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A real number x is the least upper bound (or supremum) for S if x is an upper bound for S and x ≤ y for every upper bound y of S. The least-upper-bound property states that any non-empty set of real numbers that has an upper bound must have a least upper bound in real numbers.
This is a consequence of the least upper bound property, but it can also be used to prove the least upper bound property if treated as an axiom. (The definition of continuity does not depend on any form of completeness, so there is no circularity: what is meant is that the intermediate value theorem and the least upper bound property are ...
It is easy to prove, by induction on n that u n is an upper bound for S for all n and l n is never an upper bound for S for any n. Thus u is an upper bound for S. To see that it is a least upper bound, notice that the limit of (u n − l n) is 0, and so l = u. Now suppose b < u = l is a smaller upper bound for S.
The seldom-considered dual notion to a dcpo is the filtered-complete poset. Dcpos with a least element ("pointed dcpos") are one of the possible meanings of the phrase complete partial order (cpo). If every subset that has some upper bound has also a least upper bound, then the respective poset is called bounded complete. The term is used ...
There is a corresponding greatest-lower-bound property; an ordered set possesses the greatest-lower-bound property if and only if it also possesses the least-upper-bound property; the least-upper-bound of the set of lower bounds of a set is the greatest-lower-bound, and the greatest-lower-bound of the set of upper bounds of a set is the least ...
Part of what this argument shows is that there is a least upper bound of the sequence 0.9, 0.99, 0.999, etc.: the smallest number that is greater than all of the terms of the sequence. One of the axioms of the real number system is the completeness axiom, which states that every bounded sequence has a least upper bound.
There may be elements, besides the least element, that have no predecessor (see § Natural numbers below for an example). A well-ordered set S contains for every subset T with an upper bound a least upper bound, namely the least element of the subset of all upper bounds of T in S. If ≤ is a non-strict well ordering, then < is a strict well ...
13934 and other numbers x such that x ≥ 13934 would be an upper bound for S. The set S = {42} has 42 as both an upper bound and a lower bound; all other numbers are either an upper bound or a lower bound for that S. Every subset of the natural numbers has a lower bound since the natural numbers have a least element (0 or 1, depending on ...