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I was wondering whether there is any reference that deals with the distributive law for infinitely many elements, i.e.

$$ \prod_{i\in \mathbb N} \sum_{k\in \mathbb N} \alpha_{i,k} = \sum_{(k_i)_{i\in \mathbb N} \in \mathbb N^\mathbb N} \prod_{i\in \mathbb N} \alpha_{i,k_i}. $$

Unfortunately, I could not find a good reference where this general case is treated and I am pretty sure that there are lots of things that can go wrong here (similar to the rearrangement theorems for series.)

I became interested in this question because I wanted to use

$$ \prod_{i\in \mathbb N} \sum_{k \in \Omega} \alpha_{i,k} = \sum_{(k_i)_{i\in \mathbb N} \in \Omega^\mathbb N} \prod_{i\in \mathbb N} \alpha_{i,k_i}. $$

for $\Omega$ finite.

So if you we can say more about this case, I'd be interested, too.

By the way: Since I am only interested in the case where $\alpha_{i,k}$ are positive numbers, I do not care about the summation order here in my question, which is why I use this sloppy notation where I sum over a set without specifying an order. Please feel free to be more general in an answer.

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  • $\begingroup$ By $\Omega\in\mathbb N$ did you mean $k\in\Omega$? $\endgroup$
    – bof
    Commented Dec 9, 2015 at 11:52
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    $\begingroup$ By the way, $\Omega^\mathbb N$ is uncountable if $\Omega$ has two or more elements. $\endgroup$
    – bof
    Commented Dec 9, 2015 at 11:53
  • $\begingroup$ I have seen a discussion for $\bigcap$ and $\bigcup$, but not for $\sum$ and $\prod$. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 9, 2015 at 14:20
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    $\begingroup$ I take it that your infinite product is still to be ordered? Just because the terms are positive, their logs need not be. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 9, 2015 at 16:30

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