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2.4 The Completeness Property of R: 2.4.1 Bounded Sets
2.4 The Completeness Property of R: 2.4.1 Bounded Sets
1. M 2 S.
Example 123 The smallest element (or minimum) of [0; 1] is 0: Its largest
element (or maximum) is 1. More generally, if a and b are two real numbers
such that a b then min [a; b] = a and max [a; b] = b.
Example 125 Following the examples above, it is easy to see that if a and b
are two real numbers such that a b then [a; b) does not have a maximum and
min [a; b) = a, (a; b] does not have a minimum and max (a; b] = b, (a; b) has
neither a minimum nor a maximum.
Example 127 Consider the set S = q 2 Q : q > 0 and q 2 < 2 . This set has
no maximum. To show this, we show that if p 2 S, one can …nd q 2 S such
that p < q. Let p 2 S. In particular, p > 0 and p2 < 2. De…ne
2 p2
q = p+
p+2
2p + 2
=
p+2
First, it should be clear that q 2 Q and q > 0 (since p2 < 2) . Also, it is clear
that q > p. We only need to establish that q 2 < 2 so that q 2 S.
4p2 + 8p + 4
q2 2 = 2 2
(p + 2)
4p2 + 8p + 4 2p2 8p 8
= 2
(p + 2)
2
2p 4
= 2
(p + 2)
2 p2 2
= 2
(p + 2)
< 0
Remark 129 Not every subset of R has an upper bound. For example, (4; 1)
does not have an upper bound, it is unbounded. However, if a set S has an upper
bound M , then every number larger than M is also an upper bound. That is,
if S has an upper bound, then it has in…nitely many. A similar result holds for
lower bounds. Consider (0; 1). 1 is an upper bound. In fact, any number M 1
is an upper bound.
Example 130 3 and every number larger than 3 is an upper bound of [0; 3).
On the other hand, 2:99 is not an upper bound.
Example 131 3 is also an upper bound of [0; 3]. So, an upper bound of a set
can be in the set (more on this later).
Since a set usually has an in…nite number of upper bounds, a possible ques-
tion is: given a set S, what is the set of upper bounds of S. We explore this
question in the next two examples.
Remark 134 The reader should remember the argument we used above. It is
a result which was established in theorem 103.
Remark 135 [0; 1] and [0; 1) have the same set of upper bounds.
Remark 136 More generally, if a and b are two real numbers such that a b,
then [a; b], (a; b), (a; b] and [a; b) have the same set of upper bounds which is
[b; 1) and the same set of lower bounds which is ( 1; a].
Example 139 The empty set, ?, presents an interesting case. Every real num-
ber is both an upper bound and a lower bound of ?. To see this, it is better to
look at why a number may fail to be an upper bound. M will fail to be an upper
bound of a set S if there exists an element of S larger than M . If x is any real
50 CHAPTER 2. THE STRUCTURE OF R
Remark 144 It should be noted that sup S and inf S are not necessarily ele-
ments of S:
Remark 145 Obviously, if S 6= ? is not bounded above then S does not have
a supremum. Similarly, if S is not bounded below, it does not have an in…mum.
What about the converse?
1. s u 8s 2 S
2. If v is any number such that s v 8s 2 S then u v
2.4. THE COMPLETENESS PROPERTY OF R 51
The …rst condition says that u is an upper bound. The second says that u
is less than any other upper bound that is u is the least upper bound.
Remark 146 We see that to prove a real number is an upper bound of a set
S, we must prove:
1. is an upper bound of S.
2. Any other upper bound of S is larger than . This condition can be proven
directly, that is we assume that is another upper bound of S and show
we must have . It can also be done by contradiction. We assume
that is another upper bound such that < and derive a contradiction.
Example 147 Consider the set S = (0; 2). A number M 2 is an upper
bound. So, the set of upper bounds is [2; 1). The smallest element of this set
is 2. Therefore, the least upper bound of S is 2 which is not in S. We would
write sup (0; 2) = 2. You will also note that S does not have a largest element
or a maximum.
Example 148 Consider the set [0; 2]. A number M 2 is an upper bound.
So, the set of upper bounds is [2; 1). The smallest element of this set is 2.
Therefore, the least upper bound is 2 which is in S. We would write sup [0; 2] =
2. You will also note that S has a maximum, 2. In this example, the maximum
and the supremum are equal. This is in fact true for every set which has a
maximum as we will see later.
