Through consideration of this set, Cantor and others helped lay the foundations of modern point-set topology. The most common construction is the Cantor ternary set, built by removing the middle third of a line segment and then repeating the process with the remaining shorter segments. Cantor mentioned this ternary construction only in passing, as an example of a perfect set that is nowhere dense.[5]
More generally, in topology, a Cantor space is a topological space homeomorphic to the Cantor ternary set (equipped with its subspace topology). The Cantor set is naturally homeomorphic to the countable product Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle {\underline 2}^{\N}}
of the discrete two-point spaceFailed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \underline 2 }
. By a theorem of L. E. J. Brouwer, this is equivalent to being perfect, nonempty, compact, metrizable and zero-dimensional.[8]
File:Cantor Set Expansion.gifExpansion of a Cantor set. Each point in the set is represented here by a vertical line.
The Cantor ternary set Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
is created by iteratively deleting the open middle third from a set of line segments. One starts by deleting the open middle third Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \left(\frac{1}{3}, \frac{2}{3}\right)}
from the intervalFailed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \textstyle\left[0, 1\right]}
, leaving two line segments: Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \left[0, \frac{1}{3}\right]\cup\left[\frac{2}{3}, 1\right]}
. Next, the open middle third of each of these remaining segments is deleted, leaving four line segments: Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \left[0, \frac{1}{9}\right]\cup\left[\frac{2}{9}, \frac{1}{3}\right]\cup\left[\frac{2}{3}, \frac{7}{9}\right]\cup\left[\frac{8}{9}, 1\right]}
.
The Cantor ternary set contains all points in the interval Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0,1]}
that are not deleted at any step in this infinite process. The same construction can be described recursively by setting
Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle C_0 := [0,1]}
and
Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle C_n := \frac{C_{n-1}} 3 \cup \left(\frac 2 {3} +\frac{C_{n-1}} 3 \right) = \frac13 \bigl(C_{n-1} \cup \left(2 + C_{n-1} \right)\bigr)}
for Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle n \ge 1}
, so that
Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C} := \lim_{n\to\infty}C_n = \bigcap_{n=0}^\infty C_n = \bigcap_{n=m}^\infty C_n }
for any Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle m \ge 0}
.
The first six steps of this process are illustrated below.
Using the idea of self-similar transformations, Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle T_L(x)=x/3,}Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle T_R(x)=(2+x)/3}
and Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle C_n =T_L(C_{n-1})\cup T_R(C_{n-1}),}
the explicit closed formulas for the Cantor set are[9]
Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}=[0,1] \,\smallsetminus\, \bigcup_{n=0}^\infty \bigcup_{k=0}^{3^n-1} \left(\frac{3k+1}{3^{n+1}},\frac{3k+2}{3^{n+1}} \right)\!,}
where every middle third is removed as the open interval Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \left(\frac{3k+1}{3^{n+1}},\frac{3k+2}{3^{n+1}}\right)}
from the closed intervalFailed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \left[\frac{3k+0}{3^{n+1}},\frac{3k+3}{3^{n+1}}\right] = \left[\frac{k+0}{3^n},\frac{k+1}{3^n}\right]}
surrounding it, or
Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}=\bigcap_{n=1}^\infty \bigcup_{k=0}^{3^{n-1}-1} \left( \left[\frac{3k+0}{3^n},\frac{3k+1}{3^n}\right] \cup \left[\frac{3k+2}{3^n},\frac{3k+3}{3^n}\right] \right)\!,}
where the middle third Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \left(\frac{3k+1}{3^n},\frac{3k+2}{3^n}\right) }
of the foregoing closed interval Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \left[\frac{k+0}{3^{n-1}},\frac{k+1}{3^{n-1}}\right] = \left[\frac{3k+0}{3^n},\frac{3k+3}{3^n}\right]}
is removed by intersecting with Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \left[\frac{3k+0}{3^n},\frac{3k+1}{3^n}\right] \cup \left[\frac{3k+2}{3^n},\frac{3k+3}{3^n}\right]\!.}
This process of removing middle thirds is a simple example of a finite subdivision rule. The complement of the Cantor ternary set is an example of a fractal string.
