HW 3 with solution
[Tao] Ex 5.4.3,
[Tao] Ex 5.4.5 (you may assume result in 5.4.4)
[Tao] Ex 5.4.7,
[Tao] Ex 5.4.8
Let
A be the subset of
Q consisting of rational numbers with denominators of the form
2m. Prove that for any
x∈R, there is a Cauchy sequence
(an) in
A, such that
x=LIMan.
Solution
5.4.3
Problem: Show that for any real number x, there is exactly one integer N, such that N≤x≤N+1.
Sol: If x is an integer, then let N=x. Assume x is not an integer now. Then ∣x∣>0, hence by Prop 5.4.12, there exists a positive integer N1 such that ∣x∣<N1. Consider the set S={−N1,−N1+1,⋯,N1} and the subsets S−={n∈S∣n<x}, S+={n∈S∣n>x}. Since x is not an integer, then S=S−⊔S+ (disjoint union, meaning S−∩S+=∅). Let N=max(S−), since S− is a finite set, the max element exists in S−.
Remark: we will call such N the 'floor' of x, and write N=⌊x⌋.
5.4.5
Given any real numbers x<y, show that there is a rational number q such that x<q<y.
Sol: Since 0<y−x, we can find a large enough positive integer N, such that N(y−x)>1 (by Archimedian property). Let m be the unique integer, such that m≤Nx<m+1 (proven in the problem 1), then m+1≤Nx+1<Ny, hence we have Nx<m+1<Ny. Let q=(m+1)/N.
5.4.7
Let x,y be real nubmers. Show that x≤y+ϵ for all real ϵ>0 if and only if x≤y. Show that ∣x−y∣<ϵ for all real ϵ>0 if and only if x=y.
Solution: If x≤y, then for any ϵ>0, we have x≤y<y+ϵ, hence x<y+ϵ. In the other direction, if x≤y+ϵ for all ϵ>0, we claim that x−y≤0. If not, say c=x−y>0, then, we can let ϵ=c/2, then we get
c=(x−y)≤ϵ=c/2⇒c−c/2≤0⇒c≤0
which contradict with assumption c>0, hence the claim is true.
For the second statement, if ∣x−y∣<ϵ for all real ϵ>0, then ∣x−y∣≤0 by the same argument. Since we also have ∣x−y∣≥0 by definition of absolute value, hence ∣x−y∣=0. Thus x=y.
5.4.8
Let (an) be a Cauchy sequence of rationals, and let x be a real number. Show that, if an≤x for all n, then LIMan≤x. Similarly, if an≥x for all n, then LIMan≥x.
Solution: We only prove the first half of the statement, since the other half is similar. We prove by contradiction, if LIMan>x, then there is a rational number q, such that LIMan>q>x. Since we have an<x<q, we have LIMan≤LIMq=q (Corollary 5.4.10), contradict with the condition of $LIM a_n > q.
Problem 5
Let A be the subset of Q consisting of rational numbers with denominators of the form 2m. Prove that for any x∈R, there is a Cauchy sequence (an) in A, such that x=LIMan.
Solution: Let x∈R, and let (bn) be a Cauchy sequence in Q, such that x=LIMbn, we are going to construct (an) in A, such that (an) is equivalent to (bn), hence x=LIMan. For n≥1, we let an=2n⌊2nbn⌋, where ⌊..⌋ is the floor function (see Problem 1). Then
∣an−bn∣=∣2n⌊2nbn⌋−2n2nbn∣=∣2n⌊2nbn⌋−bn∣≤1/2n
hence (an) is equivalent to (bn).