a) Let the sequence (an), n∈N, be lacunar. Then there exists a number q>1 such that
an+1≥qan∀n∈N.(1)
In particular, any lacunar sequence is increasing. From (1) it follows that any interval (x,qx) contains at most one term of this sequence. Indeed, if we assume that an and an+1 belong to this interval, then anan+1<xqx=q, contrary to (1). Therefore, any lacunar sequence is solitary.
b) Consider the lacunar sequence an=2n, n∈N. This sequence is solitary as was shown in item a): every interval (x,2x), where x>0, contains at most one term of this sequence. We construct a new sequence (xn), n∈N, as x2n−1=a2n and x2n=a2n−1 for any n∈N. This sequence (xn) is solitary because the set of its terms and the set of the terms of the sequence (an) coincide. But the sequence (xn) is not lacunar since this sequence is not increasing.