Notes #2

Mathemtical Induction
Least Upper Bound Principle
n-ary expansions
Countable & Uncountable Sets

Mathematical Induction
First Principle of Mathematical Induction – For each n ∈ N, let P (n) be a statement
about n. If
(1) P (1) is true, and
(2) if P (k + 1) is true whenever P (k) is true,
then, P (n) is true ∀n ∈ N.

Generalized First Principle of Mathematical Induction – Let m ∈ Z and let P (n) be a

statement about n ∈ Z for n ≥ m. If
(1) P (m) is true, and
(2) if P (k + 1) is true whenever P (k) is true (k ≥ m),
then, P (n) is true for all integers n ≥ m.

Well-ordering Principle – Every non-empty set of N contains a smallest element.

Proof of FPMI: (By contradiction) Assume that the hypotheses are true, but there
exists an n ∈ N such that P (n) is false. Let F ⊂ N be the set of all n ∈ N such that
P (n) is false. F 6= ∅ so, by the Well-ordering Principle contains a smallest element, say
s. Now, s > 1 so let k = s−1. By definition of s, P (k) is true and by (2) P (k+1) = P (s)
is true. So, s ∈/ F . This is a contradiction, so we conclude F P M I is valid. 

Second Principle of Mathematical Induction – For each n ∈ N, let P (n) be a statement

about n. If
(1) P (1) is true, and
(2) if P (k + 1) is true whenever P (m) is true for 1 ≤ m ≤ k,
then, P (n) is true ∀n ∈ N.
 EXERCISES:
1. Show each of the following using a form of mathematical induction.
X
n
1 n
(1) For all n ∈ N, = .
n(n + 1) n+1
k=1

(2) For all n ∈ N and h > −1, (1 + h)n ≥ 1 + nh.

n
X
n+1 n+1
(3) For all n ∈ N and x, y ∈ R, x −y = (x − y)( xn−k y k ).
k=0

(4) For all n ∈ N, 2n > n.

Pn
(5) For all n ∈ N, n ≥ 2, k=1 k 3 < n4 .
(6) For all n ∈ N, n ≥ 4, n! > 2n .
(7) For all n ∈ N, n ≥ 5, 2n > n2 .

2. For each of the following recursively defined functions f : N −→ R, determine an

explicit formula for f and prove it using mathematical induction.
1 1
(1) f (1) = 2 and for n > 1, f (n) = (n − 1)f (n − 1) − n+1 .

f (n − 2)
(2) f (1) = 1, f (2) = 0, and for n > 2, f (n) = − .
n(n − 1)

f (n − 1) + f (n − 2)
3. Let f : N −→ R be defined by f (1) = 1, f (2) = 2 and for n > 2, f (n) = .
2
Show 1 ≤ f (n) ≤ 2, ∀n ∈ N.

4. Let A be any non-empty, finite subset of R+ . Show that GM(A)≤ AM(A).

Least Upper Bound Principle

Note: The real numbers comprise a complete, ordered field.
Order: R contains a set P satisfying the order properties:

O1. If a, b ∈ P then a + b, a · b ∈ P.
O2. If a ∈ R then exactly one of the following is true:
a) a ∈ P,
b) −a ∈ P, or
c) a = 0.
 Definition: Let S ⊂ R be non-empty. Then u is an upper bound for S if s ≤ u, ∀s ∈ S.
We can say then that S is bounded above (by u). Similarly, ` is a lower bound for S if
l ≤ s, ∀s ∈ S.
Upper and lower bounds might or might not actually be in the set S. For example,
-37, 0, and 2 are all lower bounds for the set of positive prime numbers. Of those, only
2 is in the set. For the open interval (0, 1) we have -37 and 0 as lower bounds, 2 as an
upper bound, but no upper or lower bound in the set itself. One might note that if a set
has a lower (upper) bound, then it has an infinite number of lower (upper) bounds.
On the other hand, the set Z has neither an upper nor a lower bound.
If a lower bound is contained in S then we call it the minimum or minimal or small-
est element of S. If an upper bound is contained in S then we call it the maximum or
maximal or greatest element of S.
Definition: Let S be a non-empty subset of R that is bounded above. Then α is the least
upper bound of S if α ≤ u whenever u is an upper bound of S.
The least upper bound is also called the supremum, and we write α = lub(S) =
sup(S).
Analogously, we can consider the greatest lower bound or infimum of the set, if it has
a lower bound. If lower or upper bounds do not exist we, a bit carelessly perhaps, say
inf S = −∞ or supS = ∞, respectively.

