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I couldn't find a bijective map from $(0,1)$ to $\mathbb{R}$. Is there any example?

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Yes, and there's even one from (0,1) to R²... – Axel Sep 21 '12 at 12:56

9 Answers

Here is a bijection from $(-\pi/2,\pi/2)$ and $\mathbb{R}$: $$ f(x)=\tan x. $$ You can play with this function and solve your problem.

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Here is a nice one ${}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}$, can you find the equation? enter image description here fg fgf gf gdddddfgfdgfgdgfgdfg

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That's really nice! – Clive Newstead Sep 21 '12 at 12:26

$g(x)=\frac 1{1+e^x}$ gives a bijection from $\Bbb R$ to $(0,1)$, so take the inverse of this map.

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And the inverse is $f(x)=\ln\left(\frac{1}{x}-1\right)$ – celtschk Sep 21 '12 at 12:19

A homeomorphism (continuous bijection with a continuous inverse) would be $f:(0,1)\to\Bbb R$ given by $$f(x)=\frac{2x-1}{x-x^2}.$$

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This is the answer you want. A direct map that just stretches the unit interval onto the (-inf,inf) interval. This shows you don't need an exotic function like the bijection between [0,1] and [0,1]^2. – John Baber Sep 21 '12 at 12:17
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No need for that 4... – lhf Sep 21 '12 at 12:22
Fair point, @lhf. Not sure why I bothered with that.... – Cameron Buie Sep 21 '12 at 17:21

For a less differentiable example, consider the bijection in the following picture, enter image description here

In symbols, given $x \in (0,1)$ let $n$ be the largest natural number such that $1-\frac{1}{n}<x$, define $$y=\frac{x-n}{\frac{1}{n}-\frac{1}{n+1}}$$ to be the renormalized version of $x$ if the interval $(1-\frac{1}{n},1-\frac{1}{n+1}]$ is rescaled and shifted to map to $(0,1)$. Then we have the following bijection: $$f(x)=\begin{cases}\frac{n-1}{2}+y,& n \text{ odd} \\ -\frac{n-2}{2}-y,& n \text{ even}\end{cases}$$

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Not only less differentiable but also much less continuous. – Stefan Geschke Sep 21 '12 at 10:15
(: One might even consider the composition $f \circ g$ with a nowhere continuous bijection $g:(0,1)\rightarrow (0,1)$. – Nick Alger Sep 21 '12 at 10:27

Yes. let $f(x)=\tan((x-1/2)\pi)$. the domain is $(0,1)$ and range is $\mathbb{R}$

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Here is a more visual description of the same function (modulo a factor of $\pi$) Bend the line segment (0, 1) into a semicircle, with the open part facing upwards, and rest it on the real line (with 0.5 on the semicircle resting on 0 on the real line). To map a point on one line to a point on the other, draw a line through that point and the centre of the circle. The mapped point is where it intersects the other line. – Max Sep 21 '12 at 10:10
Of course, knowing the domain and range simply guarantees that $f$ is surjective, but this $f$ does turn out to be injective, too. – Cameron Buie Sep 21 '12 at 10:36

Yes, see above answers. There are even bijective maps between $(0,1)$ and $\mathbb{R}^n$. To see this, note that a bijection $\phi$ between $(0,1)$ and $(0,1)^2$ can be made in this way: Let $x= 0.b_1b_2\ldots$, with $b_j$ being the digits in a decimal expansion. Define $$\phi(x) = (0.b_1b_3b_5\ldots,0.b_2b_4b_6\ldots),$$ i.e., extract even and odd digits. For $\phi^{-1}(x_1,x_2)$, let $x_1 = 0.a_1a_2a_3\ldots$, and $x_2=b_1b_2b_3\ldots$. Then, $$ \phi^{-1}(x,y) = 0.a_1b_1a_2b_2\cdots$$ Some care has to be taken with identification between digital expansions like $0.199999\cdots$ and $0.20000\cdots$, but that is an exercise.

Having the bijection between $(0,1)$ and $(0,1)^2$, we can apply one of the other answers to create a bijection with $\mathbb{R}^2$.

The argument easily generalizes to $\mathbb{R}^n$.

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Actually you don't even have to generalize the argument: If you have the bijection between $(0,1)$ and $(0,1)^2$, you get a bijection from $(0,1)$ to $(0,1)^3$ by just applying the same bijection to one of the two factors of $(0,1)^2$. Of course the same way you get to $(0,1)^n$. – celtschk Sep 21 '12 at 12:16

The trigonometric function $\tan x$ is an invertible function from $(-\pi/2,\pi/2)$ to $\mathbb{R}$. Also to find an invertible function from $(0,1)$ to $(-\pi/2,\pi/2)$ find the equation of the straight line joining the points $(0,-\pi/2)$ and $(1,\pi/2)$. Now compose the two functions together. You can likewise find bijections between any two open intervals and any open interval and $\mathbb{R}$.

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$x \mapsto \ln (- \ln x)$ with the inverse $y \mapsto e^{-e ^ {\ y}}$. It's also a $C ^ \infty$ diffeomorphism.

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