MAS331: Metric spaces

Problems
The questions that have been marked with an asterisk are additional, and are usually more
advanced than the other questions.
1 Examples of iterative processes.
1.1. Recall from the notes that the Newton-Raphson formula comes from the following idea:
Let x
n
be close to a root of f. Draw the tangent to f at x
n
and see where it crosses
the x-axis; call this point x
n+1
. Then x
n+1
should be closer to the root of f. Derive the
formula
x
n+1
= x
n

f(x
n
)
f

(x
n
)
.
When f(x) = x
2
k, show that
x
n+1
=
1
2
_
x
n
+
k
x
n
_
.
When k = 3, and x
0
= 1, write down the values of x
1
, x
2
, x
3
and x
4
. Remember that
x
1
, x
2
, x
3
, x
4
should be increasingly close approximations to a solution of f(x) = x
2
3.
Comment on your results.
1.2. Consider the simultaneous equations
x =
y
2
5
+ 1, y =
x
2
5
and the iterative scheme
(x
n+1
, y
n+1
) = (y
2
n
/5 + 1, x
2
n
/5).
(a) If (x, y) is a xed point of the iteration, explain why x and y solve the original
simultaneous equations.
(b) Set (x
0
, y
0
) = (0, 0) and calculate (x
1
, y
1
), . . . , (x
5
, y
5
).
(c) Substitute the values of x
5
and y
5
into the original equations and comment on the
result.
1.3. Dene f
n
, continuous real-valued functions on (1, 1), by f
0
(x) = 0 for all x, and by
putting
f
n+1
(x) = 1
x
_
0
f
n
(u)
2
du.
(a) Compute f
1
, f
2
, f
3
by hand, and use Maple to work out f
4
and f
5
.
1
(b) If f(x) is a xed point of the iteration, explain why f(x) satises the dierential
equation
df
dx
= f
2
,
and that it must satisfy the boundary condition f(0) = 1.
(c) Prove that f(x) =
1
1+x
is a xed point for the iteration, and verify that it is indeed
a solution to the dierential equation with boundary condition.
1.4. Which of the following sets has a supremum? When it exists, what is the supremum?
(a) (0, 1).
(b) (0, ).
(c) {
1
x
| x (0, )}.
(d) {
1
x
| x (1, )}.
1.5*. Put x
0
= 0 and iterate the function
x
n+1
=
1
5
(x
3
n
+x
2
n
3).
Write down the values of x
1
, . . . , x
6
to 6 decimal places. Explain why your sequence
appears to converge to a root of x
3
+x
2
5x 3 = 0.
1.6*. Consider the function f(x) = x
3
+ ax, and set x
0
= 1. For which value of a does the
Newton-Raphson method give x
1
= 1? What is then the value of x
2
? What is the value
of x
3
?
Now choose x
0
= 1.001. With the same value of a as youve just found, what are the
values of x
1
, x
2
, x
3
, and x
4
?
1.7*. Dene an iteration on the natural numbers in the following way. Let n be a natural number.
Write out n as a phrase in English (i.e., write out the number in words, not numerals).
Then f(n) should be the number of letters in n. For example, if n = 6079, we write n as
SIX THOUSAND AND SEVENTY-NINE, which has 25 letters. So f(n) = 25. Iterate
this sequence: f(25) = 10, as TWENTY-FIVE has 10 letters. Keep going until you hit
a xed point. What is it?
Try other starting values. What happens?
If you know other languages suciently, see what happens for them. German and English
have similar properties. Something dierent happens in French. And Spanish has both of
these phenomena!
1.8*. First set your calculator in radians! Using an iterative approach, nd a solution to cos x =
x to 4 decimal places.
1.9*. Find a sequence of 10 digits a
0
a
1
a
2
a
3
a
4
a
5
a
6
a
7
a
8
a
9
such that a
0
is equal to the
number of 0s in the list, a
1
is equal to the number of 1s in the list, and so on, until a
9
is
the number of 9s in the list.
Hint: Write down a particular sequence (x
0
, x
1
, . . . , x
9
). Then form a new sequence
(y
0
, y
1
, . . . , y
n
) where y
0
is the number of zeros, y
1
the number of ones, and so on, in
(x
0
, x
1
, . . . , x
9
). Repeat till you get a xed point.
1.10*. Let a
0
b
0
0, and dene the arithmetic-geometric mean iteration by (a
n+1
, b
n+1
) =
(
a
n
+b
n
2
,

