[Math] An Example of a Nested Decreasing Sequence of Bounded Closed Sets with Empty Intersection

examples-counterexamplesmetric-spacesreal-analysis

Could someone provide me with an example of a metric space having a nested decreasing sequence of bounded closed sets with empty intersection?
I first thought of Cantor set but the intersection is not empty!

Best Answer

Let $\mathbb N$ be endowed with the discrete metric. In this metric space, every subset is bounded (although not necessarily totally bounded) and closed. Moreover, the subsets \begin{align*} A_1\equiv&\,\{1,2,3,4,\ldots\},\\ A_2\equiv&\,\{\phantom{1,\,}2,3,4,\ldots\},\\ A_3\equiv&\,\{\phantom{1,2,\,}3,4,\ldots\},\\ \vdots&\, \end{align*} are nested, and their intersection is empty.


However, if you stay within the realm of $\mathbb R$ endowed with the usual Euclidean metric, than you can't have a situation like the one above:

Claim: Suppose that $$A_1\supseteq A_2\supseteq A_3\supseteq\ldots$$ is a countable family of non-empty, closed, bounded subsets of $\mathbb R$. Then, $\bigcap_{n=1}^{\infty} A_n\neq\varnothing$.

Proof: By the Heine–Borel theorem, $A_n$ is compact for each $n\in\mathbb N$. For the sake of contradiction, suppose that $\bigcap_{n=1}^{\infty} A_n=\varnothing$. This is equivalent to $\bigcup_{n=1}^{\infty} A_n^{\mathsf c}=\mathbb R$. In particular, $$A_1\subseteq\bigcup_{n=1}^{\infty} A_n^{\mathsf c}.$$ Since $A_1$ is compact and the sets $(A_n^{\mathsf c})_{n=1}^{\infty}$ form an open cover of it, there must exist a finite subcover. That is, there exists some $m\in\mathbb N$ such that $$A_1\subseteq\bigcup_{n=1}^m A_n^{\mathsf c}=A_m^{\mathsf c},$$ where the second equality follows from the fact that $$A_1^{\mathsf c}\subseteq A_2^{\mathsf c}\subseteq A_3^{\mathsf c}\subseteq\ldots.$$ Now, $A_1\subseteq A_m^{\mathsf c}$ means that if a point is in $A_1$, then it must not be in $A_m$, so that $A_1\cap A_m=\varnothing$. But $A_m\subseteq A_1$ (given that the sets are nested), so that $A_1\cap A_m= A_m=\varnothing$, which contradicts the assumption that $A_m$ is not empty. This contradiction reveals that the intersection $\bigcap_{n=1}^{\infty} A_n$ must not be empty. $\quad\blacksquare$