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The University of Sydney

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

. Then any open ball B(x; ) contains a point y = x


of A

. Let B(y; ) be such that B(y; ) B(x; ). Since y 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

is closed, by Theorem 2.7.


4
6. Let (X, d) be a metric space.
(i ) If A B X, prove that A

.
(ii ) If A and B are subsets of X, prove that (A B)

= A

.
Solution.
(i ) Let x A

. Then for any open ball B(x; ),


_
B(x; ) \ {x}
_
A = .
Since A B, it follows that
_
B(x; ) \ {x}
_
B
_
B(x; ) \ {x}
_
A = ,
so that x B

. 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

. Then there exist open balls B(x;


1
) and
B(x;
2
) such that
_
B(x;
1
) \ {x}
_
A =
and
_
B(x;
2
) \ {x}
_
B = .
Let = min{
1
,
2
). Then we see that B(x; ) is an open ball such that
_
B(x; ) \ {x}
_
(A B)
=
__
B(x; ) \ {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 =

{B X | B is closed and A B}. That is, A is the smallest


closed set containing A.
(iii ) A is closed if and only if A = A.
(iv) A B = A B.
(v) A B A B.
Solution.
(i ) Let x A. Then for any open set (or open ball) U containing x, UA = .
Since A B, it follows that U B = . Hence x B and so A B.
(ii ) Let
F =

{B X | B is closed and A B}.


Then F is closed. We want to show that A = F
We frist show that A F. Suppose that x / F. Then x X \ F. Since
F is closed, X \ F is open so that there is an open ball B(x; ) such that
B(x; ) (X \ F),
that is, B(x; ) F = . Since A F, it follows that B(x; ) A = and
so x / A. Hence A F.
Next, we show that F A. Suppose that x / A. Then there is an open
ball B(x; ) with B(x; ) A = . Choose B = X \ B(x; ). Then B is
closed, A B and x / B. Thus x / F. Hence F A.
Consequently
A = F =

{B X | B is closed and A B}.


(iii ) If A = A, then A is closed, since A is closed. Now suppose that A is
closed. Then, by (ii ), A A and so A = A.
(iv) Since A AB and B AB, it follows from (i ) that A A B and
B A B. Then
A B A B.
Next, Since A A and B B, it follows that AB AB and by (i ),
A B A B = A B
since A B is closed. Hence A B = A B.
(v) Since A B A and A B B, it follows from (i ) that
A B A and A B B
and hence A B A B.
6
8. Let (X, d) be a metric space and A X. Prove that:
(i ) A = Int A FrA.
(ii ) A is closed if and only if FrA A.
(iii ) A is open if and only if FrA X \ A.
(iv) Fr(X \ A) = FrA.
Solution.
(i ) Since Int A A A, and FrA A, it follows that
Int A FrA A.
Let x A. If x Int A, then we are done. If x / Int A, then every open
ball B(x; ) must contain some points in the complement X \ A. Then
x X \ A and so x A (X \ A) = FrA.
Hence
A Int A FrA
and therefore
A = Int A FrA.
(ii ) Note that A is closed if and only if A = A. Hence the result follows
immediately from (i ).
(iii ) Note that A is open if and only if X\ A is closed. Thus the result follows
from (ii ).
(iv) It follows from the denition and the fact that A = X \ (X \ A).
9. Let A =
_
(x
1
, x
2
) R
2
| x
1
, x
2
both rationals
_
. Show that A = R
2
.
Deduce that R
2
is separable.
Solution.
Since any open ball in R
2
must contain points (x
1
, x
2
) with both x
1
and x
2
rationals, it follows that every point of R
2
is a limit point of A. Hence
A = R
2
.
Since
A = QQ =
_
xQ
({x} Q)
and each {x} Q is countable, A, as a countable collection of a countable set
is countable. Hence R
2
is separable.
7
10. Prove that the metric space
p
, with 1 p < , is separable.
Solution.
Recall that the metric d in
p
is dened by
d(x, y) =
_

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.

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