Introduction to Proofs

(In Book: Chapter 1-sec 1.7)

1
 Introduction to Proofs
2
 A theorem is a statement that can be shown to be true.
 Less important theorems sometimes are called propositions.
(Theorems can also be referred to as facts or results.)
 it may be the universal quantification of a conditional statement with one or
more premises and a conclusion, or it may be another type of logical statements.
 Proof is a valid argument (sequence of statements) that establishes the
truth of a theorem. And the statements to be used in proofs include:
 Axioms or postulates (statement assumed to be true
Proven
Axioms Hypothesis theorems
without proof)
o Ex: If x is positive integer then x+1 is positive integer.

 Hypothesis (premises) of the theorem

Rules of inference
 Previously proven theorems
 Rules of inference used to draw conclusions and
to move from one step to another New Theorems
 Introduction to Proofs (Cont.)
3

 Lemma is a less important theorem that is helpful in the proof of other

results

 A corollary is a theorem that can be established directly from a theorem

that has been proved.

 A Conjecture
• is a statement that is being proposed to be a true statement, usually on
the basis of some partial evidence.
• When a proof of a conjecture is found, the conjecture becomes a
theorem
 Introduction to Proofs (Cont.)
4

 How theorems are stated :

• “if x is negative, so is its cube”
we usually mean "every negative x has a negative cube.”
This should be written symbolically as ∀x( (x<0)⇒(x3<0) ).
• “ If x is a real number, then x2 is a positive real number “.
To prove a theorem of the form : ∀ 𝑥 𝑝 𝑥 → 𝑞 𝑥 ∶
• our goal is to show that 𝑝 𝑐 → 𝑞 𝑐 is true where c is an arbitrary element
of the domain.
• Because we need to show that a conditional statement is true, we focus on
methods that show that conditional statements are true.
 Introduction to Proofs (Cont.)
5

 Some Methods of proving theorems:

 Direct proofs
Mathematical induction proof.
 Vacuous Proofs
 Trivial Proofs
 Proofs by Contradiction
 Disproving by counterexample
Methods of proving theorems – Direct proofs
6

 A direct proof of a conditional statement pq is constructed when the

first step is the assumption that p is true; subsequent steps are constructed
using rules of inference, with the final step showing that q must also be
true.
• A direct proof shows that a conditional statement pq is true by showing
that if p is true then q must also be true.
• In a direct proof, we assume that p is true and use axioms, definitions,
and previously proven theorems, together with rules of inference, to show
that q must also be true.
Methods of proving theorems – Direct proofs
7

 Definition : The integer n is even if there exists an integer k such that n =

2k, and n is odd if there exists an integer k such that n = 2k + 1.

 Note that every integer is either even or odd, and no integer is both
even and odd.

 Two integers have the same parity when both are even or both are odd;
they have opposite parity when one is even and the other is odd.
Methods of proving theorems – Direct proofs
8
 Example Give a direct proof of the theorem :
“If n is an odd integer, then n2 is odd.”
 Proof:
We assume that n is odd. (hypothesis)
=> n = 2k + 1, where k is some integer. (definition of odd number)
We can square both sides of the equation n = 2k + 1
to obtain a new equation that expresses n2

=> n2 = (2k+1)2 = 4k2 + 4k + 1 = 2(2k2+2k)+1 (By squaring)

Since r = 2k2+2k is an integer (Axiom)

=> n2 = 2r+1 is odd.

 Example :Use a direct proof to show that :

“If n is an even integer, then n2 is even.”
 Methods of proving theorems – Direct proofs
9
 Example Give a direct proof of the theorem :
“if m and n are both perfect squares, then nm is also perfect”
 Proof:
We assume that m and n are both perfect squares :
m = s2 and n = t2
m.n = s2.t2 = (st)2
m.n is also perfect
Methods of proving theorems – Direct proofs
10

Definition: The real number r is rational if there exist integers p and q with q  0 such
that r = p/q. A real number that is not rational is called irrational
 Methods of proving theorems – Direct proofs
11
 Example Prove that the sum of two rational numbers is rational. (Note that if we
include the implicit quantifiers here, the theorem we want to prove is “For every real
number r and every real number s, if r and s are rational numbers, then r + s is
rational.) :

solution:
suppose that r, s are rational numbers.

So, there are integers p and q, with q≠0, such that r = p/q, and integers t and u,
with u ≠ 0, such that s = t/u. (by definition)

=> add r = p/q and s = t/u, to obtain r+s = (𝑝𝑢 + 𝑞𝑡)/qu.

Because q≠0 and u≠0 , it follows that qu≠0

Consequently, we have expressed r + s as the ratio of two integers, pu + qt and qu,
where qu≠0 => This means that r + s is rational.
 Methods of proving theorems – Vacuous Proofs
12

p q pq
 Vacuous Proofs A conditional statement p  q is TRUE if p
F F T
is FALSE. If we can show that p is False, then we have a proof, F T T
T F F
called vacuous proof, of the conditional statement p  q .
T T T

 Example Show that the proposition P(0) is true, where P(n) is “If n > 1, then n2 > n”
and the domain consists of all integers.

