Is the sum of two irrational numbers almost always irrational?












9












$begingroup$


Clearly the sum of two irrational numbers is not necessarily irrational. But is it true that it is 'almost always' irrational, in the sense that $$displaystylelim_{xtoinfty}dfrac{lambda(Pcap B(x))}{lambda(Rcap B(x))}=1$$ where $lambda$ is Lebesgue measure, $Rsubset mathbb{R}^2$ is the set of points with irrational coordinates and $Psubset R$ is the set of those points the sum of whose coordinates is irrational (and $B(x)$ the disc of radius $x$ centred at the origin)? And I guess the same question applies to transcendental numbers. Intuitively it seems true, but I don't know how one would prove this. If not, then there is the question of whether the limit exists and if it does what is it.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Related: Is the sum and difference of two irrationals always irrational?
    $endgroup$
    – mrtaurho
    Jan 6 at 14:45










  • $begingroup$
    I think you mean for your denominator to be the measure of $B(x)$ not of $Rcap B(x)$.
    $endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Jan 6 at 16:46


















9












$begingroup$


Clearly the sum of two irrational numbers is not necessarily irrational. But is it true that it is 'almost always' irrational, in the sense that $$displaystylelim_{xtoinfty}dfrac{lambda(Pcap B(x))}{lambda(Rcap B(x))}=1$$ where $lambda$ is Lebesgue measure, $Rsubset mathbb{R}^2$ is the set of points with irrational coordinates and $Psubset R$ is the set of those points the sum of whose coordinates is irrational (and $B(x)$ the disc of radius $x$ centred at the origin)? And I guess the same question applies to transcendental numbers. Intuitively it seems true, but I don't know how one would prove this. If not, then there is the question of whether the limit exists and if it does what is it.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Related: Is the sum and difference of two irrationals always irrational?
    $endgroup$
    – mrtaurho
    Jan 6 at 14:45










  • $begingroup$
    I think you mean for your denominator to be the measure of $B(x)$ not of $Rcap B(x)$.
    $endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Jan 6 at 16:46
















9












9








9


4



$begingroup$


Clearly the sum of two irrational numbers is not necessarily irrational. But is it true that it is 'almost always' irrational, in the sense that $$displaystylelim_{xtoinfty}dfrac{lambda(Pcap B(x))}{lambda(Rcap B(x))}=1$$ where $lambda$ is Lebesgue measure, $Rsubset mathbb{R}^2$ is the set of points with irrational coordinates and $Psubset R$ is the set of those points the sum of whose coordinates is irrational (and $B(x)$ the disc of radius $x$ centred at the origin)? And I guess the same question applies to transcendental numbers. Intuitively it seems true, but I don't know how one would prove this. If not, then there is the question of whether the limit exists and if it does what is it.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$




Clearly the sum of two irrational numbers is not necessarily irrational. But is it true that it is 'almost always' irrational, in the sense that $$displaystylelim_{xtoinfty}dfrac{lambda(Pcap B(x))}{lambda(Rcap B(x))}=1$$ where $lambda$ is Lebesgue measure, $Rsubset mathbb{R}^2$ is the set of points with irrational coordinates and $Psubset R$ is the set of those points the sum of whose coordinates is irrational (and $B(x)$ the disc of radius $x$ centred at the origin)? And I guess the same question applies to transcendental numbers. Intuitively it seems true, but I don't know how one would prove this. If not, then there is the question of whether the limit exists and if it does what is it.







real-analysis number-theory probability-theory






share|cite|improve this question















share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited Jan 6 at 14:37







AlephNull

















asked Jan 6 at 14:25









AlephNullAlephNull

2529




2529








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Related: Is the sum and difference of two irrationals always irrational?
    $endgroup$
    – mrtaurho
    Jan 6 at 14:45










  • $begingroup$
    I think you mean for your denominator to be the measure of $B(x)$ not of $Rcap B(x)$.
    $endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Jan 6 at 16:46
















