Construction of the real numbers

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In

complete ordered field that does not contain any smaller complete ordered field. Such a definition does not prove that such a complete ordered field exists, and the existence proof consists of constructing a mathematical structure
that satisfies the definition.

The article presents several such constructions.[1] They are equivalent in the sense that, given the result of any two such constructions, there is a unique isomorphism of ordered field between them. This results from the above definition and is independent of particular constructions. These isomorphisms allow identifying the results of the constructions, and, in practice, to forget which construction has been chosen.

Axiomatic definitions

An

axiomatic definition of the real numbers consists of defining them as the elements of a complete ordered field.[2][3][4] This means the following: The real numbers form a set
, commonly denoted , containing two distinguished elements denoted 0 and 1, and on which are defined two binary operations and one binary relation; the operations are called addition and multiplication of real numbers and denoted respectively with + and ×; the binary relation is inequality, denoted Moreover, the following properties called axioms must be satisfied.

The existence of such a structure is a theorem, which is proved by constructing such a structure. A consequence of the axioms is that this structure is unique up to an isomorphism, and thus, the real numbers can be used and manipulated, without referring to the method of construction.

Axioms

  1. is a field under addition and multiplication. In other words,
    • For all x, y, and z in , x + (y + z) = (x + y) + z and x × (y × z) = (x × y) × z. (
      associativity
      of addition and multiplication)
    • For all x and y in , x + y = y + x and x × y = y × x. (
      commutativity
      of addition and multiplication)
    • For all x, y, and z in , x × (y + z) = (x × y) + (x × z). (
      distributivity
      of multiplication over addition)
    • For all x in , x + 0 = x. (existence of additive identity)
    • 0 is not equal to 1, and for all x in , x × 1 = x. (existence of multiplicative identity)
    • For every x in , there exists an element −x in , such that x + (−x) = 0. (existence of additive inverses)
    • For every x ≠ 0 in , there exists an element x−1 in , such that x × x−1 = 1. (existence of multiplicative inverses)
  2. is
    totally ordered
    for . In other words,
    • For all x in , xx. (reflexivity)
    • For all x and y in , if xy and yx, then x = y. (antisymmetry)
    • For all x, y, and z in , if xy and yz, then xz. (transitivity)
    • For all x and y in , xy or yx. (totality)
  3. Addition and multiplication are compatible with the order. In other words,
    • For all x, y and z in , if xy, then x + zy + z. (preservation of order under addition)
    • For all x and y in , if 0 ≤ x and 0 ≤ y, then 0 ≤ x × y (preservation of order under multiplication)
  4. The order ≤ is complete in the following sense: every non-empty subset of that is
    least upper bound
    . In other words,
    • If A is a non-empty subset of , and if A has an
      upper bound
      in then A has a least upper bound u, such that for every upper bound v of A, uv.

On the least upper bound property

Axiom 4, which requires the order to be

Dedekind-complete, implies the Archimedean property
.

The axiom is crucial in the characterization of the reals. For example, the totally ordered field of the rational numbers Q satisfies the first three axioms, but not the fourth. In other words, models of the rational numbers are also models of the first three axioms.

Note that the axiom is nonfirstorderizable, as it expresses a statement about collections of reals and not just individual such numbers. As such, the reals are not given by a first-order logic theory.

On models

A model of real numbers is a mathematical structure that satisfies the above axioms. Several models are given below. Any two models are isomorphic; so, the real numbers are unique up to isomorphisms.

Saying that any two models are isomorphic means that for any two models and there is a bijection that preserves both the field operations and the order. Explicitly,

  • f is both
    surjective
    .
  • f(0) = 0S and f(1) = 1S.
  • f(x + y) = f(x) +S f(y) and f(x × y) = f(x) ×S f(y), for all x and y in
  • x y if and only if f(x) ≤S f(y), for all x and y in

Tarski's axiomatization of the reals

An alternative synthetic

axiomatization of the real numbers and their arithmetic was given by Alfred Tarski, consisting of only the 8 axioms shown below and a mere four primitive notions: a set
called the real numbers, denoted , a binary relation over called order, denoted by the
infix operator <, a binary operation
over called addition, denoted by the infix operator +, and the constant 1.