Example 149 More generally, if a and b are two real numbers such that a b,
then sup (a; b) = sup [a; b] = b and inf (a; b) = inf [a; b] = a. Also, the following
quantities do not exist: sup (a; 1), sup [a; 1), inf ( 1; b) and inf ( 1; b].
Example 150 N has a greatest lower bound, it is 1. So, inf N = 1. Since N
is not bounded above, it does not have any upper bound thus it does not have a
least upper bound.
Another way of characterizing the supremum of a set is given below. It
is a way we will use throughout this text. Make sure you understand it and
remember it.
Theorem 151 Let S be a non-empty subset of R. An upper bound M0 of S
satis…es M0 = sup S, if and only if for each y < M0 , there exists an x in S for
which
y < x M0
Proof. We need to prove both directions.
1. Let us assume that M0 = sup S. We need to prove that for each y <
M0 , there exists an x in S for which y < x M0 . We do a proof by
contradiction. Let y < M0 be given and assume that there is no element x
of S such that y < x. Then, for every x in S, x y. Thus, y is an upper
bound of S which is smaller than M0 which contradicts the fact that M0
is the supremum.
52 CHAPTER 2. THE STRUCTURE OF R
2. Let M0 be an upper bound of S with the property that for each y < M0 ,
there exists an x in S for which y < x M0 . We need to show that
M0 = sup S. Since M0 is already an upper bound, it is enough to show it
is the smallest. If were an upper bound strictly smaller than M0 , then by
assumption, there would exists an x in S for which < x M0 . But then
would not be an upper bound of S, which contradicts our assumption.
Thus, there cannot be an upper bound of S smaller than M0 . It follows
that M0 = sup S.
Remark 152 This theorem says that one can get as close as one wants to the
supremum of a set and still be in the set. This is obvious if the supremum is
in the set. The theorem says it is also true if the supremum is outside of the
set. Another way of understanding this is that the theorem implies that there is
nothing between a set and its supremum because nothing can …t there. In other
words, if the supremum of a set is not in the set, then it is the closest it can be
to the set. Nothing else can …t in between.
Remark 153 If we represent the set of real numbers by the real line and con-
sider that the subset S in the theorem is a portion of the real line, then the
theorem says that no element of S can be to the right of M0 however, there is
at least one element of S to the right of every element to the left of M0 .
1 2 3 1
Example 154 Consider the set S = 0; ; ; ; ::: = 1 : n 2 N . Clearly
2 3 4 n
inf A = 0 (see the next proposition). Intuitively, we think that sup A = 1 because
1 is an upper bound. If is any real number less than 1 ( < 1) then one can
1
…nd a natural number n0 such that < 1 1. It would be a natural
n0
1 1
number satisfying n0 > . Thus 1 2 S. By theorem 151 this means
1 n0
that 1 = sup S.
Example 155 Consider the set S = q 2 Q : q > 0 and q 2 < 2 . Prove that if
sup S exists then it cannot be a rational number. We do a proof by contradiction.
Let = sup S and assume that 2 Q.. Then, p we know that 2 6= 2. It follows
2 2 2
that either < 2 or p> 2. If > 2, then 2 < . By theorem 151, there
exists s 2 S such that 2 < s . But then,we would have s2 > 2 so that
s2 = S which is a contradiction. So this case cannot occur. The only possibility
left is that 2 < 2. Since S has no largest element, there exists q 2 S such that
< q thus is not an upper bound of S hence cannot be its supremum. Since
all the possible cases cannot happen, our assumption that
p 2 Q cannot be true.
We will see later that S has indeed a supremum, it is 2.
In the last example we did, we saw that the set S, which is a subset of Q,
could not have a supremum in Q. This brings the questions "when do we know
if a set has a supremum, and in which set is the supremum?". There is a similar
question for in…mum. We answer these questions in the next subsection. We
will see that the answer is at the heart of the di¤erence between R and Q.
Remark 160 In the …rst part of the proof, where we proved that is a lower
bound of S, it would have been wrong to say is a lower bound because = sup L
and L is the set of lower bounds of L. It is wrong because the supremum or the
in…mum of a set do not necessarily below to the set. Thus is not necessarily
a lower bound of S. It turns out that it is. But we know this after the proof we
gave.
Remark 161 The axiom and the theorem say that R is complete. We’ll give a
full de…nition of completeness in the next section.
