Regulating functions on partially ordered sets (Q2490429)

Given a partially ordered set \((T,\leq)\) with the least element 0, the authors start with 3 functions \(\alpha,\beta,x:T\to R\), bounded on any interval \([0,t]\), \(t\in T\), and such that \(\alpha(0)\leq x(0)\leq\beta(0)\). They consider pairs \((l,u)\) of nonnegative, non-decreasing functions on \(T\) such that \(\alpha(t)\leq x(t)+l(t)-u(t)\leq\beta(t)\) for all \(t\in T\). The main result of the paper is the statement that the set of all such pairs possesses a minimal element. Then some special kinds of \(T\) are considered: trees, discrete posets, \(\sigma\)-algebras of sets, sets of probability distributions, and the set of positive semidefinite symmetric matrices.