Chapter 5

The Real Number System

God made integers, all else is the work of humankind. Leopold Kronecker
The Greeks thought that the whole numbers were natural gifts from the gods. Together
with their negative counterparts, the number 0 and the ratios of numbers without 0 in
the denominator produces the rational numbers. We have seen in the previous chapters
how to dene rational numbers. Note that, even if two rational numbers are very close
to each other, we can always nd another rational number between them. Suppose a
and b are two rational numbers that are very close to each other, then their average
(a + b)/2 lies between a and b and is also rational. The Greeks had initially assumed that
all numbers are rational till Pythogorass (580 B.C. - 500 B.C.) came up with the path
breaking geometric result about right-angled triangles that the square of the hypotenuse
equals the sum of the squares of the lengths of the two shorter sides, i.e., a2 + b2 = c2 .
They then considered the triangle whose shorter sides are a = 1 and b = 1 giving a
number c such that c2 = 2. It then became natural to question the assumption that c is
rational.

Theorem 5.0.3. Prove that 2 is not rational.

Proof. Suppose c = 2 is rational.

This means there are two integers, say, x and y that
are mutually prime and that 2 = x/y. Thus x2 = 2y 2 . This implies that x2 is an
even number and consequently x is an even number. Since x is an even number, we can
write it as x = 2m for some integer m. Then x2 = 4m2 . But x2 = 2y 2 so we can write
2y 2 = 4m2 from which we can write y 2 = 2m2 . Consequently y 2 is even and hence y is
even. Thus both x and y are even implying that they have
a common factor 2. But this
contradicts that x and y are mutually prime. And hence 2 is not rational.
The above proof appears in Euclids book Elements.
Remark 5.0.1. The Pythagoreans were disturbed by the discovery of irrational numbers
and they kept the idea secret.
Remark 5.0.2. The above proof technique doesnt work for every irrational number. For
example, the proof that is irrational would not work using the above technique.
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Remark 5.0.3. It is also unclear how to prove that numbers such as , 3 are irrational.
Recall that the numbers obey the order property in the sense that for any two numbers
x and y, we know that either x < y or x = y or x > y. This fact allows us the goemtric
representation of numbers on a line.

5.1

Decimal Expansions

Using a simple calculator we can see that 2 = 1.414213 . . .. We can write this as follows

4
1
4
2
+ 2 + 3 + 4 + ...
2=1+
10 10
10
10
The right hand side consists of numbers that are added sequentially. The resulting sum
is called an innite series and we can think of the innite series as a sum of the following
4
4
4
innite sequence of numbers. a1 = 1, a2 = 1+ 10
, a3 = 1+ 10
+ 1012 , a4 = 1+ 10
+ 1012 + 1043 .

This innite series

eventually gets arbitrarilyclose to 2 and we say the the sequence

converges to 2. The innite expansion of 2 can be thought of as giving an innite

address of the number that is obtained by repeatedely redividing the number line.

From the decimal expansion it is clear that c = 2 lies between 1 and 2. Divide the
interval between 1 and 2 into 10 equal parts, i.e., [1, 1.1), [1.1, 1.2), [1.2, 1.3) and so on.
The rst number after the decimal point is 4 so the number c lies in the interval [1.4, 1.5).
Now subdivide this interval further into 100 equal parts and bracket the number c further. Proceeding in this manner, at each stage we are subdividing the total interval into
smaller and smaller sub-intervals and trying to bracket the number c.
Algorithm to nd

1. Choose as a rst guess x1 and take for the second guess, the average of the rst
guess and two divided by the rst guess:
1
2
x1 +
x2 =
2
x1

2. If the rst guess were exactly 2 then you are done because the secondguess will
also be the same. If you guessed too low, then x21 would be greater than 2 and the

average would be closer to 2 and similarly if you guessed too high, the average
would bring it down.
3. Iterate the process to produce a third guess
1
2
x2 +
x3 =
2
x2
4. Continue this iterative scheme
to get a sequence x1 , x2 , x3 , . . . that are better and

