Introduction

to Proofs
SECTION 1.7
Proofs of Mathematical
Statements
 A proof is a valid argument that establishes the truth of a
statement.
 In math, CS, and other disciplines, informal proofs which are
generally shorter, are generally used.
 More than one rule of inference are often used in a step.
 Steps may be skipped.
 The rules of inference used are not explicitly stated.
 Easier for to understand and to explain to people.
 But it is also easier to introduce errors.
 Proofs have many practical applications:
 verification that computer programs are correct
 establishing that operating systems are secure
 enabling programs to make inferences in artificial intelligence
 showing that system specifications are consistent
Definitions
 A theorem is a statement that can be shown to be true
using:
 definitions
 other theorems
 axioms (statements which are given as true)
 rules of inference
 A lemma is a ‘helping theorem’ or a result which is needed
to prove a theorem.
 A corollary is a result which follows directly from a theorem.
 Less important theorems are sometimes called propositions.
 A conjecture is a statement that is being proposed to be
true. Once a proof of a conjecture is found, it becomes a
theorem. It may turn out to be false.
Forms of Theorems
 Many theorems assert that a property holds for all elements in
a domain, such as the integers, the real numbers, or some of
the discrete structures that we will study in this class.
 Often the universal quantifier (needed for a precise
statement of a theorem) is omitted by standard
mathematical convention.
For example, the statement:
“If x > y, where x and y are positive real numbers, then
x2 > y2 ”
really means
“For all positive real numbers x and y, if x > y, then x2 >
y2 .”
Proving Theorems
 Many theorems have the form:

 To prove them, we show that where c is an arbitrary

element of the domain,
 By universal generalization the truth of the original formula
follows.
 So, we must prove something of the form:
Proving Conditional
Statements: p → q
 Trivial Proof: If we know q is true, then
p → q is true as well.

“If it is raining then 1=1.”

 Vacuous Proof: If we know p is false then

p → q is true as well.
“If I am both rich and poor then 2 + 2 = 5.”

[ Even though these examples seem silly, both trivial and

vacuous proofs are often used in mathematical induction,
as we will see in Chapter 5) ]
Even and Odd Integers
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.

We will need this basic fact about the integers in some of

the example proofs to follow.
Proving Conditional
Statements: p → q
 Direct Proof: Assume that p is true. Use rules of inference,
axioms, and logical equivalences to show that q must also
be true.
Example: Give a direct proof of the theorem “If n is an odd
integer, then n2 is odd.”
Solution: Assume that n is odd. Then n = 2k + 1 for an integer k.
Squaring both sides of the equation, we get:
n2 = (2k + 1)2 = 4k2 + 4k +1 = 2(2k2 + 2k) + 1= 2r + 1,
where r = 2k2 + 2k , an integer.
We have proved that if n is an odd integer, then n2 is an odd
integer.

( marks the end of the proof. Sometimes

QED is used instead. )
Proving Conditional
Statements: p → q
Definition: The real number r is rational if there exist
integers p and q where q≠0 such that r = p/q
Example: Prove that the sum of two rational
numbers is rational.
Solution: Assume r and s are two rational numbers.
Then there must be integers p, q and also t, u
such that

where v = pu + qt
w = qu ≠ 0
Thus the sum is rational.
Proving Conditional
Statements: p → q
 Proof by Contraposition: Assume ¬q and show ¬p is true also. This
is sometimes called an indirect proof method. If we give a direct
proof of ¬q → ¬p then we have a proof of p → q.
Why does this work?
Example: Prove that if n is an integer and 3n + 2 is odd,
then n is odd.
Solution: Assume n is even. So, n = 2k for some integer k.
Thus
3n + 2 = 3(2k) + 2 =6k +2 = 2(3k + 1) = 2j for j = 3k +1
Therefore 3n + 2 is even. Since we have shown ¬q → ¬p , p →
q must hold as well. If n is an integer and 3n + 2 is odd (not
even) , then n is odd (not even).
Proving Conditional
Statements: p → q
 Proof by Contradiction: (AKA reductio ad absurdum).
To prove p, assume ¬p and derive a contradiction
such as p ∧ ¬p. (an indirect form of proof). Since we
have shown that ¬p →F is true , it follows that the
contrapositive T→p also holds.

Example: Prove that if you pick 22 days from the

calendar, at least 4 must fall on the same day of the
week.
Solution: Assume that no more than 3 of the 22 days
fall on the same day of the week. Because there are 7
days of the week, we could only have picked 21 days.
This contradicts the assumption that we have picked
22 days.
Proof by Contradiction

 A preview of Chapter 4.
Example: Use a proof by contradiction to give a proof that √2
is irrational.
Solution: Suppose √2 is rational. Then there exists integers a and b
with √2 = a/b, where b≠ 0 and a and b have no common factors. Then

Therefore a2 must be even. If a2 is even then a must be even (an

exercise). Since a is even, a = 2c for some integer c. Thus,

Therefore b2 is even. Again then b must be even as well.

But then 2 must divide both a and b. This contradicts our assumption
that a and b have no common factors. We have proved by contradiction
that our initial assumption must be false and therefore √2 is
irrational .
Theorems that are
Biconditional Statements
 To prove a theorem that is a biconditional
statement, that is, a statement of the form p q,
we show that p → q and q →p are both true.
Example: Prove the theorem: “If n is an integer, then n is
odd if and only if n2 is odd.”
Solution: We have already shown (previous slides) that
both p →q and q →p. Therefore we can conclude p q.

