strictly increasing function from reals to reals which is never an algebraic number












18














Let $f:Bbb RrightarrowBbb R$ have the properties $forall x,yinBbb R,space x<yimplies f(x)<f(y)$ and $forall xinBbb R,space f(x)notinBbb A$ where $Bbb A$ is the set of algebraic numbers; i.e. $f$ is strictly increasing, but nowhere is $f(x)$ algebraic.



Does such a function exist? And if so, can one be explicitly constructed?



My thoughts are that such a function should exist, since the algebraic numbers are "small" compared to the reals; we can show that a bijection (or more weakly an injection) must exist from $Bbb R$ to $Bbb RbackslashBbb A$ because they have the same cardinality, but I'm not entirely sure how to show rigorously that a strictly increasing function exists, even if in principle this is just a special type of injection.



Replacing $Bbb A$ by a set such as $Bbb Z$ in the definition makes the question trivial, and these sets have the same cardinality, so clearly the difficulty arises because $Bbb A$ is dense in the reals - any hints or answers would be appreciated.










share|cite|improve this question
























  • @астонвіллаолофмэллбэрг Gelfond-Schneider only holds if $r$ and $f(x)$ are algebraic, in $r^{f(x)}$. But $f(x)$ cannot be algebraic for all $x$ as otherwise $f$ would be an injection from the reals to a set with smaller cardinality, which is not possible.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 17:49












  • @stanleydodds I see. Thank you for the point out.
    – астон вілла олоф мэллбэрг
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:01










  • Do you know the answer to the easier question of finding an increasing $f$ which is never rational? Also, something which might be relevant is the fact that an increasing function is continuous off of a countable set.
    – Jason DeVito
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:26










  • No I do not know the answer to that simpler question - from all I've been able to do so far, exchanging $Bbb A$ with any other set that is dense in the reals but countable (e.g. $Bbb Q$) makes another tricky question.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:32
















18














Let $f:Bbb RrightarrowBbb R$ have the properties $forall x,yinBbb R,space x<yimplies f(x)<f(y)$ and $forall xinBbb R,space f(x)notinBbb A$ where $Bbb A$ is the set of algebraic numbers; i.e. $f$ is strictly increasing, but nowhere is $f(x)$ algebraic.



Does such a function exist? And if so, can one be explicitly constructed?



My thoughts are that such a function should exist, since the algebraic numbers are "small" compared to the reals; we can show that a bijection (or more weakly an injection) must exist from $Bbb R$ to $Bbb RbackslashBbb A$ because they have the same cardinality, but I'm not entirely sure how to show rigorously that a strictly increasing function exists, even if in principle this is just a special type of injection.



Replacing $Bbb A$ by a set such as $Bbb Z$ in the definition makes the question trivial, and these sets have the same cardinality, so clearly the difficulty arises because $Bbb A$ is dense in the reals - any hints or answers would be appreciated.










share|cite|improve this question
























  • @астонвіллаолофмэллбэрг Gelfond-Schneider only holds if $r$ and $f(x)$ are algebraic, in $r^{f(x)}$. But $f(x)$ cannot be algebraic for all $x$ as otherwise $f$ would be an injection from the reals to a set with smaller cardinality, which is not possible.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 17:49












  • @stanleydodds I see. Thank you for the point out.
    – астон вілла олоф мэллбэрг
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:01










  • Do you know the answer to the easier question of finding an increasing $f$ which is never rational? Also, something which might be relevant is the fact that an increasing function is continuous off of a countable set.
    – Jason DeVito
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:26










  • No I do not know the answer to that simpler question - from all I've been able to do so far, exchanging $Bbb A$ with any other set that is dense in the reals but countable (e.g. $Bbb Q$) makes another tricky question.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:32














18












18








18


9





Let $f:Bbb RrightarrowBbb R$ have the properties $forall x,yinBbb R,space x<yimplies f(x)<f(y)$ and $forall xinBbb R,space f(x)notinBbb A$ where $Bbb A$ is the set of algebraic numbers; i.e. $f$ is strictly increasing, but nowhere is $f(x)$ algebraic.



Does such a function exist? And if so, can one be explicitly constructed?



My thoughts are that such a function should exist, since the algebraic numbers are "small" compared to the reals; we can show that a bijection (or more weakly an injection) must exist from $Bbb R$ to $Bbb RbackslashBbb A$ because they have the same cardinality, but I'm not entirely sure how to show rigorously that a strictly increasing function exists, even if in principle this is just a special type of injection.



