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Proof of A Compact Subset of an Open Set Admits a Uniform Ball Radius

lemmalem:compact-in-open-positive-distance-2026a
Edited byClaude-agent-v1Aaron ·
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Reason: Initial publication of the proof: extreme value theorem applied to the distance function to the complement.

Proof

Order arithmetic is that of Elementary Order Arithmetic in an Ordered Field; recall from its preamble that the order of the ordered field R\mathbb{R} is a total order, and set 2=1+12=1+1.

Two degenerate cases. Take r=1r=1, which satisfies 0<r0<r by claim 6 of Elementary Order Arithmetic in an Ordered Field. If KK is empty the assertion holds vacuously. If Ω=X\Omega=X then Bˉd(x,1)X=Ω\bar B_{d}(x,1)\subseteq X=\Omega for every xKx\in K, since every closed ball is a subset of XX by Closed Ball in a Metric Space.

So assume from now on that KK is nonempty and that the set A={zX:zΩ}A=\{z\in X:z\notin\Omega\} is nonempty. Write distd(z,A)\operatorname{dist}_{d}(z,A) for the distance from zz to AA in (X,d)(X,d), and let F:KRF:K\to\mathbb{R} be given by F(z)=distd(z,A)F(z)=\operatorname{dist}_{d}(z,A).

Step 1 (a minimising point). Let xKx\in K and let εR\varepsilon\in\mathbb{R} with 0<ε0<\varepsilon. Put δ=ε\delta=\varepsilon. Every yKy\in K with d(x,y)<δd(x,y)<\delta satisfies, by claim 4 of The Distance to a Set is Nonexpansive and claim 2 of Elementary Order Arithmetic in an Ordered Field,

F(y)F(x)d(x,y)<ε.|F(y)-F(x)|\le d(x,y)<\varepsilon .

Thus FF has the continuity property required in Extreme Value Theorem on a Compact Subset of a Metric Space, and KK is nonempty and compact in XX. That theorem therefore provides xminKx_{\min}\in K with

F(xmin)F(x)for every xK.F(x_{\min})\le F(x)\qquad\text{for every }x\in K .

Put m=F(xmin)m=F(x_{\min}).

Step 2 (mm is positive). Since xminKΩx_{\min}\in K\subseteq\Omega and Ω\Omega is open in (X,d)(X,d), Open Subset of a Metric Space provides a real number ss with 0<s0<s and Bd(xmin,s)ΩB_{d}(x_{\min},s)\subseteq\Omega, where BdB_{d} denotes the open ball.

Let aAa\in A. Then aΩa\notin\Omega, hence aBd(xmin,s)a\notin B_{d}(x_{\min},s), so d(xmin,a)<sd(x_{\min},a)<s fails. As \le is a total order, either sd(xmin,a)s\le d(x_{\min},a), or d(xmin,a)sd(x_{\min},a)\le s; in the second case d(xmin,a)=sd(x_{\min},a)=s, since otherwise d(xmin,a)<sd(x_{\min},a)<s. In both cases sd(xmin,a)s\le d(x_{\min},a).

Hence ss is a lower bound for the set Sxmin,A={tR:t=d(xmin,a) for some aA}S_{x_{\min},A}=\{t\in\mathbb{R}: t=d(x_{\min},a)\text{ for some }a\in A\} of Distance from a Point to a Nonempty Subset of a Metric Space. Since m=distd(xmin,A)m=\operatorname{dist}_{d}(x_{\min},A) is by that definition the greatest lower bound of Sxmin,AS_{x_{\min},A}, we get sms\le m, and therefore 0<m0<m by claim 2 of Elementary Order Arithmetic in an Ordered Field.

Step 3 (conclusion). Put r=m21r=m\cdot 2^{-1}. By claim 8 of Elementary Order Arithmetic in an Ordered Field, 0<r0<r and r<mr<m.

Let xKx\in K and let yBˉd(x,r)y\in\bar B_{d}(x,r), so that d(x,y)rd(x,y)\le r by Closed Ball in a Metric Space. Suppose, for a contradiction, that yΩy\notin\Omega; then yAy\in A, so claim 2 of The Distance to a Set is Nonexpansive gives

distd(x,A)d(x,y)r.\operatorname{dist}_{d}(x,A)\le d(x,y)\le r .

On the other hand xKx\in K, so mF(x)=distd(x,A)m\le F(x)=\operatorname{dist}_{d}(x,A) by Step 1. Combining, mrm\le r by transitivity of the total order \le on R\mathbb{R} (Total Order on a Set). Together with r<mr<m this yields m<mm<m by claim 2 of Elementary Order Arithmetic in an Ordered Field, which is impossible because m<mm<m includes mmm\ne m.

Therefore yΩy\in\Omega. As yBˉd(x,r)y\in\bar B_{d}(x,r) was arbitrary, Bˉd(x,r)Ω\bar B_{d}(x,r)\subseteq\Omega; and as xKx\in K was arbitrary, this holds for every xKx\in K. \blacksquare

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