Measure theory without infinities

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to develop a framework for measure theory that avoids infinities and allows for the uniform treatment of positive and vector measures. Our approach is based on a modification of the notion of measure, which supplements the usual $σ$-additivity requirement with a suitable maximality condition. To each Hausdorff topological vector space $\mathfrak A$ and $σ$-ring $\mathcal{Q}$, we associate a vector space $\mathscr M(\mathcal{Q},\mathfrak A)$ of `infinite' $\mathfrak A$-valued measures corresponding to $\mathcal{Q}$. In particular, the positive elements of $\mathscr M(\mathcal{Q},\mathbb R)$ are naturally identified with the $σ$-finite positive measures defined on $\mathcal{Q}$, thus placing positive and signed measures within the same setting. Finally, extension results for group-valued contents due to Sion and Weber are reformulated and refined within this new framework.