Lecture notes on Topology

Huỳnh Quang Vũ
Current address: Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, University
of Science, Vietnam National University, 227 Nguyen Van Cu, District 5, Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam
E-mail address: [email protected]
URL: http://www.math.hcmus.edu.vn/∼hqvu
ABSTRACT. This is a set of lecture notes prepared for a series of introductory
courses in Topology for undergraduate students at the University of Science,
Vietnam National University–Ho Chi Minh City. It is written to be delivered
by a lecturer, namely by myself, tailored to the need of my own students. I did
not write it with self-study readers or other lecturers in mind.
In my experience many things here are much better explained in oral form
than in written form. Therefore in writing these notes I intend that more expla-
nations and discussions will be carried out in class. I hope by presenting only
the essentials these notes will be more suitable for classroom use. Some details
are left for students to fill in or to be discussed in class.
Since students in my department are required to take a course in Functional
Analysis, I try not to duplicate material in that course.
In general if you encounter an unfamiliar notion, look at the Index and the
Contents. A sign * in front of a problem notifies the reader that this is an im-
portant problem (which clarifies understranding or will be used later) although
might not appear to be so at first, so the reader should try it.
This set of lecture notes will be continuously developed (and corrected!). I
intend to keep the latest version freely available on my web page.
May 14, 2005 – July 10, 2011.
 Contents

Chapter 1. General Topology 1

1.1. Set 1
1.2. Topological Spaces 9
1.3. Continuity 15
1.4. Subspace 18
1.5. Connectedness 23
1.6. Separation 31
1.7. Convergence 33
1.8. Compact Space 37
1.9. Product of Spaces 41
1.10. Compactification 48
1.11. Urysohn Lemma 53
Guide for Further Reading in General Topology 57

Chapter 2. Geometric Topology 59

2.1. Quotient Space 59
2.2. Topological Manifolds 65
2.3. Classification of Compact Surfaces 68
2.4. Homotopy 76

Chapter 3. Differential Topology 81

3.1. Smooth Manifolds 81
3.2. Tangent Spaces – Derivatives 84
3.3. Regular Values 88
3.4. Manifolds with Boundary 93
3.5. The Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem 97
3.6. Orientation 100
3.7. Brouwer Degree 103
Guide for Further Reading in Differential Topology 108

Bibliography 109

Index 111

3
 CHAPTER 1

General Topology

1.1. Set
In General Topology we often work in very general settings, in particular we
often deal with infinite sets.
We will not define what a set is. That means we only work on the level of the
so-called “naive set theory”.
Even so we should be aware of certain problems in naive set theory. Until the
beginning of the 20th century, the set theory of George Cantor, in which set is
not defined, was thought to be a good basis for mathematics. Then some critical
problems were discovered.

Example 1.1.1 (Russell’s paradox). In 1901 Bertrand Russell discovered the fol-
lowing paradox. Consider the set S = {x | x ∈ / x} (the set of all sets which are
not members of themselves). Then whether S ∈ S or not is undecidable, because
answering yes or no to this question leads to contradiction. 1

This example shows that we were having too much liberty with the notion of
set. Axiomatic systems for the theory of sets have been developed since then. In the
Von Neumann-Bernays-Godel system a more general notion than set, called class
(lớp), is used. See [Dug66, p. 32].
In this course, in occasions where we deal with “set of sets” we often replace
the term “set” by the terms “class” or “collection” (họ).

Indexed collection. Suppose that A is a collection, I is a set and f : I → A is a

surjective map. The map f is called an indexed collection, or indexed family (họ
được đánh chỉ số). We often write fi = f (i), and denote the indexed collection f
by { fi }i∈I . Notice that it can happen that fi = f j for some i 6= j.
Thus an indexed collection is a map, not a collection.

Equivalent sets. Two sets are said to be equivalent if there is a bijection from
one to the other. When A and B are equivalent sometimes we write A ∼ B.

1A famous version of this paradox is the Barber paradox: In a village there is a barber. His job is
to do hair cut for a villager if and only if the villager does not cut his hair himself. The question is:
Does the barber cut his own hair?

1
2 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

Example 1.1.2. Two intervals [a, b] and [c, d] on the real number line are equiva-
lent. Similarly, two intervals (a, b) and (c, d) are equivalent. The bijection can be
d−c
given by a linear map x 7→ b−a (x − a) + c.
The interval (−1, 1) is equivalent to R via a map related to the tan function:
x
x 7→ √ .
1 − x2

1
x

0
1

−1

FIGURE 1.1.1. The interval (−1, 1) is equivalent to the line R as sets.

