Partially ordered set

Binary relations 

Symmetric Antisymmetric Connex Well- Has Has

founded joins meets
Equivalence ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
relation
Preorder ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
(Quasiorder)
Partial order ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
Total preorder ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗
Total order ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗
Prewellordering ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗
Well-quasi- ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗
ordering
Well-ordering ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗
Lattice ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓
Join-semilattice ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗
Meet-semilattice ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓

A "✓" indicates that the column property is required in the row definition.
For example, the definition of an equivalence relation requires it to be symmetric.
All definitions tacitly require transitivity and reflexivity.
In mathematics, especially order theory, a
partially ordered set (also poset)
formalizes and generalizes the intuitive
concept of an ordering, sequencing, or
arrangement of the elements of a set. A
poset consists of a set together with a
binary relation indicating that, for certain
pairs of elements in the set, one of the
elements precedes the other in the
ordering. The relation itself is called a
"partial order." The word partial in the
names "partial order" and "partially ordered
set" is used as an indication that not every
pair of elements needs to be comparable.
That is, there may be pairs of elements for
which neither element precedes the other
in the poset. Partial orders thus generalize
total orders, in which every pair is
comparable.

The Hasse diagram of the set of all subsets of a

three-element set {x, y, z}, ordered by inclusion.
Distinct sets on the same horizontal level are
incomparable with each other. Some other pairs, such
as {x} and {y, z}, are also incomparable.

Formally, a partial order is any binary

relation that is reflexive (each element is
comparable to itself), antisymmetric (no
two different elements precede each
other), and transitive (the start of a chain
of precedence relations must precede the
end of the chain).

One familiar example of a partially ordered

set is a collection of people ordered by
genealogical descendancy. Some pairs of
people bear the descendant-ancestor
relationship, but other pairs of people are
incomparable, with neither being a
descendant of the other.

A poset can be visualized through its

Hasse diagram, which depicts the ordering
relation.[1]
Formal definition
A (non-strict) partial order[2] is a
homogeneous binary relation ≤ over a set
P satisfying particular axioms which are
discussed below. When a ≤ b, we say that
a is related to b. (This does not imply that
b is also related to a, because the relation
need not be symmetric.)

The axioms for a non-strict partial order

state that the relation ≤ is reflexive,
antisymmetric, and transitive. That is, for
all a, b, and c in P, it must satisfy:

1. a ≤ a (reflexivity: every element is

related to itself).
 2. if a ≤ b and b ≤ a, then a = b
(antisymmetry: two distinct elements
cannot be related in both directions).
3. if a ≤ b and b ≤ c, then a ≤ c
(transitivity: if a first element is
related to a second element, and, in
turn, that element is related to a third
element, then the first element is
related to the third element).

In other words, a partial order is an

antisymmetric preorder.

A set with a partial order is called a

partially ordered set (also called a poset).
The term ordered set is sometimes also
used, as long as it is clear from the context
that no other kind of order is meant. In
particular, totally ordered sets can also be
referred to as "ordered sets", especially in
areas where these structures are more
common than posets.

For a, b, elements of a partially ordered set

P, if a ≤ b or b ≤ a, then a and b are
comparable. Otherwise they are
incomparable. In the figure on top-right,
e.g. {x} and {x, y, z} are comparable, while
{x} and {y} are not. A partial order under
which every pair of elements is
comparable is called a total order or linear
order; a totally ordered set is also called a
chain (e.g., the natural numbers with their
standard order). A subset of a poset in
which no two distinct elements are
comparable is called an antichain (e.g. the
set of singletons {{x}, {y}, {z}} in the top-
right figure). An element a is said to be
strictly less than an element b, if a ≤ b and
a ≠ b. An element a is said to be covered
by another element b, written a ⋖ b (or a <:
b), if a is strictly less than b and no third
element c fits between them; formally: if
both a ≤ b and a ≠ b are true, and a ≤ c ≤ b
is false for each c with a ≠ c ≠ b. A more
concise definition will be given below
using the strict order corresponding to "≤".
For example, {x} is covered by {x, z} in the
top-right figure, but not by {x, y, z}.
Examples
Standard examples of posets arising in
mathematics include:

