${\displaystyle f}$ is a function from domain ${\displaystyle X}$ to codomain ${\displaystyle Y.}$ The yellow oval inside ${\displaystyle Y}$ is the image of ${\displaystyle f.}$

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In mathematics, the image of a function is the set of all output values it may produce.

More generally, evaluating a given function ${\displaystyle f}$ at each element of a given subset ${\displaystyle A}$ of its domain produces a set, called the "image of ${\displaystyle A}$ under (or through) ${\displaystyle f}$". Similarly, the inverse image (or preimage) of a given subset ${\displaystyle B}$ of the codomain of ${\displaystyle f}$ is the set of all elements of the domain that map to the members of ${\displaystyle B.}$

Image and inverse image may also be defined for general binary relations, not just functions.

Definition

The word "image" is used in three related ways. In these definitions, ${\displaystyle f:X\to Y}$ is a function from the set ${\displaystyle X}$ to the set ${\displaystyle Y.}$

Image of a subset

Throughout, let ${\displaystyle f:X\to Y}$ be a function. The image under ${\displaystyle f}$ of a subset ${\displaystyle A}$ of ${\displaystyle X}$ is the set of all ${\displaystyle f(a)}$ for ${\displaystyle a\in A.}$ It is denoted by ${\displaystyle f[A],}$ or by ${\displaystyle f(A),}$ when there is no risk of confusion. Using set-builder notation, this definition can be written as^[1][2]

$${\displaystyle f[A]=\{f(a):a\in A\}.}$$

This induces a function ${\displaystyle f[\,\cdot \,]:{\mathcal {P}}(X)\to {\mathcal {P}}(Y),}$ where ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {P}}(S)}$ denotes the power set of a set ${\displaystyle S;}$ that is the set of all subsets of ${\displaystyle S.}$ See § Notation below for more.

Inverse image

Let ${\displaystyle f}$ be a function from ${\displaystyle X}$ to ${\displaystyle Y.}$ The preimage or inverse image of a set ${\displaystyle B\subseteq Y}$ under ${\displaystyle f,}$ denoted by ${\displaystyle f^{-1}[B],}$ is the subset of ${\displaystyle X}$ defined by

$${\displaystyle f^{-1}[B]=\{x\in X\,:\,f(x)\in B\}.}$$

Other notations include ${\displaystyle f^{-1}(B)}$ and ${\displaystyle f^{-}(B).}$^[4] The inverse image of a singleton set, denoted by ${\displaystyle f^{-1}[\{y\}]}$ or by ${\displaystyle f^{-1}[y],}$ is also called the fiber or fiber over ${\displaystyle y}$ or the level set of ${\displaystyle y.}$ The set of all the fibers over the elements of ${\displaystyle Y}$ is a family of sets indexed by ${\displaystyle Y.}$

For example, for the function ${\displaystyle f(x)=x^{2},}$ the inverse image of ${\displaystyle \{4\}}$ would be ${\displaystyle \{-2,2\}.}$ Again, if there is no risk of confusion, ${\displaystyle f^{-1}[B]}$ can be denoted by ${\displaystyle f^{-1}(B),}$ and ${\displaystyle f^{-1}}$ can also be thought of as a function from the power set of ${\displaystyle Y}$ to the power set of ${\displaystyle X.}$ The notation ${\displaystyle f^{-1}}$ should not be confused with that for inverse function, although it coincides with the usual one for bijections in that the inverse image of ${\displaystyle B}$ under ${\displaystyle f}$ is the image of ${\displaystyle B}$ under ${\displaystyle f^{-1}.}$

Notation for image and inverse image

The traditional notations used in the previous section do not distinguish the original function ${\displaystyle f:X\to Y}$ from the image-of-sets function ${\displaystyle f:{\mathcal {P}}(X)\to {\mathcal {P}}(Y)}$; likewise they do not distinguish the inverse function (assuming one exists) from the inverse image function (which again relates the powersets). Given the right context, this keeps the notation light and usually does not cause confusion. But if needed, an alternative^[5] is to give explicit names for the image and preimage as functions between power sets:

