Recently I am reading a document [1]. In this document, Prof. Cook provides a brief proof of $\mathbf{P} \subseteq \mathbf{NP}$, which is only one sentence:
It is trivial to show that $\mathbf{P} \subseteq \mathbf{NP}$, since for each language $L$ over $\Sigma$, if $L \in \mathbf{P}$ then we can define the polynomial-time checking relation $R \subseteq \Sigma^* \cup \Sigma^*$ by $$R(w, y) \Longleftrightarrow w \in L$$ for all $w, y \in \Sigma^*$.
I know the definitiondefinitions of $\mathbf{P}$ and $\mathbf{NP}$, as in [1], but I still can't understand this proof. Could any one explain the proof to me? Even one sentence is good.
By the way, I think $\Sigma^* \cup \Sigma^*$ should be $\Sigma^* \times \Sigma^*$. Am I right?
Reference
[1] S. Cook, The P versus NP problem, [Online] http://www.claymath.org/sites/default/files/pvsnp.pdf.