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49 votes
7 answers
8k views

Is the real number structure unique?

For a frame of reference, I'm an undergraduate in mathematics who has taken the introductory analysis series and the graduate level algebra sequence at my university. In my analysis class, our book ...
Tyler's user avatar
  • 2,233
31 votes
6 answers
4k views

Are there many fewer rational numbers than reals?

Today my professor asked me to figure out the probability of getting a rational number from $[0,1]$. His answer was that the probability is $0$. Why is this?
Ivy's user avatar
  • 605
25 votes
5 answers
2k views

Were "real numbers" used before things like Dedekind cuts, Cauchy sequences, etc. appeared?

Just the question in the title, I'm trying to understand how something like analysis could be developed without formal constructions of the real numbers. I'm also very interested, if the answer is "...
YoTengoUnLCD's user avatar
  • 13.5k
8 votes
2 answers
322 views

Opsure and Clinterior of subsets of $\mathbb{R}$

We are considering the made up words opsure and clinterior, where the opsure of a set $A$ is the smallest open set containing $A$ and the clinterior of a set $B$ is the largest closed set contained in ...
Matthew Graham's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
7k views

When can a set have an upper bound but no least upper bound?

So I'm taking real analysis and have noted that one of the benefits of the Dedekind cut is that 'if one of the sets made has an upper bound it also has a least upper bound'. I don't understand how a ...
liqiudilk's user avatar
  • 341
6 votes
4 answers
887 views

How can I show the incompleteness of the irrational numbers?

To show the incompleteness of the rational numbers, we just had to find a set of rational numbers, that does not have an supremum / infimum which is element of $\mathbb{Q}$. For example, we could show ...
LinearAlgebruh's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
3k views

can I find the closest rational to any given real, if I assume that the denominator is not larger than some fixed n

Given $n\in\mathbb{N}$ and $r\in\mathbb{R}$(or $r\in\mathbb{Q}$), is that possible to find a rational $\frac{a}{b}$such that, $b<n$ and $\frac{a}{b}$ is the "closest" rational to r? With "closest"...
Unavailable's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

Defining $N$ in the $\epsilon$-$N$ definiton of convergence

In my Real Analysis class we've been spending some time talking about the $\epsilon$-$N$ definition of convergence. The book we are using, Elementary Analysis by Ross, defines convergence as: A ...
jrayers97's user avatar
  • 331
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

approximate irrational numbers by rational numbers

I want to prove this below: (1) For any irrational number $\alpha$, there exist infinitely many rational numbers $\frac{m}{n}$ such that $\left| {\alpha - \frac{m}{n}} \right| < \frac{1}{{{n^2}}}$...
gžd15's user avatar
  • 1,519
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

Prove Lagrange's Identity without induction

Prove Lagrange's Identity without induction. $$ \sum_{1\leq j <k\leq n}(a_jb_k-a_kb_j)^2=\left( \sum_{k=1}^na_k^2 \right)\left( \sum_{k=1}^n b_k^2 \right)-\left( \sum_{k=1}^na_kb_k \right)^2 $$ I ...
YoTengoUnLCD's user avatar
  • 13.5k
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Prove that $\{ar+b:a,b\in Z\}$, where $r$ is an irrational number is dense in $R$ by using the following lemma

Prove that $\{ar+b:a,b\in Z\}$, where $r$ is an irrational number is dense in $R$ by using the following lemma: If $x$ is irrational, there are infinitely many rational numbers $h/k$ with $k\gt 0$ ...
nomadicmathematician's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
117 views

The existence of a measurable set with measure between rationals and the reals [duplicate]

Is there a measurable subset E ⊆ R such that whenever a < b are real numbers we have both $m(E ∩ (a, b)) > 0$ and $m((a, b) -E) > 0$ ? This is an extra question on my real analysis class, ...
starry1990's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
282 views

Is the range of an injective function dense somewhere?

Consider an injective function $\,\,f:[0,1]\rightarrow[0,1].\,$ Then is it true that there always exists some non-empty open subinterval of $[0,1]$, such that $f([0,1])$ is dense in that subinterval? ...
sayantankhan's user avatar
  • 2,397
4 votes
2 answers
310 views

Points of continuity of the function $f(t)=\frac{p+\sqrt{2}}{q+\sqrt{2}}- \frac{p}{q}$.

Let $f$ be the function $f(t)=\frac{p+\sqrt{2}}{q+\sqrt{2}}- \frac{p}{q}$ if $t \in \mathbb{Q}$ and $t=\frac{p}{q}$ with $p,q$ relatively prime. $f(t)=0$ if $t \not\in \mathbb{Q}$. At which points is ...
Miz's user avatar
  • 2,737
4 votes
4 answers
164 views

Is there any way to prove that $\sqrt {n-1} + \sqrt n + \sqrt {n+1}$ is irrational? [closed]

Before this is marked as a duplicate I just want to say that I've already read a similar thread, where the original poster asked how they would prove that $\sqrt 2 + \sqrt 5 + \sqrt 7$ is an ...
cezar's user avatar
  • 133

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