Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2023 / Paper 2 / 8 / a / iii / Solution

The substitution $F(a)=e^a$, with $F(-\infty )=0$, is a bijection onto $[0,\infty )$ and obeysThus the log-sum-exp function transfers nonnegative addition to the given set. It is closed, associative and commutative, with identity element $-\infty$. But a finite $a$ has $e^a>0$, and adding a nonnegative number cannot give zero, so no finite $a$ has an inverse element. Therefore it is a commutative monoid but not a group.