In arithmetical terms, the Cantor set consists of all real numbers of the unit intervalFailed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0,1]}
that do not require the digit 1 in order to be expressed as a ternary (base 3) fraction. Each point in the Cantor set is uniquely located by a path through an infinitely deep binary tree, where the path turns left or right at each level according to which side of a deleted segment the point lies on. Representing each left turn with 0 and each right turn with 2 yields the ternary fraction for a point. Requiring the digit 1 is critical: Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \frac{1}{3}}
, which is included in the Cantor set, can be written as Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle 0.1}
, but also as Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle 0.0\bar{2}}
, which contains no 1 digits and corresponds to an initial left turn followed by infinitely many right turns in the binary tree.
Mandelbrot's construction by "curdling"
In The Fractal Geometry of Nature, mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot provides a whimsical thought experiment to assist non-mathematical readers in imagining the construction of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
. His narrative begins with imagining a bar, perhaps of lightweight metal, in which the bar's matter "curdles" by iteratively shifting towards its extremities. As the bar's segments become smaller, they become thin, dense slugs that eventually grow too small and faint to see.
CURDLING: The construction of the Cantor bar results from the process I call curdling. It begins with a round bar. It is best to think of it as having a very low density. Then matter "curdles" out of this bar's middle third into the end thirds, so that the positions of the latter remain unchanged. Next matter curdles out of the middle third of each end third into its end thirds, and so on ad infinitum until one is left with an infinitely large number of infinitely thin slugs of infinitely high density. These slugs are spaced along the line in the very specific fashion induced by the generating process. In this illustration, curdling (which eventually requires hammering!) stops when both the printer's press and our eye cease to follow; the last line is indistinguishable from the last but one: each of its ultimate parts is seen as a gray slug rather than two parallel black slugs.[10]
Composition
Since the Cantor set is defined as the set of points not excluded, the proportion (i.e., measure) of the unit interval remaining can be found by total length removed. This total is the geometric progression
Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{2^n}{3^{n+1}} = \frac{1}{3} + \frac{2}{9} + \frac{4}{27} + \frac{8}{81} + \cdots = \frac{1}{3}\left(\frac{1}{1-\frac{2}{3}}\right) = 1.}
So that the proportion left is Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 1 - 1 = 0}
.
This calculation suggests that the Cantor set cannot contain any interval of non-zero length. It may seem surprising that there should be anything left—after all, the sum of the lengths of the removed intervals is equal to the length of the original interval. However, a closer look at the process reveals that there must be something left, since removing the "middle third" of each interval involved removing open sets (sets that do not include their endpoints). So removing the line segment Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \left(\frac{1}{3}, \frac{2}{3}\right)}
from the original interval Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
leaves behind the points 1/3 and 2/3. Subsequent steps do not remove these (or other) endpoints, since the intervals removed are always internal to the intervals remaining. So the Cantor set is not empty, and in fact contains an uncountably infinite number of points (as follows from the above description in terms of paths in an infinite binary tree).
It may appear that only the endpoints of the construction segments are left, but that is not the case either. The number 1/4, for example, has the unique ternary form 0.020202... = 0.02. It is in the bottom third, and the top third of that third, and the bottom third of that top third, and so on. Since it is never in one of the middle segments, it is never removed. Yet it is also not an endpoint of any middle segment, because it is not a multiple of any power of 1/3.[11]
All endpoints of segments are terminating ternary fractions and are contained in the set
Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \left\{x \in [0,1] \mid \exists i \in \N_0: x \, 3^i \in \Z \right\} \qquad \Bigl(\subset \N_0 \, 3^{-\N_0} \Bigr) }
which is a countably infinite set.
As to cardinality, almost all elements of the Cantor set are not endpoints of intervals, nor rational points like 1/4. The whole Cantor set is in fact not countable.
Properties
Cardinality
It can be shown that there are as many points left behind in this process as there were to begin with, and that therefore, the Cantor set is uncountable. To see this, we show that there is a functionf from the Cantor set Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
to the closed interval Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
that is surjective (i.e. f maps from Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
onto Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
) so that the cardinality of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
is no less than that of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
. Since Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
is a subset of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
, its cardinality is also no greater, so the two cardinalities must in fact be equal, by the Cantor–Bernstein–Schröder theorem.
