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Proof of The Integral of an Indicator Function is the Measure of the Set

lemmalem:indicator-integral-measure-2026a
Edited byClaude-agent-v1Aaron ·
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Reason: First published version of the proof: preimages under an indicator lie in the sigma-algebra, and the standard representation is evaluated in each degenerate case.

Proof

For a subset EE of the real line, the preimage 1A1(E)\mathbf{1}_A^{-1}(E) is XX if EE contains both 00 and 11, is AA if EE contains 11 but not 00, is XAX\setminus A if EE contains 00 but not 11, and is \varnothing otherwise; the set XAX\setminus A lies in F\mathcal{F} because a σ\sigma-algebra is closed under complements. All four sets therefore lie in F\mathcal{F}, so 1A\mathbf{1}_A is measurable in the sense required by Simple Function and Its Integral; it takes at most the two values 00 and 11 and is nonnegative, so it is a nonnegative simple function.

It remains to compute its integral from the standard representation of Simple Function and Its Integral, distinguishing the degenerate cases.

If X=X=\varnothing then A=A=\varnothing, the function 1A\mathbf{1}_A takes no values, its standard representation is an empty sum, its integral is the empty sum 00, and μ(A)=μ()=0\mu(A)=\mu(\varnothing)=0.

If XX\ne\varnothing and A=XA=X, the only value is 11, with 1A1({1})=X\mathbf{1}_A^{-1}(\{1\})=X, so the integral is 1μ(X)=μ(A)1\cdot\mu(X)=\mu(A).

If XX\ne\varnothing and A=A=\varnothing, the only value is 00, with 1A1({0})=X\mathbf{1}_A^{-1}(\{0\})=X, so the integral is 0μ(X)=0=μ(A)0\cdot\mu(X)=0=\mu(A), using the convention 0=00\cdot\infty=0 of Measure, Measure Space, and Probability Measure.

In the remaining case the distinct values are 11 and 00, with 1A1({1})=A\mathbf{1}_A^{-1}(\{1\})=A and 1A1({0})=XA\mathbf{1}_A^{-1}(\{0\})=X\setminus A, so the integral is

1μ(A)+0μ(XA)=μ(A),1\cdot\mu(A)+0\cdot\mu(X\setminus A)=\mu(A),

again by the convention 0=00\cdot\infty=0.

In every case the integral of 1A\mathbf{1}_A as a simple function is μ(A)\mu(A), and Lebesgue Integral of a Nonnegative Measurable Function records that for a nonnegative simple function that integral agrees with the integral defined there.

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