Basic topology proof of closed interval in R

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
1 reply · 2K views
lurifax1
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Let [tex]\{ [a_j, b_j]\}_{j\in J}[/tex] be a set of (possibly infinitely many closed intervals in R whose intersection cannot be expressed as a disjoint union of subsets of R. Prove that [tex]\bigcup\limits_{j \in J} {\{ [{a_j},{b_j}]\} }[/tex] is a closed interval in R.

I don't understand how to attack this, and would appreciate an example or a push in the right direction! This is the first proof exercise I'd had in this course and I'm pretty lost.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I think your problem statement is incomplete. Every subset of R can be expressed as a disjoint union of sets. I think the problem needs to say disjoint union of some particular kind of sets. What kind?