Difference between revisions of "Inverse"

(Help! I need to know what to name the page for inverses under an operation.)
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Disambiguation:
 
 
* [[Function/Introduction#The_Inverse_of_a_Function|Inverse of a function]]
 
 
* [[Logical inverse]]
 
 
* Inverse with respect to an [[operation]], such as in a [[group]] (see also [[identity]])  (see below)
 
 
 
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What should the page which the third item above links to be called?  Here is some content for it, but I don't know what to call the page:
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* [[Function/Introduction#The_Inverse_of_a_Function|Inverse of a function]]
 
 
 
 
 
 
Suppose we have a [[binary operation]] G on a set S, <math>G:S\times S \to S</math>, and suppose this operation has an [[identity]] e, so that for every <math>g\in S</math> we have <math>G(e, g) = G(g, e) = g</math>.  An '''inverse to g''' under this operation is an element <math>h \in S</math> such that <math>G(h, g) = G(g, h) = e</math>.
 
 
 
If our operation is not [[commutative]], we can talk separately about ''left inverses'' and ''right inverses''.  A left inverse of g would be some h such that <math>G(h, g) = e</math> while a right inverse would be some h such that <math>G(g, h) = e</math>.
 
  
==Uniqueness (under appropriate conditions)==
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* Inverse could mean the [[negative]] of a number, or its [[reciprocal]], which both also fit in the the article below:
If the operation G is [[associative]] and an element has both a right and left inverse, these two inverses are equal.
 
===Proof===
 
Let g be the element with left inverse h and right inverse h', so <math>G(h, g) = G(g, h') = e</math>.  Then <math>G(G(h, g), h') = G(e, h') = h'</math>, by the properties of e.  But by associativity, <math>\displaystyle G(G(h, g), h') = G(h, G(g, h')) = G(h, e) = h</math>, so we do indeed have <math>h = h'</math>.
 
  
===Corollary===
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* [[Inverse with respect to an operation]], such as in a [[group]] (see also [[identity]])
If the operation G is associative, inverses are unique.
 

Latest revision as of 11:42, 23 November 2007


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  • Inverse could mean the negative of a number, or its reciprocal, which both also fit in the the article below: