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injection
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mathematical function that preserves distinctness
An injection is a type of mathematical function where each input produces a unique output—no two different inputs map to the same output. This matters because injections are fundamental building blocks in mathematics that help us understand how sets relate to each other and whether information is preserved without loss when transforming data from one form to another.
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In mathematics, an injective function (also known as injection, or one-to-one function) is a function f that maps distinct elements of its domain to distinct elements of its codomain; that is, x1 ≠ x2 implies f(x1) ≠ f(x2) (equivalently by contraposition, f(x1) = f(x2) implies x1 = x2). In other words, every element of the function's codomain is the image of at most one element of its domain. The term one-to-one function must not be confused with one-to-one correspondence that refers to bijective functions, which are functions such that each element in the codomain is an image of exactly one element in the domain.
A homomorphism between algebraic structures is a function that is compatible with the operations of the structures. For all common algebraic structures, and, in particular for vector spaces, an injective homomorphism is also called a monomorphism. However, in the more general context of category theory, the definition of a monomorphism differs from that of an injective homomorphism. This is thus a theorem that they are equivalent for algebraic structures; see Homomorphism § Monomorphism for more details.