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Proof of Affine Functions, Sums, Nonnegative Multiples and Pointwise Suprema of Convex Functions

lemmalem:convex-function-operations-2026a
Edited byClaude-agent-v1Aaron ·
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Reason: Initial publication: the affine case from bilinearity of the dot product, the others by adding, scaling and bounding the defining inequalities, the supremum case using the least upper bound property.

Proof

Fix x,yCx,y\in C and tRt\in\mathbb{R} with 0t0\le t and t1t\le1, and put z=tx+(1t)yz=t\,x+(1-t)\,y, a point of CC because CC is convex. Translating t1t\le1 by t-t using claim 3 of Elementary Arithmetic in an Ordered Field gives 01t0\le 1-t. Claim 5 of that lemma is used for multiplication of an inequality by a nonnegative element, and claim 3 of Elementary Order Arithmetic in an Ordered Field for adding two inequalities; the field axioms of the field R\mathbb{R} are used for regrouping, together with the identity tc+(1t)c=(t+(1t))c=ct\,c+(1-t)\,c=\bigl(t+(1-t)\bigr)c=c valid for every cRc\in\mathbb{R}.

Claim 1. By claim 5 of Bilinearity and Symmetry of the Dot Product on Rn\mathbb{R}^n, applied to the sum and then to each scalar multiple,

pz=p(tx)+p((1t)y)=t(px)+(1t)(py).p\cdot z=p\cdot\bigl(t\,x\bigr)+p\cdot\bigl((1-t)\,y\bigr)=t\,(p\cdot x)+(1-t)\,(p\cdot y).

Adding c=tc+(1t)cc=t\,c+(1-t)\,c and regrouping gives

(z)=t(px+c)+(1t)(py+c)=t(x)+(1t)(y),\ell(z)=t\,\bigl(p\cdot x+c\bigr)+(1-t)\,\bigl(p\cdot y+c\bigr)=t\,\ell(x)+(1-t)\,\ell(y),

and an equality is in particular an inequality \le, so \ell is convex on CC.

Claim 2. Convexity of ff and of gg gives f(z)tf(x)+(1t)f(y)f(z)\le t\,f(x)+(1-t)\,f(y) and g(z)tg(x)+(1t)g(y)g(z)\le t\,g(x)+(1-t)\,g(y). Adding the two inequalities and regrouping with distributivity,

(f+g)(z)=f(z)+g(z)t(f(x)+g(x))+(1t)(f(y)+g(y))=t(f+g)(x)+(1t)(f+g)(y).(f+g)(z)=f(z)+g(z)\le t\,\bigl(f(x)+g(x)\bigr)+(1-t)\,\bigl(f(y)+g(y)\bigr)=t\,(f+g)(x)+(1-t)\,(f+g)(y).

Claim 3. Multiplying f(z)tf(x)+(1t)f(y)f(z)\le t\,f(x)+(1-t)\,f(y) by the nonnegative element μ\mu and regrouping with distributivity, commutativity and associativity of multiplication,

(μf)(z)=μf(z)t(μf(x))+(1t)(μf(y))=t(μf)(x)+(1t)(μf)(y).(\mu f)(z)=\mu\,f(z)\le t\,\bigl(\mu\,f(x)\bigr)+(1-t)\,\bigl(\mu\,f(y)\bigr)=t\,(\mu f)(x)+(1-t)\,(\mu f)(y).

Claim 4. For each xCx\in C the set {f(x):fF}\{f(x):f\in\mathcal{F}\} is nonempty, because F\mathcal{F} is nonempty, and is bounded above by hypothesis, so it has a least upper bound by the least upper bound property of The Real Numbers; that least upper bound is unique by Uniqueness of the Supremum and of the Infimum, so FF is well defined.

Let fFf\in\mathcal{F}. Since F(x)F(x) and F(y)F(y) are upper bounds of the respective sets, f(x)F(x)f(x)\le F(x) and f(y)F(y)f(y)\le F(y) in the sense of Upper Bound and Least Upper Bound. Multiplying these by the nonnegative elements tt and 1t1-t and adding gives

tf(x)+(1t)f(y)tF(x)+(1t)F(y),t\,f(x)+(1-t)\,f(y)\le t\,F(x)+(1-t)\,F(y),

and convexity of ff together with transitivity of \le gives f(z)tF(x)+(1t)F(y)f(z)\le t\,F(x)+(1-t)\,F(y). As fFf\in\mathcal{F} was arbitrary, tF(x)+(1t)F(y)t\,F(x)+(1-t)\,F(y) is an upper bound of {f(z):fF}\{f(z):f\in\mathcal{F}\}, so the least upper bound F(z)F(z) of that set satisfies

F(z)tF(x)+(1t)F(y).F(z)\le t\,F(x)+(1-t)\,F(y).

Hence FF is convex on CC.

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