Absolutely continuous with respect to a finite measure, then $\Sigma$-finite

measure-theoryradon-nikodymreal-analysis

This is a question from Erhan Cinlar's Probability and Stochastics book:

If $\mu$ is absolutely continuous with respect to a finite measure $\nu$, then $\mu$ is $\Sigma$-finite.

Can i have a hint on how i should construct the sequence of finite measure that sum to $\mu$?

Best Answer

I will assume $\mu$ to also be a non-negative measure (the case for a signed, or a complex measure can be easily adapted). Now by the Radon Nikodym Theorem (for the existence of the Radon Nikodym derivative it suffices to only assume that $\nu$ is $\sigma$-finite, see: https://math.stackexchange.com/a/3342557/485385) we may find $f\geq 0$ measurable such that $$\mu(A)= \int_A f d\nu$$ for all $A$, so with some fancy notation this becomes $\mu = f \odot \nu$. Now define the sequence of measurable functions $\{f_n\}$ by $f_n=\chi_{\{f \in [n, n+1)\}} f$ and consider the measures $\mu_n = f_n \odot \nu$. Can you deduce the rest?

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