Continuity
August 31, 2023
1 Continuous functions
Before starting this chapter, let us understand the meaning of some specific phrases.
• For a map f : X → Y and a subset A of Y ,
f −1 (A) = {x ∈ X : f (x) ∈ A}.
• For a map f : X → Y and a subset B of X,
f (B) = {y ∈ Y : y = f (x) for some x ∈ B}.
Definition 1.1. Let (X, TX ) and (Y, TY ) be two topological spaces. A function
f :X→Y
is said to be continuous if
f −1 (U ) ∈ TX , for all U ∈ TY .
Proposition 1.2. Let (X, TX ) and (Y, TY ) be two topological spaces. Suppose TY is
generated by a basis BY . Then a function
f :X→Y
is said to be continuous if and only if
f −1 (B) ∈ TX , for all B ∈ BY .
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Proof : Forward implication just follows from the fact that BY ⊂ TY . To prove the
reverse direction, take U ∈ TY . Then one can write
U = ∪α Bα , Bα ∈ BY .
Hence
f −1 (U ) = ∪α f −1 (Bα ) ∈ TX .
□
Example 1.3. (i) Let (X, TX ) and (Y, TY ) be two topological spaces. If X has the
discrete topology, then any map f : X → Y is continuous.
(ii) Let (X, TX ) and (Y, TY ) be two topological spaces. If Y has the indiscrete topology,
then any map f : X → Y is continuous.
Exercise: Let T and T ′ be two topologies on X. Then the function
f : (X, T ′ ) → (X, T ); f (x) = x,
is continuous if and only if T ′ is finer than T .
Definition 1.4. Let X and Y be topological spaces and f : X → Y be a map. We
say that f is continuous at x ∈ X if for each neighbourhood V of f (x), there exists a
neigbourhood U of x such that
f (U ) ⊂ V.
Theorem 1.5. Let X and Y be topological spaces and f : X → Y be a map. Then f is
continuous if and only if f is continuous at x for all x ∈ X.
Theorem 1.6. Let X and Y be topological spaces and f : X → Y be a map. TFAE
(i) f is continuous.
(ii) For every subset A of X, one has
f A ⊂ f (A).
(iii) For every closed set B in X, f −1 (B) is closed in Y .
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Definition 1.7. Let (X, TX ) and (Y, TY ) be topological spaces and f : X → Y be a
bijective map. Let g : Y → X be the inverse function of f that is,
g ◦ f = idX and f ◦ g = idY .
We call f a homeomorphism if both f and its inverse function g are continuous.
Remark 1.8. Note that if f is a homeomorphism then
• for every open set U in X, f (U ) is open in Y ,
• for every open set V in Y , f −1 (V ) = g(V ) is open in X.
• The map U 7→ f (U ) sets up a bijection between TX and TY .
Rules for constructing continuous functions
Theorem 1.9. Let X, Y , and Z be topological spaces.
• Constant function: Fix y0 ∈ Y . Then the map
f :X →Y; f (x) = y0 for all x ∈ X
is continuous.
• Inclusion: If A is a subspace of X, then the inclusion function
i : A → X; i(a) = a for all a ∈ A
is continuous.
• Composition: If f : X → Y and g : Y → Z are continuous, then the map
g ◦ f : X → Z is continuous.
• Restricting the domain: If f : X → Y is continuous, and if A is a subspace of
X, then the restricted function f |A : A → Y is continuous.
• Restricting the range: Let f : X → Y be continuous. If Z is a subspace of Y
containing the image set f (X), then the function
g : X → Z; g(x) = f (x) for all x ∈ X,
obtained by restricting the range of f is continuous.
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• Expanding the range: Let f : X → Y be continuous. Let Z be a space having
Y as a subspace. Then the function
h : X → Z, g(x) = f (x) for all x ∈ X,
obtained by expanding the range of f is continuous.
• Local formulation of continuity: The map f : X → Y is continuous if X
can be written as the union of open sets Uα such that f |Uα is continuous for each
α.
Theorem 1.10. (The pasting lemma) Let X = A ∪ B, where A, B are closed in X. Let
f : A → Y and g : B → Y be continuous functions. Assume that f (x) = g(x) for all
x ∈ A ∩ B. Define
f (x) if x ∈ A,
h : X → Y ; h(x) =
g(x) if x ∈ B.
Then h is continuous.
Proof :
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Theorem 1.11. Maps into products: Let f : A → X × Y is given by
f (a) = (f1 (a), f2 (a)), for all a ∈ A.
Then f is continuous if and only if f1 : A → X and f2 : A → Y are continuous.
