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Cantor Set: Measure Zero Proof

The Cantor set C has measure zero. It is obtained by repeatedly removing the open middle third intervals from the closed interval [0,1]. The total length of the intervals removed is 1, so the complement of C in [0,1] has measure 1. Given any ε > 0, C can be covered by intervals with total length less than ε, so C has measure zero.

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Mani Vannan J
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57 views1 page

Cantor Set: Measure Zero Proof

The Cantor set C has measure zero. It is obtained by repeatedly removing the open middle third intervals from the closed interval [0,1]. The total length of the intervals removed is 1, so the complement of C in [0,1] has measure 1. Given any ε > 0, C can be covered by intervals with total length less than ε, so C has measure zero.

Uploaded by

Mani Vannan J
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Cantor set C has mesure zero.

Proof.

Recall C is obtained from the closed interval [0, 1] by first removing the open middle third interval
I1,1 = (1/3, 2/3). Next, from the two remaining closed intervals we remove the open middle third
I2,1 = (1/9, 2/9) and I2,2 = (7/9, 8/9), and so on. Hence at the n−th step, we remove from the remaining
closed 2n−1 intervals their open middle thirds In,1 = (1/3n , 2/3n ), · · · , In,2n−1 = (3n − 2/3n , 3n − 1/3n ),
each of length 1/3n , n = 1, 2, · · · . The Cantor set is the set remaining after the sequence of open intervals
n−1
{In,k }2k=1 , n = 1, 2, · · ·

has been removed from [0, 1]. In particular the total length of the intervals removed is
∞
X
2n−1 /3n = (1/3)1/(1 − 2/3) = 1,
n=1

the infinite series being geometric.

Next, let us prove that C has measure zero. Let epsilon > 0 be given. Clearly, we can take N so large
that
N
X
2n−1 /3n > 1 − 
n=1

Now the complement of C in [0, 1] contains the union of the finite collection of intervals In,k corresponding
to this finite sum. Thus C itself is covered by the remaing countable family of intervals In,k for which
the lengths has total sum less than . Since  was an arbitrary positive number, it follows that C has
measure zero.

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