Here goes the most important theory, and it is a theorem about real
numbers. This theorem explains the superiority of
R
\mathbb{R}
R.
Theorem There exists an ordered field
R
\mathbb{R}
R which has the
least-upper-bound property. Moreover,
R
\mathbb{R}
R contains
Q
\mathbb{Q}
Q as a subfield.
Proof.
Our proof of this theorem is a contruction process of
R
\mathbb{R}
R from
Q
\mathbb{Q}
Q. In order to do it, we need a new concept which called
cuts
-
A cut is by definition, and set α ⊂ Q \alpha \subset \mathbb{Q} α⊂Q with
the following properties.-
α \alpha α is not empty, and α ≠ Q \alpha\ne \mathbb{Q} α=Q.
-
if p ∈ α , q ∈ Q p\in \alpha, q\in \mathbb{Q} p∈α,q∈Q, and q < p q<p q<p, then
q ∈ α q\in \alpha q∈α. -
if p ∈ α p\in \alpha p∈α, then p < r p<r p<r for some r ∈ α r\in \alpha r∈α.
The real numbers R \mathbb{R} R is just all the α \alpha α that
constructed from Q \mathbb{Q} Q. -
-
Define α < β \alpha<\beta α<β to mean: α \alpha α is a proper subset of
β \beta β. It means that R \mathbb{R} R is an ordered set. -
The ordered set R \mathbb{R} R has the least-upper-bound
property.
Let A A A be a nonempty subset of R \mathbb{R} R, and assume that
β ∈ R \beta\in \mathbb{R} β∈R is an upper bound of A A A. Definte γ \gamma γ to
be the union of all α ∈ A \alpha\in A α∈A. To prove γ \gamma γ is a cut of
Q \mathbb{Q} Q and γ \gamma γ is the least upper bound of A A A in
R \mathbb{R} R, we need two steps.-
γ \gamma γ is a cut.
-
γ ≠ ∅ \gamma\ne \emptyset γ=∅ because A ≠ ∅ A\ne \emptyset A=∅.
γ ≠ Q \gamma\ne \mathbb{Q} γ=Q because A A A is bounded by
β ∈ R \beta\in \mathbb{R} β∈R. -
If q ∈ Q q\in \mathbb{Q} q∈Q, p ∈ γ p\in \gamma p∈γ, and q < p q<p q<p, then
q ∈ γ q\in \gamma q∈γ. It is because that
p ∈ γ → p ∈ α 1 p\in \gamma\rightarrow p\in \alpha_1 p∈γ→p∈α1 for some
α 1 ∈ A \alpha_1\in A α1∈A. q < p → q ∈ α 1 q<p\rightarrow q\in \alpha_1 q<p→q∈α1, hence
q ∈ γ q\in \gamma q∈γ. -
For any p ∈ γ p\in \gamma p∈γ, we have p ∈ α , α ∈ A p\in \alpha, \alpha\in A p∈α,α∈A.
Because α \alpha α is a cut of Q \mathbb{Q} Q, there exists
r > p , r ∈ α r>p, r\in \alpha r>p,r∈α, which means that γ \gamma γ doesn’t have a
largest number in it.
Thus, γ \gamma γ is a cut of Q \mathbb{Q} Q.
-
-
γ \gamma γ is a least upper bound of A A A.
-
It is clear that α ⩽ γ \alpha\leqslant \gamma α⩽γ for every
α ∈ A \alpha\in A α∈A. -
∀ δ ( δ < γ ) \forall \delta(\delta<\gamma) ∀δ(δ<γ) means that there exists
s ∈ γ , s ∉ δ s\in \gamma, s\notin \delta s∈γ,s∈/δ. s ∈ γ s\in \gamma s∈γ indicates that
s ∈ α , α ∈ A s\in \alpha, \alpha\in A s∈α,α∈A. Hence δ < α \delta<\alpha δ<α, and
δ \delta δ is not an upper bound of A A A. This gives the
desired result: γ = sup A \gamma=\sup{A} γ=supA
-
-
-
If α ∈ R , β ∈ R \alpha\in \mathbb{R}, \beta\in \mathbb{R} α∈R,β∈R we define
α + β \alpha+\beta α+β to be the set of all sums r + s r+s r+s, where
r ∈ α , s ∈ β r\in \alpha, s\in \beta r∈α,s∈β. We define
0 ∗ = { q ∈ Q ∣ q < 0 } 0^{*}=\{q\in \mathbb{Q}|q<0\} 0∗={q∈Q∣q<0}. We also define
1 ∗ = { q ∈ Q ∣ q < 1 } 1^{*}=\{q\in \mathbb{Q}|q<1\} 1∗={q∈Q∣q<1}. With these definitions, we can
prove that R \mathbb{R} R is an ordered field. However, the whole proof
of this is pretty trivial. If you want details of this proof, you
can find it in rudin’s principle of mathematical analysis. -
What about subfield Q \mathbb{Q} Q? To answer this question, we have
to definie a related set Q ∗ \mathbb{Q}^{*} Q∗. We associate with each
r ∈ Q r\in \mathbb{Q} r∈Q the set r ∗ r^{*} r∗ which consists of all
p ∈ Q p\in \mathbb{Q} p∈Q such that p < r p<r p<r. It is clear that r ∗ r^{*} r∗ is a
cut. All these r ∗ r^{*} r∗ form Q ∗ \mathbb{Q}^{*} Q∗. The ordered field
Q \mathbb{Q} Q is isomorphic to the ordered field Q ∗ \mathbb{Q}^{*} Q∗.
The proof of this is also trivial, and we won’t present it here.