In mathematics, a dependence relation is a binary relation which generalizes the relation of linear dependence. Let be a set. A (binary) relation between an element of and a subset of is called a dependence relation, written , if it satisfies the following properties: if , then ; if , then there is a finite subset of , such that ; if is a subset of such that implies , then implies ; if but for some , then . Given a dependence relation on , a subset of is said to be independent if for all If , then is said to span if for every is said to be a basis of if is independent and spans Remark. If is a non-empty set with a dependence relation , then always has a basis with respect to Furthermore, any two bases of have the same cardinality. Examples Let be a vector space over a field The relation , defined by if is in the subspace spanned by , is a dependence relation. This is equivalent to the definition of linear dependence. Let be a field extension of Define by if is algebraic over Then is a dependence relation. This is equivalent to the definition of algebraic dependence. See also matroid Linear algebra Binary relations