An uncountable chain of subsets of the natural numbers

Consider the set \(\mathcal P(\mathbb N)\) of the subsets of the natural integers \(\mathbb N\). \(\mathcal P(\mathbb N)\) is endowed with the strict order \(\subset\). Let’s have a look to the chains of \((\mathcal P(\mathbb N),\subset)\), i.e. to the totally ordered subsets \(S \subset \mathcal P(\mathbb N)\).

Some finite chains

It is easy to produce some finite chains like \(\{\{1\}, \{1,2\},\{1,2,3\}\}\) or one with a length of size \(n\) where \(n\) is any natural number like \[
\{\{1\}, \{1,2\}, \dots, \{1,2, \dots, n\}\}\] or \[
\{\{1\}, \{1,2^2\}, \dots, \{1,2^2, \dots, n^2\}\}\]

Some infinite countable chains

It’s not much complicated to produce some countable infinite chains like \[
\{\{1 \},\{1,2 \},\{1,2,3\},…,\mathbb{N}\}\] or \[
\{\{5 \},\{5,6 \},\{5,6,7\},…,\mathbb N \setminus \{1,2,3,4\} \}\]

Let’s go further and define a one-to-one map from the real interval \([0,1)\) into the set of countable chains of \((\mathcal P(\mathbb N),\subset)\). For \(x \in [0,1)\) let \(\displaystyle x = \sum_{i=1}^\infty x_i 2^{-i}\) be its binary representation. For \(n \in \mathbb N\) we define \(S_n(x) = \{k \in \mathbb N \ ; \ k \le n \text{ and } x_k = 1\}\). It is easy to verify that \(\left(S_n(x))_{n \in \mathbb N}\right)\) is a countable chain of \((\mathcal P(\mathbb N),\subset)\) and that \(\left(S_n(x))\right) \neq \left(S_n(x^\prime))\right)\) for \(x \neq x^\prime\).

What about defining an uncountable chain? Continue reading An uncountable chain of subsets of the natural numbers

Counterexamples on real sequences (part 3)

This article is a follow-up of Counterexamples on real sequences (part 2).

Let \((u_n)\) be a sequence of real numbers.

If \(u_{2n}-u_n \le \frac{1}{n}\) then \((u_n)\) converges?

This is wrong. The sequence
\[u_n=\begin{cases} 0 & \text{for } n \notin \{2^k \ ; \ k \in \mathbb N\}\\
1- 2^{-k} & \text{for } n= 2^k\end{cases}\]
is a counterexample. For \(n \gt 2\) and \(n \notin \{2^k \ ; \ k \in \mathbb N\}\) we also have \(2n \notin \{2^k \ ; \ k \in \mathbb N\}\), hence \(u_{2n}-u_n=0\). For \(n = 2^k\) \[
0 \le u_{2^{k+1}}-u_{2^k}=2^{-k}-2^{-k-1} \le 2^{-k} = \frac{1}{n}\] and \(\lim\limits_{k \to \infty} u_{2^k} = 1\). \((u_n)\) does not converge as \(0\) and \(1\) are limit points.

If \(\lim\limits_{n} \frac{u_{n+1}}{u_n} =1\) then \((u_n)\) has a finite or infinite limit?

This is not true. Let’s consider the sequence
\[u_n=2+\sin(\ln n)\] Using the inequality \(
\vert \sin p – \sin q \vert \le \vert p – q \vert\)
which is a consequence of the mean value theorem, we get \[
\vert u_{n+1} – u_n \vert = \vert \sin(\ln (n+1)) – \sin(\ln n) \vert \le \vert \ln(n+1) – \ln(n) \vert\] Therefore \(\lim\limits_n \left(u_{n+1}-u_n \right) =0\) as \(\lim\limits_n \left(\ln(n+1) – \ln(n)\right) = 0\). And \(\lim\limits_{n} \frac{u_{n+1}}{u_n} =1\) because \(u_n \ge 1\) for all \(n \in \mathbb N\).

I now assert that the interval \([1,3]\) is the set of limit points of \((u_n)\). For the proof, it is sufficient to prove that \([-1,1]\) is the set of limit points of the sequence \(v_n=\sin(\ln n)\). For \(y \in [-1,1]\), we can pickup \(x \in \mathbb R\) such that \(\sin x =y\). Let \(\epsilon > 0\) and \(M \in \mathbb N\) , we can find an integer \(N \ge M\) such that \(0 < \ln(n+1) - \ln(n) \lt \epsilon\) for \(n \ge N\). Select \(k \in \mathbb N\) with \(x +2k\pi \gt \ln N\) and \(N_\epsilon\) with \(\ln N_\epsilon \in (x +2k\pi, x +2k\pi + \epsilon)\). This is possible as \((\ln n)_{n \in \mathbb N}\) is an increasing sequence and the length of the interval \((x +2k\pi, x +2k\pi + \epsilon)\) is equal to \(\epsilon\). We finally get \[ \vert u_{N_\epsilon} - y \vert = \vert \sin \left(\ln N_\epsilon \right) - \sin \left(x + 2k \pi \right) \vert \le \left(\ln N_\epsilon - (x +2k\pi)\right) \le \epsilon\] proving that \(y\) is a limit point of \((u_n)\).