Replacing $Bbb A$ by a set such as $Bbb Z$ in the definition makes the question trivial, and these sets have the same cardinality, so clearly the difficulty arises because $Bbb A$ is dense in the reals - any hints or answers would be appreciated.










share|cite|improve this question















Let $f:Bbb RrightarrowBbb R$ have the properties $forall x,yinBbb R,space x<yimplies f(x)<f(y)$ and $forall xinBbb R,space f(x)notinBbb A$ where $Bbb A$ is the set of algebraic numbers; i.e. $f$ is strictly increasing, but nowhere is $f(x)$ algebraic.



Does such a function exist? And if so, can one be explicitly constructed?



My thoughts are that such a function should exist, since the algebraic numbers are "small" compared to the reals; we can show that a bijection (or more weakly an injection) must exist from $Bbb R$ to $Bbb RbackslashBbb A$ because they have the same cardinality, but I'm not entirely sure how to show rigorously that a strictly increasing function exists, even if in principle this is just a special type of injection.



Replacing $Bbb A$ by a set such as $Bbb Z$ in the definition makes the question trivial, and these sets have the same cardinality, so clearly the difficulty arises because $Bbb A$ is dense in the reals - any hints or answers would be appreciated.







real-analysis order-theory






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share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited Nov 28 '18 at 16:19









Andrés E. Caicedo

64.8k8158246




64.8k8158246










asked Nov 28 '18 at 16:07









stanley dodds

4251310




4251310












  • @астонвіллаолофмэллбэрг Gelfond-Schneider only holds if $r$ and $f(x)$ are algebraic, in $r^{f(x)}$. But $f(x)$ cannot be algebraic for all $x$ as otherwise $f$ would be an injection from the reals to a set with smaller cardinality, which is not possible.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 17:49












  • @stanleydodds I see. Thank you for the point out.
    – астон вілла олоф мэллбэрг
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:01










  • Do you know the answer to the easier question of finding an increasing $f$ which is never rational? Also, something which might be relevant is the fact that an increasing function is continuous off of a countable set.
    – Jason DeVito
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:26










  • No I do not know the answer to that simpler question - from all I've been able to do so far, exchanging $Bbb A$ with any other set that is dense in the reals but countable (e.g. $Bbb Q$) makes another tricky question.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:32


















  • @астонвіллаолофмэллбэрг Gelfond-Schneider only holds if $r$ and $f(x)$ are algebraic, in $r^{f(x)}$. But $f(x)$ cannot be algebraic for all $x$ as otherwise $f$ would be an injection from the reals to a set with smaller cardinality, which is not possible.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 17:49












  • @stanleydodds I see. Thank you for the point out.
    – астон вілла олоф мэллбэрг
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:01










  • Do you know the answer to the easier question of finding an increasing $f$ which is never rational? Also, something which might be relevant is the fact that an increasing function is continuous off of a countable set.
    – Jason DeVito
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:26










  • No I do not know the answer to that simpler question - from all I've been able to do so far, exchanging $Bbb A$ with any other set that is dense in the reals but countable (e.g. $Bbb Q$) makes another tricky question.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:32
















@астонвіллаолофмэллбэрг Gelfond-Schneider only holds if $r$ and $f(x)$ are algebraic, in $r^{f(x)}$. But $f(x)$ cannot be algebraic for all $x$ as otherwise $f$ would be an injection from the reals to a set with smaller cardinality, which is not possible.
– stanley dodds
Nov 28 '18 at 17:49






@астонвіллаолофмэллбэрг Gelfond-Schneider only holds if $r$ and $f(x)$ are algebraic, in $r^{f(x)}$. But $f(x)$ cannot be algebraic for all $x$ as otherwise $f$ would be an injection from the reals to a set with smaller cardinality, which is not possible.
– stanley dodds
Nov 28 '18 at 17:49














@stanleydodds I see. Thank you for the point out.
– астон вілла олоф мэллбэрг
Nov 28 '18 at 18:01




@stanleydodds I see. Thank you for the point out.
– астон вілла олоф мэллбэрг
Nov 28 '18 at 18:01












Do you know the answer to the easier question of finding an increasing $f$ which is never rational? Also, something which might be relevant is the fact that an increasing function is continuous off of a countable set.
– Jason DeVito
Nov 28 '18 at 18:26