Examples

1. ${\displaystyle f:\{1,2,3\}\to \{a,b,c,d\}}$ defined by ${\displaystyle \left\{{\begin{matrix}1\mapsto a,\\2\mapsto a,\\3\mapsto c.\end{matrix}}\right.}$
   The image of the set ${\displaystyle \{2,3\}}$ under ${\displaystyle f}$ is ${\displaystyle f(\{2,3\})=\{a,c\}.}$ The image of the function ${\displaystyle f}$ is ${\displaystyle \{a,c\}.}$ The preimage of ${\displaystyle a}$ is ${\displaystyle f^{-1}(\{a\})=\{1,2\}.}$ The preimage of ${\displaystyle \{a,b\}}$ is also ${\displaystyle f^{-1}(\{a,b\})=\{1,2\}.}$ The preimage of ${\displaystyle \{b,d\}}$ under ${\displaystyle f}$ is the empty set ${\displaystyle \{\ \}=\emptyset .}$
2. ${\displaystyle f:\mathbb {R} \to \mathbb {R} }$ defined by ${\displaystyle f(x)=x^{2}.}$
   The image of ${\displaystyle \{-2,3\}}$ under ${\displaystyle f}$ is ${\displaystyle f(\{-2,3\})=\{4,9\},}$ and the image of ${\displaystyle f}$ is ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{+}}$ (the set of all positive real numbers and zero). The preimage of ${\displaystyle \{4,9\}}$ under ${\displaystyle f}$ is ${\displaystyle f^{-1}(\{4,9\})=\{-3,-2,2,3\}.}$ The preimage of set ${\displaystyle N=\{n\in \mathbb {R} :n<0\}}$ under ${\displaystyle f}$ is the empty set, because the negative numbers do not have square roots in the set of reals.
3. ${\displaystyle f:\mathbb {R} ^{2}\to \mathbb {R} }$ defined by ${\displaystyle f(x,y)=x^{2}+y^{2}.}$
   The fibers ${\displaystyle f^{-1}(\{a\})}$ are concentric circles about the origin, the origin itself, and the empty set (respectively), depending on whether ${\displaystyle a>0,\ a=0,{\text{ or }}\ a<0}$ (respectively). (If ${\displaystyle a\geq 0,}$ then the fiber ${\displaystyle f^{-1}(\{a\})}$ is the set of all ${\displaystyle (x,y)\in \mathbb {R} ^{2}}$ satisfying the equation ${\displaystyle x^{2}+y^{2}=a,}$ that is, the origin-centered circle with radius ${\displaystyle {\sqrt {a}}.}$)
4. If ${\displaystyle M}$ is a manifold and ${\displaystyle \pi :TM\to M}$ is the canonical projection from the tangent bundle ${\displaystyle TM}$ to ${\displaystyle M,}$ then the fibers of ${\displaystyle \pi }$ are the tangent spaces ${\displaystyle T_{x}(M){\text{ for }}x\in M.}$ This is also an example of a fiber bundle.
5. A quotient group is a homomorphic image.

Properties

Counter-examples based on the real numbers ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ,}$ ${\displaystyle f:\mathbb {R} \to \mathbb {R} }$ defined by ${\displaystyle x\mapsto x^{2},}$ showing that equality generally need not hold for some laws:
Image showing non-equal sets: ${\displaystyle f\left(A\cap B\right)\subsetneq f(A)\cap f(B).}$ The sets ${\displaystyle A=[-4,2]}$ and ${\displaystyle B=[-2,4]}$ are shown in blue immediately below the ${\displaystyle x}$-axis while their intersection ${\displaystyle A_{3}=[-2,2]}$ is shown in green.
${\displaystyle f\left(f^{-1}\left(B_{3}\right)\right)\subsetneq B_{3}.}$
${\displaystyle f^{-1}\left(f\left(A_{4}\right)\right)\supsetneq A_{4}.}$

General

For every function ${\displaystyle f:X\to Y}$ and all subsets ${\displaystyle A\subseteq X}$ and ${\displaystyle B\subseteq Y,}$ the following properties hold:

Image	Preimage
${\displaystyle f(X)\subseteq Y}$	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(Y)=X}$
${\displaystyle f\left(f^{-1}(Y)\right)=f(X)}$	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(f(X))=X}$
${\displaystyle f\left(f^{-1}(B)\right)\subseteq B}$ (equal if ${\displaystyle B\subseteq f(X);}$ for instance, if ${\displaystyle f}$ is surjective)[9][10]	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(f(A))\supseteq A}$ (equal if ${\displaystyle f}$ is injective)[9][10]
${\displaystyle f(f^{-1}(B))=B\cap f(X)}$	${\displaystyle \left(f\vert _{A}\right)^{-1}(B)=A\cap f^{-1}(B)}$
${\displaystyle f\left(f^{-1}(f(A))\right)=f(A)}$	${\displaystyle f^{-1}\left(f\left(f^{-1}(B)\right)\right)=f^{-1}(B)}$
${\displaystyle f(A)=\varnothing \,{\text{ if and only if }}\,A=\varnothing }$	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(B)=\varnothing \,{\text{ if and only if }}\,B\subseteq Y\setminus f(X)}$
${\displaystyle f(A)\supseteq B\,{\text{ if and only if }}{\text{ there exists }}C\subseteq A{\text{ such that }}f(C)=B}$	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(B)\supseteq A\,{\text{ if and only if }}\,f(A)\subseteq B}$
${\displaystyle f(A)\supseteq f(X\setminus A)\,{\text{ if and only if }}\,f(A)=f(X)}$	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(B)\supseteq f^{-1}(Y\setminus B)\,{\text{ if and only if }}\,f^{-1}(B)=X}$
${\displaystyle f(X\setminus A)\supseteq f(X)\setminus f(A)}$	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(Y\setminus B)=X\setminus f^{-1}(B)}$[9]
${\displaystyle f\left(A\cup f^{-1}(B)\right)\subseteq f(A)\cup B}$[11]	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(f(A)\cup B)\supseteq A\cup f^{-1}(B)}$[11]
${\displaystyle f\left(A\cap f^{-1}(B)\right)=f(A)\cap B}$[11]	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(f(A)\cap B)\supseteq A\cap f^{-1}(B)}$[11]

