12

I would like to write down my lecture notes. The proofs of the theorems in this lecture are usually really big. It usually looks like this:

Theorem 1: Here comes the statement of the Theorem

Proof.

  1. Without loss of generality let us assume...
  2. Claim 1: Statement.

Proof: Blah blah \endOfInnerProofSymbol

  1. Claim 2: Statement.

Proof. Blah blah \endOfInnerProofSymbol

\endOfProofSymbol

So my question is now, how can I make such nested proofs with another QED-symbol than the parent proof (maybe a filled square)?

1
  • Welcome to TeX.SX! I'm quite sure this has already been discussed.
    – egreg
    Jan 20, 2015 at 0:17

1 Answer 1

13

You can simply define a new environment subproof that mimics the behavior of proof but uses a filled square instead of the default one.

\newenvironment{subproof}[1][\proofname]{%
  \renewcommand{\qedsymbol}{$\blacksquare$}%
  \begin{proof}[#1]%
}{%
  \end{proof}%
}

You can even give it the optional argument as in

\begin{subproof}[Subproof]

so to print "Subproof" instead of "Proof".

MWE (note the \item after the outer proof to let enumerate start on a new line)

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsthm,amssymb}

\newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}

\newenvironment{subproof}[1][\proofname]{%
  \renewcommand{\qedsymbol}{$\blacksquare$}%
  \begin{proof}[#1]%
}{%
  \end{proof}%
}

\begin{document}
\begin{theorem}
  Here comes the statement of the Theorem
\end{theorem}
\begin{proof}
  \item
  \begin{enumerate}
    \item Without loss of generality let us assume...
    \item Claim 1: Statement.%
    \begin{subproof}[Subproof]
      Blah blah
    \end{subproof}
    \item Claim 2: Statement.%
    \begin{subproof}
      Blah blah
    \end{subproof}
  \end{enumerate} 
\end{proof}
\end{document} 

enter image description here

2
  • Wow, this is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you very much for this detailed answer!
    – aexl
    Jan 21, 2015 at 1:22
  • I would use \renewcommand{\qedsymbol}{\ensuremath{\blacksquare}} in case \qedsymbol is used in math mode. This will not happen in the definition of proof environments (that I know of), but just to be sure.
    – hife
    Jan 9, 2020 at 11:29

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .