A binary operation can be considered as a function whose input is two elements of the same set \(S\) and whose output also is an element of \(S\text{.}\) Two elements \(a\) and \(b\) of \(S\) can be written as a pair \((a,b)\text{.}\) As \((a,b)\) is an element of the Cartesian product \(S\times S\) we specify a binary operation as a function from \(S\times S\) to \(S\text{.}\)
We use symbols to represent binary operations instead of function names, just as we do with addition and multiplication of integers. Addition uses the symbol \(+\) and multiplication uses the symbol \(\cdot\text{.}\) We will use symbols such as \(\star\) and \(\bullet\) to represent arbitrary (non-specific) binary operations, and we will also define new binary operations using the symbols \(\oplus\) and \(\otimes\text{.}\)
A binary operation \(\bullet\) on a set \(S\) is a function \(\bullet:S\times S\to S\text{.}\) For the image of \((a,b)\in S\times S\) under the function \(\bullet\) we write \(a\bullet b\) (read ‘\(a\) dot \(b\)’).
The addition of integers \(+:\Z\times\Z\to\Z\) is a binary operation on \(\Z\text{.}\) We denote the image of \((a, b) \in \Z \times \Z\) by \(a+b\text{.}\)
The multiplication of natural numbers \(\cdot:\N\times\N\to\N\) is a binary operation on \(\N\text{.}\) We denote the image of \((a, b) \in \N \times \N\) by \(a\cdot b\text{.}\)
The subtraction of integers \(-:\Z\times\Z\to\Z\) is a binary operation on \(\Z\text{.}\) We denote the image of \((a, b) \in \Z \times \Z\) by \(a- b\text{.}\)
As is the case for other functions, there are several ways of specifying a binary operation. If the set is small, we sometimes specify the binary operation by a table.