Theorem 2.1: Let S be a non-empty subset of R bounded above by α. Then α =

sup(S) if and only if for each β < α, there exists an s ∈ S with β < s ≤ α.

Theorem 2.2: (Completeness) Every subset of R that is bounded above (below) has
a supremum (infimum) in R.

EXERCISES
Note: For the following, assume that all subsets are non-empty subsets of R.
1. Find the sup and inf of the following sets of real numbers.
1
(1) { : n ∈ W}
2n
(2) {n cos(nπ) : n ∈ Z}
1
(3) {(−1)n − : n ∈ N}
n
3
(4) {( + (−1)n )n : n ∈ N}
2
2. If α = sup S is finite then for each  > 0, there exists an s ∈ S such that
α −  < s ≤ α.

3. Let A ⊂ R be bounded above, and U = {β ∈ R | β is an upper bound of A}.

Show that sup A = inf U .

4. If A ⊆ B ⊆ R, then inf B ≤ inf A ≤ sup B ≤ sup A.

5. Suppose X and Y are bounded subsets of R. Show that X ∪ Y is bounded

and sup(X ∪ Y ) = max{sup X, sup Y }.

6. For A and B subsets of R define the following sets:

A + B = {a + b | a ∈ A, b ∈ B} and A · B = {ab | a ∈ A, b ∈ B}.

(a) Find A + B and A · B if A = {−2, 0, 5} and B = {−1, 2, 3, 5}.

(b) Find A + B and A · B if A = [−2, 5) and B = (−∞, −2) ∪ (5, 6].
(c) In general, if A and B are bounded above, show that sup(A + B) = sup A + sup B
(d) If A and B are bounded subsets of R+ , show that sup(A · B) = sup A · sup B.
(e) Give an example of bounded sets A and B for which sup(A · B) 6= sup A · sup B.

7. Let 0 < y ≤ 1. Show that there is a unique positive real number x such that x2 = y.
Some consequences of the least upper bound property (completeness)

The least upper bound property provides the basis for several important properties of
real numbers – properties usually taken for granted, or at least without proof, in other
courses. These include the Archimedean property, the denseness of the rationals, the
existence of nth roots, and various properties of exponents.
Archimedean Property: Let x, y ∈ R and x > 0. Then there exists a positive integer n
such that nx > y.
Proof: If y ≤ 0, then any n ∈ N works. So, consider y > 0. Let N = {nx : n ∈ N} and
suppose no element of N exceeds y (proof by contradiction). Then, N is bounded above
by y. By the least upper bound principle N has a least upper bound. Let α = sup N .
Since x > 0, x − α < α is not an upper bound so there exists an n0 such that n0 x > α − x.
But then

n0 x > α − x
n0 x + x > α − x + x
(n0 + 1)x > α.

Since (n0 + 1)x ∈ N , this implies that α is not the sup of N – a contradiction. .

An notable property of the rationals is that they are dense in the reals. The notion of
denseness plays an important role in analysis, topology, and elsewhere. Informally, a set
A is dense in a set B if every element of B is arbitrarily close to some element of A. We
haven’t yet defined what we mean by ”close,” but down the road we will. As for the case
of rationals and reals we have:
Denseness of Q. For each non-empty interval (a, b) ⊂ R there exists a rational q ∈ (a, b).
Proof: First, let 0 < a < b, then b − a > 0 and the Archimedean Property assures
there is an n ∈ N such that n(b − a) > 1, or equivalently, nb > 1 + na. By AP again,
we have that {k ∈ N : k > na} is non-empty and by the Well-ordering Principle has a
smallest element m ∈ N such that m − 1 ≤ na < m. Therefore, na < m ≤ 1 + na < nb.
So, a < m m
n < b, and n is a rational in the interval (a, b).
To complete the proof (Exercise 1), consider the cases (1) a < 0, b > 0 and (2) a < b < 0.


Other consequences of the completeness of R include the following:

Existence of nth roots. For every positive real number x and every positive integer n
there exists a unique positive real number r such that rn = x.
1 1 1
If a, b are positive real numbers and n a positive integer, then (ab) n = a n b n .
...and similar statements.
 EXERCISES
1. Complete the proof of the denseness of Q.
2. If x, y are two positive rational numbers, prove directly that there exists a positive
integer n such that nx > y.
3. Given any x ∈ R show that there is an integer n such that n ≤ x < n + 1.
4. Prove directly that between any two rationals there lies another rational number.
5. Let r be a rational number and x an irrational. What can be said about r + x and
rx?
6. (a) Show that between any two rationals there lies an irrational.
(b) Show that between any two reals there lies an irrational.