a
n
b
n
). Recall that the AM-GM inequality says that a
n+1
b
n+1
.
(a) Prove that a
n+1
a
n
for all n 0. Deduce that the sequence of (a
n
) is decreasing
and bounded below, and therefore converges to some limit a R.
MAS331 2 Semester 1, 2010-11
(b) Prove that for all n 0, b
n+1
b
n
. Explain why the sequence (b
n
) is bounded above,
and deduce that it converges to some limit b R.
(c) Show that a
n+1
b
n+1

1
2
(a
n
b
n
), and deduce that a = b.
(d) Now set a
0
=

2 and b
0
= 1. Calculate a
1
, b
1
, a
2
, b
2
, a
3
, b
3
, a
4
, b
4
to about 20 decimal
places.
1.11*. Is it always true that sup(AB) = supAsupB where AB is the set {ab | a A, b B}?
1.12*. Let A be a non-empty subset of R and set A = {a | a A}. Show that sup(A) =
inf A.
2 Metric Spaces.
2.1. What is the length of the straight line segment in R
3
joining (3, 1, 4) to (2, 7, 1)?
2.2. Consider the space C[0, 5] of continuous real-valued functions on the closed interval [0, 5].
Let f(x) = x
2
4x, g(x) = 3x 6. What is d(f, g) if d is (a) d

(the supremum metric),

and (b) d
1
(the area metric)?
2.3. We have seen several metrics on R
2
. For each of the four metrics d
2
(the Euclidean metric),
d
1
(the taxicab metric), d

(the supremum metric) and d

0
(the discrete metric), draw the
following sets in the plane R
2
:
(a) Draw the open ball of radius 1 about (0, 0).
(b) Draw the closed ball of radius 1 about (0, 0).
2.4. Recall that (C[0, 1], d

) is the metric space of continuous functions f : [0, 1] R with the

metric
d

(f, g) = sup{|f(x) g(x)| : x [0, 1]}.

Let f C[0, 1] be the constant function with value 0, i.e. f(x) = 0 for all x. Describe the
closed ball B[f, 1].
2.5. Prove that the taxicab metric d
1
on R
n
, given by
d
1
((a
1
, . . . , a
n
), (b
1
, . . . , b
n
)) = |a
1
b
1
| + +|a
n
b
n
|,
is a metric on R
2
.
2.6. Let X be any non-empty set. Show that the discrete metric satises all the axioms for a
metric space.
2.7. Let I = [a, b] and prove that d
1
: C[a, b] C[a, b] R,
d
1
(f, g) =
b
_
a
|f(x) g(x)|dx,
satises axioms M2 and M3.
2.8*. Prove that the function d dened by d(x, y) =
_
|x y| (where x, y R) is a metric on
the set R.
Prove that the function d dened by d(x, y) = (xy)
2
(where x, y R) is not a metric on
the set R.
[Hint. To prove something is not a metric, you have only to show that one of the axioms
doesnt hold, and to do this the best way is to give values of the variables for which it is
false.]
MAS331 3 Semester 1, 2010-11
2.9*. Consider the rotation of R
2
by an angle of dened by the matrix
M =
_
cos sin
sin cos
_
.
Let x and y be two points in R
2
. Show that
d
2
(Mx, My) = d
2
(x, y)
Explain geometrically why this should be true.
Show also that this is not true if we replace d
2
with the taxicab metric d
1
.
2.10*. Let (X, d) be a metric space. Prove that for x, y, z, w X,
|d(x, y) d(z, w)| d(x, z) +d(y, w).
[Hint. First check this when the modulus signs are left out. Then deduce an inequality for
d(z, w)d(x, y) without a modulus sign by changing the symbols around. Conclude by
using the denition of modulus (when a is a real number |a| is either +a or a, whichever
happens to be positive).]
Deduce that, for x, y, z X,
|d(x, y) d(z, y)| d(x, z).
2.11*. Let (X, d) be a metric space. Dene a function D: X X R by the rule
D(x, y) =
d(x, y)
1 +d(x, y)
.
Show that (X, D) is a metric space.
2.12*. Let (A, d
A
), (B, d
B
) be two metric spaces. Recall that the cartesian product AB is the
set of pairs (a, b) with a A, b B. For (a
1
, b
1
), (a
2
, b
2
) AB dene distances d
1
, d
2
,
d

