# Which of the following define a metric on $\mathbb{R}$?

Which of the following define a metric on $\mathbb{R}$?

$d_1(x,y) = \frac{|x|-|y|} {1+|x||y|}$

$d_2(x,y) = \sqrt{|x-y|}$

$d_3(x,y) = |f(x)-g(x)|$ where $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ is strictly monotonic increasing function.

Here is my attempt:

$d_1(x,y)$ satisfies all the three conditions.

$d_2(x,y)$ may fail to satisfy triangle inequality.

$d_3(x,y)$ is not a well defined function.

I am not sure whether i am correct or not? I need a proper justifications.

Thanks for giving me time.

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Note that $d_{1}(-1,1)=0$. –  Thomas E. May 17 '12 at 10:55
@ThomasE. Great comment. Simple and elegant. –  srijan May 17 '12 at 11:20

You’re certainly right about $d_3$, since we’re told absolutely nothing about $g$.
To show that $d_2$ may fail to satisfy the triangle inequality, you need to produce an actual example of such a failure. What if $x=0,y=1/2$, and $z=1$?
You need to take another look at $d_1$: what if $|x|<|y|$?
if we have $d_1(x,y) = \frac{|x-y|} {1+|x||y|}$ , can we say that it will form metric space? –  srijan May 17 '12 at 10:16
@srijan: What happens if $x=0,y=1,z=2$? Does the triangle inequality hold for all permutations of those three points? –  Brian M. Scott May 17 '12 at 10:22
Certainly it will not satisfy triangle inequality for $x = 0$, $y = 2$, $z = 1$. Heartily thanks to you sir. –  srijan May 17 '12 at 10:27
@srijan: And $d_3(x,y)=|f(x)-g(y)|$? It won’t satisfy $d_3(x,x)=0$ for all $x$ unless $f=g$. –  Brian M. Scott May 17 '12 at 10:32