[Math] Interior, Closure, Cluster Points, and Boundary Points Question

real-analysis

I was hoping for some help with the question below. I have included my attempt. I'm just not sure I understand these concepts so any clarification would be really helpful.

Determine the set $int$ $X$ of interior points, the set $X'$ of cluster points, the set $\partial X$ of boundary points, the set of isolated points, and the closure $\bar{X}$.
$$X = \bigcup_{n=1}^{\infty} \left ( \frac{1}{n+1} , \frac{1}{n} \right ) \subset \mathbb{R} $$

My Attempt

  • Unsure about the interior of the set. The set $X$ seems to be $(\frac{1}{n+1})_{n=1}^{\infty} $. Is the interior of the set the null set? Each entry of the sequence is a rational number, but any ball around a point can be made to include an irrational number. Or, because the set is a subset of $\mathbb{R}$ it will contain these points?
  • $\{ 0 \}$ is a cluster point because $\lim_{n \to \infty} a_n = 0$, but $0 \notin X $.
  • $\{ 0 \}$ is a boundary point
  • If the interior of the set $X$ is the null space, then every point in the set is an isolated point.
  • The closure of $X$ is $\{ 0 \} \cup (\frac{1}{n+1})_{n=1}^{\infty}$

Edit

  • A point $i$ is an interior point if there is an open subset of $X$ containing $i$. There are no such points in $X$, because each point is isolated ($\frac{1}{2},\frac{1}{3}, \frac{1}{4},…$)

Best Answer

I think you misread the meaning of $(\frac1{n+1},\frac1n)$: It is the open interval with endpoints $\frac1{n+1}$ and $\frac1n$.

The set is the union of open sets and hence open, which implies that all points of $X$ are interior. Indeed, if $x\in X$, then $x\in(\frac1{n+1},\frac1n)$ for some $n$, i.e. $\frac1{n+1}<x<\frac1n$. With $\epsilon=\min\{x-\frac1{n+1},\frac1n-x\}>0$ the $\epsilon$ ball around $x$ is in $X$.

The set of cluster point and the closure are both equal to $[0,1]$ as precisely the $x$ with $0\le x\le 1$ have at least one/infintely many other points in every open neighbourhood.

The boundary $\partial X$ is the difference of closure and interior, i.e. $\{\frac1n\mid n\in\mathbb N\}\cup\{0\}$.

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