as follows
d
1
((a
1
, b
1
), (a
2
, b
2
)) = d
A
(a
1
, a
2
) +d
B
(b
1
, b
2
);
d
2
((a
1
, b
1
), (a
2
, b
2
)) =
_
d
A
(a
1
, a
2
)
2
+d
B
(b
1
, b
2
)
2
;
d

((a
1
, b
1
), (a
2
, b
2
)) = sup{d
A
(a
1
, a
2
), d
B
(b
1
, b
2
)}.
Show that each of these denes a metric on AB.
2.13*. First draw the graph of log x when 0 < x. The logarithm is a concave function: For
0 < a < b notice that the line segment joining (a, log a), (b, log b) is below the graph.
Deduce that if 0 < a b then log a+(1) log b log(a+(1)b) for any 0 1.
Now let p, q > 1 satisfy
1
p
+
1
q
= 1.
(a) Show that if , > 0 then
p
/p +
q
/q.
(b) Let a
1
, a
2
, . . . , a
n
, b
1
, b
2
, . . . , b
n
R and assume that
|a
1
|
p
+|a
2
|
p
+. . . +|a
n
|
p
= |b
1
|
q
+|b
2
|
q
+. . . +|b
n
|
q
= 1.
Show that |a
1
b
1
| +|a
2
b
2
| +. . . +|a
n
b
n
| 1.
MAS331 4 Semester 1, 2010-11
(c) (Holders inequality) If (a
1
, . . . , a
n
), (b
1
, . . . , b
n
) are any vectors in R
n
then
n

i=1
|a
i
b
i
|
_
n

i=1
|a
i
|
p
_
1/p
_
n

i=1
|b
i
|
q
_
1/q
.
Hint: Prove rst, using the previous part, the inequality for (a
1
/A, . . . , a
n
/A), (b
1
/B, . . . , b
n
/B)
where A = (|a
1
|
p
+ +|a
n
|
p
)
1/p
, B = (|b
1
|
q
+ +|b
n
|
q
)
1/q
.
(d) (Minkowskis inequality) If (a
1
, . . . , a
n
), (b
1
, . . . , b
n
) R
n
are any vectors then
_
n

i=1
|a
i
+b
i
|
p
_
1/p

_
n

i=1
|a
i
|
p
_
1/p
+
_
n

i=1
|b
i
|
p
_
1/p
.
Hint: Write c
i
= a
i
+b
i
. Then |c
i
|
p
= |a
i
+b
i
||c
i
|
p1
|a
i
||c
i
|
p1
+|b
i
||c
i
|
p1
. Summing
up we get

|c
i
|
p

|a
i
||c
i
|
p1
+

|b
i
||c
i
|
p1
. Now use Holders inequality on the
two sums on the right and simplify out.
(e) Show that d
p
is a metric on R
n
.
2.14*. Let S be a set, and let X be the collection of all nite subsets of S. If S = {1, 2, 3}, write
down all the elements of X.
Lets go back to the case of a general set S, and its nite subsets X. For A X, let |A|
denote the number of elements in A. Dene a function d by writing
d(A, B) = |(A B) \ (A B)| (A, B X).
Prove that d is a metric on X.
Hint: (AB) \ (AB) is called the symmetric dierence of the sets A and B. You might
like to draw a Venn diagram to get a better idea of what it looks like. It consists of those
elements which belong to either A or B but not to both. It is also true that
(A B) \ (A B) = (A\ B) (B \ A)
(use the Venn diagram to see this). It turns out to be much easier to use Venn diagrams
in this question than to use more formal manipulation.
2.15*. Let (K, d) be a metric space. Assume that the metric d: K K R is bounded (i.e. the
image of d, or equivalently the set of all distances d(a, b) for a, b K, is a bounded subset
of R).
Now let X be a non-empty set. Denote by F(X; K) the set of all functions from X to K.
Dene a distance D: F(X; K) F(X; K) R by the rule
D(f, g) = sup{d(f(x), g(x)) | x X}.
Show that (F(X; K), D) is a metric space.
Hint: Copy out the proof for R
n
with the supremum metric.
2.16*. Let X be a non-empty set and denote by B(X; R) the set of all functions f : X R which
are bounded. Show that
D(f, g) = sup{d(f(x), g(x)) | x X}
denes a metric on B(X; R).
MAS331 5 Semester 1, 2010-11
3 Convergence of Sequences.
For the rst three questions below you should give your answers directly from the denition of
convergence, i.e. using s and Ns. For the remaining questions you can phrase your answers as
you wish. (Though you may have to use s and Ns for some of the answers.)
3.1. Show that the sequence

