Transitive relation

{{stack|{{Binary relations}}}}

A homogeneous relation {{mvar|R}} on the set {{mvar|X}} is a transitive relation if,{{harvnb|Smith|Eggen|St. Andre|2006|loc=p. 145}}

:for all {{math|a, b, c ∈ X}}, if {{math|a R b}} and {{math|b R c}}, then {{math|a R c}}.

Or in terms of first-order logic:

:$\backslash forall\; a,b,c\; \backslash in\; X:\; (aRb\; \backslash wedge\; bRc)\; \backslash Rightarrow\; aRc$,

where {{math|a R b}} is the infix notation for {{math|(a, b) ∈ R}}.

As a non-mathematical example, the relation "is an ancestor of" is transitive. For example, if Amy is an ancestor of Becky, and Becky is an ancestor of Carrie, then Amy is also an ancestor of Carrie.

On the other hand, "is the birth mother of" is not a transitive relation, because if Alice is the birth mother of Brenda, and Brenda is the birth mother of Claire, then it does not follow that Alice is the birth mother of Claire. In fact, this relation is antitransitive: Alice can never be the birth mother of Claire.

Non-transitive, non-antitransitive relations include sports fixtures (playoff schedules), 'knows' and 'talks to'.

The examples "is greater than", "is at least as great as", and "is equal to" (equality) are transitive relations on various sets.

As are the set of real numbers or the set of natural numbers:

: whenever x > y and y > z, then also x > z

: whenever x ≥ y and y ≥ z, then also x ≥ z

: whenever x = y and y = z, then also x = z.

More examples of transitive relations:

• "is a subset of" (set inclusion, a relation on sets)
• "divides" (divisibility, a relation on natural numbers)
• "implies" (implication, symbolized by "⇒", a relation on propositions)

Examples of non-transitive relations:

• "is the successor of" (a relation on natural numbers)
• "is a member of the set" (symbolized as "∈")However, the class of von Neumann ordinals is constructed in a way such that ∈ is transitive when restricted to that class.
• "is perpendicular to" (a relation on lines in Euclidean geometry)

The empty relation on any set $X$ is transitive{{harvnb|Smith|Eggen|St. Andre|2006|loc=p. 146}} because there are no elements $a,b,c\; \backslash in\; X$ such that $aRb$ and $bRc$, and hence the transitivity condition is vacuously true. A relation {{math|R}} containing only one ordered pair is also transitive: if the ordered pair is of the form $(x,\; x)$ for some $x\; \backslash in\; X$ the only such elements $a,b,c\; \backslash in\; X$ are $a=b=c=x$, and indeed in this case $aRc$, while if the ordered pair is not of the form $(x,\; x)$ then there are no such elements $a,b,c\; \backslash in\; X$ and hence $R$ is vacuously transitive.

• The converse (inverse) of a transitive relation is always transitive. For instance, knowing that "is a subset of" is transitive and "is a superset of" is its converse, one can conclude that the latter is transitive as well.
• The intersection of two transitive relations is always transitive.{{Cite journal |last1=Bianchi |first1=Mariagrazia |last2=Mauri |first2=Anna Gillio Berta |last3=Herzog |first3=Marcel |last4=Verardi |first4=Libero |date=2000-01-12 |title=On finite solvable groups in which normality is a transitive relation |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/jgth.2000.012/html |journal=Journal of Group Theory |volume=3 |issue=2 |doi=10.1515/jgth.2000.012 |issn=1433-5883 |access-date=2022-12-29 |archive-date=2023-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204151127/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/jgth.2000.012/html |url-status=live }} For instance, knowing that "was born before" and "has the same first name as" are transitive, one can conclude that "was born before and also has the same first name as" is also transitive.
• The union of two transitive relations need not be transitive. For instance, "was born before or has the same first name as" is not a transitive relation, since e.g. Herbert Hoover is related to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who is in turn related to Franklin Pierce, while Hoover is not related to Franklin Pierce.
• The complement of a transitive relation need not be transitive.{{Cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Derek J. S. |date=January 1964 |title=Groups in which normality is a transitive relation |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0305004100037403/type/journal_article |journal=Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |language=en |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=21–38 |doi=10.1017/S0305004100037403 |bibcode=1964PCPS...60...21R |s2cid=119707269 |issn=0305-0041 |access-date=2022-12-29 |archive-date=2023-02-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204151127/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/mathematical-proceedings-of-the-cambridge-philosophical-society/article/abs/groups-in-which-normality-is-a-transitive-relation/E1EECC9F60124437962FBF9FDD8E81BA |url-status=live }} For instance, while "equal to" is transitive, "not equal to" is only transitive on sets with at most one element.