Countable sets.

Definition 1.1.3. A set is called countably infinite (vô hạn đếm được) if it is equiv-
alent to the set of all positive integers.
A set is called countable if it is either finite or countably infinite.

Intuitively, a countably infinite set can be “counted” by the positive integers.

The elements of such a set can be indexed by the positive integers as a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . .

Example 1.1.4. The set Z of all integer numbers is countable.

The set of all even integers is countable.

Proposition 1.1.5. A subset of a countable set is countable.

PROOF. The statement is equivalent to the statement that a subset of Z+ is

countable. Suppose that A is an infinite subset of Z+ . Let a1 be the smallest number
in A. Let an be the smallest number in A \ {a1 , a2 , . . . , an−1 }. Then an−1 < an and
the set B = {an | n ∈ Z+ } is a countably infinite subset of A.
We show that any element m of A is an an for some n, and therefore B = A.
Let C = {an | an ≥ m}. Then C 6= 0/ since B is infinite. Let an0 = minC.
Then an0 ≥ m. Further, since an0 −1 < an0 we have an0 −1 < m. This implies m ∈ A \
{a1 , a2 , . . . , an0 −1 }. Since an0 = min (A \ {a1 , a2 , . . . , an0 −1 }) we must have an0 ≤ m.
Thus an0 = m. 

Proposition 1.1.6. If there is a surjective map from Z+ to a set S then S is count-

able.
 1.1. SET 3

PROOF. Suppose that there is a surjective map φ : Z+ → S. For each s ∈ S the

set φ −1 (s) is non-empty. Let ns = min φ −1 (s). The map s 7→ ns is an injective map
from S to a subset of Z+ , therefore S is countable, by 1.1.5. 

Theorem 1.1.7. The union of a countable collection of countable sets is a count-

able set.

PROOF. The collection can be indexed as A1 , A2 , . . . , Ai , . . . (if the collection

is finite we can let Ai be the same set for all i starting from a certain index). The
elements of each set Ai can be indexed as ai,1 , ai,2 , . . . , ai, j , . . . (if Ai is finite we can
let ai, j be the same element for all j starting from a certain index).
This means there is a surjective map from the index set Z+ × Z+ to the union
i∈I Ai by (i, j) 7→ ai, j .
S

Thus it is sufficient for us, by 1.1.6, to prove that Z+ × Z+ is countable.

We can index Z+ × Z+ by the method shown in the following diagram:

(1, 1) / (1, 2) (1, 3) / (1, 4)

x x; x
xx xx xx
xxx xxx xxx
{x
x xx {xx
(2, 1) (2, 2) (2, 3)
x; xx
xxx xx
xx xx
 xx x{ x
(3, 1) (3, 2) ...
xx
xxx
x
{x
x
(4, 1) (4, 2)
x;
xxx
xx
 xx
(5, 1)


Theorem 1.1.8. The set Q of all rational numbers is countable.

p
PROOF. One way to prove this is by writing Q = ∞ q=1 q | p ∈ Z .
S

Another way is by observing that if we write each rational number in reduced

form qp with q > 0 and gcd(p, q) = 1 then the map qp 7→ (p, q) from Q to Z × Z is
injective. 

Theorem 1.1.9. The set R of all real numbers is uncountable.

PROOF. The proof uses the Cantor diagonal argument.

Suppose that set of all real numbers in decimal form in the interval [0, 1] is
countable, and is enumerated as a sequence {ai | i ∈ Z+ }. Let us write

a1 = 0.a1,1 a1,2 a1,3 . . .

4 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

a2 = 0.a2,1 a2,2 a2,3 . . .

a3 = 0.a3,1 a3,2 a3,3 . . .

..
.
There are real numbers whose decimal presentations are not unique, such as
1
2 = 0.5000 . . . = 0.4999 . . . . Choose a number b = 0.b1 b2 b3 . . . such that bn 6= 0, 9
and bn 6= an,n . Choosing bn differing from 0 and 9 will guarantee that b 6= an
for all n (see more at 1.1.31). Thus the number b is not in the above table, a
contradiction. 

Relation. A relation (quan hệ) R on a set S is a non-empty subset of the set S × S.