better approximations of 2
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In
principle we can continue this process indenitely till we can get arbitararily close
to 2.
Denition 27. A decimal expansion is called nite (or terminating) if it stops after a
nite number of places. For example 3.2, 4.778 etc.
Denition 28. A decimal expansion is called periodic if from position after the decimal
point, there is nite pattern of recurrence of numbers. For example, 0.333 . . . = 0.3,
3.42191919 . . . etc.
An innite decimal expansion that is not periodic is called non-periodic. A nite decimal
expansion represents the same number as the innite periodic decimal expansion obtained
by adding an innite string of 0s at the end. For example 7.9 = 7.90, 3.679 = 3.6790 etc.
Example 5.1.1. 0.9 = 1.0
Let x = 0.9. Therefore 10x = 9.9. Subtracting we get 9x = 9 and so x = 1.0.
Remark 5.1.1. Any number with a nite decimal expansion can be written both as a
periodic expansion with an innite string of 0s at the end or as an innite string of 9s
at the end. For example 1.3 = 1.30 = 1.29.
Remark 5.1.2. A number has two or more innite decimal expansions if and only if it
has a nite decimal expansion, and it then has exactly two innite decimal expansions.
Remark 5.1.3. Finite decimal expansions always represent rational numbers. But not all
rational numbers have nite decimal expansions
Remark 5.1.4. An innite decimal expansion is periodic if and only if it represents a
rational number. It is non periodic if and only if it represents an irrational number.
Suppose on a straight line, we can mark the following never ending sets of closed intervals
. . . , [1, 0], [0, 1], [1, 2], . . . then we can represent any rational number by looking at the
corresponding closed interval and subdividing it appropriately till we can actually pinpoint the rational number under consideration. This is what separates rational numbers
from irrational numbers. Owing to its non-periodic never ending decimal expansion, we
can never accurately pin-point an irrational number. We can get arbitrarily close to it
but never exactly. We can think that the irrational numbers occupy all the holes on the
number line. The set of real numbers can thus be dened as R = Q Q . There are no
holes on the real line and every number has a home.
Denition 29 (Completeness Property of R). A subset A of R is said to be bounded
above if there is an element x0 R such that x x0 for all x A. Such an element
x0 is called an upper bound of A. Similarly A is said to be bounded below if there exists
y0 R such that y0 x for all x R.
Remark 5.1.5. An upper bound x0 of A is said to be a least upper bound (l.u.b.) or
supremum (sup) of A if whenever z is an upper bound of A, x0 z. A greatest lower
bound (g.l.b.) or inmum (inf) is analogously dened.
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Remark 5.1.6. For any set A, the sup and inf need not belong to the set A. For example
consider the sets {x : 0 < x < 1}, {x : 0 x 1}. The supremum for both the sets is 1.
Remark 5.1.7. The real number system has the property that every non-empty subset
of R which is bounded above has a least upper bound. This property is called least
upper bound property. The greatest lower bound property is analogously dened. By
completeness property we mean either l.u.b. property or g.l.b. property.
Theorem 5.1.1 (Archimedian Property). If x, y R and x > 0, then there is a
positive integer n such that nx > y.
Proof. We will prove by contradiction. Suppose that nx y for every positive integer n.
This implies that y is an upper bound of the set A = {nx : n N}. By the least upper
bound property, suppose is the least upper bound of A. Then (n + 1)x for all
n N and so nx x for every n. This further implies that x is an upper bound
of A. But this contradicts that is the least upper bound of A. Hence the original claim
is false and so the negation of the claim is true, i.e., n N such that nx > y.

Exercise: Suppose A = {r Q : r 2 < 2}. This is non-empty and a bounded set of Q.

Does it have a lub in Q?
Theorem 5.1.2 (Density of Rationals). For any two real numbers x and y with x < y
there exists a rational number q such that x < q < y.
Proof. We will give the sketch of the proof here. The idea is the following. Without loss
of generality take x > 0. Using the Archimedian property we can nd a natural number
n such that n(y x) > 1. This means that between the numbers nx and ny, there is
some natural number m such that nx < m < ny. This means x < m
< y.
n
Theorem 5.1.3 (Density of Irrationals). For any two real numbers x and y such that
x < y, there exists an irrational number such that x < < y.

Proof. Since x < y we can say that x 2 < y 2. From the density ofrationals
theorem
we can always nd a rational
number q such that x 2 < q < y 2. Thus

x < q + 2 < y. Take = q + 2.

