Definition (Infimum)
Let A⊂R. If A is bounded below then the greatest lower bound of A is called the infimum of A (written infA).
Theorem (Proving the infimum)
To show that an element a∈A is the infimum or that a=infA then we need need to show:
- Approximation property of the infimum: ∀ϵ>0,∃a0∈A\mboxs.t.a0<infA+ϵ
- Lower bound property: ∀a∈A,a≥infA