Why “any covering of a compact set by a collection of open sets contains a finite subcovering”

compactnessreal-analysis

I'm reading Stein's textbook, and this is his version of the problem:

A set $E$ is bounded if it is contained in some ball of finite radius. A bounded set is compact if it is also closed. Compact sets enjoy the Heine-Borel covering property:

  • Assume $E$ is compact, $E\subset\bigcup_\alpha\mathcal{O}_\alpha$, and each $\mathcal{O}_\alpha$ is open. Then there are finitely many of the open sets, $\mathcal{O}_{\alpha_1},\mathcal{O}_{\alpha_2},\ldots,\mathcal{O}_{\alpha_N}$ such that $E\subset\bigcup_{j=1}^N\mathcal{O}_{\alpha_j}$.

In words, any covering of a compact set by a collection of open sets contains a finite subcovering.

I can't see how to prove it. Let's consider $\mathbb{R}$ and let $E$ be the closed interval $[0,1]$.

Best Answer

With the help of a classmate, I came up with a proof. Suppose U is an infinite collection of open intervals that covers [0,1]. Consider the following statement for the open interval I:

S(I): There exist a finite collection of open intervals in U that covers I.

We want to prove S([0,1]) is true.

Proof by contradiction:

S([0,1]) is false. Therefore, at least one of S([0,0.5]) or S([0.5,1]) is false. Continuing halving, we will converge to a point y for which S([y-e,y+e]) is false, no matter how small e is. However, there exists an open interval in U that covers y, and the length of this interval is greater than some e. Therefore S([y-e,y+e]) is true for some e. CONTRADICTION!

Please comment any mistake or sloppiness you observe.