When (a, b) ∈ R we often say that a is related to b, and write aRb.
A relation is:
(1) reflexive (phản xạ) if ∀a ∈ S, aRa.
(2) symmetric (đối xứng) if ∀a, b ∈ S, aRb ⇒ bRa.
(3) antisymmetric (phản đối xứng) if ∀a, b ∈ S, ((aRb) ∧ (bRa)) ⇒ a = b.
(4) transitive (bắc cầu) if ∀a, b, c ∈ S, ((aRb) ∧ (bRc)) ⇒ (aRc).
An equivalence relation on S is a relation that is reflexive, symmetric and transitive.
If R is an equivalence relation on S then an equivalence class (lớp tương đương)
represented by a ∈ S is the subset [a] = {b ∈ S | aRb}. Two equivalence classes are
either coincident or disjoint. The set S is partitioned (phân hoạch) into the disjoint
union of its equivalence classes.

Order. An order (thứ tự) on the set S is a relation R on S that is reflexive, anti-
symmetric and transitive.
Note that two arbitrary elements a and b do not need to be comparable; that is,
the pair (a, b) may not belong to R. For this reason an order is often called a partial
order.
When (a, b) ∈ R we often write a ≤ b. When a ≤ b and a 6= b we write a < b.
If any two elements of S are related then the order is called a total order (thứ
tự toàn phần) and (S, ≤) is called a totally ordered set.

Example 1.1.10. The set R of all real numbers with the usual order ≤ is totally
ordered.

Example 1.1.11. Let S be a set. Denote by 2S the collection of all subsets of S.

Then (2S , ⊆) is a partially ordered set, but is not totally ordered if S has more than
one element.
 1.1. SET 5

Example 1.1.12 (Dictionary order). Let (S1 , ≤1 ) and (S2 , ≤2 ) be two ordered
sets. The following is an order on S1 × S2 : (a1 , b1 ) ≤ (a2 , b2 ) if (a1 < a2 ) or ((a1 =
a2 ) ∧ (b1 ≤ b2 )). This is called the dictionary order (thứ tự từ điển).
In an ordered set, the smallest element (phần tử nhỏ nhất) is the element that is
smaller than all other elements. More concisely, if S is an ordered set, the smallest
element of S is an element a ∈ S such that ∀b ∈ S, a ≤ b. The smallest element, if
exists, is unique.
A minimal element (phần tử cực tiểu) is an element which no element is smaller
than. More concisely, a minimal element of S is an element a ∈ S such that ∀b ∈
S, b ≤ a ⇒ b = a. A minimal element, if exists, may not be unique.
A lower bound (chặn dưới) of a subset of an ordered set is an element of the set
that is smaller than or equal to any element of the subset. More concisely, if A ⊂ S
then a lower bound of A in S is an element a ∈ S such that ∀b ∈ A, a ≤ b.
The definitions of largest element, maximal element, and upper bound are sim-
ilar.

Cardinality. A genuine definition of cardinality of sets requires an axiomatic

treatment of set theory. Here we accept that for each set A there exists an ob-
ject called its cardinal (lực lượng, bản số) |A|, and there is a relation ≤ on the set
of cardinals such that:
(1) If a set is finite then its cardinal is its number of elements.
(2) Two sets have the same cardinals if and only if they are equivalent:

|A| = |B| ⇐⇒ (A ∼ B)

(3) |A| ≤ |B| if and only if there is a injective map from A to B.

Theorem 1.1.13 (Cantor-Bernstein-Schroeder). If A is equivalent to a subset of
B and B is equivalent to a subset of A then A and B are equivalent.

(|A| ≤ |B| ∧ |B| ≤ |A|) ⇒ |A| = |B|.

PROOF. Suppose that f : A 7→ B and g : B 7→ A are injective maps. Let A1 =
g(B), we will show that A ∼ A1 .
Let A0 = A and B0 = B. Define Bn+1 = f (An ) and An+1 = g(Bn ). Then An+1 ⊂
An . Furthermore via the map g ◦ f we have An+2 ∼ An , and An \ An+1 ∼ An+1 \ An+2 .
Using the following identities
∞
\
A = (A \ A1 ) ∪ (A1 \ A2 ) ∪ · · · ∪ (An \ An+1 ) ∪ . . . ∪ ( An ),
n=1
∞
\
A1 = (A1 \ A2 ) ∪ (A2 \ A3 ) ∪ · · · ∪ (An \ An+1 ) ∪ . . . ∪ ( An ),
n=1
we see that A ∼ A1 . 
6 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

The cardinal of Z+ is denoted by ℵ0 , so |Z+ | = ℵ0 .2 The cardinal of R is denoted

by c (continuum), so |R| = c.

