Proving a metric space to be separable if every infinite set in the metric space has a limit point in it.

metric-spacesproof-writingreal-analysis

Let $X$ be a metric space such that every infinite set in it has a limit point. I want to prove that $X$ is separable that is $X$ has a countable dense subset.
$X$ may either be countable or uncountable.
If $X$ is countable then since $cl (X)=X$, it follows that $X$ is countable base of itself and hence $X$ is separable.

If $X$ is uncountable then let's try to prove contrapositive like this:
Suppose that $X$ is not separable, it follows that for every countable subset $A\subset X, \exists $ an open set $U_A$ in $X$ such that $U_A\cap X=\emptyset$. Here onwards I don't know how to construct a countable set in $X$ which does not have any limit point.

I tried to construct one countably infinite set $(x_n)\subset X $whose all elements are separated from each other by at least a
fixed distance say $d\gt 0$ but didn't get any countable set. I chose $x_1\in X$ and $x_2\in X\setminus \{x_1\}$ so that $d(x_1,x_2)\ge \delta$ but the problem is what if for all $x\in X$, we have $d(x_1,x)\lt \delta$.

Please help. Thanks.

Best Answer

First we prove this lemma: given any $\newcommand{\eps}{\epsilon} \newcommand{\ma}{\mathbb} \newcommand{\nf}{\infty} \newcommand{\fa}{\;\forall\;}\eps>0$, there exists some finite collection of points $x_1,x_2,\dots,x_n\in X$ such that the finite collection of open balls $\{B(x_i;\eps)\}_{i=1}^n$ covers $X$. To prove this, we show the contrapositive. We suppose this is not the case, and then show that $X$ has an infinite set with no limit point (this property is called limit point compactness, by the way).

Letting $y_1$ be any point of $X$, $B(y_1;\eps)$ cannot cover $X$ (because otherwise $\{B(y_1;\eps)\}$ would be our desired finite open covering). Now suppose we are given points $y_1,y_2,\dots,y_m$ such that the collection $\{B(y_i;\eps)\}_{i=1}^m$ does not cover $X$. We then set $y_{m+1}$ equal to any point of the nonempty set $X-\cup_{i=1}^m B(y_i;\eps)$. In this way, we have constructed an infinite sequence of points, $\{y_i\}_{i=1}^{\nf}$, such that for any integer $n\in\ma Z^+$, the collection $\{B(y_i;\eps)\}_{i=1}^n$ does not cover $X$. Because of the way we constructed this sequence of $y_i$s, it is clear that for any $j>k$, $y_j$ does not belong to $B(y_k;\eps)$, so $d(y_j,y_k)\geq \eps$. Interchanging the roles of $j$ and $k$, we get that $d(y_j,y_k)\geq \eps, \fa j\neq k$. We now have everything we need to demonstrate a contradiction. I claim that $A=\{y_i\}_{i=1}^{\nf}$ is an infinite set with no limit point. because $d(y_j,y_k)\geq\eps, \fa j\neq k$, $y_j\neq y_k, \fa j\neq k$, so all $y_i$s are distinct, making $A$ infinite. To show that $A$ has no limit point, suppose to the contrary that it does. Call this limit point $z$. As $z$ is a limit point of $A$ and $X$ (being a metric space) is $T_1$, the neighborhood $B(z;\frac{\eps}{2})$ contains infinitely many points of $A$. This means, in particular, that we choose distinct integers, $p$ and $q$, such that $y_p$ and $y_q$ both belong to $B(z;\frac{\eps}{2})$. But this means $d(y_p,y_q)\leq d(y_p,z)+d(z,y_q)<\frac{\eps}{2}+\frac{\eps}{2}=\eps$, a contradiction. It follows that $A$ has no limit point.

Taking the contrapositive of what was just proved, we get the statement of the first paragraph (assuming $X$ is a limit point compact metric space). Now for each positive integer, $n$, let $\{x_{i,n}\}_{i=1}^{m_n}$ be a finite collection of points in $X$ such that $\{B(x_{i,n};\frac{1}{n})\}_{i=1}^{m_n}$ covers $X$. The collection of points $\{x_{i,n}\}_{1\leq i\leq m_n, 1\leq n\leq \nf}$ is clearly countable. I now leave it to you to show that this collection is also dense in $X$.

(a fact that is relevant and interesting here is that the kinds of metric spaces your question is about are exactly the compact metric spaces)

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