Refinement lemma (used for Lebesgue numbers): Let (X,d)(X,d) be a , let KXK\subseteq X be , and let U\mathcal{U} be an cover of KK. For each xKx\in K, choose UxUU_x\in\mathcal{U} with xUxx\in U_x. Since UxU_x is open, there exists rx>0r_x>0 such that

B(x,rx)Ux.B(x,r_x)\subseteq U_x.

Then there exist points x1,,xNKx_1,\dots,x_N\in K such that

Ki=1NB ⁣(xi,rxi2).K\subseteq \bigcup_{i=1}^N B\!\left(x_i,\frac{r_{x_i}}{2}\right).

In particular, if δ=min1iNrxi2\delta=\min_{1\le i\le N} \frac{r_{x_i}}{2}, then δ>0\delta>0 and for every xKx\in K there exists UUU\in\mathcal{U} with B(x,δ)UB(x,\delta)\subseteq U.

This is the standard compactness step that produces a uniform scale from pointwise local containment. See also .