Sequential Completeness
We have so far that both the rationals and the irrationals have been packed densely on
the real line. Perched on a rational number you can nd a sea of rationals and irrationals
around you. The question is are all possibilities of the the types of numbers to be placed
on the real line accounted for? The answer is yes and it follows from the idea of any
particular sequence of numbers (not arbitrarily increasing) will converge to one and only
one real number, i.e., a a unique real number. For example, consider the sequnce of
rational numbers 1, 1.4, 1.41, 1.414, 1.4142, 1.41421, . . .. Each term in this sequence of
numbers
is a rational number and by considering more terms we can get arbitrarily close

to 2, an irrational number. The idea is that any irrational number can be approximated
by a sequence of rational numbers. This is the idea of sequential completeness of the real
line. It can also be explained using the principles of decimal expansions of numbers.
54

5.2

Functions

A mathematical function f denes a relationship between a set of inputs and a set of

permissible outputs. For example, if we plug in an input number say x to get an output,
say x2 then we can denote it by saying f (x) = x2 . We say that f of x is x2 . For any
two sets A and B we say, f is a function that takes elements from the set A to a set B
and we write f : A B. The set A is called the domain of the function and the set B
is called the co-domain of the function.
Remark 5.2.1. For any function f , it is imperative that for each x A there is one and
only one, i.e., a unique y B. The output y = f (x) is also called the image of x under
the operation f .
Remark 5.2.2. In general terms we can dene a function as a subset of a Cartesian
Product of the domain and the co-domain.
Denition 30. For any two sets A and B, the Cartesian product A B is the set of all
ordered pairs (a, b) where a A and b B. We can write it as
A B = {(a, b)|a A and b B}

Figure 5.1 Cartesian Product

The gure is from http://sqlbible.uw.hu/sqlbible0173.html.

Denition 31. For any two sets A and B, we let f A B and say that f is a function
from A to B under the following conditions:
1. For each a A there is a b B such that (a, b) f .
2. If (a, b) f and (a, c) f then b = c.
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Example 5.2.1. Suppose A = {a, b, c, d} and B = {3, 9, 1, 4} then the Cartesian product
A B will have 16 elements. Suppose f = {(a, 3), (b, 1), (c, 9), (d, 4)} is a function from
A to B because for each element in A there is a unique element associated with it in B.
We can then say
f (a) = 3, f (b) = 1, f (c) = 9, f (d) = 4
Further h = {(a, 9), (b, 3), (c, 1), (c, 4)} is not a function because the same element c A
appears with two dierent members of the set B.
Example 5.2.2. Suppose f : R R dened by f (x) = 5x3 + 4x. This can also be
written as f = {(x, y) R R : y = 5x3 + 4x}. This is indeed a function because it
satises both the properties of a function.

Example 5.2.3. Suppose f : R+ R dened by f (x) = y i y = x2 , i.e., f (x) = x.

Is this a function? In terms of the Cartesian product of domain and the co-domain we
can write it as
f = {(x, y) R+ R : y 2 = x}
However, (4, 2) f and (4, 2) f . Thus the same output value 4 is associated with
two dierent input values and hence it is not a function. However, if the co-domain is
R+ then it would be a function.
Denition 32. For any function f : A B, the range is dened to be the subset of B
given by
range(f ) = {b B : b = f (a) for some a A}
Remark 5.2.3. The range is a subset of the co-domain.
Example 5.2.4. Suppose f : X Y such that f (x) = c where c Y then f is called
a constant function. In other words, every input value in the domain of f is mapped to
the same value c in the co-domain Y . Here the range of f is {c} is a singleton set.
Example 5.2.5. f : R R dened by f (x) =
function.

5
(x
9

32) is an example of a linear

Denition 33. The graph of a function is the collection of all ordered pairs of the form
(x, f (x)).

5.2.1

Bijection

Bijective functions are an important class of functions. We need a couple of more notions
of functions before we can dene bijective functions.
Denition 34. A function f : A B is said to be one-one or injective if no two
distinct elements in the domain are mapped to the same element in the co-domain. We
can formally say that
(x1 A)(x2 A) if f (x1 ) = f (x2 ) then x1 = x2
56