Remark 162 Recall that one di¤ erence between supremum and largest element
of a set is that the latter is in the set while the former need not be. If we replace
the word supremum by maximum or largest element in axiom 158, the result no
longer holds. Consider (0; 5). This is clearly a non empty subset of R which is
bounded above. It does indeed have a supremum, but no maximum.
De…nition 163 If S is a non-empty subset of R, we set:
1. sup S = 1 if S is not bounded above.
2. inf S = 1 if S is not bounded below.
Remark 164 The case of ? is, once again, an interesting one. We have already
established that every real number was both an upper bound and a lower bound
of ?. Thus, from the de…nition above, it follows that
sup ? = 1
inf ? = 1
We illustrate with an example how to work with suprema and in…ma.
Example 165 Let S be a non-empty bounded subset of R. If a > 0, show that
sup (aS) = a sup S where aS = fas : s 2 Sg.
Let = sup S. We need to show that sup (aS) = a . For this, we show that a
is an upper bound of S and that it is the smallest of the upper bounds of S.
1. a is an upper bound of S. We need to show that a as for any s 2 S.
Let s 2 S. Since = sup S, it follows that is an upper bound of S.
Thus, we have
s
Since a > 0, it follows that
a as
thus a is an upper bound of aS.
2.4. THE COMPLETENESS PROPERTY OF R 55
2. a is the least upper bound. We show that if is any other upper bound
of aS then a . Clearly if = 1 the result is true. Suppose that is
…nite. Then,
as
for any s 2 S. Thus
s
a
for any s 2 S. This makes an upper bound of S. Since = sup S, it
a
follows that
a
and therefore
a
2.4.3 Intervals
We can now de…ne precisely what an interval is.
Remark 168 If a < b, when we write [a; b] we mean an interval of real num-
bers. If we want an interval on rational numbers, we either use set notation
that is fx 2 Q : a x bg. We can also use [a; b] \ Q. Similarly for integers
or natural numbers, we use [a; b] \ Z or [a; b] \ N.
56 CHAPTER 2. THE STRUCTURE OF R
2.4.4 Exercises
1. In lemma 142, prove that if we add the condition that S has more than
one element, then < .
2. Show that if S is bounded above and below, then there exists a number
N > 0 for which N x N if x 2 S.
1
3. Show that (a + b + ja bj) = max fa; bg
2
4. Suppose that A is a non-empty bounded set of real numbers that has no
largest member and that a 2 A. Explain why the sets A and A n fag have
exactly the same upper bounds.
5. Give an example of a set A that has a largest member a such that the sets
A and A n fag have exactly the same upper bounds.
6. Give an example of a set A that has a largest member a such that the sets
A and A n fag do not have exactly the same upper bounds.
7. Answer each part below.
(a) Given that S is a non empty subset of a given interval [a; b], explain
why, for every member x of the set S, we have
jxj jaj + jb aj :
T = fjxj : x 2 Sg ;
(a) x2 3x < 4 .
(b) f3x + 5 < 4x 7g.
12. Given that A is a set of real numbers and that sup A 2 A, explain why
sup A = max A.
2.4. THE COMPLETENESS PROPERTY OF R 57
13. Given that A is a set of real numbers and that inf A 2 A, explain why
inf A = min A.
14. Given that is an upper bound of a set A and that 2 A, explain why
= sup A.
15. Explain why the empty set does not have a supremum.
16. Explain why the set [1; 1) does not have a supremum.
17. Given that = sup A and that x < , what conclusions can you draw
about the number x?
18. Given that = inf A and that x > , what conclusions can you draw
about the number x?
19. State and prove the in…mum version of theorem 151.
20. If A and B are sets of real numbers, then the sets A + B and A B are
de…ned by
A + B = fa + b : a 2 A and b 2 Bg
A B = fa b : a 2 A and b 2 Bg
A = f a : a 2 Ag
and
A:B = fab : a 2 A and b 2 Bg
21. Given that two sets A and B are bounded above and below. Answer the
following questions:
22. Suppose that A is a non-empty bounded set of real numbers that has no
largest member and that a 2 A. Prove that sup A = sup (A n fag).
23. Given that A and B are sets of numbers, that A is non-empty, that B is
bounded above, and that A B, explain why sup A and sup B exist and
why sup A sup B.
28. Does (a; b) \ Z have a largest element, a smallest element? If yes, what
are they and why?
29. Let S be a non-empty bounded subset of R. Let = sup S and = inf S.
Let > 0 be given.