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Group Exercises

Group 1
1. Let X be a topological space; let A be a subset of X. Suppose that for each x ∈ A there is an
open set U containing x such that U ⊂ A. Show that A is open in X.
2. Find the boundary and the interior of each of the following subsets of R2

a. A = {x × y : y = 0};

b. B = {x × y : x > 0 and y 6= 0};

c. C = A ∪ B;

d. D = {x × y : x is rational};

e. E = {x × y : 0 < x2 − y2 ≤ 1};

f. F = {x × y : x 6= 0 and y ≤ 1/x}.

3. Let A ⊂ X and B ⊂ Y . Show that in the space X ×Y , A × B = Ā × B̄.

4. Let {Aα } be a collection of subsets of X; let X = ∪Aα . Let f : X → Y ; suppose that f |Aα , is
continuous for each α.

a. Show that if the collection {Aα } is finite and each set Aα is closed, then f is continuous.

b. Find an example where the collection {Aα } is countable and each Aα is closed, but f is
not continuous.

c. An indexed family of sets {Aα } is said to be locally finite if each point x of X has a
neighborhood that intersects Aα for only finitely many values of α. Show that if the
family {Aα } is locally finite and each Aα is closed, then f is continuous.

5. Find a function f : R → R that is continuous at precisely one point.

Group 2
1. Show that the collection Tc given in Example 2.1.5 is a topology on the set X. Is the collec-
tion
T∞ = {U : X −U is infinite or empty or all of X},

a topology on X?
2. If A ⊂ X, we define the boundary of A by the equation

BdA = Ā ∩ X − A.
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a. Show that IntA and BdA are disjoint, and Ā = IntA ∪ BdA.
b. Show that BdA = 0/ ⇔ is both open and closed.
c. Show that U is open ⇔ BdU = Ū −U.
d. If U is open, is it true that U = Int(Ū)? Justify your answer.

3. Criticize the following “proof” that ∪Aα ⊂ ∪Āα : if {Aα } is a collection of sets in X and if
x ∈ ∪Aα , then every neighborhood U of x intersects ∪Aα . Thus U must intersect some Aα ,
so that x must belong to the closure of some Aα . Therefore, x ∈ ∪Āα .
4. Let Y be an ordered set in the order topology. Let f , g : X → Y be continuous,

a. Show that the set {x : f (x) ≤ g(x)} is closed in X.

b. Let h : X → Y be the function h(x) = min{ f (x), g(x)}. Show that h is continuous [Hint:
Use the pasting lemma.]

5. Given sequences (a1 , a2 , . . . ) and (b1 , b2 , . . . ) of real numbers with ai > 0 for all i, define
h : Rω → Rω by the equation

h((x1 , x2 , . . . )) = (a1 x1 + b1 , a2 x2 + b2 , . . . ).

Show that if Rω is given the product topology, h is a homeomorphism of Rω with itself.

What happens if Rω is given the box topology?

Group 3
1. If {Tα } is a family of topologies on X, show that ∩Tα is a topology on X. Is ∪Tα a topology
on X?
2. Let I = [0, 1]. Compare the product topology on I × I, the dictionary order topology on I × I,
and the topology I × I inherits as a subspace of R × R in the dictionary order topology.
3. Determine the closures of the following subsets of the ordered square:

A = {(1/n) × 0 : n ∈ Z+ },

B = {(1 − 1/n) × 1/2 : n ∈ Z+ },

C = {x × 0 : 0 < x < 1},

D = {x × 1/2 : 0 < x < 1},

E = {1/2 × y : 0 < y < 1}.

4. Given x0 ∈ X and y0 ∈ Y , show that the maps f : X → X ×Y and g : Y → X ×Y defined by

f (x) = x × y0 and g(y) = x0 × y, are imbeddings.
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5. Let R∞ be the subset of Rω consisting of all sequences that are “eventually zero,” that is, all
sequences (x1 , x2 , . . . ) such that xi 6= 0 for only finitely many values of i. What is the closure
of R∞ in Rω in the box and product topologies? Justify your answer.

Group 4
1. Let {Tα } be a family of topologies on X. Show that there is a unique smallest topology on
X containing all the collections Tα , and a unique largest topology contained in all Tα .
2. If L is a straight line in the plane, describe the topology L inherits as a subspace of Rl × R
and as a subspace of Rl × Rl . In each case it is a familiar topology.
3. Consider the lower limit topology on R and the topology given by the basis C of Exercise
√ √
2.2.8. Determine the closures of the intervals A = (0, 2) and B = ( 2, 3) in these two
topologies.
4. Let X and X 0 denote a single set in the two topologies T and T 0 ; respectively. Let i : X → X 0
be the identity function.

a. Show that i is continuous ⇔ T 0 is finer than T,

b. Show that i is a homeomorphism ⇔ T 0 = T.

5. Let x1 , x2 , . . . be a sequence of the points of the product space ∏ Xα . Show that this sequence
converges to the point x if and only if the sequence πα (x1 ), πα (x2 ), . . . converges to; πα (x)
for each α. Is this fact true if one uses the box topology instead of the product topology?

Group 5
1. If X = {a, b, c}, let
n o
T1 = 0,
/ X, {a}, {a, b} ,
n o
T2 = 0,
/ X, {a}, {b, c} .

Find the smallest topology containing T1 and T2 , and the largest topology contained in T1
and T2 .
2. Let X be an ordered set. If Y is a proper subset of X that is convex in X, does it follow that
Y is an interval or a ray in X?
3. Consider the five topologies on R given in Exercise 2.2.7.

a. Determine the closure of the set K = {1/n : n ∈ Z+ } under each of these topologies.

b. Which of these topologies satisfy the Hausdorff axiom? the T1 axiom?