Proposition 1.1.14. ℵ0 is the smallest infinite cardinal, and ℵ0 < c.

PROOF. It comes from that any infinite set contains a countably infinite sub-
set, and 1.1.9. 
Georg Cantor put forward the Continuum hypothesis: There is no cardinal be-
tween ℵ0 and c.

Theorem 1.1.15 (No maximal cardinal). The cardinal of a set is strictly less than
the cardinal of the set of all of its subsets, i.e. |A| < |2A |.

This implies that there is no maximal cardinal. There is no “universal set”, “set
which contains everything”, or “set of all sets”.
PROOF. Let A 6= 0/ and denote by 2A the set of all of its subsets.
(1) |A| ≤ |2A |: The map from A to 2A : a 7→ {a} is injective.
6 |2A |: Let φ be any map from A to 2A . Let X = {a ∈ A | a ∈
(2) |A| = / φ (a)}.
Suppose that there is x ∈ A such that φ (x) = X. Then the question whether
x belongs to X or not is undecidable. Therefore φ is not surjective.


The Axiom of choice.

Theorem 1.1.16. The following statements are equivalent:

(1) Axiom of choice: Given a collection of non-empty sets, there is a function
defined on this collection, called a choice function, associating each set
in the collection with an element of that set.
(2) Zorn lemma: If any totally ordered subset of an ordered set X has an
upper boundthen X has a maximal element.

Intuitively, a choice function “chooses” an element from each set in a given

collection of non-empty sets. The Axiom of choice allows us to make infinitely
many arbitrary choices in order to define a function. 3
The Axiom of choice is needed for many important results in mathematics,
such as the Tikhonov theorem in Topology, the Hahn-Banach theorem and Banach-
Alaoglu theorem in Functional analysis, the existence of a Lebesgue unmeasurable
set in Real analysis, . . . .
2ℵ is read “aleph”, a character in the Hebrew alphabet.
3Bertrand Russell said that choosing one shoe from each pair of shoes from an infinite collection of
pairs of shoes does not need the Axiom of choice (because in a pair of shoes the left shoe is different
from the right one so we can define our choice), but if in a pair of socks the two socks are same,
then choosing one sock from each pair of socks from an infinite collection of pairs of socks needs
the Axiom of choice.
 1.1. SET 7

There are cases where this axiom could be avoided. For example in the proof
of 1.1.6 we used the well-ordered property of Z+ instead. See for instance [End77,
p. 151] for further material on this subject.
Zorn lemma is often a convenient form of the Axiom of choice.

Cartesian product. Let {Ai }i∈I be a family of sets indexed by a set I. The Carte-
sian product (tích Decartes) ∏i∈I Ai of this family is defined to be the collection of
all maps a : I → i∈I Ai such that for each i ∈ I we have a(i) ∈ Ai . The statement
S

“the Cartesian product of a family of non-empty sets is non-empty” is therefore

equivalent to the Axiom of choice.
An element a of ∏i∈I Ai is often denoted by (ai )i∈I , with ai = a(i) ∈ Ai being
the coordinate of index i, in analog to the finite product case.

Problems.

i∈I Ai ) ∩ ( i∈I, j∈J Ai ∩ B j .

S S S
1.1.17. Check that ( j∈J B j ) =

1.1.18. Which of the following formulas are correct?

(1) ( i∈I Ai ) ∩ ( i∈I Bi ) = i∈I (Ai ∩ Bi ).
S S S
T S S T
(2) i∈I ( j∈J Ai, j ) = i∈I ( j∈J Ai, j ).

1.1.19. Let f be a function. Then:

S S
(1) f ( i Ai ) = i f (Ai ).
f ( i Ai ) ⊂ i f (Ai ). If f is injective (one-one) then equality happens.
T T
(2)
f −1 ( i Ai ) = i f −1 (Ai ).
S S
(3)
f −1 ( i Ai ) = i f −1 (Ai ).
T T
(4)

1.1.20. * Let f be a function. Then:

(1) f ( f −1 (A)) ⊂ A. If f is surjective (onto) then equality happens.
(2) f −1 ( f (A)) ⊃ A. If f is injective then equality happens.

1.1.21. A union between a countable set and a finite set is countable.

1.1.22. If A is finite and B is infinite then A ∪ B is equivalent to B.

Hint: There is an infinitely countable subset of B.

