$(X, d) $ be a metric space and $A, B$ be two non empty bounded subsets of $X$.
To show : $$diam(A\cup B) \le diam(A) +diam(B)+d(A, B)$$
Notations:
$diam(A) =Sup\{d(x,y):x,y\in A\}$
$d(A,B) = Inf\{d(x,y): x\in A, y\in B\}$
My attempt:
$(X, d) $ metric space.$ x, y\in X$
$diam(A\cup B) =sup\{d(x, y) : x, y \in A\cup B\}$
$x, y\in A\cup B $ this implies both $x, y \in A $ or $x, y \in B$ or, one of them belongs to $A$ and other belongs to $B$.
We will consider two cases
Case 1: Both $x, y\in A $ ,(similarly both $x,y \in B$) then
\begin{align} d(x, y)&\le\sup\{d(x, y):x, y \in A\}\\
&=diam(A) \end{align}
$\begin{align} diam(A)&\le diam(A) +diam(B) +d(A, B)\end{align}$
Hence,\begin{align} diam(A) +diam(B) +d(A, B)\end{align}
is an upper bound of $\{d(x,y):x,y\in A\cup B\}.$
And hence, \begin{align} diam (A\cup B) &=sup\{d(x,y):x,y\in A\cup B\}\\
&\le diam(A) +diam(B) +d(A, B) \end{align}
And similarly, $x, y\in B \implies diam(A\cup B \le diam(B)\le diam(A) +diam(B) +d(A, B) $
Case 2: $x, y$ doesn't belongs to the same set.(A Or B)
W.L.O.G we asumme
$x\in A \text{ , }y\in B $, then choose two points $a\in A, b \in B. $
\begin{align}
d(x, y) &\le d(x, a) +d(a, b)+d(b, y)\\
&\le diam(A) +diam(B) +d(a, b) \end{align}
Hence, $d(x, y) – diam(A) – diam(B) $ is a lower bound of$ \{d(a,b):a\in A,b\in B \}$.
So, \begin{align}d(x, y)-diam(A) -diam(B) &\le Inf \{d(a,b):a\in
A,b\in B \} \\
&\le d(A, B)
\end{align}
Hence, $ diam(A) +diam(B) +d(A, B)$ is an upper bound of the set $\{d(x,y):x,y\in A\cup B\}$
And so,\begin{align}diam(A\cup B) &= sup\{d(x,y):x,y\in A\cup B\}\\
&\le diam(A) +diam(B) +d(A, B)\end{align}.
I want to know , is there any logical gaps?
Is my proof correct?
How many marks do you want to give me out of 5 ?
Please verify the proof. Thanks.
Best Answer
There are several problems with your proof.
It begins with “Step 1: $d(x, y) \in \{d(x,y):x,y\in A\cup B\}$”. This is meaningless. What are $x$ and $y$?
This is followed by “Case 1”. At least, there should be a Case 2 after that.
I would perhaps give $3$ marks in $5$, at most.