Axioms of order (primitives: , <):

Axiom 1. If x < y, then not y < x. That is, "<" is an asymmetric relation.

Axiom 2. If x < z, there exists a y such that x < y and y < z. In other words, "<" is dense in .

Axiom 3. "<" is

Dedekind-complete
. More formally, for all XY ⊆ , if for all x ∈ X and y ∈ Y, x < y, then there exists a z such that for all x ∈ X and y ∈ Y, if z ≠ x and z ≠ y, then x < z and z < y.

To clarify the above statement somewhat, let X ⊆  and Y ⊆ . We now define two common English verbs in a particular way that suits our purpose:

X precedes Y if and only if for every x ∈ X and every y ∈ Y, x < y.
The real number z separates X and Y if and only if for every x ∈ X with x ≠ z and every y ∈ Y with y ≠ z, x < z and z < y.

Axiom 3 can then be stated as:

"If a set of reals precedes another set of reals, then there exists at least one real number separating the two sets."

Axioms of addition (primitives: , <, +):

Axiom 4. x + (y + z) = (x + z) + y.

Axiom 5. For all x, y, there exists a z such that x + z = y.

Axiom 6. If x + y < z + w, then x < z or y < w.

Axioms for one (primitives: , <, +, 1):

Axiom 7. 1 ∈ .

Axiom 8. 1 < 1 + 1.

These axioms imply that is a linearly ordered abelian group under addition with distinguished element 1. is also

Dedekind-complete and divisible
.

Explicit constructions of models

We shall not prove that any models of the axioms are isomorphic. Such a proof can be found in any number of modern analysis or set theory textbooks. We will sketch the basic definitions and properties of a number of constructions, however, because each of these is important for both mathematical and historical reasons. The first three, due to Georg Cantor/Charles Méray, Richard Dedekind/Joseph Bertrand and Karl Weierstrass all occurred within a few years of each other. Each has advantages and disadvantages. A major motivation in all three cases was the instruction of mathematics students.

Construction from Cauchy sequences

A standard procedure to force all

completion
.

is defined as the completion of the set of the rational numbers with respect to the metric |xy| Normally, metrics are defined with real numbers as values, but this does not make the construction/definition circular, since all numbers that are implied (even implicitly) are rational numbers.[5]

Let R be the set of Cauchy sequences of rational numbers. That is, sequences

(x1, x2, x3,...)

of rational numbers such that for every rational ε > 0, there exists an integer N such that for all natural numbers m, n > N, one has |xmxn| < ε. Here the vertical bars denote the absolute value.

Cauchy sequences (xn) and (yn) can be added and multiplied as follows:

(xn) + (yn) = (xn + yn)
(xn) × (yn) = (xn × yn).

Two Cauchy sequences (xn) and (yn) are called equivalent if and only if the difference between them tends to zero; that is, for every rational number ε > 0, there exists an integer N such that for all natural numbers n > N, one has |xnyn| < ε.

This defines an equivalence relation that is compatible with the operations defined above, and the set R of all equivalence classes can be shown to satisfy all axioms of the real numbers. can be considered as a subset of by identifying a rational number r with the equivalence class of the Cauchy sequence (r, r, r, ...).

Comparison between real numbers is obtained by defining the following comparison between Cauchy sequences: (xn) ≥ (yn) if and only if x is equivalent to y or there exists an integer N such that xnyn for all n > N.