1.1.23. Show that two planes with finitely many points removed are equivalent.
Hint: Use 1.1.22.

1.1.24. Give another proof of Theorem 1.1.7 by checking that the map Z+ × Z+ → Z+ ,
(m, n) 7→ 2m 3n is injective.

1.1.25. The set of points in Rn with rational coordinates is countable.

1.1.26. If A has n elements then |2A | = 2n .

1.1.27. Show that the set of all functions f : A → {0, 1} is equivalent to 2A .

8 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

1.1.28. A real number α is called an algebraic number if it is a root of a polynomial with

integer coefficients. Show that the set of all algebraic numbers is countable.
A real number which is not algebraic is called transcendental. For example it is known
that π and e are transcendental (whereas it is still not known whether π +e is transcendental
or not). Show that the set of all transcendental numbers is uncountable.
1.1.29. Show that the intervals [a, b], [a, b) and (a, b) are equivalent.
1.1.30. Show that a countable union of continuum sets is a continuum set.
S∞
Hint: n=1 [n, n + 1] = [1, ∞).

1.1.31. This result is used in 1.1.9. Show that any real number could be written in base d
with any d ∈ Z, d ≥ 2. However two forms in base d could represent the same real number,
as seen in 1.1.9. This happens only if starting from certain digits, all digits of one form are
0 and all digits of the other form are d − 1.
1.1.32 (2ℵ0 = c). We prove that 2N is equivalent to R.
(1) Show that 2N is equivalent to the set of all sequences of binary digits.
(2) Using 1.1.31, deduce that |[0, 1]| ≤ |2N |.
(3) Consider a map f : 2N → [0, 2], for each binary sequence a = a1 a2 a3 · · · define
f (a) as follows. If starting from a certain digit, all digits are 1, then let f (a) =
1.a1 a2 a3 · · · . Otherwise let f (a) = 0.a1 a2 a3 · · · . Show that f is injective.
Deduce that |2N | ≤ |[0, 2]|.
1.1.33 (R2 is equivalent to R). * Here we prove that R2 is equivalent to R, in other words,
a plane is equivalent to a line. As a corollary, Rn is equivalent to R.
(1) First method: Construct a map from [0, 1) × [0, 1) to [0, 1) as follows. In view
of 1.1.31, we only allow decimal presentations in which not all digits are 9 start-
ing from a certain digit. The pair of two real numbers 0.a1 a2 . . . and 0.b1 b2 . . .
corresponds to the real number 0.a1 b1 a2 b2 . . .. Check that this map is injective.
(2) Second method: Construct a map from 2N × 2N to 2N as follows. The pair of
two binary sequences a1 a2 . . . and b1 b2 . . . corresponds to the binary sequence
a1 b1 a2 b2 . . .. Check that this map is injective. Then use 1.1.32.
Note: In fact for all infinite cardinal ω we have ω 2 = ω, see [Dug66, p. 52], [Lan93, p. 888].

1.1.34 (Transfinite induction principle). An ordered set S is well-ordered (được sắp tốt)
if every non-empty subset A of S has a smallest element, i.e. ∃a ∈ A, ∀b ∈ A, a ≤ b.
For example with the usual order, N is well-ordered while R is not.
Ernst Zermelo proved in 1904 that any set can be well-ordered, based on the Axiom
of choice.
The following is a generalization of the Principle of induction.
Let A be a well-ordered set. Let P(a) be a statement whose truth depends on a ∈ A. If
(1) P(a) is true when a is the smallest element of A
(2) if P(a) is true for all a < b then P(b) is true
then P(a) is true for all a ∈ A.

Hint: Proof by contradiction.

 1.2. TOPOLOGICAL SPACES 9

1.2. Topological Spaces

What is topology about? To answer very simply, topology is the study of spaces
on which continuity of functions can be discussed.
Previously, in Rn , or in metric spaces, we know that a function is continuous if
and only if the inverse image of an open set is an open set. So in order to discuss
continuity of a function from one set to another set, on each set a notion of “open
subset” needs to be defined.
Briefly, a topology is a system of open sets.

Definition 1.2.1. Let X be a set. A topology on X is a collection τ of subsets of X

satisfying:
(1) The sets 0/ and X are elements of τ.
(2) A union of elements of τ is an element of τ.
(3) A finite intersection of elements of τ is an element of τ.
Elements of τ are called open sets of X in the topology τ.

Briefly speaking, a topology on a set X is a collection of subsets of X which

includes 0/ and X and is closed under unions and finite intersections.
A complement of an open set is called a closed set.
A set X together with a topology τ is called a topological space, denoted by
(X, τ) or X alone if we do not need to specify the topology.
In a topological space X, an element of X is often called a point.

