[Math] The space of bounded continuous functions are not separable

functional-analysisgeneral-topology

Let $C_b(\mathbb{R})$ be the space of all bounded continuous functions on $\mathbb{R}$, normed with
$$\|f\| = \sup_{x\in \mathbb{R}}{\lvert f(x)\rvert}$$
Show that the space $C_b(\mathbb{R})$ is not separable.

A space is separable if there is a dense countable subset.
How do I prove that something is not separable? would it matter if we looked at $C_b([0,1])$ instead?

Best Answer

Consider the subset $K$ of $C_b(\Bbb R)$ consisting of functions that are either $0$ or $1$ at the integers. There is an uncountable subset $S$ of $K$ such that: $$\tag{1}\Vert x-y\Vert\ge 1,\ \ \text{whenever}\ \ x,y\in S\ \text{with}\ x\ne y.$$

Now, given a countable subset $B$ of $C_b(\Bbb R)$ it follows from $(1)$ that there is an $s\in S$ that is distance at least $1/2$ from every element of $B$. Then $B$ is not dense in $C_b(\Bbb R)$.

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