In mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, the symmetric closure of a binary relation

Binary relation

In mathematics, a binary relation on a set A is a collection of ordered pairs of elements of A. In other words, it is a subset of the Cartesian product A2 = . More generally, a binary relation between two sets A and B is a subset of...

 R on a set X is the smallest symmetric relation

Symmetric relation

In mathematics, a binary relation R over a set X is symmetric if it holds for all a and b in X that if a is related to b then b is related to a.In mathematical notation, this is:...

 on X that contains R.

For example, if X is a set of airports and xRy means "there is a direct flight from airport x to airport y", then the symmetric closure of R is the relation "there is a direct flight either from x to y or from y to x". Or, if X is the set of humans (alive or dead) and R is the relation 'parent of', then the symmetric closure of R is the relation "x is a parent or a child of y".

Definition

The symmetric closure S of a relation R on a set X is given by


In other words, the symmetric closure of R is the union of R with its inverse relation

Inverse relation

In mathematics, the inverse relation of a binary relation is the relation that occurs when you switch the order of the elements in the relation. For example, the inverse of the relation 'child of' is the relation 'parent of'...

, R ^-1.