Do you know the answer to the easier question of finding an increasing $f$ which is never rational? Also, something which might be relevant is the fact that an increasing function is continuous off of a countable set.
– Jason DeVito
Nov 28 '18 at 18:26












No I do not know the answer to that simpler question - from all I've been able to do so far, exchanging $Bbb A$ with any other set that is dense in the reals but countable (e.g. $Bbb Q$) makes another tricky question.
– stanley dodds
Nov 28 '18 at 18:32




No I do not know the answer to that simpler question - from all I've been able to do so far, exchanging $Bbb A$ with any other set that is dense in the reals but countable (e.g. $Bbb Q$) makes another tricky question.
– stanley dodds
Nov 28 '18 at 18:32










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















6














A possible (I will explain why later) example could be ...





Let's take an $x in mathbb{R}$ and have its binary (for simplicity) representation $x=(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...x_{-m}...)_2, x_kin{0,1}, kin{-infty,...,n}$ or
$$x=sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{m}}$$
and build the function
$$f(x)=fleft(sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{color{red}{m}}}right)=
sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{color{red}{m!}}}$$

i.e. $f(x)$ becomes




  • a Liouville number, if $x$ is irrational

  • a Liouville number, if $x$ is rational with periodic (never ending) fractional part

  • a rational, if $x$ is rational with finite fractional part


  • $f(x)=x$, if $x$ is integer


All the Liouville numbers are transcendentals, so this function never returns an algebraic number.



It's not too difficult to show it's strictly increasing, if $a < b$ or
$$(a_na_{n-1}...a_0color{red}{,}a_{-1}a_{-2}...a_{-m}...)_2 < (b_nb_{n-1}...b_0color{red}{,}b_{-1}b_{-2}...b_{-m}...)_2$$ ($a_n,a_{n-1}, ...$ can be $0$, just to have a common upper index $n$ for both $a$ and $b$) means that $exists k in{-infty, ...,n}$ such that $a_k<b_k$ while $a_t=b_t, tin{k+1,...,n}$. With $f(x)$ we have
$$(a_na_{n-1}...a_0color{red}{,}a_{-1}a_{-2}color{blue}{000}a_{-3}color{blue}{00000000000000000}a_{-4}color{blue}{00...}a_{-m}...)_2 < (b_nb_{n-1}...b_0color{red}{,}b_{-1}b_{-2}color{blue}{000}b_{-3}color{blue}{00000000000000000}b_{-4}color{blue}{00...}b_{-m}...)_2$$



Note 1: I restricted the function to $mathbb{R^+}rightarrow mathbb{R^+}$, but it can be extended, taking into account the sign of $x$.



Note 2 As per the comments below, integers and rationals are algebraic numbers. To overcome this part, we can apply these tricks
$$(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0)_2=((x_nx_{n-1}...x_0-1)color{red}{,}11111...)_2$$
and
$$(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...x_{-m})_2=(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...(x_{-m}-1)11111...)_2$$
leading to Liouville numbers in all the cases.





Now why possible, because not all reals are computable.






share|cite|improve this answer



















  • 5




    This is a good answer, but I should mention that rationals and integers are also algebraic numbers, so for integer or rational with finite fractional part $x$ we still have an algebraic $f(x)$. This is not a problem though, since both of these $x$ can instead be written with infinite trailing 1's in base 2 form, and defining $f$ to use this form in these cases again gives a Liouville number. I'm not sure if you didn't notice, or if you knew this already.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:58










  • @stanleydodds oh yes, you are right! I ignored (or forgot) that part :(
    – rtybase
    Nov 28 '18 at 19:14










  • It's amusing that Liouville numbers come up here, because this solution versus mine seems somewhat like Liouville's proof of the existence of transcendental numbers versus Cantor's....
    – David C. Ullrich
    Dec 6 '18 at 13:20



















3














It's actually very simple; the same result holds with any countable set in place of the algebraic numbers. Since $Bbb R$ is order-isomorphic to $(0,infty)$ it's enough to prove this:





If $Csubset(0,infty)$ is countable there exists a strictly increasing function $f:(0,infty)to(0,infty)setminus C$.





Since a countable set is contained in an open set of finite measure this follows from the stronger result (where $m$ is Lebesgue measure):





Suppose $Vsubset(0,infty)$ is open, let $E=(0,infty)setminus V$ and assume $m(E)=infty$. There exists a strictly increasing function $f:(0,infty)to E$.





