EE5121: Optimization Methods for Signal Processing and

Communication
Assignment 1

1. Find the supremum and the infimum of the following sets:

(a) A1 = { n1 ; n = 1, 2, 3, . . .}
(b) A2 = {21/n , n = 1, 2, . . .}
(c) A3 = (−3, 4) ∪ [6, 10]
(d) A4 = (−3, 4) ∩ (2, 6)
(e) A5 = (−3, 4) ∩ [6, 10]
x
(f) A6 = { 1+x : x ∈ R, x ≥ 0}
2. Let E be a nonempty subset of an ordered set; suppose α is a lower bound of E and β is an
upper bound of E. Prove that α ≤ β.
3. Let A be a nonempty set of real numbers which is bounded below. Let −A be the set of all
numbers −x, where x ∈ A. Prove that

inf A = − sup(−A).

4. Given A ⊂ R, can sup(A) = inf(A)? If so, characterize all such A.

5. Intuitively, for what class of subsets of R is sup(A) = max(A) true?
6. For x ∈ R and y ∈ R, define
(a) d1 (x, y) = (x − y)2
p
(b) d2 (x, y) = |x − y|
(c) d3 (x, y) = |x2 − y 2 |
(d) d4 (x, y) = |x − 2y|
Check if each of the above is a metric.
7. Let X be an infinite set, For p ∈ X and q ∈ X, define
(
1 if (p 6= q)
d(p, q) =
0 if (p = q).

Prove that this is a metric. Which subsets of the resulting metric space are open? Which
are closed? Which are compact?
8. Is every point of every open set E ⊂ R2 a limit point of E? Answer the same question for
closed sets in R2 .
9. Check if the following set is a closed subset of R2 and provide reasons for your claim.

A1 = {(x, y) : x > 0, y > 0, 3x + 2y ≤ 1}.

10. Let f be a continuous real function on a metric space X. Let Z(f ) (the zero set of f ) be the
set of all p ∈ X at which f (p) = 0. Prove that Z(f ) is closed.
11. Let f (x) and g(x) be two continuous functions from Rd to R. Also g(x) 6= 0. Is max{f (x), g(x)}
a continuous function? Provide justification.
12. Are the following sets compact: provide some arguments

1
 (a) A1 = [5, 10] ∪ {0}
(b) A2 = {x; x ∈ Rd , kxkα ≤ 1}
(c) A3 = {x; x ∈ Rd , Ax ≥ b}, A is invertible d × d matrix and b 6= 0
13. Plot the following subsets of R2 :

(a) kxk1 ≤ 1, x ∈ R2
(b) kxk2 ≤ 1, x ∈ R2
(c) kxk∞ ≤ 1, x ∈ R2
14. Let A be a m × n real matrix. For any x ∈ Rn , define

kxkA = kAxk2 .

Is kxkA a norm in Rm for any matrix A?. What properties of A will make k.kA a norm?
(Hint: Check when the norm becomes zero, and relate it to the Null space of the matrix.
If you have not heard of null space, it will be a good time to review basic linear algebra,
especially solutions of linear equations.)
15. Let V be a vector space. Show that the sum of two inner products on V is an inner product
on V . Is the difference of two inner products an inner product? Show that a positive multiple
of an inner product is an inner product.
16. Show that if two subspaces V and W of an inner product space are orthogonal, then they are
independent.