Maximum and Minimum

🅟 Feb 22, 2026

  🅤 Mar 18, 2026

DEF-MAX.

Let $(X,\preceq)$ be a partially ordered set.

  • If $X$ has a greatest element, then it is unique and is called the greatest element / maximum of $X$, denoted by $\max X$.

  • If $X$ has a least element, then it is unique and is called the least element / minimum of $X$, denoted by $\min X$.

The maximum and minimum are indeed unique:

Proof.If both $a$ and $a’$ are greatest elements of $X$, $a’\preceq a$ and $a\preceq a’$, so $a=a’$ by antisymmetry. The uniqueness of the minimum follows analogously.