Algebraic properties of sup and inf

Let $E,F\subseteq\mathbb{R}$ be nonempty and bounded above/below where needed, and let $c\in\mathbb{R}$.

Order properties:

• If $E\subseteq F$ and both are bounded above, then $\sup E\le \sup F$ (see supremum ).
• If $E\subseteq F$ and both are bounded below, then $\inf E\ge \inf F$ (see infimum ).

Translation:

• If $E+c=\{x+c:x\in E\}$, then $\sup(E+c)=\sup E + c,\qquad \inf(E+c)=\inf E + c.$

Scaling:

• If $\lambda\ge 0$ and $\lambda E=\{\lambda x:x\in E\}$, then $\sup(\lambda E)=\lambda\,\sup E,\qquad \inf(\lambda E)=\lambda\,\inf E.$
• If $\lambda<0$, then $\sup(\lambda E)=\lambda\,\inf E,\qquad \inf(\lambda E)=\lambda\,\sup E.$ In particular, $\sup(-E)=-\inf E,\qquad \inf(-E)=-\sup E.$

Finite unions:

• If $E$ and $F$ are bounded above, then $E\cup F$ is bounded above and $\sup(E\cup F)=\max\{\sup E,\sup F\}.$ Similarly, if bounded below then $\inf(E\cup F)=\min\{\inf E,\inf F\}.$ Here max and min denote the maximum and minimum of a finite set.

These rules are used constantly to manipulate bounds and to compare limiting processes.