Exercise 8.2.2

Let C [ 0 , 1 ] be the collection of continuous functions on the closed interval [ 0 , 1 ] . Decide which of the following are metrics on C [ 0 , 1 ] .

(a)
d ( f , g ) = sup | f ( x ) g ( x ) | : x [ 0 , 1 ]
(b)
d ( f , g ) = | f ( 1 ) g ( 1 ) |
(c)
d ( f , g ) = 0 1 | f g |

Answers

(a)
The first two properties are trivial. For the triangle inequality:
sup | f g | sup ( | f h | + | h g | ) sup | f h | + sup | h g |
(b)
The first property fails, e.g. f ( x ) = 1 , g ( x ) = x
(c)
Clearly 0 1 | f g | 0 1 0 = 0 , and if f = g then 0 1 | f g | = 0 . If 0 1 | f g | = 0 , let F ( x ) = 0 x | f g | . By the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, and noting that | f g | is continuous,
F ( x ) = | f g | = 0

implying that f = g . This indicates the first property is met. The second property is trivially true. The third property follows from the triangle inequality on absolute values.

User profile picture
2022-01-27 00:00
Comments