Proof of A Compact Subset of a Metric Space is Totally Bounded
theoremthm:compact-implies-totally-bounded-metric-2026aLet be a real number with .
Step 1 (the balls of radius cover ). For let be the open ball with center and radius , which is open in by Open Ball in a Metric Space is Open and so lies in . Regard as a family of subsets of indexed by . If , then and by the identity-of-indiscernibles axiom of a metric, so . Hence this family is an open cover of in .
Step 2 (a finite subcover). Since is compact in , Compact Subset Criterion via Open Covers in the Ambient Space yields a natural number and points indexed by the initial segment , forming a tuple in , such that
Step 3 (the set of centers is finite). Let . The assignment is a surjection from onto , and has elements by claim 1 of Basic Properties of Finite Sets; hence is finite by claim 4 of that lemma. Moreover
since the two unions are taken over the same collection of balls. Combining with Step 2 gives .
Since was arbitrary, Totally Bounded Subset of a Metric Space shows that is totally bounded in .
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Prerequisites
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