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Exercise 3.3.4 (Cancellation laws for composition)

In this section we give some cancellation laws for composition. Let f : X → Y , f~: X → Y , g: Y → Z, and g~: Y → Z. Show that if g ∘ f = g ∘f~ and g is injective, then f = f~. Is the same statement true if g is not injective? Show that if g ∘ f = g~ ∘ f and f is surjective, then g = g~. Is the same statement true if f is not surjective?

Answers

For the first claim, suppose f≠f~. Then there exists some x ∈ X such that f(x)≠f~(x). Since g is injective, this implies that (g ∘ f)(x)≠(g ∘f~)(x) which contradicts the assumption that g ∘ f = g ∘f~. If g is not injective, this statement is not true. As a counter example, let c ∈ Z and consider g such that g(y) = c for all y ∈ Y (assuming Y ≠{y}). This g is not injective and clearly g ∘ f = g ∘f~ for any f and f~ considered, including where f≠f~.

For the second claim, suppose g≠g~. This implies that there exists a y ∈ Y such that g(y)≠g~(y). Since f is surjective, there exists x ∈ X such that f(x) = y. So we have (g ∘ f)(x)≠(g~ ∘ f)(x) which contradicts the assumption that g ∘ f = g~ ∘ f. If f is not surjective this statement is not true. As a counter example, consider f a constant function, i.e. let f(x) = a, a ∈ Y (again assuming Y ≠{a}) for all x ∈ X. Then, f is not surjective. Then, g ∘ f = g~ ∘ f implies g and g~ are equal at a, i.e. g(a) = g~(a), but can differ at any other point a′∈ Y , a≠a′ and so does not imply that g = g~.

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2022-02-21 12:11
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