Alphabeta Math
TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedprecheck passverified 2026-08-06 (claude-opus-5)
How statement and proof provenance work

The first chip identifies the source of the statement or construction; the second identifies the source of its local proof or verification.

  • Literature-sourced: the exact statement appears in a cited source; only wording and notation differ.
  • AI-adapted: a semantically identical restatement of literature-sourced material, modulo indexing, notation, and boundary cases adopted by the library.
  • AI-generated: a genuinely novel statement formulated by AI, with no source for the claim itself.

These labels describe origin, not correctness: citations and verification chips remain separate evidence.

Let ∼ be an equivalence relation on A with quotient map π:A→A/∼, and let f:A→B. There is a function g:A/∼→B with g∘π=f if and only if a∼a′ implies f(a)=f(a′); and such a g is then unique

Statement

Let ∼ be an equivalence relation on a set A, let A/∼ be its quotient set and let π:={ (a,C)∈A×(A/∼):C=[a] }, the quotient map. Let f:A→B. Then π is a surjective function A→A/∼ with π(a)=[a], and:

  • (i) there is a function g:A/∼→B with g∘π=f if and only if f(a)=f(a′) whenever a∼a′;
  • (ii) when such a g exists it is unique, and it satisfies g([a])=f(a) for every a∈A.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: an equivalence relation ∼ on a set A and a function f:A→B.

[L1]
[L2]

symmetric: a∼b implies b∼a, for all a,b∈A (Equivalence relation, equivalence class, and the quotient set A/∼).

[L3]

transitive: a∼b and b∼c imply a∼c, for all a,b,c∈A (Equivalence relation, equivalence class, and the quotient set A/∼).

[L4]

[a]  :=  { b∈A  :  a∼b }  ⊆  A (Equivalence relation, equivalence class, and the quotient set A/∼).

[L5]

A/∼  :=  { [a]  :  a∈A } (Equivalence relation, equivalence class, and the quotient set A/∼).

[L6]

We write f:A→B, and say f is a function from A to B, when f is a function with dom⁡f=A and ran⁡f⊆B (A function is a relation f with (a,b)∈f and (a,c)∈f implying b=c; f:A→B, the value f(a), domain and codomain).

[L7]

f=g if and only if dom⁡f=dom⁡g and f(x)=g(x) for every x∈dom⁡f (Functions f and g are equal if and only if dom⁡f=dom⁡g and f(x)=g(x) for every x in that common domain).

[L8]

f is surjective (onto) if for every b∈B there is some x∈A with f(x)=b (Injection, surjection, bijection).

[L9]

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) }).

[L10]

For any parameters pˉ and any set x, there is a set y whose elements are exactly the elements z of x for which φ(z,pˉ) holds (The Axiom Schema of Separation: for each formula φ, ∀pˉ ∀x ∃y ∀z (z∈y↔(z∈x∧φ(z,pˉ)))).

[L12]

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").

[L13]

z∈P(x) holds if and only if z⊆x (The power set P(x)={ z:z⊆x }).

[L14]

Proof

technique · direct
1.1

[a]=[a′] holds if and only if a∼a′. If a∼a′, then for b∈A we get b∈[a] exactly when a∼b, and symmetry with transitivity turns that into a′∼b, so [a]⊆[a′]; the same argument with a and a′ exchanged gives the reverse inclusion. Conversely a∈[a] by reflexivity, so [a]=[a′] gives a∈[a′], that is a′∼a, and symmetry gives a∼a′.

L1L2L3L4L14
1.2

π is a surjective function A→A/∼ with π(a)=[a]: it is a set by separation inside A×(A/∼), it is single valued because [a] is determined by a, its domain is A since [a]∈A/∼ for every a∈A, and every element of A/∼ is [a] for some a∈A, so it is onto.

L4L5L6L8L9L10L12
1.3

Uniqueness in (ii): if g and g′ are functions A/∼→B with g∘π=f=g′∘π, then for C∈A/∼ choose a∈A with C=[a]; then g(C)=g(π(a))=f(a)=g′(π(a))=g′(C). Both have domain A/∼, so g=g′.

L5L6L7L11
2.1

Claim (i), from left to right: suppose g:A/∼→B satisfies g∘π=f, and let a∼a′. Then [a]=[a′], so f(a)=g(π(a))=g([a])=g([a′])=g(π(a′))=f(a′).

L11step 1.1step 1.2
2.2

Claim (i), from right to left: suppose f(a)=f(a′) whenever a∼a′, and separate inside (A/∼)×B to obtain g:={ (C,y)∈(A/∼)×B:∃a (a∈A∧C=[a]∧y=f(a)) }. It is single valued: if C=[a]=[a′] with values f(a) and f(a′), then a∼a′ and the hypothesis gives f(a)=f(a′). Its domain is A/∼, since every class is some [a] and then (C,f(a))∈g, and its range lies in B; so g:A/∼→B with g([a])=f(a). Finally g∘π and f are functions with domain A and (g∘π)(a)=g([a])=f(a), so g∘π=f.

L5L6L7L9L10L11L12L13step 1.1step 1.2
3.1

Both directions of (i) hold, and step 1.3 supplies the uniqueness in (ii) while step 2.2 supplies the formula g([a])=f(a), which is the statement.

step 1.1step 1.2step 1.3step 2.1step 2.2∎

Depends on

Used by

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Sources