  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Related: Is the sum and difference of two irrationals always irrational?
    $endgroup$
    – mrtaurho
    Jan 6 at 14:45










  • $begingroup$
    I think you mean for your denominator to be the measure of $B(x)$ not of $Rcap B(x)$.
    $endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Jan 6 at 16:46










1




1




$begingroup$
Related: Is the sum and difference of two irrationals always irrational?
$endgroup$
– mrtaurho
Jan 6 at 14:45




$begingroup$
Related: Is the sum and difference of two irrationals always irrational?
$endgroup$
– mrtaurho
Jan 6 at 14:45












$begingroup$
I think you mean for your denominator to be the measure of $B(x)$ not of $Rcap B(x)$.
$endgroup$
– Milo Brandt
Jan 6 at 16:46






$begingroup$
I think you mean for your denominator to be the measure of $B(x)$ not of $Rcap B(x)$.
$endgroup$
– Milo Brandt
Jan 6 at 16:46












1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















12












$begingroup$

Let $NP$ be the set of pairs whose sum is rational. I think its easier to prove $lambda(NPcap B(x))=0$. In fact since $NPcap B(x)subset NP$, we just prove $lambda(NP)=0$ and we are done. Let $$NP_x={(x,y)|x+yin mathbb{Q}}$$
Notice that the restriction addition to this set is translation by $x$ which is measure preserving, hence the inverse image of the rational numbers has measure zero. However, there is a weak form of Fubini's theorem that says that if a subset of a product measure space ( which $mathbb{R}^2$ is) has the property that its intersection with each slice has measure zero then the set has measure zero. Hence $lambda(NP)=0$.



To bring this back to the specific question you are asking, $NPcup P=mathbb{R}^2$, so for any open ball $B(x)$ $lambda(Pcap B(x))=1$.
On the other hand the set of points whose coordinates are irrational is the complement of a set of measure zero, so $lambda(Rcap B(x))=1$. Hence you are taking the limit of $1/1$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Nice answer (I suppose you mean area $pi x^2$ of $B(x$) as opposed to 1?). And I suppose the same argument would go through for transcendentals because $overline{mathbb{Q}}$ is countable too.
    $endgroup$
    – AlephNull
    Jan 6 at 15:03








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Fubini's theorem is a bit overkill - if you can prove that a single line has measure zero (not so hard by explicit construction of covers by open balls), then this is a countable union of lines, so has measure zero.
    $endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Jan 6 at 16:49










  • $begingroup$
    I guess the answer is YES? (notice that the question was actually answerable by a simple Yes/No... I read this answer and I think it says Yes but I am sincerely not sure)
    $endgroup$
    – Stijn de Witt
    Jan 6 at 23:00











Your Answer





StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
});
});
}, "mathjax-editing");

StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "69"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});














draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3063918%2fis-the-sum-of-two-irrational-numbers-almost-always-irrational%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown

























1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









12












$begingroup$

Let $NP$ be the set of pairs whose sum is rational. I think its easier to prove $lambda(NPcap B(x))=0$. In fact since $NPcap B(x)subset NP$, we just prove $lambda(NP)=0$ and we are done. Let $$NP_x={(x,y)|x+yin mathbb{Q}}$$
Notice that the restriction addition to this set is translation by $x$ which is measure preserving, hence the inverse image of the rational numbers has measure zero. However, there is a weak form of Fubini's theorem that says that if a subset of a product measure space ( which $mathbb{R}^2$ is) has the property that its intersection with each slice has measure zero then the set has measure zero. Hence $lambda(NP)=0$.



