\section{The Algebraic and Order Properties of $\R$} \begin{theorem}[\textbf{Algebraic Properties of $\R$}] On the set $\R$ of real numbers there are two binary operations, denoted by $+$ and $\cdot$ and called \textbf{addition} and \textbf{multiplication}, respectively. These operations satisfy the following properties: \begin{enumerate} \item[(A1)] $a+b=b+a\ \forall\ a,b \in \R$. (\textit{commutative property of addition}); \item[(A2)] $(a+b)+c=a+(b+c)\ \forall\ a,b,c \in \R$ (\textit{associative property of addition}); \item[(A3)] There exists and element $0$ in $\R$ such that $0+a=a$ and $a+0=a$ for all $a \in \R$ (\textit{existence of a zero element}); \item[(A4)] for each $a \in \R$ there exists and element $-a \in \R$ such that $a + (-a)=0$ and $(-a) + a=0$ (\textit{existence of negative elements}); \item[(M1)] $a \cdot b=b \cdot a\ \forall\ a,b \in \R$ (\textit{commutative property of multiplication}); \item[(M2)] $(a \cdot b) \cdot c = a \cdot (b \cdot c)\ \forall\ a,b,c \in \R$ (\textit{associative property of multiplication}); \item[(M3)] There exists an element $1 \in \R$ \textit{distinct from} $0$ such that $1 \cdot a=a$ and $a \cdot 1 = a\ \forall\ a \in \R$ (\textit{existence of a unit element}); \item[(M4)] for each $a \neq 0 \in \R$, there exists an element $1/a \in \R$ such that $a \cdot (1/a) = 1$ and $(1/a) \cdot a = 1$ (\textit{existence of reciprocals}); \item[(D)]$a \cdot (b+c)=(a \cdot b) + (a \cdot c)$ and $(b+c)\cdot a = (b \cdot a) + (c \cdot a)\ \forall\ a,b,c \in \R$ (\textit{distributive property of multiplication over addition}). \end{enumerate} \end{theorem} \begin{theorem} \begin{enumerate} \item[] \item If $z$ and $a$ are elements in $\R$ with $z+a=a$, then $z=0$. \item If $u$ and $b \neq 0$ are elements in $\R$ with $u \cdot b=b$, then $u=1$. \item If $a \in \R$, then $a \cdot 0=0$. \end{enumerate} \end{theorem} \begin{theorem} \begin{enumerate} \item[] \item If $a \neq 0$ and $b \in \R$ are such that $a \cdot b = 1$, then $b = 1/a$. \item If $a \cdot b = 0$, then either $a=0$ or $b=0$. \end{enumerate} \end{theorem} \begin{theorem} There does not exists a rational number $r$ such that $r^2=2$. \end{theorem} \begin{definition}[\textbf{The Order Properties of $\R$}] There is a nonempty subset $\mathbb{P}$ of $\R$, called the set of \textbf{positive real numbers}, that satisfies the following properties: \begin{enumerate} \item If $a,b$ belong to $\mathbb{P}$, then $a+b$ belongs to $\mathbb{P}$. \item If $a,b$ belong to $\mathbb{P}$, then $ab$ belongs to $\mathbb{P}$. \item If $a$ belongs to $\R$, then exactly one of the following holds: \[a \in \mathbb{P},\ \ \ \ a=0,\ \ \ \ -a \in \mathbb{P}\] (This condition is usually called the \textbf{Trichotomy Property}.) \end{enumerate} \end{definition} \begin{definition} Let $a,b$ be elements of $\R$. \begin{enumerate} \item If $a-b \in \mathbb{P}$, then we write $a >b$ or $b < a$. \item If $a-b \in \mathbb{P} \cup \{0\}$, then we write $a \geq b$ or $b \leq a$. \end{enumerate} \end{definition} \begin{theorem} Let $a,b,c$ be any elements of $\R$. \begin{enumerate} \item If $a>b$ and $b>c$, then $a>c$. \item If $a>b$, then $a+c>b+c$. \item If $a>b$ and $c>0$, then $ca>cb$. \\If $a>b$ and $c<0$, then $ca0$. \item $1 >0$. \item If $n \in \N$, then $n >0$ \end{enumerate} \end{theorem} \begin{theorem} If $a \in \R$ is such that $0 \leq a < \varepsilon$ for every $\varepsilon>0$, then $a=0$. \end{theorem} \begin{theorem} If $ab>0$, then either \begin{enumerate} \item $a>0$ and $b>0$, or \item $a<0$ and $b<0$. \end{enumerate} \end{theorem} \begin{corollary} If $ab <0$, then either \begin{enumerate} \item $a<0$ and $b>0$, or \item $a>0$ and $b<0$. \end{enumerate} \end{corollary} \begin{definition}[\textbf{Bernoulli's Inequality}] If $x>-1$, then \[(1+x)^n \geq 1+nx\ \forall\ n \in \N\] \end{definition}