Proof verification that the sequence $x_n = frac{1}{n}$ converges to every point of $mathbb{R}$ on the...












5












$begingroup$


Let $a in mathbb{R}$. Then any open set $U$ in the cofinite topology containing $a$ is of the form $U = mathbb{R} - {alpha_1, alpha_2, cdots, alpha_p}$ for some $p in mathbb{N}$ (and of course $alpha_i neq a forall 1 leq i leq p$). Now, take $N = c left(displaystyle{frac{1}{min alpha_i}}right) + 1$, where $c(x)$ stands for the ceiling of $x$ (i.e, $c(2.1) = 3$). Then it's clear that $x_n in U forall n geq N$ and we're done.



Is this alright? I actually think I could do away with all of this and just make the argument that the tail of $x_n$ is eventually contained in $U$ since $mathbb{R} - U$ has only finitely many elements and ${x_n}_{n in mathbb{N}}$ is infinite, but I'm not sure if that's fine too.










share|cite|improve this question









$endgroup$

















    5












    $begingroup$


    Let $a in mathbb{R}$. Then any open set $U$ in the cofinite topology containing $a$ is of the form $U = mathbb{R} - {alpha_1, alpha_2, cdots, alpha_p}$ for some $p in mathbb{N}$ (and of course $alpha_i neq a forall 1 leq i leq p$). Now, take $N = c left(displaystyle{frac{1}{min alpha_i}}right) + 1$, where $c(x)$ stands for the ceiling of $x$ (i.e, $c(2.1) = 3$). Then it's clear that $x_n in U forall n geq N$ and we're done.



    Is this alright? I actually think I could do away with all of this and just make the argument that the tail of $x_n$ is eventually contained in $U$ since $mathbb{R} - U$ has only finitely many elements and ${x_n}_{n in mathbb{N}}$ is infinite, but I'm not sure if that's fine too.










    share|cite|improve this question









    $endgroup$















      5












      5








      5





      $begingroup$


      Let $a in mathbb{R}$. Then any open set $U$ in the cofinite topology containing $a$ is of the form $U = mathbb{R} - {alpha_1, alpha_2, cdots, alpha_p}$ for some $p in mathbb{N}$ (and of course $alpha_i neq a forall 1 leq i leq p$). Now, take $N = c left(displaystyle{frac{1}{min alpha_i}}right) + 1$, where $c(x)$ stands for the ceiling of $x$ (i.e, $c(2.1) = 3$). Then it's clear that $x_n in U forall n geq N$ and we're done.



      Is this alright? I actually think I could do away with all of this and just make the argument that the tail of $x_n$ is eventually contained in $U$ since $mathbb{R} - U$ has only finitely many elements and ${x_n}_{n in mathbb{N}}$ is infinite, but I'm not sure if that's fine too.










      share|cite|improve this question









      $endgroup$




      Let $a in mathbb{R}$. Then any open set $U$ in the cofinite topology containing $a$ is of the form $U = mathbb{R} - {alpha_1, alpha_2, cdots, alpha_p}$ for some $p in mathbb{N}$ (and of course $alpha_i neq a forall 1 leq i leq p$). Now, take $N = c left(displaystyle{frac{1}{min alpha_i}}right) + 1$, where $c(x)$ stands for the ceiling of $x$ (i.e, $c(2.1) = 3$). Then it's clear that $x_n in U forall n geq N$ and we're done.



      Is this alright? I actually think I could do away with all of this and just make the argument that the tail of $x_n$ is eventually contained in $U$ since $mathbb{R} - U$ has only finitely many elements and ${x_n}_{n in mathbb{N}}$ is infinite, but I'm not sure if that's fine too.







      real-analysis general-topology proof-verification






      share|cite|improve this question













      share|cite|improve this question











      share|cite|improve this question




      share|cite|improve this question










      asked Jan 13 at 19:37









      Matheus AndradeMatheus Andrade

      1,259417




      1,259417






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          2












          $begingroup$

          Your argument is fine, but you are right that such specifics are unnecessary. Any sequence that does not contain a particular point infinitely many times converges to every point in an infinite space with the cofinite topology.






          share|cite|improve this answer











          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            It's good to know my intuition was correct. Thanks!
            $endgroup$
            – Matheus Andrade
            Jan 13 at 19:57