Proof: Define $phi:[0,infty)to[0,infty)$ by $$phi(y)=m(Ecap[0,y)).$$Then $phi$ is continuous, $phi(0)=0$ and $phi(infty)=infty$, so $$phi((0,infty))=(0,infty).$$



Suppose $yin V$. Say $yin(a,b)$, where $(a,b)$ is a connected component of $V$. Then $phi(y)=phi(b)$ and $bin E$. Hence $$phi(E)=phi((0,infty))=(0,infty).$$So for every $t>0$ there exists $f(t)in E$ with $$phi(f(t))=t.$$If $0<s<t$ it follows that $$f(t)-f(s)ge m([f(s),f(t))cap E)=phi(f(t))-phi(f(s))= t-s>0;$$hence $f$ is strictly increasing.






share|cite|improve this answer























  • Very neat.${{}}$
    – Andrés E. Caicedo
    Dec 7 '18 at 13:46











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2 Answers
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2 Answers
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active

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active

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active

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6














A possible (I will explain why later) example could be ...





Let's take an $x in mathbb{R}$ and have its binary (for simplicity) representation $x=(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...x_{-m}...)_2, x_kin{0,1}, kin{-infty,...,n}$ or
$$x=sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{m}}$$
and build the function
$$f(x)=fleft(sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{color{red}{m}}}right)=
sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{color{red}{m!}}}$$

i.e. $f(x)$ becomes




  • a Liouville number, if $x$ is irrational

  • a Liouville number, if $x$ is rational with periodic (never ending) fractional part

  • a rational, if $x$ is rational with finite fractional part


  • $f(x)=x$, if $x$ is integer


All the Liouville numbers are transcendentals, so this function never returns an algebraic number.



It's not too difficult to show it's strictly increasing, if $a < b$ or
$$(a_na_{n-1}...a_0color{red}{,}a_{-1}a_{-2}...a_{-m}...)_2 < (b_nb_{n-1}...b_0color{red}{,}b_{-1}b_{-2}...b_{-m}...)_2$$ ($a_n,a_{n-1}, ...$ can be $0$, just to have a common upper index $n$ for both $a$ and $b$) means that $exists k in{-infty, ...,n}$ such that $a_k<b_k$ while $a_t=b_t, tin{k+1,...,n}$. With $f(x)$ we have
$$(a_na_{n-1}...a_0color{red}{,}a_{-1}a_{-2}color{blue}{000}a_{-3}color{blue}{00000000000000000}a_{-4}color{blue}{00...}a_{-m}...)_2 < (b_nb_{n-1}...b_0color{red}{,}b_{-1}b_{-2}color{blue}{000}b_{-3}color{blue}{00000000000000000}b_{-4}color{blue}{00...}b_{-m}...)_2$$



Note 1: I restricted the function to $mathbb{R^+}rightarrow mathbb{R^+}$, but it can be extended, taking into account the sign of $x$.



Note 2 As per the comments below, integers and rationals are algebraic numbers. To overcome this part, we can apply these tricks
$$(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0)_2=((x_nx_{n-1}...x_0-1)color{red}{,}11111...)_2$$
and
$$(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...x_{-m})_2=(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...(x_{-m}-1)11111...)_2$$
leading to Liouville numbers in all the cases.





Now why possible, because not all reals are computable.






share|cite|improve this answer



















  • 5




    This is a good answer, but I should mention that rationals and integers are also algebraic numbers, so for integer or rational with finite fractional part $x$ we still have an algebraic $f(x)$. This is not a problem though, since both of these $x$ can instead be written with infinite trailing 1's in base 2 form, and defining $f$ to use this form in these cases again gives a Liouville number. I'm not sure if you didn't notice, or if you knew this already.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:58










  • @stanleydodds oh yes, you are right! I ignored (or forgot) that part :(
    – rtybase
    Nov 28 '18 at 19:14










  • It's amusing that Liouville numbers come up here, because this solution versus mine seems somewhat like Liouville's proof of the existence of transcendental numbers versus Cantor's....
    – David C. Ullrich
    Dec 6 '18 at 13:20
















6














A possible (I will explain why later) example could be ...





