Algebra – Supremum and Infimum of {1/n – 1/m : m, n in N}

algebra-precalculussolution-verificationsupremum-and-infimum

I would like to verify my proof of the following:

Let $A=\{\frac{1}{n}-\frac{1}{m}:m, n \in \mathbb{N}\}$. I want to show that $-1$ and $1$ are the infimum and supremum respectively.

First I will show that $-1$ is the infimum. To show this I will first demonstrate that it is indeed a lower bound. Observe: $$\frac{1}{n}-\frac{1}{m} \geq \frac{1}{n}-1 \geq -1.$$

I now claim that $-1$ is the greatest lower bound. So, by the archimedean property, there exists an $x \in \mathbb{R}$, $x>0$ and $n' \in \mathbb{N}$ such that $1<n'x$. Thus, $\frac{1}{n'}<x$ and $$\frac{1}{n'}-1<x-1.$$ From the above it is clear that $\frac{1}{n'}-1 \in A$. Also, it is clear that $-1<-1+x$.

Let $y=\inf(A)$. So we let $$-1<y\leq-1+x.$$ By completeness there exists an $r\in\mathbb{Q}$ such that $$-1<r<y\leq-1+x.$$ Thus $y$ is not the infimum.

I was going to note that the supremum was 1 through the relationship between $$\inf(A)=-\sup(-A).$$

Best Answer

  • $A=B-B$ where $B=\{\frac{1}{n} : n \in \mathbb{N}\}$ and $X-Y=\{x-y: x \in X, y \in Y\}$.

  • $\inf B=0$, $\sup B=1$. ($\inf B=0$ is the Archimedean property.)

  • $\inf (X-Y) = \inf X - \sup Y$ implies $\inf A = \inf B - \sup B = 0 - 1 = -1$.
  • $\sup (X-Y) = \sup X - \inf Y$ implies $\sup A = \sup B - \inf B = 1 - 0 = 1$.