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4. Suppose that f : X → Y is continuous. If x is a limit point of the subset A of X, is it necessarily

true that f (X) is a limit point of f (A)?
5. Show that (X1 × · · · × Xn−1 ) × Xn is homeomorphic with X1 × · · · × Xn .

Group 6
1. Show that if A is a basis for a topology on X, then the topology generated by A equals the
intersection of all topologies on X that contain A. Prove the same if A is a subbasis.
2. Show that the countable collection

{(a, b) × (c, d) : a < b and c < d, and a, b, c, d are rational},

is a basis for R2 .
3. Show the T1 axiom is equivalent to the condition that for each pair of points of X, each has
a neighborhood not containing the other.
4. Let C be a collection of subsets of the set X. Suppose that 0/ and X are in C, and that finite
unions and arbitrary intersections of elements of C are in C. Show that the collection

T = {X −C : C ∈ C},

is a topology on X.
5. Let A ⊂ X; let f : A → Y be continuous; let Y be Hausdorff. Show that if f may be extended
to a continuous function g : Ā → Y , then g is uniquely determined by f .

Group 7
1. Show that the topologies of Rl and RK are not comparable.
2. Let X and X 0 denote a single set in the topologies T and T 0 respectively; let Y and Y 0 denote
a single set in the topologies U. and U0 , respectively. Assume these sets are nonempty.

1. Show that if T 0 ⊃ T and U0 ⊃ U, then the product topology on X 0 ×Y 0 is finer than the
product topology on X ×Y .

2. Does the converse of (1) hold? Justify your answer.

3. In the finite complement topology on R, to what point or points does the sequence xn = 1/n
converge?
4. Let A, B, and Aα denote subsets of a space X. Prove the following:

a. If A ⊂ B, then Ā ⊂ B̄.
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b. A ∪ B = Ā ∪ B̄.

c. ∪Aα ⊃ ∪Āα give an example where equality fails.

5. Let F : R × R → R be defined by the equation


xy/(x2 + y2 ) if x × y 6= 0 × 0,
F(x × y) =
0 if x × y = 0 × 0.

a. Show that F is continuous in each variable separately.

b. Compute the function g : R → R defined by g(x) = F(x × x).

c. Show that F is not continuous

Group 8
1. Consider the following topologies on R: T1 = the standard topology,
T2 = the topology of RK .
T3 = the finite complement topology,
T4 = the upper limit topology, having all sets (a, b] as basis,
T5 = the topology having all sets (−∞, a) as basis.
Determine, for each of these topologies, which of the others it contains.
2. A map f : X → Y is said to be an open map if for every open set U of X, the set f (U) is open
in Y . Show that π1 : X ×Y → X and π2 : X ×Y → Y are open maps.
3. Show that X is Hausdorff if and only if the diagonal ∆ = {x × x : x ∈ X} is closed in X × X.
4. Let X be an ordered set in the order topology. Show that (a, b) ⊂ [a, b]. Under what condi-
tions does equality hold?
5. Let F : X ×Y → Z. We say that F is continuous in each variable separately if for each y0 in
Y , the map h : X → Z defined by h(x) = F(x × y0 ) is continuous, and for each x0 in X, the
map k : Y → Z defined by k(y) = F(x0 × y) is continuous. Show that if F is continuous, then
F is continuous in each variable separately.

Group 9
1. Show that the countable collection

B = {(a, b) : a < b; a, b rational},

is a basis that generates the standard topology on R.

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2. Consider the set Y = [−1, 1] as a subspace of R. Which of the following sets are open in Y ?
Which are open in R?
1 1
A = {x : < |x| < 1}, B = {x : < |x| ≤ 1},
2 2
1 1
C = {x : ≤ |x| < 1}, D = {x : ≤ |x| ≤ 1},
2 2
1
E = {x : 0 < |x| < 1 and ∈
/ Z+ }.
x
3. Show that a subspace of a Hausdorff space is Hausdorff.
4. Show that if U is open in X and A is closed in X, then U − A is open in X, and A − U is
closed in X.
5. Let f : A → B and g : C → D be continuous functions. Let us define a map f × g : A ×C →
B × D by the equation ( f × g)(a × c) = f (a) × g(c). Show that f × g is continuous.

Group 10
1. Show that the collection

B = {[a, b) : a < b; a, b rational},

is a basis that generates a topology different from the lower limit topology on R.
2. If T and T 0 are topologies on X and T 0 is strictly finer than T, what can you say about the
corresponding subspace topologies on the subset Y of X?
3. Show that the product of two Hausdorff spaces is Hausdorff.
4. Show that if A is closed in X and B is closed in Y , then A × B is closed in X ×Y .
5. a. Suppose that f : R → R is “continuous from the right,” that is,

lim f (x) = f (a),

x→a+

for each a ∈ R. Show that f is continuous when considered as a function from Rl to R.

b. Can you conjecture what functions f : R → R are continuous when considered as maps
from R to Rl ? As maps from Rl to Rl ?

Group 11
1. Show that if Y is a subspace of X, and A is a subset of Y , then the topology A inherits as a
subspace of Y is the same as the topology it inherits as a subspace of X.
2. Show that every order topology is Hausdorff.
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3. Let A, B, and Aα denote subsets of a space X. Determine whether the following equations
hold; if an equality fails, determine whether one of the inclusions ⊂ or ⊃ holds.

a. A ∩ B = Ā ∩ B̄.
b. ∩Aα = ∩Āα .
c. A − B = Ā − B̄.

4. Show that if A is closed in Y and Y is closed in X, then A is closed in X.

5. Show that the subspace (a, b) of R is homeomorphic with (0, 1) and the subspace [a, b] of R
is homeomorphic with [0, 1].