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Exercise 1.2.7 (Equivalent formulations of Lebesgue measurablity)

Let E ⊆ ℝd. Show that the following are equivalent:

(i)
E is Lebesgue measurable
(ii)
(Outer approximation by open sets) For every 𝜖 > 0 one can contain E in an open set U with m∗(U∕E) ≤ 𝜖.
(iii)
(Approximation by open sets) For every 𝜖 > 0, one can find an open set such that m∗(U△E) ≤ 𝜖.
(iv)
(Inner approximation by closed sets) For every 𝜖 > 0 one can find a closed set F contained in E with m∗(U∕E) ≤ 𝜖.
(v)
(Almost closed) E differs from a closed set by a set of arbitrarily small Lebesgue outer measure.
(vi)
(Almost measurable) E differs from a Lebesgue measurable set by a set of arbitrarily small Lebesgue outer measure.

Answers

We prove the equivalence by ( i ) ⟺ ( ii ) ⟺ ( iii ) and ( i ) ⟺ ( iv ) ⟺ ( v ) .

( i ) ⟺ ( ii ) ⟺ ( iii )

  • (i) ⟺ (ii) follows directly from the definition
  • (ii) ⟹ (iii). Fix 𝜖 and by (ii) find a set U containing E such that m ∗ ( U ∕ E ) ≤ 𝜖 . Since E ⊆ U we have U △ E = ( U ∕ E ) ∪ ( E ∕ U ) = U ∕ E ; thus, m ∗ ( U △ E ) = m ∗ ( U ∕ E ) ≤ 𝜖 .
  • (iii) ⟹ (ii). We find an open set U such that m ∗ ( U △ E ) ≤ 𝜖 . The trick is to cover the difference between two sets U △ E by another open set V ; by Lemma 1.2.12 we find an open cover V of E ∕ U with 𝜖 ≤ m ∗ ( V ) ≤ 2 𝜖 . Then, E ⊆ U ∪ V (and U ∪ V is open) with

    m ∗ ( ( U ∪ V ) ∕ E ) = m ∗ ( U ∕ E ∪ V ∕ E ) ≤ m ∗ ( U ∕ E ) + m ∗ ( V ∕ E ) ≤ m ∗ ( U △ E ) + m ∗ ( V ) ≤ 3 𝜖

( i ) ⟺ ( iv ) ⟺ ( v ) ⟺ ( vi )

  • (i) ⟹ (iv). Then E is Lebesgue measurable, and by Lemma 1.2.13 its complement E c is Lebesgue measurable too. By definition we can find an open cover U of E c such that m ∗ ( U ∕ E c ) ≤ 𝜖 . Notice that U c ⊆ ( E c ) c = E ; thus, F : = U c is a closed inner cover of E . Furthermore, we have U ∕ E c = U ∩ E = E ∕ U c ; thus, we obtain

    m ∗ ( E ∕ U c ) = m ∗ ( U ∕ E c ) ≤ 𝜖

  • (iv) ⟹ (v). Trivial.
  • (v) ⟹ (vi). Since every closed set is Lebesgue measurable (Lemma 1.2.13), the assertion follows directly.
  • (vi) ⟹ (i). Pick an arbitrary 𝜖 > 0 , and take a measurable set E 𝜖 such that m ∗ ( E △ E 𝜖 ) ≤ 𝜖 ∕ 3 as in (vii). On one hand, notice that we can replace the measurable set E 𝜖 by an open set U 1 ⊇ E 𝜖 such that m ∗ ( U 1 ) − m ∗ ( E 𝜖 ) ≤ 𝜖 ∕ 3 . On the other hand, by Lemma 1.2.12 we can replace E ∕ E 𝜖 by an open set U 2 such that m ∗ ( U 2 ) − m ( E ∕ E 𝜖 ) ≤ 𝜖 ∕ 3 . Then we have an open set U : = U 1 ∪ U 2 such that E ⊆ U and

    m ∗ ( U ∕ E ) ≤ m ∗ ( U 1 ∕ E ) + m ∗ ( U 2 ∕ E ) = m ∗ ( U 1 ∕ E ) + 𝜖 3 ≤ m ∗ ( ( U 1 ∕ E 𝜖 ∪ E 𝜖 ) ∕ E ) + 𝜖 3 ≤ m ∗ ( U 1 ∕ E 𝜖 ∕ E ) + m ∗ ( E 𝜖 ∕ E ) + 𝜖 3 ≤ m ∗ ( U 1 ∕ E 𝜖 ) + m ∗ ( E 𝜖 △ E ) + 𝜖 3 ≤ 𝜖
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2020-05-30 00:00
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(1)⟺(2) is the definition.
(2) ⇒ (3) follows by taking the same open set U ⊃ A. (3) ⇒ (2) : Fix 𝜀 > 0 and let U be such that m∗(U△A) < 𝜀. Let V ⊃ U△A be an open set such that m∗(V ) < 2𝜀, by outer regularity. Note that A ⊂ U ∪ (A∖U) ⊂ U ∪ V , which is an open set, and m∗((U ∪ V )∖A) ≤ m∗(U∖A) + m∗(V ∖A) ≤ m∗(U△A) + m∗(V ) < 3𝜀. So (1)⟺(2)⟺(3) (1) ⇒ (4) : A is Lebesgue measurable, so also Ac is. Fix 𝜀 > 0 and let U be an open set such that m∗ (U△Ac) < 𝜀. Let F = Uc. So m∗(F△A) = m∗ (U△Ac) < 𝜀, and F is closed. (4) ⇒ (5) : Fix 𝜀 > 0 and let F be a closed set such that m∗(A△F) < 𝜀. By outer regularity let U ⊃ A△F be an open set such that m∗(U) < 2𝜀. Then F ∩ Uc is a closed 36 set and F ∩ Uc ⊂ F ∩ A ⊂ A, and

m∗ (A∖F ∩ Uc) ≤ m∗(A∖F) + m∗ (A∖Uc) ≤ m∗(A△F) + m∗(U) < 3𝜀

(5) ⇒ (6) : Fix 𝜀 > 0 and let F ⊂ A be a closed set such that m∗(A∖F) < 𝜀. The C = F is Lebesgue measurable, and m∗(A△C) = m∗(A∖F) < 𝜀. (6) ⇒ (3) : Fix 𝜀 > 0 and let C be Lebesgue measurable such that m∗(A△C) < 𝜀. Let U ⊃ C be an open set such that m∗(U△C) = m∗(U∖C) < 𝜀. Note that A△U ⊂ A△C ∪ C△U, so

m∗(AΔU) ≤ m∗(AΔC) + m∗(CΔU) < 2𝜖

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2021-12-04 17:25
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