[Math] Enumeration of rationals from Stein-Shakarchi’s Real Analysis (Chapter 1, Exercise 24)

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The exercise is from Stein-Shakarchi's Real Analysis (Chapter 1, ex. 24).

Does there exist an enumeration $\{r_{n}\}_{n=1}^\infty$ of the rationals such that the complement of $\bigcup_{n=1}^{\infty}{\left(r_{n}-\frac{1}{n},r_{n}+\frac{1}{n}\right)}$ in $\mathbb{R}$ is non-empty. [Hint: Find an enumeration where the only rationals outside of a fixed bounded interval take the form $r_n$, with $n=m^2$ for some integer $m$.]

While, I understand that we probably need some enumeration of the rationals such that the only rationals outside a fixed bounded interval are of the form $r_{m^{2}}$ for some $m$, I'm having trouble seeing how to get such an enumeration.

As always, help is very appreciated 🙂

Best Answer

Fix some irrational $\alpha$ and any enumeration $\{q_n:n\in\Bbb Z^+\}$ of the rationals. We’ll build a new enumeration $\{p_n:n\in\Bbb Z^+\}$ of $\Bbb Q$ in such a way that for each $n\in\Bbb Z^+$, $\alpha\notin(p_n-\frac1n,p_n+\frac1n)$.

Let $n_1=\min\{n\in\Bbb Z^+:|q_n-\alpha|\ge 1\}$, and let $p_1=q_{n_1}$; clearly $\alpha\notin(p_1-1,p_1+1)$. Let $Z_1=\Bbb Z^+\setminus\{n_1\}$, the set of indices of rationals not yet re-enumerated.

Now suppose that we’ve already defined $p_1,\dots,p_m$ and $Z_m$. Let $$n_{m+1}=\min\left\{n\in Z_m:|q_n-\alpha|\ge\frac1{m+1}\right\}\;,$$ and set $p_{m+1}=q_{n_{m+1}}$ and $Z_{m+1}=Z_m\setminus\{n_{m+1}\}$. Clearly $p_{m+1}$ is distinct from $p_1,\dots,p_m$ and $$\alpha\notin\left(p_n-\frac1n,\,p_n+\frac1n\right)\;.$$

All that’s left is to prove that every rational is eventually enumerated as $p_n$ for some $n\in\Bbb Z^+$. That follows from the fact that at each stage we took the first available rational in the original enumeration; I’ll leave it to you to fill in the details, unless you get stuck and ask for help.

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