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GRE test 8767 #66

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 5:17 am
by Krutika
http://www.math.ucla.edu/~cmarshak/GRE3.pdf

Hi!

I was attempting this paper and the answer #66 suggests that option (III) is incorrect. Can anyone please explain why it shouldnt be true?

Thanks

Re: GRE test 8767 #66

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 11:44 am
by Austin
Imagine that the set was defined with $$\sqrt{-1}$$ in place of $$\sqrt{5}$$ (pun most definitely intended). Then this set would be the closed unit disc in the complex plane. It should then be pretty clear that we won't have closure under addition.

Alternatively, you can just cook up an easy counterexample, such as a=1,b=0 and a=0,b=1. Adding these together should put you outside of the set.

Re: GRE test 8767 #66

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 12:11 pm
by Krutika
So the same should also be applicable to a+ b (root 2), right? That way (i) wouldn't be a subring either.

Re: GRE test 8767 #66

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 12:56 pm
by Austin
No, in (i), a and b aren't subject to the restriction $$a^2+b^2\leq 1$$; they just have to be rational. Since $$\mathbb{Q}$$ is closed under addition, so is the set in (i). Of course, you still need to check that it's closed under multiplication, but this is easy.