15/1/04

MA3056 — Exercise Sheet 1: Metric Spaces

1. (a)∗ Prove that the following inequality holds for any n ≥ 1 and ai , bi ∈ [0, ∞):
Pn Pn
1/2 Pn 2 1/2


i=1 ai b i ≤ i=1 a2i i=1 bi (‡)

[Hint: consider the quadratic polynomial p(x) = i (ai − xbi )2 .]

P

Hence show that the map d2 defined as follows is a metric on Cn

2 1/2

Pn

d2 (z1 , . . . , zn ), (w1 , . . . , wn ) = i=1 |zi − wi |

(b) Prove that if f : [0, 1] → [0, ∞) is a continuous function then

Z 1
f (t) dt = 0 ⇔ f (t) = 0 ∀t ∈ [0, 1].
0

Hence show that the map d1 defined as follows is a metric on C[0, 1]

Z 1
d1 (f, g) = |f (t) − g(t)| dt
0

R 1/2
1
[To show that the function d2 (f, g) = 0
|f (t) − g(t)| dt is a metric on C[0, 1]
requires an analogue of (‡).]

2. Find three different metrics on N, no two of which are multiples of each other.

3. Let (X, d) be a metric space. Show that d0 defined by

d(x, y)
d0 (x, y) =
1 + d(x, y)

is another metric on X. [Note that d0 (x, y) < 1 ∀x, y ∈ X.]

4.† Consider the function d : R2 × R2 → R defined by

(

|y1 − y2 | if x1 = x2 ,
d (x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 ) =
|y1 | + |x1 − x2 | + |y2 | if x1 6= x2 .




Show that d is a metric on R2 . Sketch the balls B (2, 0), 1 , B (1, 2), 1 and B (1, 1), 2 .

5. Let X be a set and d a map X × X → R satisfying

M10 d(x, y) = 0 ⇔ x = y, and M20 d(x, y) ≤ d(x, z) + d(y, z) ∀x, y, z ∈ X.

Show that d is a metric on X.

6.∗ Let (xn ) and (yn ) be two convergent sequences in a metric space X, with x = limn xn
and y = limn yn . Show that d(xn , yn ) → d(x, y).
 7. Let X be a metric space and let f : X → R and g : X → R continuous functions. Show
that f + g, tf (t ∈ R), |f |, max{f, g}, min{f, g} and f g are continuous, where

(f + g)(x) = f (x) + g(x), (tf )(x) = tf (x), |f |(x) = |f (x)|, etc.

8.∗ Let X = C[0, 1] and let F : X → C denote the map F (f ) = f (0) (for f ∈ X). Is F
continuous when X is given (i) the d1 metric, or (ii) the d∞ metric?

9. Show that any open set in R (with the usual metric) is the union of a countable collection
of open intervals. Show that this collection can be chosen so that any two distinct
intervals are disjoint.

10.∗ Prove that the set {x} is closed for any point x in any metric space X.

11. Prove that a subset of a metric space is open if and only if it is a union of open balls.

12.∗ Prove that every subset of a discrete metric space X is open. Hence show that any map
f : X → Y from X into any other metric space Y is continuous.

13.∗ We have shown that a function f : X → Y between metric spaces is continuous if

and only if for every open set U in Y , the set f −1 (U ) is open in X. The analogous
statement involving images does not hold: find an example of metric spaces X and Y
and a continuous map f : X → Y such that f (V ) is not open for some open set V ⊂ X.

14. Prove that Q ∩ (x, x + ε) 6= ∅ for all choices of x ∈ R and ε > 0. Hence deduce that the
closure of Q is R.

15.∗ Let A be a subset of a metric space X. Show that if x ∈ A \ A then each open ball
centred on x contains an infinite number of (distinct) points of A. Does this remain
true if we take x ∈ A?

16.† Let X and Y be metric spaces, and A a subset of X. If f : X → Y and g : X → Y are

continuous functions such that f (x) = g(x) for all x ∈ A, show that f (x) = g(x) for all
x ∈ A.

17. Let d1 , d2 and d∞ be the metrics on R2 given by

d1 (x1 , x2 ), (y1 , y2 ) = |x1 − y1 | + |x2 − y2 |,
1/2
d2 (x1 , x2 ), (y1 , y2 ) = |x1 − y1 |2 + |x2 − y2 |2


,


d∞ (x1 , x2 ), (y1 , y2 ) = max |x1 − y1 |, |x2 − y2 | .

Show that these metrics are Lipschitz equivalent. Show that the discrete metric on R2
is not Lipschitz equivalent to any of the above metrics.

18.∗ Prove that the metric d1 on C[0, 1] is not Lipschitz equivalent to the metric d∞ , where
d∞ (f, g) = supt∈[0,1] |f (t) − g(t)|.

∗
Starred questions will be covered in tutorials
†
These are the assessed questions, and should be handed in by 1pm, 30/1/04