[Munkres, Problem 3, page 126] Problem. Let X be a metric space with metric d. (a) Show that d : X X R is continuous.

s. (b) Let X denote a space having the same underlying set as X . Show that if d : X X R is continuous, then the topology of X is ner than the topology of X . Solution: (a) Let (a, b), (x, y ) X X . From the triangle inequalities d(x, y ) d(x, b) + d(b, y ) d(x, b) d(x, a) + d(a, b) we deduce d(x, y ) d(a, b) = d(x, y ) d(x, b) + d(x, b) d(a, b) d(b, y ) + d(x, a), and, by symmetry, d(x, y ) d(a, b) d(b, y ) + d(x, a). Combining these, we get |d(a, b) d(x, y )| d(x, a) + d(y, b). It follows that given (a, b) X X , and > 0, we have |d(a, b) d(x, y )| for all (x, y ) Bd (a, /2) Bd (b, /2). This proves (a). (b) It is enough to show that every ball Bd (a, r), a X , r > 0, is open in X . But Bd (a, r) is the preimage of (, r) by the composition X X X R, in which the rst map is the map x (a, x), and the second map is d. Since both maps are continuous, the composition is continuous, and therefore Bd (a, r) is open.