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PROOF BY CASES
EXHAUSTIVE PROOF
• Prove that only consecutive positive integers not exceeding 50 that are perfect
powers are 8 and 9.
• a=2 1,4,9,16,25,36,49
• a=3 1,8, 27
• a=4 1,16 Definition:
An integer is a perfect power if it
• a=5 1,32 equals na where a is an integer
• a=6 1 greater than 1.
PROOF BY CASES
eE
eE
eE
EXAMPLE 7
WITHOUT LOSS OF GENERALITY
• To prove Эx P(x)
• Constructive: find a witness
• Non constructive: shown without witness
EXAMPLE 9
• Show that there exist some integer that is expressible as the sum
of 2 cubes in 2 different ways
• Constructive proof: 1729 = 103 + 93 = 123 + 13
EXAMPLE 10
UNIQUENESS PROOF
• Existence: Эx P(x)
• Uniqueness: ∀𝑦 𝑃 𝑦 → 𝑦 = 𝑥
• ∃𝑥∀𝑦 𝑃 𝑥 ∧ 𝑃 𝑦 → 𝑦 = 𝑥
• ∃𝑥∀𝑦 𝑃 𝑦 ↔ 𝑦 = 𝑥
EXAMPLE 11