Definition:Negative Part

Definition
Let $X$ be a set, and let $f: X \to \overline \R$ be an extended real-valued function.

Then the negative part of $f$, $f^-: X \to \overline \R$, is the extended real-valued function defined by:


 * $\forall x \in X: \map {f^-} x := -\min \set {0, \map f x}$

where the minimum is taken with respect to the extended real ordering.

That is:


 * $\forall x \in X: \map {f^-} x := \begin {cases} -\map f x & : \map f x \le 0 \\ 0 & : \map f x > 0 \end {cases}$

Hence the negative part of $f$ is actually defined as a positive function.

Also see

 * Definition:Positive Part, the natural associate of negative part