Limit Point of a Set: Definition, Center Point & Empty Set

In summary, thelimit point of a set is the nearest point to that set. A point that is attached to the set or in other words attached with elements of that set.
  • #1
xanadu
3
0
I've been reading Shilov's book and the definition of a limit point is as follows: x is a limit point of A if every neighborhood of x (any open ball centered at x with arbitrary radius r) contains at least one point y distinct from x which belongs to A.

I feel that from this definition a point at the center of the set would be a limit point. If that is the case then from what I understand the set B of all limit points of A is a superset of A.

However there is an exercise which says find a set A that is not empty and the set of limit points of A is empty. What could I be missing here?
 
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  • #2
What do you mean by 'the center of the set'?
As for your exercise, think about the integers or the naturals.
 
  • #3
If by "a point in the center of the set", you mean, "a point that has a neighborhood of points also in the set", then that's fine. Note that if you mean a geometric center, you are assuming something that a topological set does not necessarily have, a metric, which is a function assigning the distance between two elements of the space (some topological spaces are not even metrizable!).
 
  • #4
xanadu said:
I've been reading Shilov's book and the definition of a limit point is as follows: x is a limit point of A if every neighborhood of x (any open ball centered at x with arbitrary radius r) contains at least one point y distinct from x which belongs to A.

I feel that from this definition a point at the center of the set would be a limit point. If that is the case then from what I understand the set B of all limit points of A is a superset of A.

However there is an exercise which says find a set A that is not empty and the set of limit points of A is empty. What could I be missing here?

a set with the discrete topology for instance.
 
  • #5
xanadu said:
However there is an exercise which says find a set A that is not empty and the set of limit points of A is empty. What could I be missing here?

Reread the definition and put a huge emphasis on the word "distinct".

Maybe consider what the limit points of the following sets in R:

The empty set (even though the problem says it isn't a solution)
R itself.
The subset of the integers
The closed unit interval [0, 1]
The open unit interval (0, 1)
The half open unit intervals (0, 1] and [0, 1).
Singleton sets {0}, {1}, {e}, etc.
The subset of the rationals
 
  • #6
a set with the discrete topology has no limit points.

what about the converse? If a topological space has no limit points is it discrete?
 
  • #7
Note that the limit point does not need to be an element of the set. For example. consider the following union of intervals on the real line: (0, 1) U (1, 2). The number 1 is a limit point of this set even though it isn't an element of the set. 0 and 2 are also limit points of this set, and they lie outside of the set as well (without being in a gap). -1 is not a limit point of the set (why?).
 
  • #8
geometrical concept of a limit point of a set is that it is a very nearest point to that set ,means attached with that set or in other words attached with elements of that set .
haider_uop99@yahoo.com (pakistan)
 
  • #9
1 is limit point of A= (0,1)U(1,2) , because any open interval containing 1 contains infinite points of A .
 

1. What is the limit point of a set?

The limit point of a set is a point that can be approached arbitrarily closely by infinitely many points within the set. In other words, any neighborhood of a limit point contains an infinite number of points from the original set.

2. How is the limit point of a set different from the center point?

The center point of a set is the average of all the points in the set, while the limit point is a point that can be approached by infinitely many points in the set. The center point may or may not be a limit point, depending on the distribution of points in the set.

3. Can a set have more than one limit point?

Yes, a set can have multiple limit points. This occurs when there are multiple points in the set that can be approached by infinitely many other points in the set.

4. Can the empty set have a limit point?

No, the empty set does not have a limit point. This is because there are no points in the set to approach any other point.

5. How is the limit point of a set related to the concept of convergence?

The concept of convergence is closely related to the limit point of a set. A sequence of points in a set converges to a limit point if the distance between the points and the limit point approaches 0 as the number of points in the sequence increases. In other words, the limit point is the "end point" of a converging sequence of points in a set.

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