Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/iii/paper-65/1/a/solution

If , the family of proper containing half-spaces is empty and its intersection is, by convention, . If , every closed half-space contains it and their intersection is empty. Now suppose is a nonempty proper closed convex set. Take and let be its Euclidean projection onto a convex set. This projection exists: a minimizing sequence can be restricted to a bounded ball, and closedness gives attainment. It is unique by convexity and strict convexity of squared distance.
For , the segment remains in for . Minimality at implies
Thus the closed half-space contains but excludes , since . Every point outside is excluded by at least one containing half-space. The reverse inclusion is immediate, giving
This is the half-space representation of a closed convex set. The argument gives an explicit separating hyperplane rather than just citing a Hahn-Banach separation theorem.

New to topics? Read the docs here!