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VITALY KUZNETSOV
Question 1 (Exercise 2 on page 37). Tne Cantor set C can also be described in terms of
ternary expansions.
(a) Every number in [0, 1] has a ternary expansion
X
x= ak 3k
k=1
where
Pak = 0, k1 or 2. We also note that this decomposition is not unique since, for example
1/3 = k=1 2/3 . We show that x C if and only if x has a representation as above where
every ak is 0 or 2.
Proof. Recall that be definition the Cantor set C = k=0 Ck , where C0 = [0, 1] and Ck+1
is obtained from Ck be removing the open middle-third subinterval of each of the disjoint
intervals that constitute Ck .
First we use induction to show that for all non-negative integers k, if a P is such that
[a, b] is one of the disjoint intervals constituting Ck , then a can be written as n=1 an 3
n
,
where P an {0, 2} for 0 < n k and an = 0 for n > k. If k = 0 then C0 = [0, 1] and
0= n=1 0/3k
as needed. Now we assume that the statement holds for k N and we show
that it is also true for k + 1. Assume that s is such that [s, t] is one of the disjoint intervals
constituting
P Ck+1 . If s is also an endpoint of a disjoint interval in Ck then we know that
s = n=1 an 3n , where an {0, 2} for 0 < n k and an = 0 for n > k. Hence, an {0, 2}
for 0 < n k + 1 and an = 0 for n > k + 1 as well. Now if s is not an endpoint of the
interval in Ck then by construction there is an interval [a, t] in Ck such that [s, t] [a, t].
Furthermore, s a = 2(t a)/3 by construction of C. Since length of [a, t] is 3k (on each
step we reduce the length of disjoint intervals by a factor of 3), we have that s = a + 2/3k+1 .
Using induction hypothesis, s = kn=1 an 3n + 2/3k+1 . That is, s = n
P P
n=1 an 3 such that
an {0, 2} for 0 < n k + 1 and an = 0 for n > k + 1 as claimed.
Now we make an observation that Ck consists of exactly P 2k disjoint intervals, which is
n
exactly the number of points in [0, 1] of the form s = n=1 an 3 , where an {0, 2}
for 0 < n k and an = 0 for n > k. Therefore, this observation combined with our
previous result implies that each such number is an endpoint of one of the disjoint intervals
constituting Ck .PWe also note that if s is P an endpoint of an interval [s, t] in Ck then t =
s + 1/3k = s + n=k+1 2/3 n
. That is, t =
n=1 an 3
n
such that the first k of an s are the
same as for s andPthe rest are equal to 2.
Now if x = n=1 an 3n such that an {0, 2} for all n, then we have that sk =
+
Pk n
P n
Pk n
P n
n=1 an 3 x = n=1 an 3 n=1 an 3 n=k+1 2/3 = tk for all k. That, is
x [sk , tk ] Ck for all k, which shows that x C.
Date: September 29, 2011.
1
2 VITALY KUZNETSOV
Conversely, assume that x C. Then for each k, there is an interval [xk , yk ] in Ck containing
x. First observe that the sequence xk converges to x since |xxk | < 2/3k for each k N. Next
we note that the previous results imply that for i < j, we can write xj = xi + jn=i+1 an 3n
P
X bk
F (x) =
k=1
2k
where x = k
with ak {0, 2} and bk = a2k . We show that F is well-defined and
P
k=1 ak 3
continuous on C, and moreover F (0) = 0 as well as F (1) = 1.
Proof.
P Tok show that F is well-defined it suffices to show that a ternary
P representationP of0 x k=
k
a
k=1 k 3 with a k {0, 2} is unique. Assume x C and x = k=1 ka 3 = a
k=1 k 3
with ak , a0k {0, 2}. For a contradiction, let an 6= a0n for some n (and by well-ordering
principle of natural numbers we can choose the smallest suchPn). Then by our result from
n1
part (a), we see that x lies in an interval [s, t] Cn with s = k=1 ak 3k . At the same time
n
it must also lie in the interval [a, b] Cn with a = s + 2/3 . We know that such intervals
are disjoint which leads to contradiction. Thus, ak = a0k for all k and F is well-defined.
Next we show that F is continuous. It is enough to show that if xn is a sequence of
points in C which converges to x, then F (xn ) converges to F (x). Fix > 0. Then there
is n0 N such that 1/2n0 < . Since xn converges to x there is n1 > n0 such that for all
n > n1 , |x xn | < 1/3n1 . Then x and xn must lie in the same interval in Cn for all n > n1 .