By construction, every real number x is represented by a Cauchy sequence of rational numbers. This representation is far from unique; every rational sequence that converges to x is a Cauchy sequence representing x. This reflects the observation that one can often use different sequences to approximate the same real number.[6]

The only real number axiom that does not follow easily from the definitions is the completeness of , i.e. the

least upper bound property
. It can be proved as follows: Let S be a non-empty subset of and U be an upper bound for S. Substituting a larger value if necessary, we may assume U is rational. Since S is non-empty, we can choose a rational number L such that L < s for some s in S. Now define sequences of rationals (un) and (ln) as follows:

Set u0 = U and l0 = L. For each n consider the number mn = (un + ln)/2. If mn is an upper bound for S, set un+1 = mn and ln+1 = ln. Otherwise set ln+1 = mn and un+1 = un.

This defines two Cauchy sequences of rationals, and so the real numbers l = (ln) and u = (un). It is easy to prove, by induction on n that un is an upper bound for S for all n and ln is never an upper bound for S for any n

Thus u is an upper bound for S. To see that it is a least upper bound, notice that the limit of (unln) is 0, and so l = u. Now suppose b < u = l is a smaller upper bound for S. Since (ln) is monotonic increasing it is easy to see that b < ln for some n. But ln is not an upper bound for S and so neither is b. Hence u is a least upper bound for S and is complete.

The usual

decimal notation can be translated to Cauchy sequences in a natural way. For example, the notation π = 3.1415... means that π is the equivalence class of the Cauchy sequence (3, 3.1, 3.14, 3.141, 3.1415, ...). The equation 0.999...
= 1 states that the sequences (0, 0.9, 0.99, 0.999,...) and (1, 1, 1, 1,...) are equivalent, i.e., their difference converges to 0.

An advantage of constructing as the completion of is that this construction can be used for every other metric spaces.

Construction by Dedekind cuts

Dedekind used his cut to construct the irrational, real numbers.

A

greatest element. Real numbers can be constructed as Dedekind cuts of rational numbers.[7][8]

For convenience we may take the lower set as the representative of any given Dedekind cut , since completely determines . By doing this we may think intuitively of a real number as being represented by the set of all smaller rational numbers. In more detail, a real number is any subset of the set of rational numbers that fulfills the following conditions:[9]

  1. is not empty
  2. is closed downwards. In other words, for all such that , if then
  3. contains no greatest element. In other words, there is no such that for all ,
  • We form the set of real numbers as the set of all Dedekind cuts of , and define a
    total ordering
    on the real numbers as follows:
  • We embed the rational numbers into the reals by identifying the rational number with the set of all smaller rational numbers .[9] Since the rational numbers are dense, such a set can have no greatest element and thus fulfills the conditions for being a real number laid out above.
  • Addition. [9]
  • Subtraction. where denotes the relative complement of in ,
  • Negation
    is a special case of subtraction:
  • Defining multiplication is less straightforward.[9]
    • if then
    • if either or is negative, we use the identities to convert and/or to positive numbers and then apply the definition above.
  • We define division in a similar manner:
    • if then
    • if either or is negative, we use the identities to convert to a non-negative number and/or to a positive number and then apply the definition above.
  • Supremum
    . If a nonempty set of real numbers has any upper bound in , then it has a least upper bound in that is equal to .[9]

As an example of a Dedekind cut representing an irrational number, we may take the positive square root of 2. This can be defined by the set .[10] It can be seen from the definitions above that is a real number, and that . However, neither claim is immediate. Showing that is real requires showing that has no greatest element, i.e. that for any positive rational with , there is a rational with and The choice works. Then but to show equality requires showing that if is any rational number with , then there is positive in with .

An advantage of this construction is that each real number corresponds to a unique cut. Furthermore, by relaxing the first two requirements of the definition of a cut, the

extended real number
system may be obtained by associating with the empty set and with all of .