Let's take an $x in mathbb{R}$ and have its binary (for simplicity) representation $x=(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...x_{-m}...)_2, x_kin{0,1}, kin{-infty,...,n}$ or
$$x=sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{m}}$$
and build the function
$$f(x)=fleft(sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{color{red}{m}}}right)=
sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{color{red}{m!}}}$$

i.e. $f(x)$ becomes




  • a Liouville number, if $x$ is irrational

  • a Liouville number, if $x$ is rational with periodic (never ending) fractional part

  • a rational, if $x$ is rational with finite fractional part


  • $f(x)=x$, if $x$ is integer


All the Liouville numbers are transcendentals, so this function never returns an algebraic number.



It's not too difficult to show it's strictly increasing, if $a < b$ or
$$(a_na_{n-1}...a_0color{red}{,}a_{-1}a_{-2}...a_{-m}...)_2 < (b_nb_{n-1}...b_0color{red}{,}b_{-1}b_{-2}...b_{-m}...)_2$$ ($a_n,a_{n-1}, ...$ can be $0$, just to have a common upper index $n$ for both $a$ and $b$) means that $exists k in{-infty, ...,n}$ such that $a_k<b_k$ while $a_t=b_t, tin{k+1,...,n}$. With $f(x)$ we have
$$(a_na_{n-1}...a_0color{red}{,}a_{-1}a_{-2}color{blue}{000}a_{-3}color{blue}{00000000000000000}a_{-4}color{blue}{00...}a_{-m}...)_2 < (b_nb_{n-1}...b_0color{red}{,}b_{-1}b_{-2}color{blue}{000}b_{-3}color{blue}{00000000000000000}b_{-4}color{blue}{00...}b_{-m}...)_2$$



Note 1: I restricted the function to $mathbb{R^+}rightarrow mathbb{R^+}$, but it can be extended, taking into account the sign of $x$.



Note 2 As per the comments below, integers and rationals are algebraic numbers. To overcome this part, we can apply these tricks
$$(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0)_2=((x_nx_{n-1}...x_0-1)color{red}{,}11111...)_2$$
and
$$(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...x_{-m})_2=(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...(x_{-m}-1)11111...)_2$$
leading to Liouville numbers in all the cases.





Now why possible, because not all reals are computable.






share|cite|improve this answer



















  • 5




    This is a good answer, but I should mention that rationals and integers are also algebraic numbers, so for integer or rational with finite fractional part $x$ we still have an algebraic $f(x)$. This is not a problem though, since both of these $x$ can instead be written with infinite trailing 1's in base 2 form, and defining $f$ to use this form in these cases again gives a Liouville number. I'm not sure if you didn't notice, or if you knew this already.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:58










  • @stanleydodds oh yes, you are right! I ignored (or forgot) that part :(
    – rtybase
    Nov 28 '18 at 19:14










  • It's amusing that Liouville numbers come up here, because this solution versus mine seems somewhat like Liouville's proof of the existence of transcendental numbers versus Cantor's....
    – David C. Ullrich
    Dec 6 '18 at 13:20














6












6








6






A possible (I will explain why later) example could be ...





Let's take an $x in mathbb{R}$ and have its binary (for simplicity) representation $x=(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...x_{-m}...)_2, x_kin{0,1}, kin{-infty,...,n}$ or
$$x=sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{m}}$$
and build the function
$$f(x)=fleft(sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{color{red}{m}}}right)=
sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{color{red}{m!}}}$$

i.e. $f(x)$ becomes




  • a Liouville number, if $x$ is irrational

  • a Liouville number, if $x$ is rational with periodic (never ending) fractional part

  • a rational, if $x$ is rational with finite fractional part


  • $f(x)=x$, if $x$ is integer


All the Liouville numbers are transcendentals, so this function never returns an algebraic number.



It's not too difficult to show it's strictly increasing, if $a < b$ or
$$(a_na_{n-1}...a_0color{red}{,}a_{-1}a_{-2}...a_{-m}...)_2 < (b_nb_{n-1}...b_0color{red}{,}b_{-1}b_{-2}...b_{-m}...)_2$$ ($a_n,a_{n-1}, ...$ can be $0$, just to have a common upper index $n$ for both $a$ and $b$) means that $exists k in{-infty, ...,n}$ such that $a_k<b_k$ while $a_t=b_t, tin{k+1,...,n}$. With $f(x)$ we have
$$(a_na_{n-1}...a_0color{red}{,}a_{-1}a_{-2}color{blue}{000}a_{-3}color{blue}{00000000000000000}a_{-4}color{blue}{00...}a_{-m}...)_2 < (b_nb_{n-1}...b_0color{red}{,}b_{-1}b_{-2}color{blue}{000}b_{-3}color{blue}{00000000000000000}b_{-4}color{blue}{00...}b_{-m}...)_2$$



Note 1: I restricted the function to $mathbb{R^+}rightarrow mathbb{R^+}$, but it can be extended, taking into account the sign of $x$.