 Proof: Note that P(0) is “If 0 > 1, then 02 > 0.” We can show P(0) using a vacuous proof.
Indeed, the hypothesis 0 > 1 is false. This tells us that P(0) is automatically true.

 Example Prove that if he is alive and he is dead then the sun is ice cold

 Proof: Since the hypothesis is always false the implication is vacuously true.
 Methods of proving theorems – Trivial Proofs
13

p q pq
 Trivial Proofs A conditional statement p  q is TRUE if q is
F F T
True . If we can show that q is True, then we have a proof, called F T T
T F F
Trivial proof, of the conditional statement p  q .
T T T

 Example Let P(n) be “If a and b are positive integers with a ≥ b, then an ≥ bn where the
domain consists of all nonnegative integers. Show that P(0) is true.

 Proof: The proposition P(0) is “If a ≥ b, then a0 ≥ b0.” Because a0 = b0 = 1, the conclusion
of the conditional statement “If a ≥ b, then a0 ≥ b0” is true. Hence, this conditional
statement, which is P(0), is true
 Example Prove that if x=2 then x2  0 for all real numbers
 Proof: Since x2  0 is true then the implication is trivially true. (we didn’t use
the fact x=2)

 Example Use a trivial proof to show that if n > 1 then n2 ≥ n for all integers
 Methods of proving theorems – Proofs by Contradiction
14
 Proofs by Contradiction
• it is another type of indirect proof that proves a proposition p,
• Find contradiction q such that ¬p → q is true, since q is false, and ¬p → q is true, so ¬p
is false , p is true.
• We can prove that p is true if we can show that ¬p → (r ˄ ¬ r) is true some proposition
r
Definition: The real number r is rational if there exist integers p and q with q  0 such
that r = p/q. A real number that is not rational is called irrational

 Example Prove that 2 is irrational by giving a proof by contradiction.

 Proof: Let p is “2 is irrational “
To start a proof by contradiction, we suppose that ￢p is true , "It is not the case that is
irrational”
Let p is 2 is rational (hypothesis)
2 = a/b for some integers a and b (b0) and a and b have no common factors
We can square both sides of the equation 2 = a/b => 2 = a2/b2
 Methods of proving theorems – Proofs by Contradiction
15

=> 2b2 = a2 By the definition of an even integer it follows that a2 is even, so we

can substituting with a = 2c for some integer
=> 2b2 = (2c)2 = 4c2 (Dividing both sides of this equation by 2)

 b2 = 2c2 By the definition of an even integer it follows that b2 is even , i.e. b is even

We have now shown that the assumption of ￢p leads to the equation √2 = a/b, where
 a and b have no common factors,
 but both a and b are even ( that is, 2 divides both a and b)

That is our assumption of ￢p leads to the contradiction, ￢p must be false.

That is, the statement p, “ √2 is irrational,” is true. We have proved that √2 is irrational.
 Methods of proving theorems – Proofs by Contradiction
16

 Example show that at least four of any 22 days must fall on the same day of the
week.

 Proof: Let p is “At least four of 22 chosen days fall on the same day of the week.“
To start a proof by contradiction:

Let p is true “at most three of the 22 days fall on the same day of the week”.

Because there are 7 days of the week, this implies that at most 21 days
could have been chosen, as for each of the days of the week, at most three of the chosen
days could fall on that day.

This contradicts the premise that we have 22 days under consideration.

That is our assumption of ￢p leads to the contradiction, ￢p must be false.

That is, the statement p, “ At least four of 22 chosen days fall on the same day of the
week,” is true
 Methods of proving theorems – Proofs by Contradiction
17

 To prove a conditional statement p  q by contradiction we prove that:

( p  q F is true ) which is equivalent to p  q .

 Example Give a proof by contradiction of the theorem :

“If 3n + 2 is odd, then n is odd.”
 Proof: Suppose that 3n+2 is odd and n is even [p  q]
=> n = 2r (hypothesis q, definition of even numbers)
=>3n = 6r (multiply both sides by 3)
=> 3n+2=2+6r (add 2 to both sides)

=> 3n+2=2(1+3r)
=> 3n+2=2k (Let k=1+3r)
=> Thus 3n+2 is even which is false (a contradiction !)
Therefore the implication is true.
 Methods of proving theorems – Counterexample
18

 Counterexample : To show that a statement of the form ∀xP(x) is false, we need only
find a counterexample, that is, an example x for which P(x) is false.

 E.g. Prove that “For all real numbers x2 > x” is false

X=0.5 is a counterexample since 0.52 > 0.5 is not true

 Example Show that the statement: “Every positive integer is the sum of the
squares of two integers” is false.

 To show that this statement is false, we look for a counterexample which is 3

because we cannot write 3 as the sum of the squares of two integers.
To show this is the case, note that the only perfect squares not exceeding 3 are:
(02 = 0 & 12 = 1), but 3  1+0. Therefore the statement is false