To bring this back to the specific question you are asking, $NPcup P=mathbb{R}^2$, so for any open ball $B(x)$ $lambda(Pcap B(x))=1$.
On the other hand the set of points whose coordinates are irrational is the complement of a set of measure zero, so $lambda(Rcap B(x))=1$. Hence you are taking the limit of $1/1$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Nice answer (I suppose you mean area $pi x^2$ of $B(x$) as opposed to 1?). And I suppose the same argument would go through for transcendentals because $overline{mathbb{Q}}$ is countable too.
    $endgroup$
    – AlephNull
    Jan 6 at 15:03








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Fubini's theorem is a bit overkill - if you can prove that a single line has measure zero (not so hard by explicit construction of covers by open balls), then this is a countable union of lines, so has measure zero.
    $endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Jan 6 at 16:49










  • $begingroup$
    I guess the answer is YES? (notice that the question was actually answerable by a simple Yes/No... I read this answer and I think it says Yes but I am sincerely not sure)
    $endgroup$
    – Stijn de Witt
    Jan 6 at 23:00
















12












$begingroup$

Let $NP$ be the set of pairs whose sum is rational. I think its easier to prove $lambda(NPcap B(x))=0$. In fact since $NPcap B(x)subset NP$, we just prove $lambda(NP)=0$ and we are done. Let $$NP_x={(x,y)|x+yin mathbb{Q}}$$
Notice that the restriction addition to this set is translation by $x$ which is measure preserving, hence the inverse image of the rational numbers has measure zero. However, there is a weak form of Fubini's theorem that says that if a subset of a product measure space ( which $mathbb{R}^2$ is) has the property that its intersection with each slice has measure zero then the set has measure zero. Hence $lambda(NP)=0$.



To bring this back to the specific question you are asking, $NPcup P=mathbb{R}^2$, so for any open ball $B(x)$ $lambda(Pcap B(x))=1$.
On the other hand the set of points whose coordinates are irrational is the complement of a set of measure zero, so $lambda(Rcap B(x))=1$. Hence you are taking the limit of $1/1$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Nice answer (I suppose you mean area $pi x^2$ of $B(x$) as opposed to 1?). And I suppose the same argument would go through for transcendentals because $overline{mathbb{Q}}$ is countable too.
    $endgroup$
    – AlephNull
    Jan 6 at 15:03








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Fubini's theorem is a bit overkill - if you can prove that a single line has measure zero (not so hard by explicit construction of covers by open balls), then this is a countable union of lines, so has measure zero.
    $endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Jan 6 at 16:49










  • $begingroup$
    I guess the answer is YES? (notice that the question was actually answerable by a simple Yes/No... I read this answer and I think it says Yes but I am sincerely not sure)
    $endgroup$
    – Stijn de Witt
    Jan 6 at 23:00














12












12








12





$begingroup$

Let $NP$ be the set of pairs whose sum is rational. I think its easier to prove $lambda(NPcap B(x))=0$. In fact since $NPcap B(x)subset NP$, we just prove $lambda(NP)=0$ and we are done. Let $$NP_x={(x,y)|x+yin mathbb{Q}}$$
Notice that the restriction addition to this set is translation by $x$ which is measure preserving, hence the inverse image of the rational numbers has measure zero. However, there is a weak form of Fubini's theorem that says that if a subset of a product measure space ( which $mathbb{R}^2$ is) has the property that its intersection with each slice has measure zero then the set has measure zero. Hence $lambda(NP)=0$.



To bring this back to the specific question you are asking, $NPcup P=mathbb{R}^2$, so for any open ball $B(x)$ $lambda(Pcap B(x))=1$.
On the other hand the set of points whose coordinates are irrational is the complement of a set of measure zero, so $lambda(Rcap B(x))=1$. Hence you are taking the limit of $1/1$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$



Let $NP$ be the set of pairs whose sum is rational. I think its easier to prove $lambda(NPcap B(x))=0$. In fact since $NPcap B(x)subset NP$, we just prove $lambda(NP)=0$ and we are done. Let $$NP_x={(x,y)|x+yin mathbb{Q}}$$
Notice that the restriction addition to this set is translation by $x$ which is measure preserving, hence the inverse image of the rational numbers has measure zero. However, there is a weak form of Fubini's theorem that says that if a subset of a product measure space ( which $mathbb{R}^2$ is) has the property that its intersection with each slice has measure zero then the set has measure zero. Hence $lambda(NP)=0$.



