Proving A is Open: Union of Open Balls

  • Thread starter Thread starter ubersweet987
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Balls Union
ubersweet987
Messages
1
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



Let (X,d) be a metric space and let A be a non-empty subset of X. Prove that A is open if and only if it can be written as the union of a family of open balls of the form Br(x) = {y ∈ X|d(x,y) < r} (the radius r may depend on the point x).


Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution


I have no idea where to start with this.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
What's the definition of an open set in a metric space? Is the union of open sets open? If you look these things up, it will help you a lot.
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
Back
Top