Infimum and supremum

Definition

In mathematics, the infimum of a subset of a partially ordered set is the greatest element in that is less than or equal to each element of if such an element exists. If the infimum of exists, it is unique, and if b is a lower bound of , then b is less than or equal to the infimum of . Consequently, the term greatest lower bound is also commonly used. The supremum of a subset of a partially ordered set is the least element in that is greater than or equal to each element of if such an element exists. If the supremum of exists, it is unique, and if b is an upper bound of , then the supremum of is less than or equal to b. Consequently, the supremum is also referred to as the least upper bound.

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