Also:

• ${\displaystyle f(A)\cap B=\varnothing \,{\text{ if and only if }}\,A\cap f^{-1}(B)=\varnothing }$

Multiple subsets of domain or codomain

For function ${\displaystyle f:X\to Y}$ and subsets ${\displaystyle A,B\subseteq X}$ and ${\displaystyle S,T\subseteq Y,}$ the following properties hold:

Image	Preimage
${\displaystyle A\subseteq B\,{\text{ implies }}\,f(A)\subseteq f(B)}$	${\displaystyle S\subseteq T\,{\text{ implies }}\,f^{-1}(S)\subseteq f^{-1}(T)}$
${\displaystyle f(A\cup B)=f(A)\cup f(B)}$[11][12]	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(S\cup T)=f^{-1}(S)\cup f^{-1}(T)}$
${\displaystyle f(A\cap B)\subseteq f(A)\cap f(B)}$[11][12] (equal if ${\displaystyle f}$ is injective[13])	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(S\cap T)=f^{-1}(S)\cap f^{-1}(T)}$
${\displaystyle f(A\setminus B)\supseteq f(A)\setminus f(B)}$[11] (equal if ${\displaystyle f}$ is injective[13])	${\displaystyle f^{-1}(S\setminus T)=f^{-1}(S)\setminus f^{-1}(T)}$[11]
${\displaystyle f\left(A\triangle B\right)\supseteq f(A)\triangle f(B)}$ (equal if ${\displaystyle f}$ is injective)	${\displaystyle f^{-1}\left(S\triangle T\right)=f^{-1}(S)\triangle f^{-1}(T)}$

The results relating images and preimages to the (Boolean) algebra of intersection and union work for any collection of subsets, not just for pairs of subsets:

• ${\displaystyle f\left(\bigcup _{s\in S}A_{s}\right)=\bigcup _{s\in S}f\left(A_{s}\right)}$
• ${\displaystyle f\left(\bigcap _{s\in S}A_{s}\right)\subseteq \bigcap _{s\in S}f\left(A_{s}\right)}$
• ${\displaystyle f^{-1}\left(\bigcup _{s\in S}B_{s}\right)=\bigcup _{s\in S}f^{-1}\left(B_{s}\right)}$
• ${\displaystyle f^{-1}\left(\bigcap _{s\in S}B_{s}\right)=\bigcap _{s\in S}f^{-1}\left(B_{s}\right)}$

(Here, ${\displaystyle S}$ can be infinite, even uncountably infinite.)

With respect to the algebra of subsets described above, the inverse image function is a lattice homomorphism, while the image function is only a semilattice homomorphism (that is, it does not always preserve intersections).

See also

• Bijection, injection and surjection – Properties of mathematical functions
• Fiber (mathematics) – Set of all points in a function's domain that all map to some single given point
• Image (category theory) – term in category theoryPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• Kernel of a function – Equivalence relation expressing that two elements have the same image under a functionPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Set inversion – Mathematical problem of finding the set mapped by a specified function to a certain range

Notes

References

• Artin, Michael (1991). Algebra. Prentice Hall. ISBN 81-203-0871-9.
• Blyth, T.S. (2005). Lattices and Ordered Algebraic Structures. Springer. ISBN 1-85233-905-5..
• Dolecki, Szymon; Mynard, Frederic (2016). Convergence Foundations Of Topology. New Jersey: World Scientific Publishing Company. ISBN 978-981-4571-52-4. OCLC 945169917.
• Halmos, Paul R. (1960). Naive set theory. The University Series in Undergraduate Mathematics. van Nostrand Company. ISBN 9780442030643. Zbl 0087.04403.
• Kelley, John L. (1985). General Topology. Graduate Texts in Mathematics. Vol. 27 (2 ed.). Birkhäuser. ISBN 978-0-387-90125-1.
• Munkres, James R. (2000). Topology (Second ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc. ISBN 978-0-13-181629-9. OCLC 42683260.

This article incorporates material from Fibre on PlanetMath, which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.