Binary, ternary, ... expansions

An n-ary expansion is simply the base-n representation of a real number. For exam-
ple, suppose we want to represent the fraction 58 as a decimal (10-ary) number. Since we
are using a base-10 representation, we first find the greatest number of the highest power
6
of 10 that is still less than the number itself. In this case, we note that 10 < 58 < 10
7
, so
2 3
the expansion begins .6... Next, we see that we can fit 100 more, but not 100 , so the ex-
pansion becomes .62... Then, we note that .624 < 58 ≤ .625. Continuing in this manner
we get the expansion .6249999999...
Now let’s find the quintary expansion. We find that
3 5 4
< <
5 8 5
3 0 5 3 1
+ < < +
5 25 8 5 25
3 0 3 5 3 0 4
+ + < < + +
5 25 125 8 5 25 125
and so on, giving the expansion .30303...(5).
Aside from decimal representations, binary (base2) and ternary (base3) are of particu-
lar importance, as we shall see. First, let’s give a formal definition for ternary expansion.
Definition: Let D = {0, 1, 2} be the set of digits. For a real number x ∈ (0, 1], let n1
be the largest element of D for which n31 < x. Once n1 , n2 , ..., nk ∈ D have been chosen
let nk+1 ∈ D be the largest value for which
n1 n2 n3 nk nk+1
+ 2 + 3 + ... + k + k+1 < x.
3 3 3 3 3
∞
X nk
The expression .n1 n2 n3 ...nk ... is the ternary expansion for x. We note that x = .
3k
k=1
Countable & Uncountable Sets

While we have a pretty good intuitive notion of what it means for two finite sets to be
the same size, our intuition gets a bit fuzzy when dealing with infinite sets. For exam-
ple, consider the natural numbers and the positive squares (as Galileo did in the 1500’s).
The latter is intuitively smaller, as exhibited below,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,14,15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, ...
but, as Galileo noted, the the two sets could be put into 1-1 correspondence with one
another.

1 ←→ 1
2 ←→ 4
3 ←→ 9
4 ←→ 16
5 ←→ 25
..
.

This led Galileo (and later mathematicians) to believe that there was something funda-
mentally different about infinite sets. Subsequently, Cantor, Bernstein and others laid
the foundation for dealing with transfinite sets.
Definition: Two sets, A and B are equivalent (written A ∼ B)if there is a bijection
between A and B.
This notion of equivalence of sets is an equivalence relation. Another characterization
of equivalence is the following:
A and B are equivalent if there exist 1-1 functions f and g such that f (A) ⊆ B and
g(B) ⊆ A.
We’ve earlier given definitions for the terms finite, countable, denumerable, and un-
countable. We make the following observations:
(1) Z is countable.
(2) N × N is countable.
(3) A subset of a countable set is countable.
(4) Q is countable.
(5) If f : N −→ A is onto, then A is countable.
(6) The union of a countable collection of countable sets is countable.
(7) The closed interval [0, 1] of real numbers is uncountable.
(8) The open interval (0, 1) ∼ R.
(9) Every non-empty interval (a, b) is uncountable.
(10) Let S be the set of all binary sequences. Then S is uncountable.
(11) If A is any set then A 6∼ P(A).
Indexed sets
Let X and Λ be sets. If for each λ ∈ Λ we have Xλ ⊆ X, then {Xλ | λ ∈ Λ} is
an indexed collection of subsets of X. Here Λ is the index set. Now given an indexed
collection of sets, we define the union and intersection as follows:

[
Xλ = {x ∈ X | x ∈ Xλ for some λ ∈ Λ}
λ∈Λ

\
Xλ = {x ∈ X | x ∈ Xλ for every λ ∈ Λ}
λ∈Λ

Using this notation we can generalize some of the set operation laws mentioned earlier.
Distributive
\ \
A∪( Bλ ) = (A ∪ Bλ )
λ∈Λ λ∈Λ

[ [
A∩( Bλ ) = (A ∩ Bλ )
λ∈Λ λ∈Λ

DeMorgan’s Laws
[ \
( Bλ )c = Bλc
λ∈Λ λ∈Λ

\ [
( Bλ )c = Bλc
λ∈Λ λ∈Λ