Show that the set Z of eventually zero sequences is dense in X with respect to the metric d.

real-analysis

Let $X$ be the set of all sequences whose terms consist of only $0$s and $1$s. Define $d: X \times X \to \mathbb{R^+}$ by
$ d(\{x_i\}, \{y_i\})= \sum_{n=1}^\infty \frac{|x_n – y_n|}{2^n}$.

A sequence $\{x_i\}$ in $X$ is eventually zero if there is $N \in \mathbb{N}$ so that $n \geq N$ implies $x_n = 0$. Show that the set $Z$ of eventually zero sequences is dense in $X$ with respect to the metric $d$ (i.e. that $\overline Z = X$).

I attempted this problem but I couldn't seem to get anywhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Best Answer

Let $(x_n)_{n \geq 1}$ be an arbitrary sequence in $\{0, 1\}$, so that $(x_n) \in X$. To prove the density of $Z$, we aim to show that there exists a sequence of elements of $Z$ that converge to $(x_n)$. This shows that $\bar{Z} = X$. Define the sequence, $(z_n^{(N)})_{n \geq 1} $ with,

$$z_n^{(N)} = x_n, \ \text{for} \ n \in \{1, \dots, N\} $$

$$z_n^{(N)} = 0, \ \text{for} \ n \geq N $$

So we have that,

$$(z_n^{(N)})_{n \geq 1} \in Z, \ \text{for every} \ N \geq 1 $$

We aim to prove that,

$$(z_n^{(N)})_{n \geq 1} \rightarrow (x_n)_{n \geq 1}, \ \text{as} \ N \to \infty $$

Since we investigate convergence in $(X, d)$ consider,

$$d((z_n^{(N)})_{n \geq 1}, (x_n)_{n \geq 1}) = \sum_{n=1}^\infty \frac{|x_n - z_n^{(N)}|}{2^n} = \sum_{n=N+1}^{\infty} \frac{|x_n|}{2^n}$$

Where the second equality comes from the fact that $z_n^{(N)} = x_n$ for $n \in \{1, \dots, N\}$, now we have that, using $|x_n| \leq 1$ for every $n$,

$$d((z_n^{(N)})_{n \geq 1}, (x_n)_{n \geq 1}) = \frac{1}{2^N} \sum_{n=N+1}^\infty \frac{|x_n|}{2^{n-N}} \leq \frac{1}{2^N} \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{1}{2^n} = \frac{1}{2^N}$$

That is,

$$d((z_n^{(N)})_{n \geq 1}, (x_n)_{n \geq 1}) \leq \frac{1}{2^N}, \ \text{for every} \ N \geq 1$$

Taking $N \to \infty$ we obtain that,

$$d((z_n^{(N)})_{n \geq 1}, (x_n)_{n \geq 1}) \rightarrow 0, \ \text{as} \ N \to \infty$$

Therefore we have a sequence $(z_n^{(N)})_{n \geq 1} \in Z$ for every $N \geq 1$ that converges to $(x_n)_{n\geq 1} \in X$, therefore $\bar{Z} = X$.

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