The real numbers ordered by the

standard less-than-or-equal relation ≤ (a
totally ordered set as well).
The set of subsets of a given set (its
power set) ordered by inclusion (see the
figure on top-right). Similarly, the set of
sequences ordered by subsequence,
and the set of strings ordered by
substring.
The set of natural numbers equipped
with the relation of divisibility.
The vertex set of a directed acyclic
graph ordered by reachability.
The set of subspaces of a vector space
ordered by inclusion.
For a partially ordered set P, the
sequence space containing all
sequences of elements from P, where
sequence a precedes sequence b if
every item in a precedes the
corresponding item in b. Formally,
(an)n∈ℕ ≤ (bn)n∈ℕ if and only if an ≤ bn
for all n in ℕ, i.e. a componentwise
order.
For a set X and a partially ordered set P,
the function space containing all
 functions from X to P, where f ≤ g if and
only if f(x) ≤ g(x) for all x in X.
A fence, a partially ordered set defined
by an alternating sequence of order
relations a < b > c < d ...
The set of events in special relativity
and, in most cases,[3] general relativity,
where for two events X and Y, X ≤ Y if
and only if Y is in the future light cone of
X. An event Y can only be causally
affected by X if X ≤ Y.

Extrema
Nonnegative integers, ordered by divisibility
The figure above with the greatest and least elements
removed. In this reduced poset, the top row of
elements are all maximal elements, and the bottom
row are all minimal elements, but there is no greatest
and no least element. The set {x, y} is an upper bound
for the collection of elements {{x}, {y}}.

There are several notions of "greatest" and

"least" element in a poset P, notably:

Greatest element and least element: An

element g in P is a greatest element if
for every element a in P, a ≤ g. An
element m in P is a least element if for
every element a in P, a ≥ m. A poset can
only have one greatest or least element.
Maximal elements and minimal
elements: An element g in P is a
maximal element if there is no element
a in P such that a > g. Similarly, an
element m in P is a minimal element if
there is no element a in P such that
a < m. If a poset has a greatest element,
it must be the unique maximal element,
but otherwise there can be more than
one maximal element, and similarly for
least elements and minimal elements.
 Upper and lower bounds: For a subset A
of P, an element x in P is an upper bound
of A if a ≤ x, for each element a in A. In
particular, x need not be in A to be an
upper bound of A. Similarly, an element x
in P is a lower bound of A if a ≥ x, for
each element a in A. A greatest element
of P is an upper bound of P itself, and a
least element is a lower bound of P.

For example, consider the positive

integers, ordered by divisibility: 1 is a least
element, as it divides all other elements;
on the other hand this poset does not have
a greatest element (although if one would
include 0 in the poset, which is a multiple
of any integer, that would be a greatest
element; see figure). This partially ordered
set does not even have any maximal
elements, since any g divides for instance
2g, which is distinct from it, so g is not
maximal. If the number 1 is excluded,
while keeping divisibility as ordering on the
elements greater than 1, then the resulting
poset does not have a least element, but
any prime number is a minimal element for
it. In this poset, 60 is an upper bound
(though not a least upper bound) of the
subset {2, 3, 5, 10}, which does not have
any lower bound (since 1 is not in the
poset); on the other hand 2 is a lower
bound of the subset of powers of 2, which
does not have any upper bound.

Orders on the Cartesian

product of partially ordered
sets

Reflexive closure of strict direct product order on

ℕ×ℕ. Elements covered by (3,3) and covering (3,3) are
highlighted in green and red, respectively.
Product order on ℕ×ℕ

Lexicographic order on ℕ×ℕ

In order of increasing strength, i.e.,

decreasing sets of pairs, three of the
possible partial orders on the Cartesian
product of two partially ordered sets are
(see figures):

the lexicographical order:   (a,b) ≤ (c,d) if

a < c or (a = c and b ≤ d);
the product order:   (a,b) ≤ (c,d) if a ≤ c
and b ≤ d;
the reflexive closure of the direct
product of the corresponding strict
orders:   (a,b) ≤ (c,d) if (a < c and b < d) or
(a = c and b = d).

All three can similarly be defined for the

Cartesian product of more than two sets.
Applied to ordered vector spaces over the
same field, the result is in each case also
an ordered vector space.

See also orders on the Cartesian product

of totally ordered sets.

Sums of partially ordered sets

Hasse diagram of a series-parallel partial order,

formed as the ordinal sum of three smaller partial
orders.

Another way to combine two posets is the

ordinal sum[4] (or linear sum[5]), Z = X ⊕ Y,
defined on the union of the underlying sets
X and Y by the order a ≤Z b if and only if:

a, b ∈ X with a ≤X b, or
a, b ∈ Y with a ≤Y b, or
a ∈ X and b ∈ Y.

