In mathematics, an unordered pair or pair set is a set of the form {a, b}, i.e. a set having two elements a and b with no particular relation between them. In contrast, an ordered pair (a, b) has a as its first element and b as its second element.
While the two elements of an ordered pair (a, b) need not be distinct, modern authors only call {a, b} an unordered pair if a ≠ b. But for a few authors a singleton is also considered an unordered pair, although today, most would say that {a,a} is a multiset. It is typical to use the term unordered pair even in the situation where the elements a and b could be equal, as long as this equality has not yet been established.
A set with precisely 2 elements is also called a 2-set or (rarely) a binary set.
An unordered pair is a finite set; its cardinality (number of elements) is 2 or (if the two elements are not distinct) 1.
In axiomatic set theory, the existence of unordered pairs is required by an axiom, the axiom of pairing.
More generally, an unordered n-tuple is a set of the form {a1, ,a2,... an}.
Famous quotes containing the word pair:
“With two sons born eighteen months apart, I operated mainly on automatic pilot through the ceaseless activity of their early childhood. I remember opening the refrigerator late one night and finding a roll of aluminum foil next to a pair of small red tennies. Certain that I was responsible for the refrigerated shoes, I quickly closed the door and ran upstairs to make sure I had put the babies in their cribs instead of the linen closet.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)