Compact subset of an open set has positive distance from its complement

ID: compact-subset-of-an-open-set-has-positive-distance-from-its-complement

In a metric space , let the nonempty compact set lie in the open set . If is nonempty, the distance to a set is a continuous function of : the triangle inequality gives . Since is a closed set, this distance is strictly positive on . The extreme value theorem attains its minimum on , so
If is empty, the extended-real convention gives . This result provides a single positive neighbourhood radius that stays inside at every point of . Compactness is essential: in the real line has zero distance between two sets from , although each point of has positive distance to a set from that complement.

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