n + 1

n 1 converges to 0.
Hint: Think of

n + 1

n 1 as a fraction

n+1

n1
1
and multiply top and bottom
by

n + 1 +

n 1.
3.2. Show that the sequence (x
n
, y
n
) =
_
sin(
1
n
2
+1
),
_
1
n
4
+n
_
converges to (0, 0) in R
2
, with
respect to each of the three metrics d
1
, d
2
and d

. Hint: Use the fact that | sinx| |x|

for all real numbers x.
3.3. Show that the sequence (f
n
) in C[0, 1], dened by
f
n
(x) =
n
n +x
,
converges to the constant function f(x) = 1 in both the d
1
and d

metrics. Hint: Recall

that (1 +
1
n
)
n
e as n .
3.4. Consider the sequence (f
n
) of functions in C[0, 1] whose graphs are as shown in the diagram
(note that f
n
(x) = 0 if x
2
n
).
6
-

E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
1
1
2
n
(a) Show that f
n
converges to 0 pointwise.
(b) Find
_
1
0
f
n
(x) dx (its the area under the graph!).
(c) Prove that in the metric space (C[0, 1], d
1
) we have f
n
0.
(d) Prove that in the metric space (C[0, 1], d

) it is not true that f

n
0.
(e) Modify the example to get a sequence of functions (g
n
) that converges pointwise to
0, but does not converge to 0 in the d
1
or d

metric.
Hint: use a sequence of the form g
n
(x) =
n
f
n
(x), where
n
is chosen carefully.
(f) Prove that in the metric space (C[0, 1]), d

) the sequence (f
n
) has no limit at all.
3.5. Let (x
n
) and (y
n
) be two sequences in a metric space (X, d).
(a) Show that if x
n
a and y
n
a then d(x
n
, y
n
) 0.
(b) Show that if x
n
a and d(x
n
, y
n
) 0 then y
n
a.
(c) Show that if x
n
a and y
n
b then d(x
n
, y
n
) d(a, b).
[Hint: Use the identity |d(x, y) d(a, b)| d(x, a) +d(y, b).]
3.6*. Let R have the discrete metric. Show that the sequence (
1
n
) does not converge to 0.
More generally, let X be a space equipped with the discrete metric. Show that a sequence
(x
n
) converges in X if and only if it is eventually constant.
MAS331 6 Semester 1, 2010-11
3.7*. Let (r
n
) be a sequence in Z. Prove that if r
n
k in the subspace Z then there is N such
that r
n
= k whenever n > N.
3.8*. Let d be one of the three metrics on AB dened in problem 2.12. Show that a sequence
(a
n
, b
n
) (a, b) in (AB, d) if and only if a
n
a in (A, d
a
) and b
n
b in (B, d
B
).
3.9*. Let (X, d) be a metric space, and let D be the metric dened in problem 2.11. Show that
a sequence (x
n
) converges to a limit x in the metric space (X, d) if and only if x
n
x in
the metric space (X, D).
4 Closed and Open Sets.
4.1. Show that the circle {(x, y) R
2
| x
2
+ y
2
= 1} is a closed subset of R
2
with its usual
metric.
4.2. Sketch the subset A = {(x, y) | xy > 0} of the metric space (R
2
, d

), and sketch a typical

small open ball around a point of A. (Note that were using d

, not the usual metric!)

