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MATH 3901
Metric Spaces 2004
Tutorial 3
PROBLEM SET 3
1. Sketch (where possible) the following sets A, and decide whether A is an open
subset, or a closed subset, or neither, of the appropriate space R
n
. Then for
each A, nd Int A, A and FrA.
(i ) A =
nN
(n, n + 1), N = {0, 1, 2, . . . }
(ii ) A = set of all integers in R
(iii ) A =
_
(x
1
, x
2
) R
2
| x
1
x
2
= 0
_
(iv) A =
_
(x
1
, x
2
) R
2
| x
1
rational
_
(v) A =
_
(x
1
, 0) R
2
| 0 < x
1
< 4
_
Solution.
(i ) The set A is as shown:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
The set A is the union of open intervals and so it is open. The complement
X \ A is given by
X \ A = (, 0] {1, 2, 3, . . . },
and it is not open since any open ball containing, for example, 1 contains
points in A, i.e., points outside X \ A. Hence A is not closed.
Since A is open, Int A = A. The closure of A is A = [0, ). Since X \ A
is closed, it follows that X \ A = X \ A and so
FrA = A (X \ A) = {0, 1, 2, 3, } .
(ii ) The set A is as sketched:
3 2 1 0 1 2 3
Since any open interval containing, for example, 0 contains points outside
A, it follows that A is not open. The complement of A is
X \ A =
_
nZ
(n, n + 1) ,
2
which is the union of open intervals (n, n + 1). Thus X \ A is open so
that A is closed.
Clearly Int A = . Since A is closed, A = A. Again it is clear that
X \ A = R and so FrA = A (X \ A) = A.
(iii ) Note that x
1
x
2
= 0 implies either
x
1
= 0 or x
2
= 0 . Thus the set A
is as shown on the right. Clearly,
any open ball containing (0, 0)
in A contains points outside A.
Hence A is not open. Next A is
the union of two closed subsets
_
(x
1
, x
2
) R
2
| x
1
= 0
_
and
_
(x
1
, x
2
) R
2
| x
2
= 0
_
.
Therefore A is closed.
Clearly Int A = . Since A is closed, A = A. It is easily seen that
X \ A = R
2
and so
FrA = A (X \ A) = A.
(iv) The set A cannot be sketched. Since any open ball containing (x
1
, x
2
)
with x
1
rational, contains points (y
1
, y
2
) with y
1
irrational (i.e. points
outside A), it follows that A is not open. Similarly, the complement X\A
of A is not open and hence A is not closed.
Using the same reason, we see that Int A = and A = R
2
. Also X \ A =
R
2
. Hence
FrA = A (X \ A) = R
2
.
(v) The set A is as shown on the
right. A is clearly not open. The
complement X \ A of A contains
the point (0, 0). Since any open
ball containing (0, 0) contains
points in A, it follows that X \ A
is not open so that A is not
closed.
0 4
Clearly Int A = , and
A =
_
(x
1
, 0) R
2
| 0 x
1
4
_
.
Now X \ A = R
2
and so
FrA = A (X \ A) =
_
(x
1
, 0) R
2
| 0 x
1
4
_
.
3
2. Let A be an open subset of a metric space (X, d) and a A . Is A\ {a} open
in X?
Solution.
We claim that A\ {a} = A (X \ {a}) . Clearly
A\ {a} A (X \ {a}) .
Now let x A(X \ {a}) . Then x A and x X \ {a} , so that x = a . Thus
x A\ {a} and so
A (X \ {a}) A\ {a} .
Hence
A\ {a} = A (X \ {a}) ,
as claimed. Since both A and X \ {a} are open, we conclude that A \ {a} is
open.
3. Let (X, d) be a metric space. If A B X, prove that Int A Int B.
Solution.
Let a Int A. Then there exists an open ball B(a; ) such that B(a; ) A.
Since A B, it follows that B(a; ) B, and so a Int B. Hence Int A
Int B.
4. Let x be a limit point of a subset A of a metric space (X, d). Prove that every
open ball B(x; ) contains an innite number of points of A.
Solution.
Let x be a limit point of A and let B(x; ) be any open ball. Then
_
B(x; ) \ {x}
_
A = .
That is, there is a point x
1
X such that x
1
= x and x
1
B(x; ). Let
1
= d(x, x
1
) < . Then the open ball B(x;
1
) also contains a point x
2
,
say, of X with x
2
= x. Since x
1
/ B(x;
1
), it follows that x
1
= x
2
. Let
2
= d(x, x
2
) <
1
. Next, by considering the open ball B(x;
2
), we obtain a
third point x
3
distinct from x, x
1
, x
2
; and so on. Hence every open ball B(x; )
contains an innite number of points of A.