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @Matheus No problem.
            $endgroup$
            – Matt Samuel
            Jan 13 at 19:57






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Your final claim is not completely correct. Let $X$ be a space with the cofinite topology. Then a sequence $x_1, x_2, ldots$ converges to every point in $X$ if and only if for every $x in X$ it holds true that there are only finitely many $i$ for which $x = x_i$. For example, the sequence $x_i = (-1)^i$ is not eventually constant, but doesn't converge at all, let alone to every point of $mathbb{R}$.
            $endgroup$
            – Woett
            Jan 13 at 21:13












          • $begingroup$
            @Woett Agree with the edit?
            $endgroup$
            – Matt Samuel
            Jan 13 at 21:15










          • $begingroup$
            yes! $text{ }$
            $endgroup$
            – Woett
            Jan 13 at 21:21



















          1












          $begingroup$

          The only thing we are using of the sequence here is that $x_n neq x_m$ whenever $n neq m$, so that ${x_n: n in mathbb{N}}$ is infinite.



          If then $U=mathbb{R}-F$ (so $F subseteq mathbb{R}$ finite) is any non-empty open set of the cofinite topology, then there is some $N$ such that ${x_n: n ge N}$ contains no points of $F$: we skip as many $n$ as we need to avoid any of the finitely many points in $F cap {x_n: n in mathbb{N}}$, if there are any. And then for all $n ge N$, $x_n in U$. This suffices to show that $x_n to x$ for any $x in mathbb{R}$.



          So also $1,2,3,4,ldots to pi$, e.g. in the cofinite topology.






          share|cite|improve this answer









          $endgroup$













            Your Answer





            StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
            return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
            StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
            StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
            });
            });
            }, "mathjax-editing");

            StackExchange.ready(function() {
            var channelOptions = {
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "69"
            };
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
            createEditor();
            });
            }
            else {
            createEditor();
            }
            });

            function createEditor() {
            StackExchange.prepareEditor({
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: true,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: 10,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader: {
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            },
            noCode: true, onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            });


            }
            });














            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3072427%2fproof-verification-that-the-sequence-x-n-frac1n-converges-to-every-poin%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            2












            $begingroup$

            Your argument is fine, but you are right that such specifics are unnecessary. Any sequence that does not contain a particular point infinitely many times converges to every point in an infinite space with the cofinite topology.






            share|cite|improve this answer











            $endgroup$













            • $begingroup$
              It's good to know my intuition was correct. Thanks!
              $endgroup$
              – Matheus Andrade
              Jan 13 at 19:57






            • 1




              $begingroup$
              @Matheus No problem.
              $endgroup$
              – Matt Samuel
              Jan 13 at 19:57






            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Your final claim is not completely correct. Let $X$ be a space with the cofinite topology. Then a sequence $x_1, x_2, ldots$ converges to every point in $X$ if and only if for every $x in X$ it holds true that there are only finitely many $i$ for which $x = x_i$. For example, the sequence $x_i = (-1)^i$ is not eventually constant, but doesn't converge at all, let alone to every point of $mathbb{R}$.
              $endgroup$
              – Woett
              Jan 13 at 21:13












            • $begingroup$
              @Woett Agree with the edit?
              $endgroup$
              – Matt Samuel
              Jan 13 at 21:15










            • $begingroup$
              yes! $text{ }$
              $endgroup$
              – Woett
              Jan 13 at 21:21
















            2












            $begingroup$

            Your argument is fine, but you are right that such specifics are unnecessary. Any sequence that does not contain a particular point infinitely many times converges to every point in an infinite space with the cofinite topology.






            share|cite|improve this answer











            $endgroup$













            • $begingroup$
              It's good to know my intuition was correct. Thanks!
              $endgroup$
              – Matheus Andrade
              Jan 13 at 19:57






            • 1




              $begingroup$
              @Matheus No problem.
              $endgroup$
              – Matt Samuel
              Jan 13 at 19:57






            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Your final claim is not completely correct. Let $X$ be a space with the cofinite topology. Then a sequence $x_1, x_2, ldots$ converges to every point in $X$ if and only if for every $x in X$ it holds true that there are only finitely many $i$ for which $x = x_i$. For example, the sequence $x_i = (-1)^i$ is not eventually constant, but doesn't converge at all, let alone to every point of $mathbb{R}$.
              $endgroup$
              – Woett
              Jan 13 at 21:13












