Surjective function

In mathematics, a function f from a set X to a set Y is surjective (or onto), or a surjection, if every element y in Y has a corresponding element x in X such that f(x) = y. The function f may map more than one element of X to the same element of Y.

The term surjective and the related terms injective and bijective were introduced by Nicolas Bourbaki, a group of mainly French 20th-century mathematicians who under this pseudonym wrote a series of books presenting an exposition of modern advanced mathematics, beginning in 1935. The French prefix sur means over or above and relates to the fact that the image of the domain of a surjective function completely covers the function's codomain.

Definition

A surjective function is a function whose image is equal to its codomain. Equivalently, a function f with domain X and codomain Y is surjective if for every y in Y there exists at least one x in X with . Surjections are sometimes denoted by a two-headed rightwards arrow (U+21A0 ↠ RIGHTWARDS TWO HEADED ARROW), as in f : X ↠ Y.