Now carefully prove that A is an open set.
4.3. In the set C[0, 1], put F = {f C[0, 1] | f(1) = 0}.
(a) Show that F is a closed subset of (C[0, 1], d

).
(b) Describe the set F
c
= C[0, 1] \F (the complement of F in C[0, 1]). Is F
c
open, closed
or neither in (C[0, 1], d

)? Justify your answer.

(c) For n = 1, 2, 3, . . ., dene f
n
by f
n
(x) = 1 x
n
. Dene the function 1 C[0, 1] to
satisfy 1(x) = 1 for all x. Show that f
n
1 in (C[0, 1], d
1
). Deduce that F is not a
closed subset of (C[0, 1], d
1
).
4.4. Let f C[a, b] be a given function. Make C[a, b] into a metric space by giving it the metric
d

. Let > 0 be a positive real number. Dene g, h C[a, b] by

g(x) = f(x) +, h(x) = f(x) .
Sketch a diagram on which are shown the graphs of the functions f, g and h. Recall that
B(f, ), the open ball of radius around f, means all the elements of the set which are a
distance of less than from f. Show that B(f, ) consists of all functions whose graphs lie
between the graphs of g and h and do not meet either of these two graphs.
4.5. Show that the disc {(x, y) R
2
| x
2
+y
2
5} is a closed subset of R
2
with its usual metric.
4.6*. Consider the subspace Y = [0, 1] (2, 3) of R (with its usual metric). Show that [0, 1] is
an open ball in Y . Show that (2, 3) is a closed ball in Y .
[Hint. Guess a suitable centre and radius. Notice that [0, 1] = B
Y
[
1
2
,
1
2
] is also a closed
ball, and that (2, 3) = B
Y
(
5
2
,
1
2
) is also an open ball.
Sets like Y which can be broken up into two pieces which are both closed are called discon-
nected.]
4.7*. Let R have its usual metric, and let Z be considered as a subspace of R.
(a) Show that for any m Z, B
Z
(m, 1) = {m}.
(b) What is B
Z
[m, 1]?
4.8*. Let X be a space with the discrete metric. Let x X. Show that B[x,
1
2
] = B(x,
1
2
) = {x}.
MAS331 7 Semester 1, 2010-11
4.9*. Prove that, in any metric space (X, d), any nite subset is closed.
[Hint: Start with a set with just one element.]
4.10*. Let (X, d) be a metric space and let A be a non-empty subset of X.
(a) Show that if E is closed (resp. open) in (X, d) then E A is a closed (resp. open)
subset of (A, d).
(b) Assume now that A is a closed subset of X. Show that F A is closed in (A, d) if
and only if F = E A for some E closed in (X, d).
4.11*. (a) Prove that there is no sequence of integers tending to
1
4
.
(b) Let a R \ Z. Show that there is no sequence of integers tending to a.
(c) Deduce that Z is a closed subset of R.
4.12*. Prove that the irrational numbers are not closed in R.
4.13*. Let (X, d) be a metric space and let A X. A point x X is said to be a limit point of
A if there is a sequence x
n
x with each term x
n
A. The set of all limit points of A,
denoted by A, is called the closure of A.
(a) Show that A is closed if and only A = A.
(b) Show that A is the smallest closed set containing A. In other words, show that
A =