To prove that a function is one-one we can use any of the methods weve studied to prove
conditional statements. Let x1 A and x2 A be two arbitrary elements in the domain
A. Assuming f (x1 ) = f (x2 ), establish that x1 = x2 .
Example 5.2.6. Suppose f : R R dened by f (x) = 3x + 4. Suppose f (x1 ) = f (x2 )
then 3x1 + 4 = 3x2 + 4. Thus x1 = x2 . Thus f is one-one.
Example 5.2.7. Suppose f : R+ R dened by f (x) = log(x) is one-one.
Example 5.2.8. Suppose h : R R dened by h(x) = x2 is not one-one. For example
h(2) = h(2) = 4.
Denition 35. A function is said to be onto or surjective if every element in the
co-domain of the function is mapped to by some element in the domain of the function.
Formally, suppose f : X Y . Then f is onto if
(y Y )(x X) : y = f (x)
In other words if the range of a function is equal to its co-domain then we say that the
function is onto.
Example 5.2.9. Suppose f : R R be dened by f (x) = x + 1. Pick any y R such
that y = x + 1. This implies x = y 1 Thus for any y R, letting x = y 1 establishes
that f is an onto function.
Example 5.2.10. Suppose g : Z+ Z+ dened by g(x) = x + 1. Suppose we pick
y = 1. Then g(x) = 1 = x + 1 gives x = 0. But x = 0 is not a positive integer. Then
there does not exist any x Z+ such that y = x + 1. Thus g is not onto.
Example 5.2.11. Let A = {x R : x = 1}. Then suppose the function f : A R is
2x
dened by f (x) = x+1
. Is the function onto? For the function to be onto we need that
y
2x
(y R)(x A) : y = f (x). Let y = f (x) = x+1
. We can rewrite this as x = 2y
.
As can be clearly seen the function is not dened for y = 2. Thus there exists y = 2 for
which f (x) is not dened. Thus the function is not onto.
Denition 36. A function that is both one-one and onto is called a bijective function.
It is also referred to as one-to-one correspondence.
We say that two sets A and B are in one-to-one correspondence if every member of the
set A is paired exactly with one member of the set B and every member of the set B is
paired with exactly one member of the set A. We denote this as A B.

5.3

Innite Sets

Space is big. Really big. You just wont believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it
is. I mean, you may think its a long way down the street to the chemist, but thats just
57

peanuts to space. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

The idea of innity makes space look tiny. The early Greeks used the term apeiron
which meant limitless. Aristotle, working in Platos Academy introduced the idea of
potentially innite. Before we formalise the concept of infnity and the size of sets that
are innite, we may wonder what makes them so intriguing. Consider the following nite sequence of numbers: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1. If we add them we get 1. Now consider the
same sequence of numbers if instead of there being 5 terms, they just go on forever, i.e.,
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, . . .. What happens if we add them? One way of adding them could be
(1 1) + (1 1) + (1 1) + . . .. Adding in this manner gives us 0. We could also add
them in the following manner: 1 + (1 + 1) + (1 + 1) + . . .. Adding this way gives us
1. Depending on where you place the brackets you get either 0 or 1. In other words, the
same series of numbers is capable of yielding both 0 and 1. The paradoxical result can
also be formulated as turning a light on and o an innite number of times and one may
ask if the light is on or o at the end of such an exercise. The Greeks left such paradoxes
mostly unresolved.
When dealing with nite sets we can measure the size of sets by simply counting the
number of elements that belong to the set. The number of elements of any set is called
the cardinality of the set. Dealing with sets which dont have a nite number of objects
require a dierent notion of studying cardinality. The basis for the intuition of the innite
is the set of positive integers. Galileo was perhaps the rst to observe that the set of
positive integers can be put in a one-to-one correspondence with a proper subset, the even
numbers for example. This is said to have troubled him and so he left the question of
dealing with innite sets open till the German mathematician Georg Cantor came along
in the mid 1800s. Cantor adopted the denition that two sets have the same cardinality
if their elements can be put in one-to-one correspondence and hence upholding Galileos
idea that it is indeed possible that innite sets can have the same cardinality as proper
subsets. This cant happen for nite sets and in fact this can be taken as the denition of
innite sets and is called Dedekinds innite after the mathematician Richard Dedekind.
Denition 37. Two sets A and B are said to have the same cardinality if there is a
one-to-one correspondence between A and B.
Theorem 5.3.1. Suppose there is a one-to-one correspondence between sets A and B,
and another one-to-one correspondence between the sets B and C. Then there is a oneto-one correspondence between the sets A and C.
Proof. Pick some element a A. Since A B. There exists a unique element b B
that is paired with a. Since B C, there is a unique element c C that is paired with
b. Pair a and c to get a one-to-one correspondence between A and C. Note that this c
cant be paired with any other element of A because B C.
Remark 5.3.1. To show that A B we need to establish some one-to-one correspondence
between the sets A and B.
58