Note 2 As per the comments below, integers and rationals are algebraic numbers. To overcome this part, we can apply these tricks
$$(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0)_2=((x_nx_{n-1}...x_0-1)color{red}{,}11111...)_2$$
and
$$(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...x_{-m})_2=(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...(x_{-m}-1)11111...)_2$$
leading to Liouville numbers in all the cases.





Now why possible, because not all reals are computable.






share|cite|improve this answer














A possible (I will explain why later) example could be ...





Let's take an $x in mathbb{R}$ and have its binary (for simplicity) representation $x=(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...x_{-m}...)_2, x_kin{0,1}, kin{-infty,...,n}$ or
$$x=sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{m}}$$
and build the function
$$f(x)=fleft(sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{color{red}{m}}}right)=
sumlimits_{k=0}^nx_k2^k + sumlimits_{m=1}frac{x_{-m}}{2^{color{red}{m!}}}$$

i.e. $f(x)$ becomes




  • a Liouville number, if $x$ is irrational

  • a Liouville number, if $x$ is rational with periodic (never ending) fractional part

  • a rational, if $x$ is rational with finite fractional part


  • $f(x)=x$, if $x$ is integer


All the Liouville numbers are transcendentals, so this function never returns an algebraic number.



It's not too difficult to show it's strictly increasing, if $a < b$ or
$$(a_na_{n-1}...a_0color{red}{,}a_{-1}a_{-2}...a_{-m}...)_2 < (b_nb_{n-1}...b_0color{red}{,}b_{-1}b_{-2}...b_{-m}...)_2$$ ($a_n,a_{n-1}, ...$ can be $0$, just to have a common upper index $n$ for both $a$ and $b$) means that $exists k in{-infty, ...,n}$ such that $a_k<b_k$ while $a_t=b_t, tin{k+1,...,n}$. With $f(x)$ we have
$$(a_na_{n-1}...a_0color{red}{,}a_{-1}a_{-2}color{blue}{000}a_{-3}color{blue}{00000000000000000}a_{-4}color{blue}{00...}a_{-m}...)_2 < (b_nb_{n-1}...b_0color{red}{,}b_{-1}b_{-2}color{blue}{000}b_{-3}color{blue}{00000000000000000}b_{-4}color{blue}{00...}b_{-m}...)_2$$



Note 1: I restricted the function to $mathbb{R^+}rightarrow mathbb{R^+}$, but it can be extended, taking into account the sign of $x$.



Note 2 As per the comments below, integers and rationals are algebraic numbers. To overcome this part, we can apply these tricks
$$(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0)_2=((x_nx_{n-1}...x_0-1)color{red}{,}11111...)_2$$
and
$$(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...x_{-m})_2=(x_nx_{n-1}...x_0color{red}{,}x_{-1}x_{-2}...(x_{-m}-1)11111...)_2$$
leading to Liouville numbers in all the cases.





Now why possible, because not all reals are computable.







share|cite|improve this answer














share|cite|improve this answer



share|cite|improve this answer








edited Nov 28 '18 at 19:26

























answered Nov 28 '18 at 18:46









rtybase

10.4k21433




10.4k21433








  • 5




    This is a good answer, but I should mention that rationals and integers are also algebraic numbers, so for integer or rational with finite fractional part $x$ we still have an algebraic $f(x)$. This is not a problem though, since both of these $x$ can instead be written with infinite trailing 1's in base 2 form, and defining $f$ to use this form in these cases again gives a Liouville number. I'm not sure if you didn't notice, or if you knew this already.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:58










  • @stanleydodds oh yes, you are right! I ignored (or forgot) that part :(
    – rtybase
    Nov 28 '18 at 19:14










  • It's amusing that Liouville numbers come up here, because this solution versus mine seems somewhat like Liouville's proof of the existence of transcendental numbers versus Cantor's....
    – David C. Ullrich
    Dec 6 '18 at 13:20














