Alphabeta Math
CounterexampleConstruction: AI-adaptedVerification: AI-adaptedprecheck passverified 2026-08-06 (claude-opus-5)
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A symmetric and transitive relation on a two-element set that is not reflexive on it

Statement refuted

Refuted claim: a symmetric and transitive relation on a set A is reflexive on A. Write u:=∅ and v:={∅}, put A:={u,v} and

R:={(u,u)}.

R is a relation on A that is symmetric and transitive, and it is not reflexive on A, because (v,v)∉R.

The failure is located exactly at the point of A that R does not touch: R is reflexive on its own field {u}, and symmetry and transitivity constrain R only there.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: u:=∅, v:={∅}, A:={u,v} and R:={(u,u)}.

[L1]

R is reflexive on A when (a,a)∈R for every a∈A (Reflexive, irreflexive, symmetric, asymmetric, antisymmetric, transitive, and connex relations on a set).

[L2]

R is symmetric when (a,b)∈R implies (b,a)∈R, for all a,b∈A (Reflexive, irreflexive, symmetric, asymmetric, antisymmetric, transitive, and connex relations on a set).

[L3]

R is transitive when (a,b)∈R and (b,c)∈R imply (a,c)∈R, for all a,b,c∈A (Reflexive, irreflexive, symmetric, asymmetric, antisymmetric, transitive, and connex relations on a set).

[L5]

dom⁡R:={ a:∃b (a,b)∈R },ran⁡R:={ b:∃a (a,b)∈R } (Relation, dom⁡R, ran⁡R, fld⁡R, and the specialisations "relation from A to B" and "relation on A").

[L6]

There is exactly one set with no elements, written ∅ (There is exactly one set with no elements, written ∅).

[L7]

{x,y} is the set whose elements are exactly x and y, and {x}:={x,x} (The unordered pair {x,y} and the singleton {x}={x,x}).

[L8]

z∈A×B holds if and only if z=(a,b) for some a∈A and some b∈B (The Cartesian product A×B:={ z∈P(P(A∪B)):∃a∈A ∃b∈B z=(a,b) }).

[L9]

(a,b)=(c,d) if and only if a=c and b=d ((a,b)=(c,d) if and only if a=c and b=d).

[L10]

Counterexample

technique · direct
1.1

u≠v, because v has the element u and u has none; so A has exactly the two elements u and v.

L6L7
2.1

R is a relation on A: its only element is the ordered pair (u,u), and both coordinates lie in A, so R⊆A×A.

L4L8L10step 1.1
3.1

The three characteristic sets of R are dom⁡R=ran⁡R=fld⁡R={u}, since (u,u) is its only pair.

L5L7L9L11L12step 2.1
3.2

R is symmetric: the only pair in R is (u,u), whose reversal is itself. It is transitive: the only composable pair of members is (u,u) with (u,u), and the required conclusion (u,u)∈R holds.

L2L3L9step 2.1
4.1

R is reflexive on fld⁡R: the only element of {u} is u, and (u,u)∈R.

L1L7step 3.1
5.1

R is not reflexive on A: v∈A, and (v,v)≠(u,u) because v≠u, so (v,v)∉R. The failure is therefore confined to the single element of A lying outside fld⁡R; symmetry and transitivity say nothing about such a point, which is exactly why they do not imply reflexivity on A.

L1L9step 1.1step 2.1step 3.1step 3.2step 4.1∎

Depends on

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