and S itself. [1] In axiomatic set theory (as developed, for example, in the ZFC axioms), the existence of the power set of any set is postulated by the axiom of power set. [2]
In mathematical set theory, Cantor's theorem is a fundamental result which states that, for any set, the set of all subsets of , known as the power set of , has a strictly greater cardinality than itself.
The only subset of the empty set is the empty set itself; equivalently, the power set of the empty set is the set containing only the empty set. The number of elements of the empty set (i.e., its cardinality) is zero. The empty set is the only set with either of these properties. For any set A: The empty set is a subset of A
The empty set is also occasionally called the null set, [11] though this name is ambiguous and can lead to several interpretations. The power set of a set A, denoted (), is the set whose members are all of the possible subsets of A. For example, the power set of {1, 2} is { {}, {1}, {2}, {1, 2} }. Notably, () contains both A and the empty set.
The empty set is a subset of every set (the statement that all elements of the empty set are also members of any set A is vacuously true). The set of all subsets of a given set A is called the power set of A and is denoted by or (); the "P" is sometimes in a script font: ℘ .
The simple theorems in the algebra of sets are some of the elementary properties of the algebra of union (infix operator: ∪), intersection (infix operator: ∩), and set complement (postfix ') of sets. These properties assume the existence of at least two sets: a given universal set, denoted U, and the empty set, denoted {}.
At stage 0, there are no sets yet. At each following stage, a set is added to the universe if all of its elements have been added at previous stages. Thus the empty set is added at stage 1, and the set containing the empty set is added at stage 2. [11] The collection of all sets that are obtained in this way, over all the stages, is known as V.
The family consisting only of the empty set and the set , called the minimal or trivial σ-algebra over . The power set of X , {\displaystyle X,} called the discrete σ-algebra . The collection { ∅ , A , X ∖ A , X } {\displaystyle \{\varnothing ,A,X\setminus A,X\}} is a simple σ-algebra generated by the subset A . {\displaystyle A.}