A transitive relation is asymmetric if and only if it is irreflexive.{{cite book|last1=Flaška|first1=V.|last2=Ježek|first2=J.|last3=Kepka|first3=T.|last4=Kortelainen|first4=J.|title=Transitive Closures of Binary Relations I|year=2007|publisher=School of Mathematics - Physics Charles University|location=Prague|page=1|url=http://www.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~jezek/120/transitive1.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102214049/http://www.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~jezek/120/transitive1.pdf|archive-date=2013-11-02}} Lemma 1.1 (iv). Note that this source refers to asymmetric relations as "strictly antisymmetric".

A transitive relation need not be reflexive. When it is, it is called a preorder. For example, on set X = {1,2,3}:

• R = {{{Hair space}}(1,1), (2,2), (3,3), (1,3), (3,2){{Hair space}}} is reflexive, but not transitive, as the pair (1,2) is absent,
• R = {{{Hair space}}(1,1), (2,2), (3,3), (1,3){{Hair space}}} is reflexive as well as transitive, so it is a preorder,
• R = {{{Hair space}}(1,1), (2,2), (3,3){{Hair space}}} is reflexive as well as transitive, another preorder,
• R = {{{Hair space}}(1,2), (2,3), (1,3){{Hair space}}} is transitive, but not reflexive.

As a counter example, the relation on the real numbers is transitive, but not reflexive.

{{main|Transitive closure}}

Let {{mvar|R}} be a binary relation on set {{mvar|X}}. The transitive extension of {{mvar|R}}, denoted {{math|R₁}}, is the smallest binary relation on {{mvar|X}} such that {{math|R₁}} contains {{mvar|R}}, and if {{math|(a, b) ∈ R}} and {{math|(b, c) ∈ R}} then {{math|(a, c) ∈ R₁}}.{{harvnb|Liu|1985|loc=p. 111}} For example, suppose {{mvar|X}} is a set of towns, some of which are connected by roads. Let {{mvar|R}} be the relation on towns where {{math|(A, B) ∈ R}} if there is a road directly linking town {{mvar|A}} and town {{mvar|B}}. This relation need not be transitive. The transitive extension of this relation can be defined by {{math|(A, C) ∈ R₁}} if you can travel between towns {{mvar|A}} and {{mvar|C}} by using at most two roads.

If a relation is transitive then its transitive extension is itself, that is, if {{mvar|R}} is a transitive relation then {{math|1=R₁ = R}}.

The transitive extension of {{math|R₁}} would be denoted by {{math|R₂}}, and continuing in this way, in general, the transitive extension of {{math|R_i}} would be {{math|R_{i + 1}}}. The transitive closure of {{mvar|R}}, denoted by {{math|R*}} or {{math|R^∞}} is the set union of {{mvar|R}}, {{math|R₁}}, {{math|R₂}}, ... .{{harvnb|Liu|1985|loc=p. 112}}

The transitive closure of a relation is a transitive relation.

The relation "is the birth parent of" on a set of people is not a transitive relation. However, in biology the need often arises to consider birth parenthood over an arbitrary number of generations: the relation "is a birth ancestor of" is a transitive relation and it is the transitive closure of the relation "is the birth parent of".

For the example of towns and roads above, {{math|(A, C) ∈ R*}} provided you can travel between towns {{mvar|A}} and {{mvar|C}} using any number of roads.

• Preorder – a reflexive and transitive relation
• Partial order – an antisymmetric preorder
• Total preorder – a connected (formerly called total) preorder
• Equivalence relation – a symmetric preorder
• Strict weak ordering – a strict partial order in which incomparability is an equivalence relation
• Total ordering – a connected (total), antisymmetric, and transitive relation

No general formula that counts the number of transitive relations on a finite set {{OEIS|id=A006905}} is known.Steven R. Finch, [http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~sfinch/csolve/posets.pdf "Transitive relations, topologies and partial orders"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111410/http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~sfinch/csolve/posets.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }}, 2003. However, there is a formula for finding the number of relations that are simultaneously reflexive, symmetric, and transitive – in other words, equivalence relations – {{OEIS|id=A000110}}, those that are symmetric and transitive, those that are symmetric, transitive, and antisymmetric, and those that are total, transitive, and antisymmetric. PfeifferGötz Pfeiffer, "[http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/journals/JIS/VOL7/Pfeiffer/pfeiffer6.html Counting Transitive Relations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204151143/https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/journals/JIS/VOL7/Pfeiffer/pfeiffer6.html |date=2023-02-04 }}", Journal of Integer Sequences, Vol. 7 (2004), Article 04.3.2. has made some progress in this direction, expressing relations with combinations of these properties in terms of each other, but still calculating any one is difficult. See also Brinkmann and McKay (2005).Gunnar Brinkmann and Brendan D. McKay,"[http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/papers/topologies.pdf Counting unlabelled topologies and transitive relations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050720092229/http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/papers/topologies.pdf |date=2005-07-20 }}"