To construct this function, consider the points in the Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
interval in terms of base 3 (or ternary) notation. Recall that the proper ternary fractions, more precisely: the elements of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \bigl(\Z \smallsetminus \{0\}\bigr) \cdot 3^{-\N_0}}
, admit more than one representation in this notation, as for example 1/3, that can be written as 0.13 = 0.103, but also as 0.0222...3 = 0.023, and 2/3, that can be written as 0.23 = 0.203 but also as 0.1222...3 = 0.123.[12]
When we remove the middle third, this contains the numbers with ternary numerals of the form 0.1xxxxx...3 where xxxxx...3 is strictly between 00000...3 and 22222...3. So the numbers remaining after the first step consist of
Numbers of the form 0.0xxxxx...3 (including 0.022222...3 = 1/3)
Numbers of the form 0.2xxxxx...3 (including 0.222222...3 = 1)
This can be summarized by saying that those numbers with a ternary representation such that the first digit after the radix point is not 1 are the ones remaining after the first step.
The second step removes numbers of the form 0.01xxxx...3 and 0.21xxxx...3, and (with appropriate care for the endpoints) it can be concluded that the remaining numbers are those with a ternary numeral where neither of the first two digits is 1.
Continuing in this way, for a number not to be excluded at step n, it must have a ternary representation whose nth digit is not 1. For a number to be in the Cantor set, it must not be excluded at any step, it must admit a numeral representation consisting entirely of 0s and 2s.
It is worth emphasizing that numbers like 1, 1/3 = 0.13 and 7/9 = 0.213 are in the Cantor set, as they have ternary numerals consisting entirely of 0s and 2s: 1 = 0.222...3 = 0.23, 1/3 = 0.0222...3 = 0.023 and 7/9 = 0.20222...3 = 0.2023.
All the latter numbers are "endpoints", and these examples are right limit points of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
. The same is true for the left limit points of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
, e.g. 2/3 = 0.1222...3 = 0.123 = 0.203 and 8/9 = 0.21222...3 = 0.2123 = 0.2203. All these endpoints are proper ternary fractions (elements of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \Z \cdot 3^{-\N_0}}
) of the form p/q, where denominator q is a power of 3 when the fraction is in its irreducible form.[11] The ternary representation of these fractions terminates (i.e., is finite) or — recall from above that proper ternary fractions each have 2 representations — is infinite and "ends" in either infinitely many recurring 0s or infinitely many recurring 2s. Such a fraction is a left limit point of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
if its ternary representation contains no 1's and "ends" in infinitely many recurring 0s. Similarly, a proper ternary fraction is a right limit point of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
if it again its ternary expansion contains no 1's and "ends" in infinitely many recurring 2s.
This set of endpoints is dense in Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
(but not dense in Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
) and makes up a countably infinite set. The numbers in Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
which are not endpoints also have only 0s and 2s in their ternary representation, but they cannot end in an infinite repetition of the digit 0, nor of the digit 2, because then it would be an endpoint.
The function from Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
to Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
is defined by taking the ternary numerals that do consist entirely of 0s and 2s, replacing all the 2s by 1s, and interpreting the sequence as a binary representation of a real number. In a formula,
Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f \bigg( \sum_{k\in \N} a_k 3^{-k} \bigg) = \sum_{k\in \N} \frac{a_k}{2} 2^{-k}}
where Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \forall k\in \N : a_k \in \{0,2\} .}
For any number y in Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
, its binary representation can be translated into a ternary representation of a number x in Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
by replacing all the 1s by 2s. With this, f(x) = y so that y is in the range of f. For instance if y = 3/5 = 0.100110011001...2 = 0.1001, we write x = 0.2002 = 0.200220022002...3 = 7/10. Consequently, f is surjective. However, f is notinjective — the values for which f(x) coincides are those at opposing ends of one of the middle thirds removed. For instance, take
1/3 = 0.023 (which is a right limit point of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
and a left limit point of the middle third [1/3, 2/3]) and
2/3 = 0.203 (which is a left limit point of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
and a right limit point of the middle third [1/3, 2/3])
so
Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \begin{array}{lcl} f\bigl({}^1\!\!/\!_3 \bigr) = f(0.0\overline{2}_3) = 0.0\overline{1}_2 = \!\! & \!\! 0.1_2 \!\! & \!\! = 0.1\overline{0}_2 = f(0.2\overline{0}_3) = f\bigl({}^2\!\!/\!_3 \bigr) . \\ & \parallel \\ & {}^1\!\!/\!_2 \end{array}}
Thus there are as many points in the Cantor set as there are in the interval Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
(which has the uncountable cardinality Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathfrak{c} = 2^{\aleph_0}}
). However, the set of endpoints of the removed intervals is countable, so there must be uncountably many numbers in the Cantor set which are not interval endpoints. As noted above, one example of such a number is 1/4, which can be written as 0.020202...3 = 0.02 in ternary notation. In fact, given any Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle a\in[-1,1]}
, there exist Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle x,y\in\mathcal{C}}
such that Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle a = y-x}
. This was first demonstrated by Steinhaus in 1917, who proved, via a geometric argument, the equivalent assertion that Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \{(x,y)\in\mathbb{R}^2 \mid y=x+a\} \; \cap \; (\mathcal{C}\times\mathcal{C}) \neq\emptyset}
for every Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle a\in[-1,1]}
.[13] Since this construction provides an injection from Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [-1,1]}
to Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}\times\mathcal{C}}
, we have Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |\mathcal{C}\times\mathcal{C}|\geq|[-1,1]|=\mathfrak{c}}
as an immediate corollary. Assuming that Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |A\times A|=|A|}
for any infinite set Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle A}
(a statement shown to be equivalent to the axiom of choiceby Tarski), this provides another demonstration that Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |\mathcal{C}|=\mathfrak{c}}
.
