Bolzano-Weierstrass Property

I used here the proof of the Bolzano-Weierstrass Property from the book "Elementary Real Analysis" by Thomson et al.. Note this theorem is different than the Bolzano-Weierstrass Theorem.

\begin{theorem} A set of real numbers $E$ is closed and bounded if and only if every sequence of points chosen from the set has a subsequence that converges to a point that belongs to $E$. \end{theorem}

\begin{corollary} A set of real numbers $E$ is closed and bounded if and only if every sequence of $E$ has a point of accumulation that belongs to $E$. \end{corollary}

\begin{proof} Suppose that $\E$ is both closed and bounded and let $\{x_n\}$ be a sequence of points chosen from $E$. Since $E$ is bounded this sequence $\{x_n\}$ must be bounded too. We apply the Bolzano-Weierstrass theorem for sequences to obtain a subsequence $\{x_{n_k}\}$ that is both monotonic and convergent. If $x_{n_k}\rightarrow z$ then there is $K$ such that $|x_{n_k}-z|<\epsilon$ for all $k\geq K$ and any positive $\epsilon$ . Since all the points of this subsequence belong to $E$ the neighborhoods of $z$ contain infinite points belong to $E$. So, by definition $z$ is a point of accumulation of $E$. Now we see that $ z\in E$ since $\E$ is closed.

So the Bolzano-Weierstrass Property is really that every sequence of a set of real numbers has a subsequence that converges to a point, or has a point of accumulation, that belongs to this set.

In the opposite direction we suppose that there is a set E which has the Bolzano-Weierstrass property but we don't know in advance if $E$ is closed and bounded. Then E cannot be unbounded. For example, if $E$ is unbounded then there is a sequence of points $\{x_n\}$ of $E$ with $x_n\rightarrow \infty$ or $x_n\rightarrow -\infty$ and no subsequence of that sequence converges, which contradicts the assumption. Also, $E$ must be closed. If $E$ is not closed, there is a point of accumulation $z$ such that $z\ni E$. This means that there is a sequence of points $\{x_n\}$ in $E$ converging to $z$. But any subsequence of $\{x_n\}$ would also converge to $z$ and $z\ni E$, which contradicts the Bolzano-Weierstrass Property assumed for $E$. \end{proof}

References: Bolzano-Weierstrass theorem

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Riemann or Lebesgue integration

Excerpt from Martin Davis and Matt Insall, "Mathematics and Design: Yes, But Will it Fly?", Nexus Network Journal, vol. 4, no. 4 (Autumn 2002).

At 06:39 AM 8/26/2002, Matt Insall wrote:

Personally, I think it is likely to make a difference whether Riemann or Lebesgue integration is used, but that the difference will only be noticeable provided that the designers rigorously adhere to the requirements that that particular integration theory be used for all the integrals. As soon as they revert to numerical approximations, instead of using calculus or analysis, they have muddied the waters so that no direct comparison between one integration theory and another can be made.

This is with reference to Hamming's quip about this difference not being significant for engineering design.

Functions that are Riemann integrable are automatically Lebesgue integrable and the values of the integrals will be the same. There are two ways in which a function can be Lebesgue integrable but not Riemann integrable. Any bounded measurable function is L-integrable, but not all of them are R-integrable. Some unbounded measurable functions are also L-integrable, but not Riemann integrable, since all R-integrable functions are bounded. An example: the function 1/sqrt(x) has the L-integral 2/3 on the interval [0,1]. Being unbounded in that interval, it has no R-integral there.

Of course, this function does have an "improper integral" (sometimes called a Riemann-Cauchy integral) in that interval with the very same value. Only functions having absolutely convergent improper integrals have Lebesgue integrals. The classical example is sinx/x on the interval [0,\infnty] which has the value \pi/2 but no Lebesgue integral. This fact is sometimes confusingly stated as a case where something is R-integrable but not L-integrable. But one can perfectly well define "improper"
L-integrals, so that this comparison is inappropriate. It's just that the definition of L-integration automatically includes cases that in the Riemann case require this extra limiting step for which the inappropriate term "improper" is used.

Hamming of course hadn't meant to be taken so literally. His aphorism was intended to say that the fine points of mathematical analysis are not relevant to engineering considerations. And, he was perfectly right.

In the long-ago days when I had occasion to be on committees administering an oral qualifying exam for the doctorate, I would often ask the hapless student why analysts prefer the L-integral. This was a trap question: students who fell for the trap would tell me that the function on [0,1] that is 1 on the irrationals and 0 on the rationals is L-integrable, but not R-integrable. The right answer is that the L-integral has useful convergence properties not enjoyed by the R-integral.

Now whatever did Mat Insall have in mind? sin x/x on [0,infty]? Surely not in any engineering analysis.

Terminal, Console, and Shell

After searching the internet for quite some time I finally had some sense of the relationship among terminal, console and shell.

1. Terminal

Real text terminal: Includes only a screen (NOT TO BE CALLED "MONITOR" AS FOR TODAY'S COMPUTER), keyboard, and a small memory to store a screenfull text (ONLY A FEW KILOBYTES). Keyboard is plugged to screen, which is further wired to the serial port of computer with a long cable.

Terminal emulation: An emulated real text terminal created by computer software and classfied as virtual terminal and pseudo terminal.

Virtual terminal or console: The command line interface seen after the boot of Linux system. By default, seven virtual terminals are available and can be switched using [CTRL]+[Fn] (n: 1-7). The 7th virtual terminal is reserved for X-windows system and the rest are for textual Shells.

Pseudo terminal: A pseudo-device pair that provides a text terminal interface without associated virtual console, computer terminal or serial port hardware. Its applications include terminal emulator and remote login handler.

Terminal emulator: Xterm, Konsole and alike on X windows systems, which serve as master device (/dev/ptmx) while Shell serves as slave device(/dev/pts/N)

Remote login handler: SSH and Telnet, which serve as master device (/dev/ptmx) while Shell serves as slave device(/dev/pts/N).

2. Console: The monitor and keyboard on today's computers or the real text terminal on old time computers.

3. Shell: A utility program resides on hard disk, by default the first program to start after a user log onto the system, and classfied as login shell, interactive shell and conventional shell.

Interactive, login shell: The shell reads these files in sequence: (system wide) /etc/profile; (per user) ~/.bash_profile; ~/.bash_login; ~/.profile; (when logout) ~/.bash_logout.

Interactive, non-login shell: The shell reads these files in sequence: (per user) ~/.bashrc; (when exit) ~/.bash_logout.

Non-interactive, login shell: The shell reads these files in sequence: (system wide) /etc/profile; (per user) ~/.profile; (when logout) ~/.bash_logout.

Non-interactive, non-login shell: The shell starts by executing $BASH_ENV and exits with reading ~/.bash_logout.

4. Login Process: For wired connection, init-> getty -> login-> first program to run, usually Shell; for network connections, init -> sshd, telnetd, or rlogind -> login -> first program to run, usually Shell.

References:

1. Text Terminal HOW-TO
2. Pseudo Terminal Master/Slave
3. What is Unix Shell?
4. How Environment Variables Really Work?