Upper and Lower Bound

🅟 Feb 22, 2026

  🅤 Jun 10, 2026

Definition 1.

Let $X$ be a preordered set, $A \subseteq X$ and $a \in X$.

  • $a$ is an upper bound of $A$ if

    \[\forall x \in A : x \leq a.\]

    $A$ is bounded from above if it has an upper bound.

    The set of all upper bounds of $A$ is denoted by $\upper A$.

  • $a$ is a lower bound of $A$ if

    \[\forall x \in A : a \leq x.\]

    $A$ is bounded from below if it has a lower bound.

    The set of all lower bounds of $A$ is denoted by $\lower A$.

  • $a$ is bounded if it is both bounded from above and below.


Proposition 1.

  • Any greatest element is an upper bound.
  • Any least element is a lower bound.