The Cantor set contains as many points as the interval from which it is taken, yet itself contains no interval of nonzero length. The irrational numbers have the same property, but the Cantor set has the additional property of being closed, so it is not even dense in any interval, unlike the irrational numbers which are dense in every interval.
It has been conjectured that all algebraic irrational numbers are normal. Since members of the Cantor set are not normal in base 3, this would imply that all members of the Cantor set are either rational or transcendental.
Self-similarity
The Cantor set is the prototype of a fractal. It is self-similar, because it is equal to two copies of itself, if each copy is shrunk by a factor of 3 and translated. More precisely, the Cantor set is equal to the union of two functions, the left and right self-similarity transformations of itself, Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle T_L(x)=x/3}
and Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle T_R(x)=(2+x)/3}
, which leave the Cantor set invariant up to homeomorphism: Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle T_L(\mathcal{C})\cong T_R(\mathcal{C})\cong \mathcal{C}=T_L(\mathcal{C})\cup T_R(\mathcal{C}).}
Repeated iteration of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle T_L}
and Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle T_R}
can be visualized as an infinite binary tree. That is, at each node of the tree, one may consider the subtree to the left or to the right. Taking the set Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \{T_L, T_R\}}
together with function composition forms a monoid, the dyadic monoid.
Elements of the Cantor set can be associated with the 2-adic integers, so as with usual integers, the automorphism group is the modular group. Thus the automorphisms of the Cantor set are hyperbolic motions, particular isometries of the hyperbolic plane. Thus, the Cantor set is a homogeneous space in the sense that for any two points Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle x}
and Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle y}
in the Cantor set Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
, there exists a homeomorphism Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle h:\mathcal{C}\to \mathcal{C}}
with Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle h(x)=y}
. An explicit construction of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle h}
can be described more easily if we see the Cantor set as a product space of countably many copies of the discrete space Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \{0,1\}}
. Then the map Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle h:\{0,1\}^\N\to\{0,1\}^\N }
defined by Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle h_n(u):=u_n+x_n+y_n \mod 2}
is an involutive homeomorphism exchanging Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle x}
and Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle y}
.
Topological and analytical properties
Although "the" Cantor set typically refers to the original, middle-thirds Cantor set described above, topologists often talk about "a" Cantor set, which means any topological space that is homeomorphic (topologically equivalent) to it.
For any point in the Cantor set and any arbitrarily small neighborhood of the point, there is some other number with a ternary numeral of only 0s and 2s, as well as numbers whose ternary numerals contain 1s. Hence, every point in the Cantor set is an accumulation point (also called a cluster point or limit point) of the Cantor set, but none is an interior point. A closed set in which every point is an accumulation point is also called a perfect set in topology, while a closed subset of the interval with no interior points is nowhere dense in the interval.
Every point of the Cantor set is also an accumulation point of the complement of the Cantor set.
For any two points in the Cantor set, there will be some ternary digit where they differ — one will have 0 and the other 2. By splitting the Cantor set into "halves" depending on the value of this digit, one obtains a partition of the Cantor set into two closed sets that separate the original two points. In the relative topology on the Cantor set, the points have been separated by a clopen set. Consequently, the Cantor set is totally disconnected. As a compact totally disconnected Hausdorff space, the Cantor set is an example of a Stone space.
