Supremum and Infimum

🅟 Feb 22, 2026

  🅤 Jun 10, 2026

Definition 1.

Let $X$ be a partially ordered set and $A \subseteq X$.

  • If the least upper bound of $A$ exists, it is called the supremum of $A$ and denoted by

    \[\sup A.\]
  • If the greatest lower bound of $A$ exists, it is called the infimum of $A$ and denoted by

    \[\inf A.\]

Proposition 1.

Let $X$ be a partially ordered set and $A \subseteq X$.

If $\sup A$ exists, the following statements are equivalent:

  1. \[\sup A \in A.\]
  2. \[\sup A = \max A.\]
  3. $\max A$ exists.

If $\inf A$ exists, the following statements are equivalent:

  1. \[\inf A \in A.\]
  2. \[\inf A = \min A.\]
  3. $\min A$ exists.