Is My Proof That sup(AB) = supA*supB Correct and How Should I Format My TEX?

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SUMMARY

The proof presented demonstrates that for sets of positive real numbers A and B, the supremum of their product set AB equals the product of their suprema, specifically, sup(AB) = sup(A) * sup(B). The proof establishes that sup(A) * sup(B) serves as an upper bound for AB and shows that it is the least upper bound through careful selection of epsilon values. Additionally, the discussion includes formatting guidelines for TeX on the forum, emphasizing the use of double hashtags for inline math and double dollar signs for display mode.

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Can anyone tell me if the below proof is correct? Also how can I format my TEX differently so that it all works properly on this site?



Lemma - if $A$ and $B$ are sets of positive real numbers, put $ AB = \left\{ ab | a \in A, b \in B \right\}$.
Then $\sup AB = \sup A \sup B$.
\\ Clearly $\sup A \sup B$ is an upper bound for $AB$ since $a \leq \sup A$ and $b \leq \sup B$ implies that $ab \leq \sup A \sup B$. We must show that $\sup A \sup B$ is the LEAST upper bound for $AB$.
\\ \\ Given arbitrary $\delta > 0$ we want to find $\epsilon_1 > 0$ and $\epsilon_2 > 0$ such that
$$ (\sup A - \epsilon_1)(\sup B - \epsilon_2) > \sup A \sup B - \delta$$
This is equivalent to choosing $\epsilon_1$ which satisfies the following:
$$ \sup A - \epsilon_1 > \frac{\sup A \sup B - \delta}{\sup B - \epsilon_2} \mbox{ (if } \epsilon_2 < \sup B)$$
$$ \iff - \epsilon_1 > \frac{\sup A \sup B - \delta}{\sup B - \epsilon_2} - \sup A$$
$$ \iff \epsilon_1 < \sup A - \frac{\sup A \sup B - \delta}{\sup B - \epsilon_2}$$
If we choose an $\epsilon_1$ less than this quantity we are done. The question is for what values of $\epsilon_2$ can we choose such an $\epsilon_1$. Well if the quantity on the right side of the last inequality above is greater than zero, we know we CAN choose such an $\epsilon_1$. So we want:
$$\sup A - \frac{\sup A \sup B - \delta}{\sup B - \epsilon_2} > 0$$
$$ \iff \frac{\sup A \sup B - \delta}{\sup B - \epsilon_2} < \sup A$$
$$ \iff \sup A \sup B - \delta <\sup A (\sup B - \epsilon_2) \mbox{ (if } \epsilon_2 < \sup B)$$
$$ \iff \sup A \sup B - \delta < \sup A \sup B - \epsilon_2 \sup A$$
$$ \iff - \delta < - \epsilon_2 \sup A \iff \delta > \epsilon_2 \sup A \iff \epsilon_2 < \frac{\delta}{\sup A}$$
The above outline provides the basis for the following proof:
\\ Choose $\epsilon_2$ such that $0 < \epsilon_2 < \frac{\delta}{\sup A}$ and $\epsilon_2 < \sup B$. As shown above this means $\sup A - \frac{\sup A \sup B - \delta}{\sup B - \epsilon_2} > 0$. Hence we can choose $\epsilon_1$ such that $0 < \epsilon_1 < \sup A - \frac{\sup A * \sup B - \delta}{\sup B - \epsilon_2}$. Then $(\sup A - \epsilon_1)(\sup B - \epsilon_2) > \big[\sup A - \big( \sup A - \frac{\sup A * \sup B - \delta}{\sup B - \epsilon_2}\big)\big](\sup B - \epsilon_2) = \frac{\sup A * \sup B - \delta}{\sup B - \epsilon_2}(\sup B - \epsilon_2) = \sup A \sup B - \delta$. Now $\exists a \in A$ such that $\sup A - a < \epsilon_1$ and $\exists b \in B$ such that $\sup B - b < \epsilon_2$. This means $a > \sup A - \epsilon_1$ and $b > \sup B - \epsilon_2$. Hence $ab > (\sup A - \epsilon_1)(\sup B - \epsilon_2) > \sup A \sup B - \delta$
Now if $\alpha < \sup A \sup B$ then $\alpha < \sup A \sup B - \delta$ for some $\delta > 0$. But $\exists a \in A, b \in B$ such that $ab > \sup A \sup B - \delta$. Then $\alpha$ is not an upper bound for $AB$ and $\sup AB = \sup A \sup B$.
\\ \\ Now that we proved this lemma we return to proving that $b^{r+s}=b^rb^s$ for all real $r$ and $s$.
\\ We must show that $\sup B(r+s) = \sup B(r) sup B(s)$. If $x \in B(r+s)$ then $x = b^q$ for some rational $q < r + s$. There are rational numbers $c$ and $d$ such that $x = c + d$, $c < r$ and $d < s$. Then $b^c \in B(r)$ and $b^d \in B(s)$, and $x = b^q = b^{c+d}=b^cb^d$. This means $B(r+s) \subset B(r)*B(s)$. Clearly $B(r)*B(s) \subset B(r+s)$ so $B(r+s) = B(r)*B(s)$. Since these are sets of positive real numbers we can apply the above lemma to conclude that $\sup B(r+s) = \sup B(r) \sup B(s)$ which is what we wanted to prove.
 
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joecharland said:
Can anyone tell me if the below proof is correct? Also how can I format my TEX differently so that it all works properly on this site?
On this site, wrap your TeX with two # symbols to display it within the paragraph (math mode), for example, to typeset "for all ##x \in X##", write
Code:
for all ##x \in X##
Use two $ symbols to put it on its own line (display mode), for example
$$\int_{0}^{1} f(x) dx$$
is obtained using
Code:
$$\int_{0}^{1} f(x) dx$$
I'm sure someone will be happy to check your proof after the typesetting is fixed, but it's very hard to read right now.
 

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