  • 5




    This is a good answer, but I should mention that rationals and integers are also algebraic numbers, so for integer or rational with finite fractional part $x$ we still have an algebraic $f(x)$. This is not a problem though, since both of these $x$ can instead be written with infinite trailing 1's in base 2 form, and defining $f$ to use this form in these cases again gives a Liouville number. I'm not sure if you didn't notice, or if you knew this already.
    – stanley dodds
    Nov 28 '18 at 18:58










  • @stanleydodds oh yes, you are right! I ignored (or forgot) that part :(
    – rtybase
    Nov 28 '18 at 19:14










  • It's amusing that Liouville numbers come up here, because this solution versus mine seems somewhat like Liouville's proof of the existence of transcendental numbers versus Cantor's....
    – David C. Ullrich
    Dec 6 '18 at 13:20








5




5




This is a good answer, but I should mention that rationals and integers are also algebraic numbers, so for integer or rational with finite fractional part $x$ we still have an algebraic $f(x)$. This is not a problem though, since both of these $x$ can instead be written with infinite trailing 1's in base 2 form, and defining $f$ to use this form in these cases again gives a Liouville number. I'm not sure if you didn't notice, or if you knew this already.
– stanley dodds
Nov 28 '18 at 18:58




This is a good answer, but I should mention that rationals and integers are also algebraic numbers, so for integer or rational with finite fractional part $x$ we still have an algebraic $f(x)$. This is not a problem though, since both of these $x$ can instead be written with infinite trailing 1's in base 2 form, and defining $f$ to use this form in these cases again gives a Liouville number. I'm not sure if you didn't notice, or if you knew this already.
– stanley dodds
Nov 28 '18 at 18:58












@stanleydodds oh yes, you are right! I ignored (or forgot) that part :(
– rtybase
Nov 28 '18 at 19:14




@stanleydodds oh yes, you are right! I ignored (or forgot) that part :(
– rtybase
Nov 28 '18 at 19:14












It's amusing that Liouville numbers come up here, because this solution versus mine seems somewhat like Liouville's proof of the existence of transcendental numbers versus Cantor's....
– David C. Ullrich
Dec 6 '18 at 13:20




It's amusing that Liouville numbers come up here, because this solution versus mine seems somewhat like Liouville's proof of the existence of transcendental numbers versus Cantor's....
– David C. Ullrich
Dec 6 '18 at 13:20











3














It's actually very simple; the same result holds with any countable set in place of the algebraic numbers. Since $Bbb R$ is order-isomorphic to $(0,infty)$ it's enough to prove this:





If $Csubset(0,infty)$ is countable there exists a strictly increasing function $f:(0,infty)to(0,infty)setminus C$.





Since a countable set is contained in an open set of finite measure this follows from the stronger result (where $m$ is Lebesgue measure):





Suppose $Vsubset(0,infty)$ is open, let $E=(0,infty)setminus V$ and assume $m(E)=infty$. There exists a strictly increasing function $f:(0,infty)to E$.





Proof: Define $phi:[0,infty)to[0,infty)$ by $$phi(y)=m(Ecap[0,y)).$$Then $phi$ is continuous, $phi(0)=0$ and $phi(infty)=infty$, so $$phi((0,infty))=(0,infty).$$



Suppose $yin V$. Say $yin(a,b)$, where $(a,b)$ is a connected component of $V$. Then $phi(y)=phi(b)$ and $bin E$. Hence $$phi(E)=phi((0,infty))=(0,infty).$$So for every $t>0$ there exists $f(t)in E$ with $$phi(f(t))=t.$$If $0<s<t$ it follows that $$f(t)-f(s)ge m([f(s),f(t))cap E)=phi(f(t))-phi(f(s))= t-s>0;$$hence $f$ is strictly increasing.






share|cite|improve this answer























  • Very neat.${{}}$
    – Andrés E. Caicedo
    Dec 7 '18 at 13:46
















3














It's actually very simple; the same result holds with any countable set in place of the algebraic numbers. Since $Bbb R$ is order-isomorphic to $(0,infty)$ it's enough to prove this:





If $Csubset(0,infty)$ is countable there exists a strictly increasing function $f:(0,infty)to(0,infty)setminus C$.





Since a countable set is contained in an open set of finite measure this follows from the stronger result (where $m$ is Lebesgue measure):





Suppose $Vsubset(0,infty)$ is open, let $E=(0,infty)setminus V$ and assume $m(E)=infty$. There exists a strictly increasing function $f:(0,infty)to E$.





