Alternate Proof that for A, B disjoint, A compact and B closed there is positive distance between the sets.

40 Views Asked by At

Is my proof for this correct? I've seen the proof by contradiction that uses the triangle inequality, but this was the first proof that I came up with, and I'd like to test my understanding by asking if my proof is also correct. I'm uncertain of whether or not my claim that $\inf d(M_x, y) >0, \inf d(m_x,y) >0 $ is correct, or if my claim that $\inf d(x, y) = \inf\{ \inf d(M_x, y), \inf d(m_x, y) \}$ is correct.

My Proof:

This is for a metric space $(X, d)$ with $A, B \subset X$ subsets of $X$, and $x \in A$, $y \in B$

$$A \mbox{ compact } \Rightarrow A \mbox{ bounded } \Rightarrow ^\exists M_x, m_x \: | \: M_x = \sup A, \: m_x = \inf A$$ Since $M_x$ and $m_x$ are upper and lower bounds, for some sequences $(x_n)_n \in A$, it is true that $$(x_n)_i \rightarrow M_x, (x_n)_i \rightarrow m_x$$ $$A \mbox{ compact } \Rightarrow A \mbox{ closed } \Rightarrow A \mbox{ contains its accumulation pts } \Rightarrow M_x, m_x \in A$$ $$A \cap B = \emptyset \Rightarrow M_x, m_x \notin B$$ Since $M_x$ and $m_x$ are not in $B$, we have $$\{\inf d(M_x, y) \: | \: y \in B\} > 0, \mbox{ and }\{\inf d(m_x, y) \: | \: y \in B\} > 0 $$By definition of $M_x$ and $m_x$, they are the closest possible points to any points in another set $S$ where $A \cap S = \emptyset$, so $$ \{ \inf d(x, y) \: | \: x \in A, \: y \in B \} = \inf \{ \inf d (M_x, y) \: | \: y \in B, \: \inf d(m_x, y) \: | \: y\in B\} > 0$$

So $$ d(A, B) = \{ \inf d(x, y) \: | \: x \in A, \: y \in B \} > 0$$