[Math] Error in proof that the closure of open ball equal the closed ball in all metric spaces

general-topologymetric-spaces

Let $(X, d)$ be a metric space. Denote the open and closed ball as
$$B(x_0, r) = \{x \in X \mid d(x, x_0) \lt r\},$$
$$D(x_0, r) = \{x \in X \mid d(x, x_0) \leq r\}.$$
Then $\overline{B(x_0, r)} = D(x_0, r)$.

  • $\overline{B(x_0, r)} \subseteq D(x_0, r)$
    Obviously $B(x_0, r) \subseteq D(x_0, r)$, and since I've already proved that $D(x_0, r)$ is closed, the inclusion follows ($\overline{B(x_0, r)}$ is the smallest closed set that contains $B(x_0, r)$).

  • $D(x_0, r) \subseteq \overline{B(x_0, r)}$
    The points $x$ that satisfy $d(x, x_0) \lt r$ are clearly in both sets. So we consider the points in
    $$S(x_0, r) = \{x \in X \mid d(x, x_0) = r\}.$$
    We have to show that $S(x_0, r) \subseteq \overline{B(x_0, r)}$. Let $x \in S(x_0, r)$, then
    $$x – x_0 = \lim_{n \to +\infty} \frac{n}{n+1}(x – x_0)$$
    and since
    $$\left\|\frac{n}{n+1}(x – x_0)\right\| = \frac{n}{n+1}r \lt r,$$
    it follows that $x \in \overline{B(x_0, r)}$ (from this theorem, which I already proved).

Now, to me the proof seems correct. However, there are some metric spaces in which the equality between the closure of the open ball and the closed ball does not hold. The theorem that I have used is valid in all metric spaces. So where is the error?

Best Answer

The standard counterexample is to use the discrete metric on the space $X$: $||x - y|| = \begin{cases}0 ,& x = y \\ 1 ,& x \neq y \end{cases}$. The open unit ball around $x$ is $\{x\}$. The closed unit ball around $x$ is $X$. Your theorem fails when you claim "$x \in \overline{B(x_0,r)}$" because you have assumed that $B(x_0,r)$ actually contains points, $x$, such that $0 < ||x - x_0|| < 1$, which is false in this counterexample.