Interaction of big operators with indicator functions #
Consider a product of g i (f i) over a finset. Suppose g is a function such as
n ↦ (· ^ n), which maps a second argument of 1 to 1. Then if f is replaced by the
corresponding multiplicative indicator function, the finset may be replaced by a possibly larger
finset without changing the value of the product.
Consider a sum of g i (f i) over a finset. Suppose g is a function such as
n ↦ (n • ·), which maps a second argument of 0 to 0 (or a weighted sum of f i * h i or
f i • h i, where f gives the weights that are multiplied by some other function h). Then if
f is replaced by the corresponding indicator function, the finset may be replaced by a possibly
larger finset without changing the value of the sum.
Taking the product of an indicator function over a possibly larger finset is the same as taking the original function over the original finset.
Summing an indicator function over a possibly larger Finset is the same as
summing the original function over the original finset.