If two posets are well-ordered, then so is

their ordinal sum.[6] The ordinal sum
operation is one of two operations used to
form series-parallel partial orders, and in
this context is called series composition.
The other operation used to form these
orders, the disjoint union of two partially
ordered sets (with no order relation
between elements of one set and
elements of the other set) is called in this
context parallel composition.

Strict and non-strict partial

orders
In some contexts, the partial order defined
above is called a non-strict (or reflexive)
partial order. In these contexts, a strict (or
irreflexive) partial order "<" is a binary
relation that is irreflexive, transitive and
asymmetric, that is, which satisfies the
following relations for all a, b, and c in P:

not a < a (irreflexivity),

if a < b and b < c then a < c (transitivity),
and
if a < b then not b < a (asymmetry;
implies irreflexivity; implied by
irreflexivity and transitivity).[7]

Strict and non-strict partial orders are

closely related. A non-strict partial order
may be converted to a strict partial order
by removing all relationships of the form a
≤ a. Conversely, a strict partial order may
be converted to a non-strict partial order
by adjoining all relationships of that form.
Thus, if "≤" is a non-strict partial order, then
the corresponding strict partial order "<" is
the irreflexive kernel given by

a < b if a ≤ b and a ≠ b.

Conversely, if "<" is a strict partial order,

then the corresponding non-strict partial
order "≤" is the reflexive closure given by:

a ≤ b if a < b or a = b.

This is the reason for using the notation

"≤".

Using the strict order "<", the relation "a is

covered by b" can be equivalently
rephrased as "a < b, but not a < c < b for
any c". Strict partial orders are useful
because they correspond more directly to
directed acyclic graphs (dags): every strict
partial order is a dag, and the transitive
closure of a dag is both a strict partial
order and also a dag itself.

Inverse and order dual

The inverse (or converse) of a partial order
relation ≤ is the converse of ≤. Typically
denoted ≥, it is the relation that satisfies
x ≥ y if and only if y ≤ x. The inverse of a
partial order relation is reflexive, transitive,
and antisymmetric, and hence itself a
partial order relation. The order dual of a
partially ordered set is the same set with
the partial order relation replaced by its
inverse. The irreflexive relation > is to ≥ as
< is to ≤.

Any one of the four relations ≤, <, ≥, and >

on a given set uniquely determines the
other three.

In general two elements x and y of a partial

order may stand in any of four mutually
exclusive relationships to each other:
either x < y, or x = y, or x > y, or x and y are
incomparable (none of the other three). A
totally ordered set is one that rules out this
fourth possibility: all pairs of elements are
comparable and we then say that
trichotomy holds. The natural numbers,
the integers, the rationals, and the reals
are all totally ordered by their algebraic
(signed) magnitude whereas the complex
numbers are not. This is not to say that the
complex numbers cannot be totally
ordered; we could for example order them
lexicographically via x + iy < u + iv if and
only if x < u or (x = u and y < v), but this is
not ordering by magnitude in any
reasonable sense as it makes 1 greater
than 100i. Ordering them by absolute
magnitude yields a preorder in which all
pairs are comparable, but this is not a
partial order since 1 and i have the same
absolute magnitude but are not equal,
violating antisymmetry.

Mappings between partially

ordered sets

Order isomorphism between the divisors of 120

(partially ordered by divisibility) and the divisor-closed
subsets of {2, 3, 4, 5, 8} (partially ordered by set
inclusion)
Order-preserving, but not order-reflecting (since f(u) ≤
f(v), but not u ≤ v) map.

Given two partially ordered sets (S, ≤) and

(T, ≤), a function f: S → T is called order-
preserving, or monotone, or isotone, if for
all x and y in S, x ≤ y implies f(x) ≤ f(y). If (U,
≤) is also a partially ordered set, and both
f: S → T and g: T → U are order-preserving,
their composition g∘f : S → U is order-
preserving, too. A function f: S → T is
called order-reflecting if for all x and y in
S, f(x) ≤ f(y) implies x ≤ y. If f is both order-
preserving and order-reflecting, then it is
called an order-embedding of (S, ≤) into (T,
≤). In the latter case, f is necessarily
injective, since f(x) = f(y) implies x ≤ y and
y ≤ x. If an order-embedding between two
posets S and T exists, one says that S can
be embedded into T. If an order-
embedding f: S → T is bijective, it is called
an order isomorphism, and the partial
orders (S, ≤) and (T, ≤) are said to be
isomorphic. Isomorphic orders have
structurally similar Hasse diagrams (cf.
right picture). It can be shown that if order-
preserving maps f: S → T and g: T → S
exist such that g∘f and f∘g yields the
identity function on S and T, respectively,
then S and T are order-isomorphic. [8]