closed EA
E.
(c) Show that A B = A B and A B A B.
(d) Show that if U is an open subset of X and U A = , then U A = .
5 Continuity.
5.1. Let f : R
2
R be dened by (x, y) x
2
+y
2
. What is f
1
[1, 2]? Sketch a picture of this
set.
5.2. Consider R
2
with the Euclidean metric and R with its usual metric.
(a) Show that the map
f : R
2
R
(x, y) xy
is continuous at every point of R
2
.
[Hint: Weve seen two denitions of continuity, and you should use the one that
makes this question easiest.]
(b) Hence deduce that {(x, y) R
2
| xy 1} is a closed subset of R
2
.
5.3. Dene f : R R by f(x) = 0 if x = 0, and f(0) = 1. Show that f is not continuous by
nding a closed subset A R such that f
1
(A) is not closed.
5.4. Let > 0. If f : X Y satises d
Y
(f(x
1
), f(x
2
)) d
X
(x
1
, x
2
) for all x
1
, x
2
X, show
that f is continuous.
MAS331 8 Semester 1, 2010-11
5.5. (Pasting lemma) Let X = A B where A, B are non-empty closed subsets of X. Let
f : A Y, g : B Y be continuous functions to a metric space Y. Assume that f(x) = g(x)
for every x A B. Prove that the function h: X Y dened by setting h(x) = f(x) if
x A and h(x) = g(x) if x B is a continuous function.
[Hint: Use the fact that if U A is closed and V B is closed, then U V X is also
closed.]
5.6*. Let (X, d
X
), (Y, d
Y
) be two metric spaces. Suppose f : X Y is a continuous function.
Prove or disprove the following statements:
(a) For any closed F X the image f(F) is closed in Y .
(b) For any open U X the image f(U) is open in Y .
(c) If f is a bijection then the inverse f
1
: Y X is continuous.
5.7*. Let (A, d
A
), (B, d
B
) be metric spaces and let d be one of the three metrics on AB dened
in problem 2.12.
(a) Show that the projections
A
: A B A,
B
: A B B given by
A
(a, b) = a
and
B
(a, b) = b are continuous.
(b) Let f : X A B be a function from a metric space (X, d
X
) to the metric space
(AB, d). Show that f is continuous if and only if
A
f and
B
f are continuous.
5.8*. Let (X, d) be a metric space.
(a) If F X is a non-empty closed set show that the function d
F
: X R given by
d
F
(x) = inf{d(x, y) | y F}
is a continuous function. When is d
F
(x) = 0?
(b) Now let E, F be non-empty closed subsets of X with trivial intersection (i.e. EF =
). Show that there are open sets U, V such that E U, F V and U V = .
[Hint: f(x) = d
E
(x) d
F
(x) is continuous, so consider U = f
1
(, 0) and V =
f
1
(0, ).]
6 Cauchy Sequences and Completeness.
6.1. Recall from Question 3.4 the sequence (f
n
) of functions in C[0, 1] whose graphs are as
shown in the diagram.
6
-

E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
1
1
2
n
Show directly, in terms of and N, that (f
n
) is not a Cauchy sequence in (C[0, 1], d

).
[Hint: Calculate f
2n
(
1
2n
) f
n
(
1
2n
) and use your result to make the conclusion.]
MAS331 9 Semester 1, 2010-11
6.2. Let X be a set equipped with two metrics, d and d

, and suppose that there are constants

J, K > 0 such that
Jd

(x, y) d(x, y) Kd

(x, y)
for all x, y X.
(a) Show that x
n
x in the metric space (X, d) if and only if x
n
x in the metric
space (X, d

).
(b) Show that (x
n
) is a Cauchy sequence in (X, d) if and only if it is a Cauchy sequence
in (X, d

).
(c) Show that (X, d) is complete if and only if (X, d

) is complete.
6.3. Let (x
n
) be a Cauchy sequence in the metric space (X, d) and let x X. If some subse-
quence x
n
k
converges to x, show that x
n
converges to x.
6.4*. Prove that a sequence in R
2
converges with respect to the usual metric if and only if it
converges with respect to the metric d

. Deduce that R
2
is complete with respect to the
metric d

.
6.5*. Let (X, d) be a complete metric space. Given a nested sequence of closed balls B[x
n
, r
n
]
with r
n
0, show that