5. Let (X, d) be a metric space and A X. Prove that the derived set A
of A is
closed.
Solution.
Let x be a limit point of A
, it follows that
B(y; ) contains an innite number of points of A, by Question 4. Thus B(x; )
contains an innite number of points of A and so x A
. Hence (A
so
that A
.
(ii ) If A and B are subsets of X, prove that (A B)
= A
.
Solution.
(i ) Let x A
. Hence A
.
(ii ) Since A A B and B A B, it follows from (i ) that A
(A B)
and B
(A B)
so that
A
(A B)
.
Suppose that x / A
__
B(x; ) \ {x}
_
A
__
B(x;
1
) \ {x}
_
A
__
B(x;
2
) \ {x}
_
A
= = .
so that x / (A B)
. Hence if x (A B)
, then x A
; that is,
(A B)
.
Consequently (A B)
= A
.
5
7. Let (X, d) be a metric space and A, B be two subsets of X. Prove that:
(i ) If A B, then A B.
(ii ) A =
k=1
|x
k
y
k
|
p
_
1/p
,
for x = (x
k
) and y = (y
k
) in
p
.
Let A be the set of all elements y in
p
such that only a nite number of the
coordinates y
k
of y are non-zero, and the non-zero coordinates are all in Q.
We rst show that A is countable. For this, let A
n
be the subset of A consisting
of all those elements y = (y
k
) such that y
k
= 0 for all k > n + 1. Then, it is
easily seen that
A =
_
n=1
A
n
.
Since A
1
, A
2
, . . . are all countable, it follows that A is countable.
Next we show that A is everydense in
p
; that is, A =
p
. Let x
p
, y A
and set
y = {y
1
, y
2
, . . . , y
n
, 0, 0, . . . }.
Then
d(x, y) =
_
n
k=1
|x
k
y
k
|
p
+
k=n+1
|x
k
|
p
_
1/p
.
Given any > 0, since x
p
, there exists n such that
k=n+1
|x
k
|
p
<
1
2
p
.
Fix n. Since Q is everywhere dense in R, for x
1
, x
2
, . . . , x
n
, we can choose
y
1
, y
2
, . . . , y
n
in Q such that
|x
k
y
k
| < /(2n)
1/p
or |x
k
y
k
|
p
<
p
2n
,
k = 1, 2, . . . , n. Hence for any x
p
, there is y A such that
d(x, y) =
_
n
k=1
|x
k
y
k
|
p
+
k=n+1
|x
k
|
p
_
1/p
<
_
n
k=1
p
2n
+
p
2
_
1/p
=
_
n
p
2n
+
p
2
_
1/p
= .
Hence A is everywhere dense in
p
and so
p
is separable.
8
11. Let (Y, d
Y
) a metric subspace of a metric space (X, d) and H Y. Prove that
H is closed in Y if and only if there exists a closed subset C in X such that
H = C Y .
Solution.
Recall that H is closed in Y if the complement Y \ H is open in Y .
Suppose that H is closed in Y . Then G = Y \ H is open in Y and so there is
an open set U in X such that G = U Y . Let C = X \ U . Then C is closed
in X and H = C Y .
Let H Y . Suppose that there is a closed set C in X such that H = C Y .
Let U = X \ C . Then U is open in X and Y \ H = U Y and so G = Y \ H
is open in Y . Hence H is closed in Y .
12. Let N = {1, 2, 3, . . . } be the set of all natural numbers in the Euclidean metric
space (R, d). Is the set {1} open in N? What are the open sets in N?
Solution.
Since {1} = (1/2, 3/2) N and (1/2, 3/2) is open in R, it follows that {1} is
open in N. Similarly, one can prove that every singleton set {a} in N is open
in N and so every subset of N is open in N.
13. Let (X, d) be a metric space.
(i ) Let Y X be an open subset in X. If G Y is open in Y , prove that G
is open in X.
(ii ) Let Y X be a closed subset in X. If H Y is closed in Y , prove that
H is closed in X.
Solution.
(i ) Since G is open in Y , there is an open set U in X such that G = U Y .
Since Y is open in X, it follows that G, as an intersection of two open
sets in X, is open in X.
(ii ) Since H is closed in Y , there is a closed set C in X such that H = C Y .
Since Y is closed in X, it follows that H, as an intersection of two closed
sets in X, is closed in X.