A Commutative Ring with Infinitely Many Units

In a ring \(R\) a unit is any element \(u\) that has a multiplicative inverse \(v\), i.e. an element \(v\) such that \[
uv=vu=1,\] where \(1\) is the multiplicative identity.

The only units of the commutative ring \(\mathbb Z\) are \(-1\) and \(1\). For a field \(\mathbb F\) the units of the ring \(\mathrm M_n(\mathbb F)\) of the square matrices of dimension \(n \times n\) is the general linear group \(\mathrm{GL}_n(\mathbb F)\) of the invertible matrices. The group \(\mathrm{GL}_n(\mathbb F)\) is infinite if \(\mathbb F\) is infinite, but the ring \(\mathrm M_n(\mathbb F)\) is not commutative for \(n \ge 2\).

The commutative ring \(\mathbb Z[\sqrt{2}] = \{a + b\sqrt{2} \ ; \ (a,b) \in \mathbb Z^2\}\) is not a field. However it has infinitely many units.

\(a + b\sqrt{2}\) is a unit if and only if \(a^2-2b^2 = \pm 1\)

For \(u = a + b\sqrt{2} \in \mathbb Z[\sqrt{2}]\) we denote \(\mathrm N(u) = a^2- 2b^2 \in \mathbb Z\). For any \(u,v \in \mathbb Z[\sqrt{2}]\) we have \(\mathrm N(uv) = \mathrm N(u) \mathrm N(v)\). Therefore for a unit \(u \in \mathbb Z[\sqrt{2}]\) with \(v\) as multiplicative inverse, we have \(\mathrm N(u) \mathrm N(v) = 1\) and \(\mathrm N(u) =a^2-2b^2 \in \{-1,1\}\).

The elements \((1+\sqrt{2})^n\) for \(n \in \mathbb N\) are unit elements

The proof is simple as for \(n \in \mathbb N\) \[
(1+\sqrt{2})^n (-1 + \sqrt{2})^n = \left((1+\sqrt{2})(-1 + \sqrt{2})\right)^n=1\]

One can prove (by induction on \(b\)) that the elements \((1+\sqrt{2})^n\) are the only units \(u \in \mathbb Z[\sqrt{2}]\) for \(u \gt 1\).

A strictly increasing continuous function that is differentiable at no point of a null set

We build in this article a strictly increasing continuous function \(f\) that is differentiable at no point of a null set \(E\). The null set \(E\) can be chosen arbitrarily. In particular it can have the cardinality of the continuum like the Cantor null set.

A set of strictly increasing continuous functions

For \(p \lt q\) two real numbers, consider the function \[
f_{p,q}(x)=(q-p) \left[\frac{\pi}{2} + \arctan{\left(\frac{2x-p-q}{q-p}\right)}\right]\] \(f_{p,q}\) is positive and its derivative is \[
f_{p,q}^\prime(x) = \frac{2}{1+\left(\frac{2x-p-q}{q-p}\right)^2}\] which is always strictly positive. Hence \(f_{p,q}\) is strictly increasing. We also have \[
\lim\limits_{x \to -\infty} f_{p,q}(x) = 0 \text{ and } \lim\limits_{x \to \infty} f_{p,q}(x) = \pi(q-p).\] One can notice that for \(x \in (p,q)\), \(f_{p,q}^\prime(x) \gt 1\). Therefore for \(x, y \in (p,q)\) distinct we have according to the mean value theorem \(\frac{f_{p,q}(y)-f_{p,q}(x)}{y-x} \ge 1\).

Covering \(E\) with an appropriate set of open intervals

As \(E\) is a null set, for each \(n \in \mathbb N\) one can find an open set \(O_n\) containing \(E\) and measuring less than \(2^{-n}\). \(O_n\) can be written as a countable union of disjoint open intervals as any open subset of the reals. Then \(I=\bigcup_{m \in \mathbb N} O_m\) is also a countable union of open intervals \(I_n\) with \(n \in \mathbb N\). The sum of the lengths of the \(I_n\) is less than \(1\). Continue reading A strictly increasing continuous function that is differentiable at no point of a null set