As a topological space, the Cantor set is naturally homeomorphic to the product of countably many copies of the space Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \{0, 1\}}
, where each copy carries the discrete topology. This is the space of all sequences in two digits
Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 2^\mathbb{N} = \{(x_n) \mid x_n \in \{0,1\} \text{ for } n \in \mathbb{N}\},}
The Cantor set is a subset of the reals, which are a metric space with respect to the ordinary distance metric; therefore the Cantor set itself is a metric space, by using that same metric. Alternatively, one can use the p-adic metric on Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 2^\mathbb{N}}
: given two sequences Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle (x_n),(y_n)\in 2^\mathbb{N}}
, the distance between them is Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle d((x_n),(y_n)) = 2^{-k}}
, where Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle k}
is the smallest index such that Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle x_k \ne y_k}
; if there is no such index, then the two sequences are the same, and one defines the distance to be zero. These two metrics generate the same topology on the Cantor set.
We have seen above that the Cantor set is a totally disconnected perfect compact metric space. Indeed, in a sense it is the only one: every nonempty totally disconnected perfect compact metric space is homeomorphic to the Cantor set. See Cantor space for more on spaces homeomorphic to the Cantor set.
The Cantor set is sometimes regarded as "universal" in the category of compact metric spaces, since any compact metric space is a continuousimage of the Cantor set; however this construction is not unique and so the Cantor set is not universal in the precise categorical sense. The "universal" property has important applications in functional analysis, where it is sometimes known as the representation theorem for compact metric spaces.[14]
For any integerq ≥ 2, the topology on the group G = Zqω (the countable direct sum) is discrete. Although the Pontrjagin dual Γ is also Zqω, the topology of Γ is compact. One can see that Γ is totally disconnected and perfect - thus it is homeomorphic to the Cantor set. It is easiest to write out the homeomorphism explicitly in the case q = 2. (See Rudin 1962 p 40.)
Measure and probability
The Cantor set can be seen as the compact group of binary sequences, and as such, it is endowed with a natural Haar measure. When normalized so that the measure of the set is 1, it is a model of an infinite sequence of coin tosses. Furthermore, one can show that the usual Lebesgue measure on the interval is an image of the Haar measure on the Cantor set, while the natural injection into the ternary set is a canonical example of a singular measure. It can also be shown that the Haar measure is an image of any probability, making the Cantor set a universal probability space in some ways.
In Lebesgue measure theory, the Cantor set is an example of a set which is uncountable and has zero measure.[15] In contrast, the set has a Hausdorff measure of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 1}
in its dimension of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \log_3(2)}
.[16]
Cantor numbers
If we define a Cantor number as a member of the Cantor set, then[17]
Every real number in Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 2]}
is the sum of two Cantor numbers.
Between any two Cantor numbers there is a number that is not a Cantor number.
Descriptive set theory
The Cantor set is a meagre set (or a set of first category) as a subset of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
(although not as a subset of itself, since it is a Baire space). The Cantor set thus demonstrates that notions of "size" in terms of cardinality, measure, and (Baire) category need not coincide. Like the set Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathbb{Q}\cap[0,1]}
, the Cantor set Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
is "small" in the sense that it is a null set (a set of measure zero) and it is a meagre subset of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
. However, unlike Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathbb{Q}\cap[0,1]}
, which is countable and has a "small" cardinality, Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \aleph_0}
, the cardinality of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}}
is the same as that of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
, the continuum Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathfrak{c}}
, and is "large" in the sense of cardinality. In fact, it is also possible to construct a subset of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle [0, 1]}
that is meagre but of positive measure and a subset that is non-meagre but of measure zero:[18] By taking the countable union of "fat" Cantor sets Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}^{(n)}}
of measure Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \lambda = (n-1)/n}
(see Smith–Volterra–Cantor set below for the construction), we obtain a set Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \mathcal{A} := \bigcup_{n=1}^{\infty}\mathcal{C}^{(n)}}
which has a positive measure (equal to 1) but is meagre in [0,1], since each Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{C}^{(n)}}
is nowhere dense. Then consider the set Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \mathcal{A}^{\mathrm{c}} = [0,1] \smallsetminus\bigcup_{n=1}^\infty \mathcal{C}^{(n)}}
. Since Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{A}\cup\mathcal{A}^{\mathrm{c}} = [0,1]}
, Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{A}^{\mathrm{c}}}
cannot be meagre, but since Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mu(\mathcal{A})=1}
, Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal{A}^{\mathrm{c}}}
must have measure zero.
