4.II.8C

Numbers and Sets | Part IA, 2003

Let XX be a finite set with nn elements. How many functions are there from XX to XX ? How many relations are there on XX ?

Show that the number of relations RR on XX such that, for each y∈Xy \in X, there exists at least one x∈Xx \in X with xRyx R y, is (2n−1)n\left(2^{n}-1\right)^{n}.

Using the inclusion-exclusion principle or otherwise, deduce that the number of such relations RR for which, in addition, for each x∈Xx \in X, there exists at least one y∈Xy \in X with xRyx R y, is

∑k=0n(−1)k(nk)(2n−k−1)n\sum_{k=0}^{n}(-1)^{k}\left(\begin{array}{l} n \\ k \end{array}\right)\left(2^{n-k}-1\right)^{n}

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