Construction using hyperreal numbers

As in the hyperreal numbers, one constructs the hyperrationals from the rational numbers by means of an ultrafilter.[11] Here a hyperrational is by definition a ratio of two hyperintegers. Consider the ring of all limited (i.e. finite) elements in . Then has a unique maximal ideal , the infinitesimal hyperrational numbers. The quotient ring gives the field of real numbers.[12] This construction uses a non-principal ultrafilter over the set of natural numbers, the existence of which is guaranteed by the axiom of choice.

It turns out that the maximal ideal respects the order on . Hence the resulting field is an ordered field. Completeness can be proved in a similar way to the construction from the Cauchy sequences.

Construction from surreal numbers

Every ordered field can be embedded in the surreal numbers. The real numbers form a maximal subfield that is Archimedean (meaning that no real number is infinitely large or infinitely small). This embedding is not unique, though it can be chosen in a canonical way.

Construction from integers (Eudoxus reals)

A relatively less known construction allows to define real numbers using only the additive group of integers with different versions.[13][14][15] Arthan (2004), who attributes this construction to unpublished work by Stephen Schanuel, refers to this construction as the Eudoxus reals, naming them after ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician Eudoxus of Cnidus. As noted by Shenitzer (1987) and Arthan (2004), Eudoxus's treatment of quantity using the behavior of proportions became the basis for this construction. This construction has been formally verified to give a Dedekind-complete ordered field by the IsarMathLib project.[16]

Let an almost homomorphism be a map such that the set is finite. (Note that is an almost homomorphism for every .) Almost homomorphisms form an abelian group under pointwise addition. We say that two almost homomorphisms are almost equal if the set is finite. This defines an equivalence relation on the set of almost homomorphisms. Real numbers are defined as the equivalence classes of this relation. Alternatively, the almost homomorphisms taking only finitely many values form a subgroup, and the underlying additive group of the real number is the quotient group. To add real numbers defined this way we add the almost homomorphisms that represent them. Multiplication of real numbers corresponds to functional composition of almost homomorphisms. If denotes the real number represented by an almost homomorphism we say that if is bounded or takes an infinite number of positive values on . This defines the linear order relation on the set of real numbers constructed this way.

Other constructions

Faltin et al. (1975) write: "Few mathematical structures have undergone as many revisions or have been presented in as many guises as the real numbers. Every generation reexamines the reals in the light of its values and mathematical objectives."[17]

A number of other constructions have been given, by:

For an overview, see Weiss (2015).

As a reviewer of one noted: "The details are all included, but as usual they are tedious and not too instructive."[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ Weiss 2015.
  2. ^ "Real Numbers" (PDF). University of Colorado Boulder.
  3. University of Illinois at Chicago
    .
  4. ^ "Axioms of the Real Number System" (PDF). University of California, Irvine. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 26, 2010.
  5. ^ For completions of with respect to other metrics, see
    p-adic numbers
    ).
  6. ^ Kemp 2016.
  7. ^ Math 25 Exercises ucdavis.edu
  8. ^ 1.2–Cuts furman.edu
  9. ^ a b c d e Pugh 2002.
  10. ^ Hersh 1997.
  11. ^ Krakoff, Gianni (June 8, 2015). "Hyperreals and a Brief Introduction to Non-Standard Analysis" (PDF). Department of Mathematics, University of Washington.
  12. .
  13. ^ Arthan 2004.
  14. ^ A'Campo 2003.
  15. ^ Street 2003.
  16. ^ IsarMathLib.
  17. ^ Faltin et al. 1975.
  18. MR693180 (84j:26002) review of Rieger1982
    .

Bibliography

  • de Bruijn, N.G. (1977). "Construction of the system of real numbers". Nederl. Akad. Wetensch. Verslag Afd. Natuurk. 86 (9): 121–125.
  • Knopfmacher, Arnold; Knopfmacher, John (1987). "A new construction of the real numbers (via infinite products)". Nieuw Arch. Wisk. 4 (5): 19–31.
  • Shenitzer, A (1987). "A topics course in mathematics". The Mathematical Intelligencer. 9 (3): 44–52.
    S2CID 122199850
    .