            • $begingroup$
              @Woett Agree with the edit?
              $endgroup$
              – Matt Samuel
              Jan 13 at 21:15










            • $begingroup$
              yes! $text{ }$
              $endgroup$
              – Woett
              Jan 13 at 21:21














            2












            2








            2





            $begingroup$

            Your argument is fine, but you are right that such specifics are unnecessary. Any sequence that does not contain a particular point infinitely many times converges to every point in an infinite space with the cofinite topology.






            share|cite|improve this answer











            $endgroup$



            Your argument is fine, but you are right that such specifics are unnecessary. Any sequence that does not contain a particular point infinitely many times converges to every point in an infinite space with the cofinite topology.







            share|cite|improve this answer














            share|cite|improve this answer



            share|cite|improve this answer








            edited Jan 13 at 21:15

























            answered Jan 13 at 19:55









            Matt SamuelMatt Samuel

            38k63666




            38k63666












            • $begingroup$
              It's good to know my intuition was correct. Thanks!
              $endgroup$
              – Matheus Andrade
              Jan 13 at 19:57






            • 1




              $begingroup$
              @Matheus No problem.
              $endgroup$
              – Matt Samuel
              Jan 13 at 19:57






            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Your final claim is not completely correct. Let $X$ be a space with the cofinite topology. Then a sequence $x_1, x_2, ldots$ converges to every point in $X$ if and only if for every $x in X$ it holds true that there are only finitely many $i$ for which $x = x_i$. For example, the sequence $x_i = (-1)^i$ is not eventually constant, but doesn't converge at all, let alone to every point of $mathbb{R}$.
              $endgroup$
              – Woett
              Jan 13 at 21:13












            • $begingroup$
              @Woett Agree with the edit?
              $endgroup$
              – Matt Samuel
              Jan 13 at 21:15










            • $begingroup$
              yes! $text{ }$
              $endgroup$
              – Woett
              Jan 13 at 21:21


















            • $begingroup$
              It's good to know my intuition was correct. Thanks!
              $endgroup$
              – Matheus Andrade
              Jan 13 at 19:57






            • 1




              $begingroup$
              @Matheus No problem.
              $endgroup$
              – Matt Samuel
              Jan 13 at 19:57






            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Your final claim is not completely correct. Let $X$ be a space with the cofinite topology. Then a sequence $x_1, x_2, ldots$ converges to every point in $X$ if and only if for every $x in X$ it holds true that there are only finitely many $i$ for which $x = x_i$. For example, the sequence $x_i = (-1)^i$ is not eventually constant, but doesn't converge at all, let alone to every point of $mathbb{R}$.
              $endgroup$
              – Woett
              Jan 13 at 21:13












            • $begingroup$
              @Woett Agree with the edit?
              $endgroup$
              – Matt Samuel
              Jan 13 at 21:15










            • $begingroup$
              yes! $text{ }$
              $endgroup$
              – Woett
              Jan 13 at 21:21
















            $begingroup$
            It's good to know my intuition was correct. Thanks!
            $endgroup$
            – Matheus Andrade
            Jan 13 at 19:57




            $begingroup$
            It's good to know my intuition was correct. Thanks!
            $endgroup$
            – Matheus Andrade
            Jan 13 at 19:57




            1




            1




            $begingroup$
            @Matheus No problem.
            $endgroup$
            – Matt Samuel
            Jan 13 at 19:57




            $begingroup$
            @Matheus No problem.
            $endgroup$
            – Matt Samuel
            Jan 13 at 19:57




            1




            1




            $begingroup$
            Your final claim is not completely correct. Let $X$ be a space with the cofinite topology. Then a sequence $x_1, x_2, ldots$ converges to every point in $X$ if and only if for every $x in X$ it holds true that there are only finitely many $i$ for which $x = x_i$. For example, the sequence $x_i = (-1)^i$ is not eventually constant, but doesn't converge at all, let alone to every point of $mathbb{R}$.
            $endgroup$
            – Woett
            Jan 13 at 21:13






            $begingroup$
            Your final claim is not completely correct. Let $X$ be a space with the cofinite topology. Then a sequence $x_1, x_2, ldots$ converges to every point in $X$ if and only if for every $x in X$ it holds true that there are only finitely many $i$ for which $x = x_i$. For example, the sequence $x_i = (-1)^i$ is not eventually constant, but doesn't converge at all, let alone to every point of $mathbb{R}$.
            $endgroup$
            – Woett
            Jan 13 at 21:13














