20122 Week 9: Solutions

Problem 40.
Determine which of the following subsets of the Euclidean plane are compact:

1. {(x, y) : 2x2 + y 2 = 1} 2. {(x, y) : xy < 1}

3. {(x, y) : ex = cos y} 4. {(x, y) : 0 ≤ x, y ≤ 1} .

Are the answers the same for R2 with the taxicab metric?
Solution 40.
The key ingredient is the Heine-Borel Theorem, which identifies compact sub-
sets of Euclidean space with those which are closed and bounded.

1. The set S1 := {(x, y) : 2x2 + y 2 = 1} is closed in R2 , because its complement

is given by the union

{(x, y) : 2x2 + y 2 > 1} ∪ {(x, y) : 2x2 + y 2 < 1} ,

of two open sets, and is therefore open. Also, S1 is bounded, because it is

contained in the ball B2 (0) (amongst many others’ !). So S1 is compact.

2. The set S2 :={(x, y) : xy < 1} is not closed, because it contains the sequence
((1, 1 − 1/n) : n ≥ 1), but not its limit (1, 1). So S2 is not compact.

3. The set S3 := {(x, y) : ex = cos y} contains the sequence ((0, 2nπ) : n ≥ 0),
which is divergent; hence it cannot be contained in any ball, and is un-
bounded. So S3 is not compact.

4. The set S4 = {(x, y) : 0 ≤ x, y ≤ 1} is a closed square, and is contained in

the ball B2 (0), for example. So S4 is closed and bounded, and is compact.

Since the taxicab metric and the euclidean metric are Lipschitz equivalent,
they give rise to the same open sets (see Problem 15). Behaviour with respect to
open coverings is therefore the same, and compactness properties are identical in
both metrics.

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Problem 41.
Exhibit a sequence of points (xk : k ≥ 1) in Euclidean n-space (Rn , d2 ) for
which d2 (xk , 0) > 10k for every k ≥ 1.
Given any compact metric space (X, d) with an origin x0 ∈ X, prove that
there exists some point x ∈ X such that d(x, x0 ) attains its maximum possible
value. Give an example of a non-compact metric space with the same property.
Solution 41.
Let xk = (0, . . . , 0, 10k + 1) in Rn ; then d2 (xk , 0) = 10k + 1 > 10k for every
k ≥ 1.
By Problem 29 the function f0 : X → R is continuous, where f0 (x) = d(x, x0 )
for any x ∈ X. Thus f0 attains its bounds, by Proposition 5.24; in other words,
there exists one or more x ∈ X such that d(x, x0 ) is maximal. If d is the discrete
metric on any infinite space X, then X is not compact by Solution 38, but
d(x, x0 ) = 1 is maximal for any x ∈ X.

Problem 42.
Determine
√ whether or not the real numbers 8/81, 1/4, 0 · 296296296 . . ., π/4,
and 3/2 lie in the Cantor set K ⊂ R.
Solution 42.
To compute the ternary expansion of x = 8/81, write

x = (2.3 + 2)/81 = 2/27 + 2/81 = 0.002200 · · · ;

since there are no 1s, it follows from Theorem 5.28 that 8/81 ∈ K.
For the ternary expansion x = 1/4 = 0 · x1 x2 x3 . . ., note that the xj are given
by iterating the following procedure: multiply x by 3, record the integer part,
take the fractional part, and repeat. So 3/4 = x1 · x2 x3 . . ., whence x1 = 0; then
×3 gives 2 41 = 9/4 = x2 · x3 x4 . . ., so x2 = 2, and 1/4 = 0 · x3 x4 . . .. Repeating
forever gives 1/4 = 0 · 202020 . . ., which therefore lies in K.
For x = 0 · 296296296 . . ., note that 103 x = 296 + x, so x = 296/999 = 8/27.
The ternary expansion is given by

x = (2.3 + 2)/27 = 2/9 + 2/27 = 0.02200 · · · ,

so 0 · 296296296 . . . ∈√K.
For x = π/4 and 3/2, follow the same procedure as for 1/4. So x = π/4 =
0 · 785398 . . . implies that x1 is the integer part of 3x = 2.35619 . . ., and x2 is
the integer part of 3 × 0 · 35619 . . . = 1 · 0685 . . .. Since π/4 is irrational, x3 x4 . . .
cannot give 22 . . .. √Thus the ternary expansion begins 0 · 21 . . ., and π/4 ∈ / K.
Similarly, x = 3/2 = 0 · 866025 . . . implies that x1 is the integer part of
3x = 2.59807 . . ., and x2 is the integer part of 3 × 0 · 59807 . . . = 1 · 7942 . . .. Since
√
3/2 is irrational, x3√ x4 . . . cannot give 22 . . .. Thus the ternary expansion also
begins 0 · 21 . . ., and 3/2 ∈ / K.

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Problem 43.
The set Av ⊂ K of averages in the Cantor set is defined by

Av = {(a + b)/2 : a, b ∈ K, a 6= b} ∩ K ⊂ R .

Prove that Av = {k/3m : m ≥ 1, 1 ≤ k ≤ 3m , k 6≡ 0 mod 3} ∩ K.

Solution 43.
Let a, b ∈ K have ternary expansions 0 · a1 a2 . . . , 0 · b1 b2 . . ., where a 6= b.
Because an , bn 6= 1 for any n, it follows that (an + bn )/2 = 0, 1 or 2, and therefore
that the ternary expansion of c := (a + b)/2 has cn = (an + bn )/2. Moreover, there
exists a least value of m for which am 6= bm , whence cm = 1. So c ∈ K implies
that cj = 0 or 2 for all j > m; if the former, then aj = bj = 0, and if the latter,
then aj = bj = 2.
In other words, c ∈ Av iff it has a finite ternary expansion that ends with 1
or 2 in the mth place, and otherwise contains only 0s or 2s. Thus c = k/3m for
some k not divisible by 3, where 1 ≤ k ≤ 3m .