Definition:Multiset

Definition
A multiset is an extension of the concept of a set.

While a set can contain only one occurrence of any given element, a multiset may contain multiple occurrences of the same element.

Note that by this definition, a set is also classified as a multiset.

Formal Definition
Formally we define a multiset to be a set $S$ together with a map $\mu : S\to \N$ (here $\N$ does not include $0$).

For $s \in S$ the natural number $\mu(s)$ is called the mutliplicity of $s$.

Note that the multiplicities of elements if finite: we do not allow infinitely many occurrences of the same element, though the set $S$ itself may be finite, countably infinite or uncountably infinite.

Equality
We must be careful to define equality of multisets such that no restriction is placed on the ordering of elements.

Let $(S,\mu)$ and $(T,\nu)$ be multisets.

We say that $(S,\mu)$ and $(T,\nu)$ are equal if there exists a bijection $\sigma : S \to T$ such that $\mu = \nu\circ\sigma$.

That is, $\mu(s) = \nu (\sigma (s))$ for all $s \in S$.

Notation
To distinguish multisets from sets, sometimes multisets are written with double braces, e.g.:


 * $\left\{{\left\{{1, 2, 3, 4}\right\}}\right\}$

Beware the fact that such a notation is also used to mean a set containing a set, so be sure you know what notation is being used.

Example
While $\left\{{a, b, c, d}\right\}$ is a set, $\left\{{\left\{{a, b, c, c, d}\right\}}\right\}$ is a multiset.