I’m working on the following exercise in Klenke’s Probability Theory: A Comprehensive Course (Exercise 13.1.3), which asks us to prove the following generalization of Lusin’s Theorem:
Let $\Omega$ be a Polish space, let $\mu$ be a $\sigma$-finite measure on $(\Omega, \mathcal B(\Omega))$, and let $f : \Omega \to \mathbb R$ be a map. Show that the following are equivalent:
- There is a Borel measurable map $g : \Omega \to \mathbb R$ with $f = g$ almost everywhere.
- For any $\epsilon > 0$, there is a compact set $K_\epsilon$ with $\mu(\Omega \setminus K_\epsilon) < \epsilon$ such that the restricted function $f|_{K_\epsilon}$ is continuous.
As stated, this exercise is wrong when $\mu(\Omega) = \infty$: if $\Omega = \mathbb R$, no compact set has a complement with finite Lebesgue measure, so it should be a closed set $K_\epsilon$.
Furthermore, $\mu$ must be more than just $\sigma$-finite. Let $\Omega = \mathbb R$, and $\mu = \sum_{q \in \mathbb Q} \delta_q$ be the counting measure of the rationals. Then $\mu$ is certainly $\sigma$-finite, but if $f$ is a Borel-measurable map and if $K \subset \mathbb R$ is closed with $\mu(K^c) < \epsilon$ for $\epsilon < 1$, then we must have $\mu(K^c) = 0$, or $K \supset \mathbb Q$. But then since $K$ is closed, $\overline{\mathbb{Q}}= \mathbb R \subset K$, so $f$ must be continuous on $\mathbb R$ in order for the claim to hold. So we need more than $\sigma$-finite.
One way to edit the exercise is to instead assume $\mu$ is Radon and modify Statement 2 like so:
- There is a Borel measurable map $ g : \Omega \to \mathbb R$ with $f = g$ $\mu$-a.e.
- For any subset $A \subset \Omega$ with $\mu(A) < \infty$, and for any $\epsilon > 0$, there is a compact $K_\epsilon \subset A$ such that $f|_{K_\epsilon}$ is continuous.
These statements may be shown to be equivalent, since one can show Radon measures on Polish are $\sigma$-finite (see the discussion below).
But suppose we want to show the “original” Statement 2:
For any $\epsilon > 0$, there is a closed $K_\epsilon \subset \Omega$ with $\mu(K_\epsilon^c) < \epsilon$ such that the restricted function $f|_{K_\epsilon} : K_\epsilon \to \mathbb R$ is continuous.
What conditions must we impose on the Polish space $\Omega$ with infinite Radon measure $\mu$ in order to guarantee that this is true?