Therefore, ternary expansion inPterms of 0 and 2 of x and xn must agree for the first n1
digits. Thus, |F (x) F (xn )| < k=n1 +1 2
k
= 2n1 < 2n0 < for all n > n1 , which implies
that F (xn ) converges to F (x). This proves that F is continuous.
P P
k k
Finally,
Pusing geometric series we have that 0 = k=1 0/3 and 1 = k=1 2/3 , thus
F (0) = k=1 0/2k = 0 and F (1) = k=1 1/2k = 1.
P
(c) We prove that F : C [0, 1] is surjective, that is, for every y [0, 1] there is x C
such that F (x) = y.
= k
P
Proof. Let y [0, 1]. Then y has a binary expansion, that P is y k k=1 bk 2 such that
bk {0, 1}. We let ak = 2bk
P{0, 2}. kBy part (a), x = k=1 ak 3 C. Now we observe
that by construction, F (x) = k=1 kb 2 = y, which shows that F is indeed surjective.
(d) One can also extend F to be a continuous function on [0, 1] as follows. Note that if
(a, b) is an open interval of the compliment of C, then F (a) = F (b). Hence we may define
F to have the constant value F (a) in that interval.
Proof. First we show that if (a, b) is an open interval of the compliment of C, then F (a) =
F (b). If (a, b) is a subinterval of the compliment of C with endpoints in C, then this interval
was removed from [0, 1] during construction of C on stage n + 1, for some n P0. In fact
it was removed from some interval [s, t] Cn . By partP(a), we know P that s = nk=1 ak 3k .
Since the length of [s, t] is 1/3n , a = s + 1/3n+1 = n
k=1 ak 3
k
+ k
k=n+2 2/3 and b =
Pn k n+1
k=1 ak 3 + 2/3 .
MAT1000 ASSIGNMENT 1 3
Proof. We consider a compliment of C in [0, 1], that is the set S = [0, 1] C. We know that
the set S is a union of the collection {I }A of open intervals removed from [0, 1] during
the construction of C. Each interval in this collection is disjoint from all the other intervals
in the collection since each time we remove centrally situated intervals. Furthermore, this
collection of open intervals is countable since on each stage of the construction we remove 2k1
intervals. Therefore, S is measurable as countable union of measurable sets and by countable
interval removed on the k th stage of the
P
additivity we have m(S) = m(I ). Since each P
construction is of length lk this sum is equal to k=1 2
k1
lk . Now we use the fact that
[0, 1] is a disjoint union of C and S and countable additivity to conclude that 1 = m[0, 1] =
m(C)+m(S) P 2k1 lk (note that we implicitly use the fact that C is measurable
= m(C)+ k=1
as a compliment of measurable set). Finally, we write m(C) = 1 P 2k1 lk > 0 and the
k=1
proof is complete.
(b) We show that if x C then there exists a sequence of points {xn }
n=1 such that xn 6 C,
yet xn x and x In , where In is a sub-interval in the compliment of C with |In | 0.
Proof. Let x C and define Cn to be the set containing all points of [0, 1] which has not
been removed during the first n stages of the construction of C (this set is analogous to the
set Cn in the construction of the Cantor set). By construction, Cn is a disjoint union of 2n
closed intervals. Note that there are exactly 2n closed intervals in Cn since each interval in
Cn1 gives a rise to two new intervals in Cn , that is on each step the number of intervals is
twice the number of intervals on the previous step. Let [a, b] be one of these intervals in Cn
such that x [a, b]. On the next stage of the construction an open interval (s, t) of length
ln is removed from [a, b]. We take xn to be the midpoint of (s, t) and we let In = (s, t).
Note that the distance from x to xn is less than the length of the interval [a, b] since both
of these points lie in it. On the other hand, by construction each of the intervals in Cn
has equal length and using the fact that there are 2n such intervals, we conclude that the
4 VITALY KUZNETSOV
Now we P show that f is surjective. Let y [0, 1] be arbitrary. Then y has a binary
expansion n=1 an 2
n
where an {0, 1}. Note that the sequence {an }n=1 induces a nested
an
sequence of intervals In constructed as above starting with I0 = [0, 1]. By Nested Intervals
Theorem, an an
n=1 In is non-empty. Furthermore, since each In is one of the disjoint intervals
in Cn , we know from part (b) that |Inan | < 2n and hence |Inan | 0 as n . Therefore,
Nested Intervals Theorem tells us that in this case an
n=1 In = {x} for some unique real
number x. Note that x C since x Cn for all n. Moreover, by definition of f we have that
f (x) = y and this proves that f is surjective.
Question 3 (Exercise 5 on page 39). Suppose E is a given set and On is the open set