In mathematics, a relation  on a set  is transitive if, for all elements , ,  in , whenever  relates   to  and  to , then  also relates  to .
Each partial order as well as each equivalence relation needs to be transitive.
Definition
A homogeneous relation  on the set  is a transitive relation if,
for all , if  and , then .
Or in terms of first-order logic:
\forall a,b,c \in X: (aRb \wedge bRc) \Rightarrow aRc,
where  is the infix notation for .
Examples
As a nonmathematical example, the relation "is an ancestor of" is transitive.
For example, if Amy is an ancestor of Becky, and Becky is an ancestor of Carrie, then Amy, too, is an ancestor of Carrie.
On the other hand, "is the birth parent of" is not a transitive relation, because if Alice is the birth parent of Brenda, and Brenda is the birth parent of Claire, then Alice is not the birth parent of Claire.
What is more, it is antitransitive: Alice can never be the birth parent of Claire.
"Is greater than", "is at least as great as", and "is equal to" (equality) are transitive relations on various sets, for instance, the set of real numbers or the set of natural numbers:
whenever x > y and y > z, then also x > z
whenever x ≥ y and y ≥ z, then also x ≥ z
whenever x = y and y = z, then also x = z.
More examples of transitive relations:
"is a subset of" (set inclusion, a relation on sets)
"divides" (divisibility, a relation on natural numbers)
"implies" (implication, symbolized by "⇒", a relation on propositions)
Examples of non-transitive relations:
"is the successor of" (a relation on natural numbers)
"is a member of the set" (symbolized as "∈")However, the class of von Neumann ordinals is constructed in a way such that ∈ is transitive when restricted to that class.
"is perpendicular to" (a relation on lines in Euclidean geometry)
The empty relation on any set X is transitivehttps://courses.engr.illinois.edu/cs173/sp2011/Lectures/relations.pdf because there are no elements a,b,c \in X such that aRb and bRc, and hence the transitivity condition is vacuously true.
A relation  containing only one ordered pair is also transitive: if the ordered pair is of the form (x, x) for some x \in X the only such elements a,b,c \in X are a=b=c=x, and indeed in this case aRc, while if the ordered pair is not of the form (x, x) then there are no such elements a,b,c \in X and hence R is vacuously transitive.
Properties
Closure properties
The converse (inverse) of a transitive relation is always transitive.
For instance, knowing that "is a subset of" is transitive and "is a superset of" is its converse, one can conclude that the latter is transitive as well.
The intersection of two transitive relations is always transitive.
For instance, knowing that "was born before" and "has the same first name as" are transitive, one can conclude that "was born before and also has the same first name as" is also transitive.
The union of two transitive relations need not be transitive.
For instance, "was born before or has the same first name as" is not a transitive relation, since e.g. Herbert Hoover is related to Franklin D. Roosevelt, which is in turn related to Franklin Pierce, while Hoover is not related to Franklin Pierce.
The complement of a transitive relation need not be transitive.
For instance, while "equal to" is transitive, "not equal to" is only transitive on sets with at most one element.
Other properties
A transitive relation is asymmetric if and only if it is irreflexive.
Lemma 1.1 (iv).
Note that this source refers to asymmetric relations as "strictly antisymmetric".
A transitive relation need not be reflexive.
When it is, it is called a preorder.
For example, on set X = {1,2,3}:
R = {(1,1), (2,2), (3,3), (1,3), (3,2)} is reflexive, but not transitive, as the pair (1,2) is absent,
R = {(1,1), (2,2), (3,3), (1,3)} is reflexive as well as transitive, so it is a preorder,
R = {(1,1), (2,2), (3,3)} is reflexive as well as transitive, another preorder.
Transitive extensions and transitive closure
Let  be a binary relation on set .
The transitive extension of , denoted , is the smallest binary relation on  such that  contains , and if  and  then .
For example, suppose  is a set of towns, some of which are connected by roads.
Let  be the relation on towns where  if there is a road directly linking town  and town .
This relation need not be transitive.
The transitive extension of this relation can be defined by  if you can travel between towns  and  by using at most two roads.
If a relation is transitive then its transitive extension is itself, that is, if  is a transitive relation then .
The transitive extension of  would be denoted by , and continuing in this way, in general, the transitive extension of  would be .
The transitive closure of , denoted by  or  is the set union of , , , ... .
The transitive closure of a relation is a transitive relation.
The relation "is the birth parent of" on a set of people is not a transitive relation.
However, in biology the need often arises to consider birth parenthood over an arbitrary number of generations: the relation "is a birth ancestor of" is a transitive relation and it is the transitive closure of the relation "is the birth parent of".
For the example of towns and roads above,  provided you can travel between towns  and  using any number of roads.
Relation properties that require transitivity
Preorder – a reflexive and transitive relation
Partial order – an antisymmetric preorder
Total preorder – a connected (formerly called total) preorder
Equivalence relation – a symmetric preorder
Strict weak ordering – a strict partial order in which incomparability is an equivalence relation
Total ordering – a connected (total), antisymmetric, and transitive relation
Counting transitive relations
No general formula that counts the number of transitive relations on a finite set  is known.Steven R. Finch, "Transitive relations, topologies and partial orders", 2003.
However, there is a formula for finding the number of relations that are simultaneously reflexive, symmetric, and transitive – in other words, equivalence relations – , those that are symmetric and transitive, those that are symmetric, transitive, and antisymmetric, and those that are total, transitive, and antisymmetric.
PfeifferGötz Pfeiffer, "Counting Transitive Relations", Journal of Integer Sequences, Vol. 7 (2004), Article 04.3.2.
has made some progress in this direction, expressing relations with combinations of these properties in terms of each other, but still calculating any one is difficult.
See also Brinkmann and McKay (2005).Gunnar Brinkmann and Brendan D. McKay,"Counting unlabelled topologies and transitive relations" Mala showed that no polynomial with integer coefficients can represent a formula for the number of transitive relations on a set, and found certain recursive relations that provide lower bounds for that number.
He also showed that that number is a polynomial of degree two if  contains exactly two ordered pairs.
Related properties
A relation R is called intransitive if it is not transitive, that is, if xRy and yRz, but not xRz, for some x, y, z.
In contrast, a relation R is called antitransitive if xRy and yRz always implies that xRz does not hold.
For example, the relation defined by xRy if xy is an even number is intransitive,since e.g. 3R4 and 4R5, but not 3R5 but not antitransitive.since e.g. 2R3 and 3R4 and 2R4 The relation defined by xRy if x is even and y is odd is both transitive and antitransitive.since xRy and yRz can never happen  The relation defined by xRy if x is the successor number of y is both intransitivesince e.g. 3R2 and 2R1, but not 3R1 and antitransitive.since, more generally, xRy and yRz implies x=y+1=z+2≠z+1, i.e. not xRz, for all x, y, z Unexpected examples of intransitivity arise in situations such as political questions or group preferences.
Generalized to stochastic versions (stochastic transitivity), the study of transitivity finds applications of in decision theory, psychometrics and utility models.
A quasitransitive relation is another generalization; it is required to be transitive only on its non-symmetric part.
Such relations are used in social choice theory or microeconomics.
See also
Transitive reduction
Intransitive dice
Rational choice theory
Hypothetical syllogism — transitivity of the material conditional
Notes
References
Gunther Schmidt, 2010.
Relational Mathematics.
Cambridge University Press, .
External links
Transitivity in Action at cut-the-knot
