On a problem concerning separating systems of a finite set

Abstract

In this paper we define a completely separating system of an n-set, an extension of the concept of a separating system introduced by Renyi [1] for use in certain information theoretic problems. We then consider the problem of finding the cardinality of a minimal completely separating system and show that this, considered as a function of n, is asymptotic to the cardinality of a minimal separating system.