Max Operation on Woset is Monoid

Theorem

Let $\struct {S, \preceq}$ be a well-ordered set.

Let $\max \set {x, y}$ denote the max operation on $x, y \in S$.

Then $\struct {S, \max}$ is a monoid.

Its identity element is the smallest element of $S$.

Proof

From Well-Ordering is Total Ordering, we have that $\struct {S, \preceq}$ is a totally ordered set.

Thus, by Max Operation on Toset forms Semigroup, $\struct {S, \max}$ is a semigroup.

By definition, a well-ordered set has a smallest element.

So:

$\exists m \in S: \forall x \in S: m \preceq x$

where $m$ is that smallest element.

It follows by definition of the max operation that:

$\forall x \in S: \max \set {m, x} = x$

Thus $m$ is the identity element of $\struct {S, \max}$.

Hence the result, by definition of monoid.

$\blacksquare$