            $begingroup$
            @Woett Agree with the edit?
            $endgroup$
            – Matt Samuel
            Jan 13 at 21:15




            $begingroup$
            @Woett Agree with the edit?
            $endgroup$
            – Matt Samuel
            Jan 13 at 21:15












            $begingroup$
            yes! $text{ }$
            $endgroup$
            – Woett
            Jan 13 at 21:21




            $begingroup$
            yes! $text{ }$
            $endgroup$
            – Woett
            Jan 13 at 21:21











            1












            $begingroup$

            The only thing we are using of the sequence here is that $x_n neq x_m$ whenever $n neq m$, so that ${x_n: n in mathbb{N}}$ is infinite.



            If then $U=mathbb{R}-F$ (so $F subseteq mathbb{R}$ finite) is any non-empty open set of the cofinite topology, then there is some $N$ such that ${x_n: n ge N}$ contains no points of $F$: we skip as many $n$ as we need to avoid any of the finitely many points in $F cap {x_n: n in mathbb{N}}$, if there are any. And then for all $n ge N$, $x_n in U$. This suffices to show that $x_n to x$ for any $x in mathbb{R}$.



            So also $1,2,3,4,ldots to pi$, e.g. in the cofinite topology.






            share|cite|improve this answer









            $endgroup$


















              1












              $begingroup$

              The only thing we are using of the sequence here is that $x_n neq x_m$ whenever $n neq m$, so that ${x_n: n in mathbb{N}}$ is infinite.



              If then $U=mathbb{R}-F$ (so $F subseteq mathbb{R}$ finite) is any non-empty open set of the cofinite topology, then there is some $N$ such that ${x_n: n ge N}$ contains no points of $F$: we skip as many $n$ as we need to avoid any of the finitely many points in $F cap {x_n: n in mathbb{N}}$, if there are any. And then for all $n ge N$, $x_n in U$. This suffices to show that $x_n to x$ for any $x in mathbb{R}$.



              So also $1,2,3,4,ldots to pi$, e.g. in the cofinite topology.






              share|cite|improve this answer









              $endgroup$
















                1












                1








                1





                $begingroup$

                The only thing we are using of the sequence here is that $x_n neq x_m$ whenever $n neq m$, so that ${x_n: n in mathbb{N}}$ is infinite.



                If then $U=mathbb{R}-F$ (so $F subseteq mathbb{R}$ finite) is any non-empty open set of the cofinite topology, then there is some $N$ such that ${x_n: n ge N}$ contains no points of $F$: we skip as many $n$ as we need to avoid any of the finitely many points in $F cap {x_n: n in mathbb{N}}$, if there are any. And then for all $n ge N$, $x_n in U$. This suffices to show that $x_n to x$ for any $x in mathbb{R}$.



                So also $1,2,3,4,ldots to pi$, e.g. in the cofinite topology.






                share|cite|improve this answer









                $endgroup$



                The only thing we are using of the sequence here is that $x_n neq x_m$ whenever $n neq m$, so that ${x_n: n in mathbb{N}}$ is infinite.



                If then $U=mathbb{R}-F$ (so $F subseteq mathbb{R}$ finite) is any non-empty open set of the cofinite topology, then there is some $N$ such that ${x_n: n ge N}$ contains no points of $F$: we skip as many $n$ as we need to avoid any of the finitely many points in $F cap {x_n: n in mathbb{N}}$, if there are any. And then for all $n ge N$, $x_n in U$. This suffices to show that $x_n to x$ for any $x in mathbb{R}$.



                So also $1,2,3,4,ldots to pi$, e.g. in the cofinite topology.







                share|cite|improve this answer












                share|cite|improve this answer



                share|cite|improve this answer










                answered Jan 14 at 7:07









                Henno BrandsmaHenno Brandsma

                107k347114




                107k347114






























                    draft saved

                    draft discarded




















































                    Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid



                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                    Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function () {
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3072427%2fproof-verification-that-the-sequence-x-n-frac1n-converges-to-every-poin%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                    }
                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    Popular posts from this blog

                    Mario Kart Wii

                    What does “Dominus providebit” mean?

                    Antonio Litta Visconti Arese