For example, a mapping f: ℕ → ℙ(ℕ) from

the set of natural numbers (ordered by
divisibility) to the power set of natural
numbers (ordered by set inclusion) can be
defined by taking each number to the set
of its prime divisors. It is order-preserving:
if x divides y, then each prime divisor of x
is also a prime divisor of y. However, it is
neither injective (since it maps both 12
and 6 to {2, 3}) nor order-reflecting (since
12 doesn't divide 6). Taking instead each
number to the set of its prime power
divisors defines a map g: ℕ → ℙ(ℕ) that is
order-preserving, order-reflecting, and
hence an order-embedding. It is not an
order-isomorphism (since it e.g. doesn't
map any number to the set {4}), but it can
be made one by restricting its codomain to
g(ℕ). The right picture shows a subset of
ℕ and its isomorphic image under g. The
construction of such an order-
isomorphism into a power set can be
generalized to a wide class of partial
orders, called distributive lattices, see
"Birkhoff's representation theorem".

Number of partial orders

Sequence A001035 in OEIS gives the
number of partial orders on a set of n
labeled elements:

Number of n-element binary relations of different types

Elem‐ Partial Total Total Equivalenc
Any Transitive Reflexive Preorder
ents order preorder order relatio

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1

2 16 13 4 4 3 3 2

3 512 171 64 29 19 13 6

4 65,536 3,994 4,096 355 219 75 24 1

2 2
n 2n 2n −n
∑k=0n k! S(n, k)
  n! ∑k=0n S(n, k
 

OEIS A002416 A006905 A053763 A000798 A001035 A000670 A000142 A00011

The number of strict partial orders is the

same as that of partial orders.

If the count is made only up to

isomorphism, the sequence 1, 1, 2, 5, 16,
63, 318, … (sequence A000112 in the OEIS)
is obtained.
Linear extension
A partial order ≤* on a set X is an
extension of another partial order ≤ on X
provided that for all elements x and y of X,
whenever x ≤ y, it is also the case that
x ≤* y. A linear extension is an extension
that is also a linear (i.e., total) order. Every
partial order can be extended to a total
order (order-extension principle).[9]

In computer science, algorithms for

finding linear extensions of partial orders
(represented as the reachability orders of
directed acyclic graphs) are called
topological sorting.
In category theory
Every poset (and every preordered set)
may be considered as a category where,
for objects x and y, there is at most one
morphism from x to y. More explicitly, let
hom(x, y) = {(x, y)} if x ≤ y (and otherwise
the empty set) and (y, z)∘(x, y) = (x, z). Such
categories are sometimes called posetal.

Posets are equivalent to one another if and

only if they are isomorphic. In a poset, the
smallest element, if it exists, is an initial
object, and the largest element, if it exists,
is a terminal object. Also, every preordered
set is equivalent to a poset. Finally, every
subcategory of a poset is isomorphism-
closed.

Partial orders in topological

spaces
If P is a partially ordered set that has also
been given the structure of a topological
space, then it is customary to assume that
is a closed subset of the
topological product space . Under
this assumption partial order relations are
well behaved at limits in the sense that if
, and , and for all  
, then .[10]
Intervals
An interval in a poset P is a subset I of P
with the property that, for any x and y in I
and any z in P, if x ≤ z ≤ y, then z is also in
I. (This definition generalizes the interval
definition for real numbers.)

For a ≤ b, the closed interval [a, b] is the

set of elements x satisfying a ≤ x ≤ b (i.e. a
≤ x and x ≤ b). It contains at least the
elements a and b.

Using the corresponding strict relation "<",

the open interval (a, b) is the set of
elements x satisfying a < x < b (i.e. a < x
and x < b). An open interval may be empty
even if a < b. For example, the open
interval (1, 2) on the integers is empty
since there are no integers I such that
1 < I < 2.

The half-open intervals [a, b) and (a, b] are

defined similarly.

Sometimes the definitions are extended to

allow a > b, in which case the interval is
empty.