n=1
B[x
n
, r
n
] = .
(Nested means that B[x
n+1
, r
n+1
] B[x
n
, r
n
].)
6.6*. Give a counterexample to show that a continuous function need not map Cauchy sequences
to Cauchy sequences.
7 Contractions.
7.1. (a) Let f : X X be a map from the metric space (X, d) to itself. If d(f(x), f(y)) <
d(x, y) for all x = y X, show that f has at most one xed point (i.e., there is at
most one point x X such that f(x) = x).
(b) Consider the map f : [1, ) [1, ) dened by f(x) = x +
1
x
. Prove that |f(x)
f(y)| < |x y| whenever x = y, but that f has no xed point.
(c) However, x
1
2
k < 1. Show that if f is dened by f(x) = k(x +
1
x
), then f has a
xed point in [1, ).
7.2. Use the dierential criterion to show that cos: R R is not a contraction, but that the
map dened by f(x) = k cos x is a contraction for any 0 < k < 1. Show that cos cos is a
contraction.
7.3. Are the following maps contractions?
(a) f : R R dened by f(x) = e
x
.
(b) g : [0, ) [0, ) dened by g(x) = e
x
.
(c) h: [1, ) [1, ) dened by h(x) = 1 +e
x
.
(d) : [0, ) [0, ) dened by (x) = e
(e
x
)
.
[Hint. You may like to notice that = g g.]
MAS331 10 Semester 1, 2010-11
7.4. Show that the equation
x = 1 +e
x
has a unique solution in [1, ). Find an approximation to this xed point which is within
0.001 of the correct value. Use the proposition that follows the Contraction Mapping
Theorem to work out how many iterations are necessary to prove that your answer is
correct to this accuracy.
7.5. Prove that the map f : R
2
R
2
dened by
f(x, y) = (
1
2
cos y,
1
2
sinx + 1)
is a contraction, where R
2
is given the usual metric. Choose any initial point (x
0
, y
0
), and
iterate x
n+1
= f(x
n
). How many iterations are required so that x
n
is within 0.01 of the
xed point?
7.6. Prove that the map f : R
3
R
3
dened by
f(x, y, z) = (
1
2
cos y + 1,
2
3
sinz,
3
4
x)
is a contraction, where R
3
is given the usual metric. Use an iterative method to nd an
approximation to the xed point. Can you say how near your approximation is to the
xed point?
7.7. Let F : C[0,
1
2
] C[0,
1
2
] be given by
(F(f))(x) = 1 +
x
_
0
f(u) du.
(Given any f C[0,
1
2
] this formula enables you to work out F(f) which, naturally, is
another member of C[0,
1
2
]. For example, if f(x) = x
2
then
(F(f))(x) = 1 +
x
_
0
u
2
du = 1 +
x
3
3
.
_
_
.
(a) Calculate (F(f))(x) when f(x) = sinx.
(b) Show that for any f, g C[0,
1
2
] and x [0,
1
2
]
|(F(f))(x) (F(g))(x)| =

x
_
0
(f(u) g(u))du

1
2
d

(f, g)
and deduce that d

(F(f), F(g))
1
2
d

(f, g), so that F is a contraction.

(c) Let the sequence f
1
, f
2
, f
3
, . . . in C[0,
1
2
] be dened by f
1
(x) = 1 + x, f
2
= F(f
1
),
f
3
= F(f
2
),. . . . Calculate f
2
(x) and f
3
(x). Deduce (without proof) a formula for
f
n
(x). State, without proof, the limit f(x) of this sequence, giving your answer as a
standard function.
(d) Our general theory tells us that the f found in (c) should be the unique xed point
of F; i.e. it should satisfy
f(x) = 1 +
x
_
0
f(u) du.
Verify that the function f found in (c) does satisfy this equation.
MAS331 11 Semester 1, 2010-11
7.8*. Dene f : R R by
f(x) =
_
sin x
x
if x = 0,
1 if x = 0.
Prove that f maps the subset [0, 1] into itself and that f : [0, 1] [0, 1] is a contraction.
[Hint. One way of doing this question is to use the Taylor expansion of the function f. Of
course, you get this from the Taylor expansion of sin.]
7.9*. Show that the equation x = e
x
has a unique solution in [0, ), and nd it to 3 decimal
places.
7.10*. Let f : C[0, 1] C[0, 1] be given by
(F(f))(x) = 1 + 3
x
_
0
u
2
f(u) du.
(a) Starting with f
1
given by f
1
(x) = 1, iterate F to nd the next three terms of the
sequence f
2
= F(f
1
), f
3
= F(f
2
), . . .. Guess (in series form) the limit f(x) of this
sequence. Then express f(x) in terms of the exponential function.
(b) Show, by working out the right-hand side, that the f found in (a) is a solution of the
integral equation
f(x) = 1 + 3
x
_
0
u
2
f(u) du.
(c) Show by dierentiating f that it is a solution of the dierential equation
df
dx
= 3x
2
f (x [0, 1])
satisfying the initial condition f(0) = 1.
7.11*. Dene a map F : C[0, 1] C[0, 1] by taking, for f C[0, 1], the function F(f) C[0, 1]
to be dened by
(F(f))(x) = e
x
+
1
2