Since the reflexivization of any transitive relation is a preorder, the number of transitive relations an on n-element set is at most 2ⁿ time more than the number of preorders, thus it is asymptotically $2^\{(1/4+o(1))n^2\}$ by results of Kleitman and Rothschild.{{citation|last1=Kleitman|first1=D.|last2=Rothschild|first2=B.|title=The number of finite topologies|journal=Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society|year=1970|volume=25|issue=2|pages=276–282|doi=10.1090/S0002-9939-1970-0253944-9 |jstor=2037205}}

{{number of relations}}

File:Rock-paper-scissors.svg game is based on an intransitive and antitransitive relation "x beats y".]]

A relation R is called intransitive if it is not transitive, that is, if xRy and yRz, but not xRz, for some x, y, z.

In contrast, a relation R is called antitransitive if xRy and yRz always implies that xRz does not hold.

For example, the relation defined by xRy if xy is an even number is intransitive,since e.g. 3R4 and 4R5, but not 3R5 but not antitransitive.since e.g. 2R3 and 3R4 and 2R4 The relation defined by xRy if x is even and y is odd is both transitive and antitransitive.since xRy and yRz can never happen

The relation defined by xRy if x is the successor number of y is both intransitivesince e.g. 3R2 and 2R1, but not 3R1 and antitransitive.since, more generally, xRy and yRz implies x=y+1=z+2≠z+1, i.e. not xRz, for all x, y, z Unexpected examples of intransitivity arise in situations such as political questions or group preferences.{{Cite news|url=https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/11/preferences-are-not-transitive/|title=Preferences are not transitive|last=Drum|first=Kevin|date=November 2018|work=Mother Jones|access-date=2018-11-29|archive-date=2018-11-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129113105/https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/11/preferences-are-not-transitive/|url-status=live}}

Generalized to stochastic versions (stochastic transitivity), the study of transitivity finds applications of in decision theory, psychometrics and utility models.{{Cite journal|last1=Oliveira|first1=I.F.D.|last2=Zehavi|first2=S.|last3=Davidov|first3=O.|date=August 2018|title=Stochastic transitivity: Axioms and models|journal=Journal of Mathematical Psychology|volume=85|pages=25–35|doi=10.1016/j.jmp.2018.06.002|issn=0022-2496}}

A quasitransitive relation is another generalization; it is required to be transitive only on its non-symmetric part. Such relations are used in social choice theory or microeconomics.{{cite journal | last=Sen | first=A. | author-link=Amartya Sen | title=Quasi-transitivity, rational choice and collective decisions | zbl=0181.47302 | journal=Rev. Econ. Stud. | volume=36 | issue=3 | pages=381–393 | year=1969 | doi=10.2307/2296434 | jstor=2296434 }}

Proposition: If R is a univalent, then R;R^T is transitive.

: proof: Suppose $x\; R;R^T\; y\; R;R^T\; z.$ Then there are a and b such that $x\; R\; a\; R^T\; y\; R\; b\; R^T\; z\; .$ Since R is univalent, yRb and aR^Ty imply a=b. Therefore xRaR^Tz, hence xR;R^Tz and R;R^T is transitive.

Corollary: If R is univalent, then R;R^T is an equivalence relation on the domain of R.

: proof: R;R^T is symmetric and reflexive on its domain. With univalence of R, the transitive requirement for equivalence is fulfilled.

• Transitive reduction
• Intransitive dice
• Rational choice theory
• Hypothetical syllogism — transitivity of the material conditional

{{reflist}}

• {{citation|first=Ralph P.|last=Grimaldi|author-link=Ralph Grimaldi|title=Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics|year=1994|publisher=Addison-Wesley|edition=3rd|isbn=0-201-19912-2}}
• {{citation|first=C.L.|last=Liu|title=Elements of Discrete Mathematics|year=1985|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=0-07-038133-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/elementsofdiscre00liuc}}
• Gunther Schmidt, 2010. Relational Mathematics. Cambridge University Press, {{isbn|978-0-521-76268-7}}.
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• Pfeiffer, G. (2004). Counting transitive relations. Journal of Integer Sequences, 7(2), 3.

• {{springer|title=Transitivity|id=p/t093810}}
• [http://www.cut-the-knot.org/triangle/remarkable.shtml Transitivity in Action] at cut-the-knot

Category:Elementary algebra