Some Basic Concepts about Functions
Please read this handout carefully and ask questions in office hours
about any aspect you don’t fully understand.
§1: Basic Definitions
Definition. Let A and B be sets.
• A function f : A → B means that for every a ∈ A, there is a
unique f (a) ∈ B. We call A the domain of f .
• Two functions f, g : A → B are equal, written f = g, if f (a) = g(a)
for all a ∈ A.
Definition. Given functions f : A → B and g : B → C, the composition
g ◦ f : A → C is the function defined by
(g ◦ f )(a) = g(f (a)) for all a ∈ A.
Example. Let f : R → R be f (x) = x2 and g : R → R be g(x) = sin(x).
Then (g ◦ f )(x) = sin(x2 ) and (f ◦ g)(x) = sin(x)2 = sin2 (x).
§2: One-to-One and Onto
Definition. A function f : A → B is:
• one-to-one or 1-1 or injective if for all elements a, b ∈ A,
a 6= b =⇒ f (a) 6= f (b).
• onto or surjective if for every b ∈ B there is at least one a ∈ A
such that f (a) = b.
Facts about One-to-One.
• One-to-one is equivalent to saying that f : A → B is one-to-one if
for all elements a, b ∈ A,
f (a) = f (b) =⇒ a = b.
Example. sin : R → R is not one-to-one but sin : [−π/2, π/2] → R is.
Facts about Onto.
• The range of a function f : A → B is the set
R(f ) = {f (a) | a ∈ A} ⊆ B.
• A function f : A → B is onto if and only if R(f ) = B, i.e., its range
is as big as possible. Be sure you understand this.
Example. sin : R → R is not onto but sin : R → [−1, 1] is onto since [−1, 1]
is the range of sin. Be sure you understand this.
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§3: Inverse Functions and Bijections
Definition.
• Given any set A, the identity function IA : A → A is the function
defined by IA (a) = a for every a ∈ A.
• Functions f : A → B and g : B → A are called inverse functions
if g ◦ f = IA and f ◦ g = IB .
• A function is bijective if it is one-to-one and onto.
Facts about Inverse Functions.
• Functions f : A → B and g : B → A are inverse functions if and
only if
g(f (a)) = a for all a ∈ A
f (g(b)) = b for all b ∈ B.
• If f : A → B has an inverse function, then the inverse is unique and
is denoted f −1 : B → A.
• If f : A → B has an inverse function f −1 , then f is the inverse of
f −1 , i.e., (f −1 )−1 = f .
Examples of Inverse Functions.
• Let R>0 = (0, ∞) be the set of positive real numbers. Then the
functions ex = exp(x) and ln(x) from calculus give inverse functions
exp : R → R>0 , ln : R>0 → R
since
exp(ln(x)) = eln(x) = x for all x ∈ R>0
ln(exp(x)) = ln(ex ) = x for all x ∈ R.
• sin : [−π/2, π/2] → [−1, 1] and sin−1 = arcsin : [−1, 1] → [−π/2, π/2]
are inverse functions. You studied these functions in calculus.
Facts about Bijections and Inverse Functions
• f : A → B has an inverse function if and only f is bijective.
• If f : A → B and h : B → C are bijections, then the composition
h ◦ f : A → C is a bijection. Furthermore, its inverse function is
given by (h ◦ f )−1 = f −1 ◦ h−1 .
Example of a Bijection. The squaring function f : [0, ∞) → [0, ∞)
defined by f (x) = x2 is bijective (do you see why?). Hence it has an inverse
function f −1 :√[0, ∞) → [0, ∞), which is clearly the square root function,
i.e., f −1 (x) = x.
The “Facts” stated above are theorems whose proofs we will skip. Math 220
covers this material in detail. See also page 156 of the linear algebra text.
