Baby Rudin Theorem 1.20 (b) Proof – Real Analysis

real-analysis

I have a question about Rudin's proof of Theorem 1.20 (b) in his book Principles of Mathematical Analysis. Theorem 1.20 is stated as follows:

(a) If $x\in R, y\in R$, and $x>0$, then there is a positive integer $n$ such that $$nx>y.$$
(b) If $x\in R, y\in R$, and $x<y$, then there exists a $p\in Q$ such that $x<p<y$.

I understand Rudin's proof of (a). The beginning of Rudin's proof of (b) is given below:

Since $x<y$, we have $y-x>0$, and (a) furnishes a positive integer $n$ such that $$n(y-x)>1.$$ Apply (a) again, to obtain positive integers $m_1$ and $m_2$ such that $m_1>nx$, $m_2>-nx$. Then $$-m_2<nx<m_1.$$ Hence there is an integer $m$ (with $-m_2\leq m\leq m_1$) such that $$m-1\leq nx<m.$$

I don't understand the justification for this last sentence beginning "Hence…." How is $m$ found, and why are $m_1$ and $m_2$ needed to find $m$?

Best Answer

The integers $m_1$ and $m_2$ serve to bound $nx$ between two integers. The set $$=\{-m_2+1,-m_2+2,\ldots,m_1\}$$ is a finite set of integers, so we can choose the smallest member $m$ of this set such that $nx<m$.

If we knew that $nx$ was positive, we wouldn’t need $m_2$: we could just choose the smallest positive integer $m$ such that $nx<m$, since every non-empty set of positive integers has a least element. In fact, we can use that well-ordering principle directly, once we have $m_1$ and $m_2$. Let

$$M=\{m\in\Bbb Z^+:m-m_2>nx\}\;.$$

Then $M\ne\varnothing$, since $m_1+m_2\in M$, so $M$ has a least element, say $k$. Let $m=k-m_2$. Then $m>nx$. However, $k-1\notin M$, so $m-1=k-1-m_2\not>nx$, i.e., $m-1\le nx$. But note that I needed both $m_1$ and $m_2$ to carry out this argument: $m_1$ is needed to ensure that there is at least one integer that’s big enough to exceed $nx$, and $m_2$ is needed to ensure that not every integer is big enough.

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