Sometimes iff is used as an abbreviation for “if an only if,”

as in
“If n is an integer, then n is odd iif n2 is odd.”
What is wrong with this?
“Proof” that 1 = 2

Solution: ????
Looking Ahead

 If direct methods of proof do not work:

 We may need a clever use of a proof by
contraposition.
 Or a proof by contradiction.
 In the next section, we will see strategies that can
be used when straightforward approaches do not
work.
 In Chapter 5, we will see mathematical induction
and related techniques.
 In Chapter 6, we will see combinatorial proofs
Proof Methods
and Strategy
SECTION 1.8
Proof by Cases
 To prove a conditional statement of the form:

 Use the tautology

 Each of the implications is a case.

Proof by Cases
Example: Let a @ b = max{a, b} = a if a ≥ b, otherwise
a @ b = max{a, b} = b.
Show that for all real numbers a, b, c
(a @b) @ c = a @ (b @ c)
(This means the operation @ is associative.)
Proof: Let a, b, and c be arbitrary real numbers.
Then one of the following 6 cases must hold.
1. a≥b≥c
2. a≥c≥b
3. b ≥ a ≥c
4. b ≥ c ≥a
5. c≥a≥b
6. c≥b≥a
Continued on next slide →
Proof by Cases

Case 1: a ≥ b ≥ c
(a @ b) = a, a @ c = a, b @ c = b
Hence (a @ b) @ c = a = a @ (b @ c)
Therefore the equality holds for the first case.

A complete proof requires that the equality be

shown to hold for all 6 cases. But the proofs of
the remaining cases are similar. Try them.
Without Loss of Generality
Example: Show that if x and y are integers and both x∙y and x+y
are even, then both x and y are even.
Proof: Use a proof by contraposition. Suppose x and y are not
both even. Then, one or both are odd. Without loss of
generality, assume that x is odd. Then x = 2m + 1 for some
integer m.

Case 1: y is even. Then y = 2n for some integer n, so

x + y = (2m + 1) + 2n = 2(m + n) + 1 is odd.
Case 2: y is odd. Then y = 2n + 1 for some integer n, so
x ∙ y = (2m + 1) (2n + 1) = 2(2m ∙ n +m + n) + 1 is odd.

We only cover the case where x is odd because the case where y is odd is
similar. The use phrase without loss of generality (WLOG) indicates
this.
Existence Proofs

 Proof of theorems of the form .

 Constructive existence proof:
 Find an explicit value of c, for which P(c) is true.
 Then is true by Existential Generalization (EG).
Example: Show that there is a positive integer that can be
written as the sum of cubes of positive integers in two
different ways:
Proof: 1729 is such a number since
1729 = 103 + 93 = 123 + 13
Nonconstructive Existence
Proofs
 In a nonconstructive existence proof, we assume no c
exists which makes P(c) true and derive a
contradiction.
Example: Show that there exist irrational numbers x and
y such that xy is rational.
Proof: We know that √2 is irrational. Consider the number
√2 √2 . If it is rational, we have two irrational numbers x and y
with xy rational, namely x = √2 and y = √2. But if √2 √2
is irrational, then we can let x = √2 √2 and y = √2 so that
xy = (√2 √2 )√2 = √2 (√2 √2) = √2 2 = 2.
Uniqueness Proofs
 Some theorems asset the existence of a unique element
with a particular property, !x P(x). The two parts of a
uniqueness proof are
 Existence: We show that an element x with the property
exists.
 Uniqueness: We show that if y≠x, then y does not have the
property.
Example: Show that if a and b are real numbers and a ≠0, then
there is a unique real number r such that ar + b = 0.
Solution:
 Existence: The real number r = −b/a is a solution of ar + b = 0
because a(−b/a) + b = −b + b =0.
 Uniqueness: Suppose that s is a real number such that as + b = 0.
Then ar + b = as + b, where r = −b/a. Subtracting b from both sides
and dividing by a shows that r = s.
Universally Quantified
Assertions
 To prove theorems of the form ,assume x is
an arbitrary member of the domain and show
that P(x) must be true. Using UG it follows that
.
Example: An integer x is even if and only if x2 is
even.
Solution: The quantified assertion is
x [x is even  x2 is even]
We assume x is arbitrary.
Recall that is equivalent to
So, we have two cases to consider. These are
considered in turn.
Continued on next slide →
Universally Quantified
Assertions
Case 1. We show that if x is even then x2 is even
using a direct proof (the only if part or necessity).
If x is even then x = 2k for some integer k.
Hence x2 = 4k2 = 2(2k2 ) which is even since it is an
integer divisible by 2.
This completes the proof of case 1.

Case 2 on next slide →

Universally Quantified
Assertions
Case 2. We show that if x2 is even then x must be
even (the if part or sufficiency). We use a proof by
contraposition.
Assume x is not even and then show that x2 is not
even.
If x is not even then it must be odd. So, x = 2k + 1 for
some k. Then x2 = (2k + 1)2 = 4k2 + 4k + 1 = 2(2k2 +
2k) + 1
which is odd and hence not even. This completes the
proof of case 2.
Since x was arbitrary, the result follows by UG.
Therefore we have shown that x is even if and only if
x2 is even.
 Kenneth H. Rosen (2012)
Discrete Mathematics and its Applications, 7th ed.