Assignment II

REAL ANALYSIS
November 8, 2015

Group Members
Name
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Abebe Aogale . .
Abener Tewodros
Miliyon Tilahun .
Sisai Bekele . . .
Tarekegn Dinku .

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ID No
GSR/1427/08
GSR/1417/08
GSR/1401/08
GSR/1426/08
GSR/1415/08

Problems
1. Let E denotes the set of all interior points of E.
a) Prove that E is always open.
b) Prove that E is open iff E = E.
c) If G E and G is open, prove that G E .
d) Prove that the compliment of E is the closure of the compliment of E.
e) Do E and E always have the same interiors?
f ) Do E and E always have the same closures?
2. Are closures and interiors of connected set always connected?
3. A collection {V } of open sets of X is said to be a base for X if the following is true: For every x X
and every open set G X such that x G, we have x V G for some . In other words, every
open set in X is the union of subcollection of {V }.
Prove that every separable metric space has a countable base. Hint: Take all neighborhoods with
rational radius and center in some countable dense subset of X.
4. Prove that every compact metric space K has a countable base, and that K is therefore separable.
Hint: For every positive integer n, there are finitely many neighborhoods of radius 1/n whose union
covers K.
5. Let A be a non-empty set of real numbers which is bounded below. Let A = {x : x A}
Prove that, inf A = sup(A)
Solution:
1.

a) Let x E . Then there exists r > 0 such that y E if d(x, y) < r.

Claim y E if d(x, y) < r, so that x (E ) . Now if d(x, y) < r, let s = r d(x, y), so s > 0.
Then if d(z, y) < s, from triangle inequality we have d(x, z) < r, and so z E. By definition this
means y E . Since y was arbitrary with d(x, y) < r, it follows that all such points are in E , and so
x (E ) .
b) () If E is open, all of its points are interior points, so that E E . Also, the set of interior
points of E is a subset of the set of points of E, so that E E. Thus E = E.
() If E = E, then every point of E is an interior point of E, so E is open.
c) If p is an interior point of G, then there is some neighborhood N of p with N G. Since
G E, N E, which shows that p is an interior point of E. Thus G E . If G is open, then by
part (b) we know that G = G . Hence G = G E .
d) We want to prove (E )c = E c . We prove this by showing the two sets are subsets of each other.
(E ) E c : Taking compliment gives
c

(E )c E c (E ) (E c )c
Let G = (E c )c . G is the complement of the closed set E c , so it is open. Also, E c E c , which by
taking complements of both sides implies that E (E c )c = G. Therefore, by part (c), G E , which
we proved is equivalent to (E )c E c .
Hence, (E )c E c .
E c (E )c : Any closed set containing E c must also contain E c (let E c F and F closed, then F F 0
so F (E c )0 and hence F E c ). E is open by part (a), and thus (E )c is closed. Therefore,
E c (E )c .
e) No. Let E = Q. Then E = R. The interior of E is ; the interior of E is R.
f ) No. Let E = Q. Then E = . The closure of E is R; the closure of E is .
2

2. Let E be a connected set. Suppose the closure E is not connected. Thus, E = G H where G and
H are two non-empty separated sets. Now, E cant be contained entirely in G (if it were, since H is
non-empty H would contain a limit point of E, hence a limit point of G but this is a contradiction to
the hypothesis that G and H are separated). For the same reason E can not be entirely contained in
H. Hence,
G1 = E G

and

H1 = E H

are two non-empty separated sets such that E = G1 H1 , and E is not connected. Hence a contradiction! Therefore, the closure of a connected set is connected.
The interior of connected set may not be connected. Let E be the union of two closed disks in R2 ,
that are tangent to each other.
3. Assume X is separable: by definition it contains a countable dense subset P = {p1 , p2 , . . .}.
Consider the countable collection of neighborhoods {Nr (pi ), r Q, i = 1, 2, . . .}. We need to show that
it is indeed a base for X.
Consider any open set G X and any point x G. Since G is open, there exists r > 0 such that
Nr (x) G. Decreasing r if necessary we can assume without loss of generality that r is rational. Since
P is dense, by definition x is a limit point of P , so N r2 (x) contains a point of P . So there exists i
such that d(x, pi ) < 2r . Since r is rational, the neighborhood N r2 (pi ) belongs to the chosen collection.
Moreover, N r2 (pi ) Nr (x) G. Finally, since d(x, pi ) < 2r we also have x N r2 (pi ). So the chosen
collection is a base for X.

4. For each n N, make an open cover of K by neighborhoods of radius 1/n, and we have a finite subcover
by compactness, i.e.
K

N n1 (x) x1 , . . . , xN such that K

N
[

N n1 (xi )

i=1

xK

Doing this for every n N, we get a countable union of finite collections of sets, so the collection of
these sets, call it S, is countable.
We claim that S is a countable base for K , which is defined as a countable collection of open sets
such that for any x K and any open set G with x G, there is some V S such that x V G.
Let x K and let G be any open set with x G. Then since G is open, there is some r > 0 such
that Nr (x) G. Choose n N such that 1/n < r/2, so that the maximal distance between points in
a neighborhood of radius 1/n is r. Then there must be some i such that x N n1 (xi ) Nr (x) because
any neighborhood of radius 1/n containing x cant contain points a distance more than r away. This
shows that S is a countable base.
To show that K is separable. Let {Vn } be our countable base for K . For each n N, choose xn Vn ,
and let E = {xn |n N}. We claim that E is a countable dense set, which would show that K is
separable. First, note that E is countable. To show that its dense, we need to show that E = K.
This is equivalent to showing that (E)c = . Now (E)c is an open set because its the complement
of a closed set. If (E)c is nonempty, then there is some x (E)c , which is open, so since {Vn } is a
base, there is some n such that x Vn (E)c , which implies that xn (E)c , a contradiction, because
xn E xn E xn
/ (E)c . Therefore, (E)c = , so that E = K.
5. We need to prove that sup(A) is the greatest lower bound of A.
For simplicity, let = sup(A). We are expected to show that x, for all x A and if
is any lower bound of A.
Suppose x A. Then, x A and hence x sup(A). It follows that x sup(A) which
means x. Thus, is a lower bound of A. Now, let be any lower bound of A. This means x,
for all x A. Hence, x , for all x A, which says y , for all y A. This means
is the upper bound of A. Hence sup(A) by definition of sup, which implies sup(A).
Therefore, sup(A) is the greatest lower bound of A.