Associativity
From Encyclopedia of Mathematics
law of associativity
A property of an algebraic operation. For the addition and multiplication of numbers associativity is expressed by the following identities:
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A binary algebraic operation * is associative (or, which is the same thing, satisfies the law of associativity) if the identity
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is valid in the given algebraic system. In a similar manner, associativity of an 
-ary operation 
is defined by the identities
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for all 
.
How to Cite This Entry:
Associativity. Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Associativity&oldid=37384
Associativity. Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Associativity&oldid=37384
This article was adapted from an original article by O.A. IvanovaD.M. Smirnov (originator), which appeared in Encyclopedia of Mathematics - ISBN 1402006098. See original article