Proof: Define $phi:[0,infty)to[0,infty)$ by $$phi(y)=m(Ecap[0,y)).$$Then $phi$ is continuous, $phi(0)=0$ and $phi(infty)=infty$, so $$phi((0,infty))=(0,infty).$$



Suppose $yin V$. Say $yin(a,b)$, where $(a,b)$ is a connected component of $V$. Then $phi(y)=phi(b)$ and $bin E$. Hence $$phi(E)=phi((0,infty))=(0,infty).$$So for every $t>0$ there exists $f(t)in E$ with $$phi(f(t))=t.$$If $0<s<t$ it follows that $$f(t)-f(s)ge m([f(s),f(t))cap E)=phi(f(t))-phi(f(s))= t-s>0;$$hence $f$ is strictly increasing.






share|cite|improve this answer























  • Very neat.${{}}$
    – Andrés E. Caicedo
    Dec 7 '18 at 13:46














3












3








3






It's actually very simple; the same result holds with any countable set in place of the algebraic numbers. Since $Bbb R$ is order-isomorphic to $(0,infty)$ it's enough to prove this:





If $Csubset(0,infty)$ is countable there exists a strictly increasing function $f:(0,infty)to(0,infty)setminus C$.





Since a countable set is contained in an open set of finite measure this follows from the stronger result (where $m$ is Lebesgue measure):





Suppose $Vsubset(0,infty)$ is open, let $E=(0,infty)setminus V$ and assume $m(E)=infty$. There exists a strictly increasing function $f:(0,infty)to E$.





Proof: Define $phi:[0,infty)to[0,infty)$ by $$phi(y)=m(Ecap[0,y)).$$Then $phi$ is continuous, $phi(0)=0$ and $phi(infty)=infty$, so $$phi((0,infty))=(0,infty).$$



Suppose $yin V$. Say $yin(a,b)$, where $(a,b)$ is a connected component of $V$. Then $phi(y)=phi(b)$ and $bin E$. Hence $$phi(E)=phi((0,infty))=(0,infty).$$So for every $t>0$ there exists $f(t)in E$ with $$phi(f(t))=t.$$If $0<s<t$ it follows that $$f(t)-f(s)ge m([f(s),f(t))cap E)=phi(f(t))-phi(f(s))= t-s>0;$$hence $f$ is strictly increasing.






share|cite|improve this answer














It's actually very simple; the same result holds with any countable set in place of the algebraic numbers. Since $Bbb R$ is order-isomorphic to $(0,infty)$ it's enough to prove this:





If $Csubset(0,infty)$ is countable there exists a strictly increasing function $f:(0,infty)to(0,infty)setminus C$.





Since a countable set is contained in an open set of finite measure this follows from the stronger result (where $m$ is Lebesgue measure):





Suppose $Vsubset(0,infty)$ is open, let $E=(0,infty)setminus V$ and assume $m(E)=infty$. There exists a strictly increasing function $f:(0,infty)to E$.





Proof: Define $phi:[0,infty)to[0,infty)$ by $$phi(y)=m(Ecap[0,y)).$$Then $phi$ is continuous, $phi(0)=0$ and $phi(infty)=infty$, so $$phi((0,infty))=(0,infty).$$



Suppose $yin V$. Say $yin(a,b)$, where $(a,b)$ is a connected component of $V$. Then $phi(y)=phi(b)$ and $bin E$. Hence $$phi(E)=phi((0,infty))=(0,infty).$$So for every $t>0$ there exists $f(t)in E$ with $$phi(f(t))=t.$$If $0<s<t$ it follows that $$f(t)-f(s)ge m([f(s),f(t))cap E)=phi(f(t))-phi(f(s))= t-s>0;$$hence $f$ is strictly increasing.







share|cite|improve this answer














share|cite|improve this answer



share|cite|improve this answer








edited Dec 7 '18 at 12:59

























answered Dec 6 '18 at 13:17









David C. Ullrich

58.5k43892




58.5k43892












  • Very neat.${{}}$
    – Andrés E. Caicedo
    Dec 7 '18 at 13:46


















  • Very neat.${{}}$
    – Andrés E. Caicedo
    Dec 7 '18 at 13:46
















Very neat.${{}}$
– Andrés E. Caicedo
Dec 7 '18 at 13:46




Very neat.${{}}$
– Andrés E. Caicedo
Dec 7 '18 at 13:46


















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