Example 71

▶ The inclusion in the above example can not be replaced by

equality in general.
▶ To see this, let (X , d) be a discrete metric space with X ≥ 2.
▶ For any y ∈ X , if y = x, then B1 (y ) does not contain points
of B1 (x)c ; if y ̸= x, then B1 (y ) ∩ B1 (x) = ∅ and thus B1 (y )
does not contain points of B1 (x). Therefore ∂B1 (x) = ∅.
▶ Consequently

ext(B1 (x)) = X \ (int(B1 (x)) ∪ ∂B1 (x)) = X \ {x}.

▶ Note that

{y ∈ Y : d(y , x) = 1} = X \{x}, {y ∈ Y : d(y , x) > 1} = ∅.

Example 72
Let (X , ∥ · ∥) be a normed vector space and let d be the induced
metric. Note that

d(x, y ) = ∥x − y ∥, Br (x) = {y ∈ X : ∥x − y ∥ < r }.

We have
(i) int(Br (x)) = Br (x).
(ii) ext(Br (x)) = {y ∈ X : d(y , x) > r }.
(iii) ∂Br (x) = {y ∈ X : d(y , x) = r }.
According to Example 70, (i) always holds. We next show (iii). Let
y ∈ X be such that ∥y − x∥ = r . For any ρ > 0 consider Bρ (y ).
Let
 zt := y + t(y − x), t ∈ R.
Since
∥zt − y ∥ = ∥t(y − x)∥ = |t|∥y − x∥ = |t|r ,
we have zt ∈ Bρ (y ) if |t| < ρ/r . Note that

∥zt − x∥ = ∥(1 + t)(x − y )∥ = |1 + t|∥x − y ∥ = |1 + t|r

Thus zt ∈ Br (x) if −2 < t < 0 and zt ∈ Br (x)c if t > 0. Therefore

Bρ (y ) contains points of Br (x) and points of Br (x)c . This shows
y ∈ ∂Br (x). Therefore

{y ∈ X : d(y , x) = r } = ∂Br (x).

Finally we have

ext(Br (x)) = X \ (int(Br (x)) ∪ ∂Br (x)) = {y ∈ X : d(y , x) > r }.

Definition 73
Let (X , d) be a metric space and A ⊂ X .
(i) x ∈ X is called a limit point of A if every open ball Br (x)
contains a point of A other than x.
(ii) x ∈ A is called an isolated point of A if there is an open ball
Br (x) that contains no elements of A other than x.
(iii) The closure of A is defined as

A := A ∪ {all limit points of A} .

Example 74
Consider A = (0, 1) ∪ {2} in R with Eucliden metric. Then 2 is an
isolated point of A, every point in [0, 1] is a limit point of A and
the closure of A is [0, 1] ∪ {2}.

Example 75
Let (X , d) be a discrete metric space. For any x ∈ X we have
Br (x) = {x} if 0 < r ≤ 1. Thus every point x ∈ X is an isolated
point. Consequently B1 (x) has no limit point and

B1 (x) = B1 (x) = {x}.

Example 76
Let (X , ∥ · ∥) be a normed vector space and x ∈ X . Then for any
r > 0 we have

{all limit points of Br (x)} = {y ∈ X : ∥y − x∥ ≤ r }

and hence
Br (x) = {y ∈ X : ∥y − x∥ ≤ r }.
In fact, by using the same argument in Example 72, we can see
that, for any y satisfying ∥y − x∥ ≤ r , every ball Bρ (y ) contains
points of Br (x) other than x.
Proposition 77
Let (X , d) be a metric space and A ⊂ X .
(i) If x ∈ X is a limit point of A, then every open ball Br (x)
contains infinitely many points of A.
(ii) x ∈ A iff every Br (x) contains a point of A.

Proof. (i) “⇐=” Obvious.

“=⇒” Let Br (x) be any fixed open ball. Set r1 = r . Since x is a
limit point of A, there exists x1 ∈ A with x1 ∈ Br1 (x) ∩ (A \ {x}).
Next we choose 0 < r2 < d(x1 , x). By using again x is a limit
point of A, there exists x2 ∈ A such that x2 ∈ Br2 (x) ∩ (A \ {x}).
Clearly x2 ̸= x1 . Repeating this procedure gives a sequence of
distinct elements in Br (x) ∩ (A \ {x}).
(ii) “=⇒” x ∈ A implies x ∈ A or x is a limit point of A. Thus
every Br (x) contains a point of A.
“⇐=” Assume every Br (x) contains a point of A. If x ∈ A, then
x ∈ A. If x ̸∈ A, then by the given condition, every Br (x) contains
a point of A other than x. Thus x is a limit point of A and hence
x ∈ A. □
Theorem 78
Let (X , d) be a metric space and A ⊂ X . Then

A = ext(A)c = int(A) ∪ ∂A = A ∪ ∂A.

Proof. We have

x ∈ A ⇐⇒ every Br (x) contains a point of A

⇐⇒ x ̸∈ ext(A) ⇐⇒ x ∈ ext(A)c .

Therefore A = ext(A)c . Consequently

A = X \ ext(A) = int(A) ∪ ∂A.

This and int(A) ⊂ A imply A ⊂ A ∪ ∂A. Since A ∩ ext(A) = ∅, we

have A ⊂ ext(A)c = A. Thus A = A ∪ ∂A. □