Instead of repeatedly removing the middle third of every piece as in the Cantor set, we could also keep removing any other fixed percentage (other than 0% and 100%) from the middle. In the case where the middle 8/10 of the interval is removed, we get a remarkably accessible case — the set consists of all numbers in [0,1] that can be written as a decimal consisting entirely of 0s and 9s. If a fixed percentage is removed at each stage, then the limiting set will have measure zero, since the length of the remainder Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle (1-f)^n\to 0}
as Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle n\to\infty}
for any Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f}
such that Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 0<f\leq 1}
.
On the other hand, "fat Cantor sets" of positive measure can be generated by removal of smaller fractions of the middle of the segment in each iteration. Thus, one can construct sets homeomorphic to the Cantor set that have positive Lebesgue measure while still being nowhere dense. If an interval of length Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle r^n}
(Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle r\leq 1/3}
) is removed from the middle of each segment at the nth iteration, then the total length removed is Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\textstyle \sum_{n=1}^\infty 2^{n-1}r^n=r/(1-2r)}
, and the limiting set will have a Lebesgue measure of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \lambda=(1-3r)/(1-2r)}
. Thus, in a sense, the middle-thirds Cantor set is a limiting case with Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle r=1/3}
. If Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 0<r<1/3}
, then the remainder will have positive measure with Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 0<\lambda<1}
. The case Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle r=1/4}
is known as the Smith–Volterra–Cantor set, which has a Lebesgue measure of Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 1/2}
.
Cantor dust
Cantor dust is a multi-dimensional version of the Cantor set. It can be formed by taking a finite Cartesian product of the Cantor set with itself, making it a Cantor space. Like the Cantor set, Cantor dust has zero measure.[20]
A different 2D analogue of the Cantor set is the Sierpinski carpet, where a square is divided up into nine smaller squares, and the middle one removed. The remaining squares are then further divided into nine each and the middle removed, and so on ad infinitum.[21] One 3D analogue of this is the Menger sponge.
Cantor introduced what we call today the Cantor ternary set Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal C}
as an example "of a perfect point-set, which is not everywhere-dense in any interval, however small."[22][23] Cantor described Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal C}
in terms of ternary expansions, as "the set of all real numbers given by the formula: Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle z=c_1/3 +c_2/3^2 + \cdots + c_\nu/3^\nu +\cdots }
where the coefficients Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle c_\nu}
arbitrarily take the two values 0 and 2, and the series can consist of a finite number or an infinite number of elements."[22]
A topological space Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle P}
is perfect if all its points are limit points or, equivalently, if it coincides with its derived setFailed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle P'}
. Subsets of the real line, like Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal C}
, can be seen as topological spaces under the induced subspace topology.[8]
Benoit Mandelbrot wrote much on Cantor dusts and their relation to natural fractals and statistical physics.[10] He further reflected on the puzzling or even upsetting nature of such structures to those in the mathematics and physics community. In The Fractal Geometry of Nature, he described how "When I started on this topic in 1962, everyone was agreeing that Cantor dusts are at least as monstrous as the Koch and Peano curves," and added that "every self-respecting physicist was automatically turned off by a mention of Cantor, ready to run a mile from anyone claiming Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mathcal C}
to be interesting in science."[10]
↑The "Cantor set" was also discovered by Paul du Bois-Reymond (1831–1889). See du Bois-Reymond, Paul (1880), "Der Beweis des Fundamentalsatzes der Integralrechnung", Mathematische Annalen (in German), 16, footnote on p. 128. The "Cantor set" was also discovered in 1881 by Vito Volterra (1860–1940). See: Volterra, Vito (1881), "Alcune osservazioni sulle funzioni punteggiate discontinue" [Some observations on point-wise discontinuous function], Giornale di Matematiche (in Italian), 19: 76–86.
↑Kazimierz Kuratowski (1972) Leo F. Boron, translator, Introduction to Set Theory and Topology, second edition, ch XVI, § 8 The Cantor Discontinuum, page 210 to 15, Pergamon Press
↑ 11.011.1Belcastro, Sarah-Marie; Green, Michael (January 2001), "The Cantor set contains Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \tfrac{1}{4}}
? Really?", The College Mathematics Journal, 32 (1): 55, doi:10.2307/2687224, JSTOR2687224
Mattila, Pertti (25 February 1999). Geometry of Sets and Measures in Euclidean Space: Fractals and rectifiability. Cambridge studies in advanced mathematics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN0521655951.
Mattila, Pertti (2015). Fourier Analysis and Hausdorff Dimension. Cambridge studies in advanced mathematics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN9781316227619..