f(x)
1 +f(x)
2
(x [0, 1]).
Prove that F is a contraction on the metric space (C[0, 1], d

).
[Hint. Use the fact that the function G(u) = u/(1 +u
2
) satises |G(u) G(v)| |u v|.]
7.12*. Using the previous question, show that there is just one function f C[0, 1] such that
f(x)
3
e
x
f(x)
2
+
1
2
f(x) = e
x
(x [0, 1]).
7.13*. Let f and g both be contractions of the metric space (X, d) (with constants k and k

say).
Show that the function f g (which takes x to f(g(x))) is also a contraction of (X, d).
[Hint. Start in the natural way: d(fg(x), fg(y)) = d(f(g(x)), f(g(y))) k.d(?, ?) . . ..]
Show also that if x is a xed point of f g then g(f(g(x))) = g(x). Hence nd a xed
point of g f (in terms of x).
7.14*. (a) Use Question 7.13 to show that the function h: [1, ) [1, ) given by
h(x) = 1 + tan
1
(1 +e
x
)
is a contraction.
[Hint. Having broken h down into two parts, both being functions from [1, ) to
[1, ), take derivatives to check that each part is a contraction.]
MAS331 12 Semester 1, 2010-11
(b) Use iteration to nd an approximation to the solution of the equation
x = 1 + tan
1
(1 +e
x
).
(c) Without using more iterations, nd an approximation to the solution of the equation
x = 1 +e
(1+tan
1
x)
.
7.15*. Using Question 7.8, show that the equation x
2
= sinx has a unique non-zero solution in
[0, 1]. Find it correct to three decimal places.
[Note. The non-zero is crucial here: clearly x = 0 is also a solution.]
8 Compactness.
8.1. Show that a nite union of compact sets in a metric space is again compact.
8.2. Show that a set X with the discrete metric is compact precisely when X is a nite set.
8.3. Call a metric space (X, d) bounded if the function d: X X R is bounded. Show that
if (X, d) is totally bounded then it is bounded. Is the converse true?
8.4. Let X be a compact metric space and let F
1
F
2
. . . F
n
F
n+1
. . . be a sequence
of non-empty closed subsets. Show that F
1
F
2
F
n
is non-empty.
8.5. Let X be a compact metric space and let f : X X be a continuous function without
any xed points (that is, f(x) = x for any x X). Show that there is an > 0 such that
d(f(x), x) for all x X.
8.6. Let X be a compact metric space and let f : X X be a continuous function. Show that
there is non-empty closed subset A X such that f(A) = A.
Hint: Consider F
1
= f(X), F
2
= f(F
1
), . . . and A =

F
n
.
8.7. Let (X, d) be a compact metric space and let f : X X be a function such that d(f(x), f(y)) =
d(x, y) for all x, y X. Show that f is surjective.
Hint: Note that f is continuous. If a f(X), then show that there is an r > 0 such that
f(X) B(a, r) = . Finally show that f
n
(a) does not have a convergent subsequence.
8.8. Let (X, d) be a compact metric space and let f : X X be a function such that d(f(x), f(y))
d(x, y) for all x, y X.
(a) Show that given an > 0 we can nd a positive integer n such that d(f
n
(x), x) < .
Hint: Apply the Cauchy criterion to a convergent subsequence of f
n
(x).
(b) Deduce that given x, y X we can nd integers 1 n
1
< n
2
< . . . such that
f
n
k
(x) x and f
n
k
(y) y as k .
(c) Show that d(f(x), f(y)) = d(x, y) for all x, y X, and that f is surjective.
MAS331 13 Semester 1, 2010-11