0.1.

HOMEWORK 2 SOLUTIONS

0.1

Homework 2 Solutions

1. Let x, y R2 with x = (x1 , x2 ), y = (y1 , y2 ). Show that the function

d(x, y) = max(|x1 y1 |, |x2 y2 |)
is a metric on R2 . Sketch the unit ball
B(0, 1) = {x | d(x, 0) < 1}.
That d is nonnegative, symmetric, and zero if and only if x = y is immediate. Checking
the triangle inequality,
d(x, y) = max(|x1 y1 |, |x2 y2 |) = max(|x1 z1 + z1 y1 |, |x2 z2 + z2 y2 |)
max(|x1 z1 | + |z1 y1 |, |x2 z2 | + |z2 y2 |)
max(|x1 z1 |, |x2 z2 |) + max(|z1 y1 |, |z2 y2 |) = d(x, z) + d(z, y).
2. If X with the metric d is a metric space, and Y X, show that Y with the metric d is
a metric space.
This one really is easy.
3. Suppose C([, ], R) denotes the continuous real-valued functions on [, ]. Show that

|f (x) g(x)| dx

d(f, g) =

is a metric on this set.

That d is nonnegative, symmetric, and zero if f = g is immediate. Suppose f 6= g; in
particular suppose |f (x0 ) g(x0 )| > 0. Since |f (x0 ) g(x0 )| is continuous, there is a > 0
such that |f (x) g(x)| |f (x0 ) g(x0 )| for all x with |x x0 | < . Then
Z

|f (x) g(x)| dx [ ]

f (x0 ) g(x0 )|
> 0.
2

Thus d(f, g) = 0 if and only if f = g.

Finally, we verify the triangle inequality. For any h(x) C([, ], R),
Z

|f (x) g(x)| dx =

|f (x) h(x) + h(x) g(x)| dx

|f (x) h(x)| dx +

Thus d is a metric on C([, ], R).

|h(x) g(x)| dx = d(f, h) + d(h, g).

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4. Suppose that {U } is a collection of open sets in a metric space X. Show that
[
U = {x X | x U for some }

is an open S
set in X.
If x0 U , then for some particular we must have
S x0 U . Since U is open there is
a > 0 such that B(x0 , ) U . But then B(x0 , ) U as desired.
5.Suppose that xn is a sequence of points in a metric space X. Show that if limn xn = L
and limn xn = M , then d(L, M ) = 0, and so L = M .
Pick  > 0. Then there are numbers N1 , N2 such that
d(xn , L) < /2,

n N1 ,

d(xn , M ) < /2,

n N2 .

and
If n N = max(N1 , N2 ) we have
d(L, M ) d(L, xn ) + d(xn , M ) < ,
so d(L, M ) = 0 and L = M .
6. Show that the usual Euclidean metric on RN satisfies the triangle inequality. (You may
have to look this up.)
Suppose X = (x1 , . . . , xN ), Y = (y1 , . . . , yN ) and Z = (z1 , . . . , zN ). Then using the usual
dot product we have
N
X
(xn yn )2 = (X Y ) (X Y ) = ([X Z] + [Z Y ]) ([X Z] + [Z Y ])
n=1

= (X Z) (X Z) + 2(X Z) (Z Y ) + (Z Y ) (Z Y )
(X Z) (X Z) + |2(X Z) (Z Y )| + (Z Y ) (Z Y ).
Now the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality says
|(X Z) (Z Y )| [(X Z) (X Z)]1/2 [(Z Y ) (Z Y )]1/2 ,
so
(X Y ) (X Y )
(X Z) (X Z) + 2[(X Z) (X Z)]1/2 [(Z Y ) (Z Y )]1/2 + (Z Y ) (Z Y )
h
i2
= [(X Z) (X Z)]1/2 + [(Z Y ) (Z Y )]1/2 .

0.1. HOMEWORK 2 SOLUTIONS

Taking the square root of both sides gives the triangle inequality,
N
N
N
hX
i1/2 hX
i1/2 hX
i1/2
2
2
(xn yn )

(xn zn )
+
(zn yn )2
.
n=1

n=1

n=1

7. Using the usual product metric

d1 ((x1 , x2 ), (y1 , y2 )) = max(dX (x1 , y1 ), dX (x2 , y2 ))
on the space X X and the usual metric
d2 (r, s) = |r s|
on R, show that dX : X X R is continuous.
It is helpful to observe that the reverse triangle inequality holds in metric spaces. Suppose
x, y, z X. Then we have two inequalities,
d(x, z) d(x, y) + d(y, z),

d(y, z) d(y, x) + d(x, z).

d(x, y) d(x, z) d(y, z),

d(x, y) d(y, z) d(x, z).

That is
One of the right hand sides is |d(x, z) d(y, z)|, so
d(x, y) |d(x, z) d(y, z)|.
Next use the normal and reversed triangle inequalities,
|dX (x1 , x2 ) dX (y1 , y2 )| |dX (x1 , x2 ) dX (y1 , x2 ) + dX (y1 , x2 ) dX (y1 , y2 )|
|dX (x1 , x2 ) dX (y1 , x2 )| + |dX (y1 , x2 ) dX (y1 , y2 )| dX (x1 , y1 ) + dX (x2 , y2 )
2 max(dX (x1 , y1 ), dX (x2 , y2 )).
That is, if max(dX (x1 , y1 ), dX (x2 , y2 )) < /2, then |dX (x1 , x2 ) dX (y1 , y2 )| < , and dX :
X X R is continuous.
8. Suppose {xk } is a Cauchy sequence in X, and {xk } has a subsequence {xk(n) } which
converges to x. Show that {xk } converges to x.
Picking  > 0, use the fact that {xk } is a Cauchy sequence to find N1 such that d(xj , xk ) <
/2 whenever j, k N1 . Next, use the fact that {xk(n) } converges to x to find N2 such that
d(x, xk(n) ) < /2 whenever n N2 . Now pick N3 such that
N3 = max(N1 , N2 ).
Since k(m) m, if m N3 the triangle inequality gives
d(x, xm ) d(x, xk(m) ) + d(xm , xk(m) ) < .

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9. If T1 : X Y and T2 : Y Z are continuous, show that the composition T : X Z
given by T (x) = T2 (T1 (x)) is continuous.
You can use the limits of sequences to solve this problem, but the equivalent version about
inverse images of open sets is easy.
Suppose U is an open subset of Z. Since T2 is continuous, the set V = T21 (U ) is open in
Y. Similarly, W = T11 (V ) is open in X. That is, W = T 1 (U ) is open in X whenever U is
open in Z. Thus T : X Z is continuous.