An interval I is bounded if there exist

elements a and b of P such that I ⊆ [a, b].
Every interval that can be represented in
interval notation is obviously bounded, but
the converse is not true. For example, let
P = (0, 1) ∪ (1, 2) ∪ (2, 3) as a subposet of
the real numbers. The subset (1, 2) is a
bounded interval, but it has no infimum or
supremum in P, so it cannot be written in
interval notation using elements of P.

A poset is called locally finite if every

bounded interval is finite. For example, the
integers are locally finite under their
natural ordering. The lexicographical order
on the cartesian product ℕ×ℕ is not locally
finite, since
(1, 2) ≤ (1, 3) ≤ (1, 4) ≤ (1, 5) ≤ ... ≤ (2, 1).
Using the interval notation, the property "a
is covered by b" can be rephrased
equivalently as [a, b] = {a, b}.
This concept of an interval in a partial
order should not be confused with the
particular class of partial orders known as
the interval orders.

See also
Antimatroid, a formalization of orderings
on a set that allows more general
families of orderings than posets
Causal set, a poset-based approach to
quantum gravity
Comparability graph
Complete partial order
Directed set
Graded poset
Incidence algebra
lattice
Locally finite poset
Möbius function on posets
Nested Set Collection
Order polytope
Ordered group
Poset topology, a kind of topological
space that can be defined from any
poset
Scott continuity – continuity of a
function between two partial orders.
Semilattice
 Semiorder
Stochastic dominance
Strict weak ordering – strict partial order
"<" in which the relation "neither a < b
nor b < a" is transitive.
Total order
Tree (data structure of set inclusion)
Zorn's lemma

Notes
1. Merrifield, Richard E.; Simmons,
Howard E. (1989). Topological
Methods in Chemistry . New York:
John Wiley & Sons. pp. 28 . ISBN 0-
471-83817-9. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
 "A partially ordered set is conveniently
represented by a Hasse diagram..."
2. Simovici, Dan A. & Djeraba, Chabane
(2008). "Partially Ordered Sets" .
Mathematical Tools for Data Mining:
Set Theory, Partial Orders,
Combinatorics. Springer.
ISBN 9781848002012.
3. See General_relativity#Time_travel
4. Neggers, J.; Kim, Hee Sik (1998), "4.2
Product Order and Lexicographic
Order", Basic Posets, World Scientific,
pp. 62–63, ISBN 9789810235895
5. Davey, B. A.; Priestley, H. A. (2002).
Introduction to Lattices and Order
 (Second ed.). New York: Cambridge
University Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN 0-
521-78451-4 – via Google Books.
. P. R. Halmos (1974). Naive Set
Theory . Springer. p. 82 . ISBN 978-1-
4757-1645-0.
7. Flaška, V.; Ježek, J.; Kepka, T.;
Kortelainen, J. (2007). Transitive
Closures of Binary Relations I .
Prague: School of Mathematics -
Physics Charles University. p. 1.
Lemma 1.1 (iv). This source refers to
asymmetric relations as "strictly
antisymmetric".
 . Davey, B. A.; Priestley, H. A. (2002).
"Maps between ordered sets" .
Introduction to Lattices and Order (2nd
ed.). New York: Cambridge University
Press. pp. 23–24. ISBN 0-521-78451-
4. MR 1902334 ..
9. Jech, Thomas (2008) [1973]. The
Axiom of Choice. Dover Publications.
ISBN 978-0-486-46624-8.
10. Ward, L. E. Jr (1954). "Partially Ordered
Topological Spaces" . Proceedings of
the American Mathematical Society. 5
(1): 144–161. doi:10.1090/S0002-
9939-1954-0063016-5 .
hdl:10338.dmlcz/101379 .
References
Deshpande, Jayant V. (1968). "On
Continuity of a Partial Order" .
Proceedings of the American
Mathematical Society. 19 (2): 383–386.
doi:10.1090/S0002-9939-1968-
0236071-7 .
Schmidt, Gunther (2010). Relational
Mathematics. Encyclopedia of
Mathematics and its Applications. 132.
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-
0-521-76268-7.
Bernd Schröder (11 May 2016). Ordered
Sets: An Introduction with Connections
 from Combinatorics to Topology .
Birkhäuser. ISBN 978-3-319-29788-0.
Stanley, Richard P. (1997). Enumerative
Combinatorics 1. Cambridge Studies in
Advanced Mathematics. 49. Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 0-521-66351-2.

External links

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OEIS sequence A001035 (Number of

posets with n labeled elements)
OEIS sequence A000112 (Number of
partially ordered sets ("posets") with n
 unlabeled elements.)

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