To bring this back to the specific question you are asking, $NPcup P=mathbb{R}^2$, so for any open ball $B(x)$ $lambda(Pcap B(x))=1$.
On the other hand the set of points whose coordinates are irrational is the complement of a set of measure zero, so $lambda(Rcap B(x))=1$. Hence you are taking the limit of $1/1$.







share|cite|improve this answer














share|cite|improve this answer



share|cite|improve this answer








edited Jan 6 at 14:46

























answered Jan 6 at 14:37









Charlie FrohmanCharlie Frohman

1,478913




1,478913












  • $begingroup$
    Nice answer (I suppose you mean area $pi x^2$ of $B(x$) as opposed to 1?). And I suppose the same argument would go through for transcendentals because $overline{mathbb{Q}}$ is countable too.
    $endgroup$
    – AlephNull
    Jan 6 at 15:03








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Fubini's theorem is a bit overkill - if you can prove that a single line has measure zero (not so hard by explicit construction of covers by open balls), then this is a countable union of lines, so has measure zero.
    $endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Jan 6 at 16:49










  • $begingroup$
    I guess the answer is YES? (notice that the question was actually answerable by a simple Yes/No... I read this answer and I think it says Yes but I am sincerely not sure)
    $endgroup$
    – Stijn de Witt
    Jan 6 at 23:00


















  • $begingroup$
    Nice answer (I suppose you mean area $pi x^2$ of $B(x$) as opposed to 1?). And I suppose the same argument would go through for transcendentals because $overline{mathbb{Q}}$ is countable too.
    $endgroup$
    – AlephNull
    Jan 6 at 15:03








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Fubini's theorem is a bit overkill - if you can prove that a single line has measure zero (not so hard by explicit construction of covers by open balls), then this is a countable union of lines, so has measure zero.
    $endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Jan 6 at 16:49










  • $begingroup$
    I guess the answer is YES? (notice that the question was actually answerable by a simple Yes/No... I read this answer and I think it says Yes but I am sincerely not sure)
    $endgroup$
    – Stijn de Witt
    Jan 6 at 23:00
















$begingroup$
Nice answer (I suppose you mean area $pi x^2$ of $B(x$) as opposed to 1?). And I suppose the same argument would go through for transcendentals because $overline{mathbb{Q}}$ is countable too.
$endgroup$
– AlephNull
Jan 6 at 15:03






$begingroup$
Nice answer (I suppose you mean area $pi x^2$ of $B(x$) as opposed to 1?). And I suppose the same argument would go through for transcendentals because $overline{mathbb{Q}}$ is countable too.
$endgroup$
– AlephNull
Jan 6 at 15:03






1




1




$begingroup$
Fubini's theorem is a bit overkill - if you can prove that a single line has measure zero (not so hard by explicit construction of covers by open balls), then this is a countable union of lines, so has measure zero.
$endgroup$
– Milo Brandt
Jan 6 at 16:49




$begingroup$
Fubini's theorem is a bit overkill - if you can prove that a single line has measure zero (not so hard by explicit construction of covers by open balls), then this is a countable union of lines, so has measure zero.
$endgroup$
– Milo Brandt
Jan 6 at 16:49












$begingroup$
I guess the answer is YES? (notice that the question was actually answerable by a simple Yes/No... I read this answer and I think it says Yes but I am sincerely not sure)
$endgroup$
– Stijn de Witt
Jan 6 at 23:00




$begingroup$
I guess the answer is YES? (notice that the question was actually answerable by a simple Yes/No... I read this answer and I think it says Yes but I am sincerely not sure)
$endgroup$
– Stijn de Witt
Jan 6 at 23:00


















draft saved

draft discarded




















































Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid



  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3063918%2fis-the-sum-of-two-irrational-numbers-almost-always-irrational%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

MongoDB - Not Authorized To Execute Command

How to fix TextFormField cause rebuild widget in Flutter

in spring boot 2.1 many test slices are not allowed anymore due to multiple @BootstrapWith