Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/prelims/mathematics-ii/5/b/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Oxford 2021 Prelims Mathematics II 5 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
We give the explicit point . Repeatedly choose the left remaining third and then the right remaining third. After choices, the resulting closed interval is , whereThese formulas follow from a finite geometric series. They show , and that both endpoints tend to . The point is also strictly inside each intermediate left third: its distance from is one quarter of the current length. It therefore never enters any assigned closed middle third or its endpoints, so .
Endpoint values in the Cantor function construction obey the same left/right choices, with halving in place of thirding. ThusAll these endpoints are in the domain of the partial function: is the right endpoint of a middle third assigned at round , and is the left endpoint of a middle third assigned at round .
Given , choose so that , and put . If and , then . The assumed monotonicity givesConsequently . This proves directly, on the stated partial domain,There are defined points arbitrarily close to , for example and , so the limit of a function is not vacuous. No continuous extension has been assumed. The residual here omits the endpoints that the question assigns values to; it is the usual Cantor set with those assigned endpoints removed.
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