Example 1.2.2. On any set X there is the trivial topology (tôpô hiển nhiên) {0,
/ X}.
On any set X there is the discrete topology (tôpô rời rạc) whereas any point
constitutes an open set. That means any subset of X is open, so the topology is 2X .
Thus on a set there can be many topologies.

Example 1.2.3. Let X = {1, 2, 3}. The following are topologies on X:

(1) τ1 = {0,
/ {1}, {2, 3}, {1, 2, 3}}.
(2) τ2 = {0,
/ {1, 2}, {2, 3}, {2}, {1, 2, 3}}.

The following result is useful in practice:

Proposition 1.2.4. The statement “intersection of finitely many open sets is open”
is equivalent to the statement “intersection of two open sets is open”.

Example 1.2.5 (Metric space). Metric spaces are important examples of topolog-
ical spaces.
Recall that, briefly, a metric space is a set equipped with a distance between
every two points. Namely, a metric space is a set X with a map d : X × X 7→ R such
that for all x, y, z ∈ X:
(1) d(x, y) ≥ 0 (distance is non-negative),
10 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

(2) d(x, y) = 0 ⇐⇒ x = y (distance is zero if and only if the two points

coincide),
(3) d(x, y) = d(y, x) (distance is symmetric),
(4) d(x, y) + d(y, z) ≥ d(x, z) (triangular inequality).
A ball is a set of the form B(x, r) = {y ∈ X | d(y, x) < r} where r ∈ R, r > 0.
In the theory of metric spaces, a subset U of X is said to be open if for all x in
U there is ε > 0 such that B(x, ε) is contained in U. This is equivalent to saying
that a non-empty open set is a union of balls.
This is indeed a topology. We only need to check that the intersection of two
balls is open. This in turn can be proved using the triangle inequality of the metric.
Let z ∈ B(x, rx ) ∩ B(y, ry ). Let rz = min{rx − d(z, x), ry − d(z, y)}. Then the ball
B(z, rz ) will be inside both B(x, rx ) and B(y, ry ).
Thus a metric space is canonically a topological space with the topology gen-
erated by the metric. When we speak about topology on a metric space we mean
this topology.
Example 1.2.6 (Normed spaces). Recall that a normed space (không gian định
chuẩn) is briefly a vector spaces equipped with lengths of vectors. Namely, a
normed space is a set X with a structure of vector space over the real numbers
and a real function X → R, x 7→ ||x||, called a norm (chuẩn), satisfying:
(1) ||x|| ≥ 0 and ||x|| = 0 ⇐⇒ x = 0 (length is non-negative),
(2) ||cx|| = |c|||x|| for c ∈ R (length is proportionate to vector),
(3) ||x + y|| ≤ ||x|| + ||y|| (triangle inequality).
A normed space is canonically a metric space with metric d(x, y) = ||x − y||. There-
fore a normed space is canonically a topological space with the topology generated
by the norm.
Example 1.2.7 (Euclidean topology). In Rn = {(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) | xi ∈ R}, the Eu-
clidean distance between two points x = (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) and y = (y1 , y2 , . . . , yn ) is
d(x, y) = ∑ni=1 (xi − yi )2 1/2 .
 

The topology generated by this metric is called the Euclidean topology (tôpô
Euclid) of Rn .
Example 1.2.8 (Finite complement topology). The finite complement topology
on X consists of the empty set and all subsets of X whose complements are finite.
Proposition 1.2.9 (Dual description of topology). In a topological space X:
(1) 0/ and X are closed.
(2) A finite union of closed sets is closed.
(3) An intersection of closed sets is closed.
The above statement gives a dual (đối ngẫu) description of topology in term of
closed set instead of open set.
 1.2. TOPOLOGICAL SPACES 11

A neighborhood (lân cận) of a point x ∈ X is a subset of X which contains an

open set containing x. Note that a neighborhood does not need to be open. 4

Bases of a topology.

Definition 1.2.10. Given a topology, a collection of open sets is a basis (cơ sở) for
that topology if every non-empty open set is a union of members of that collection.
More concisely, let τ be a topology of X, then a collection B ⊂ τ is called a
basis for τ if any non-empty member of τ is a union of members of B.
So a basis of a topology is a subset of the topology that generates the entire
topology via unions. Thus specifying a basis is a more “economical way” to de-
scribe a topology.

Example 1.2.11. In a metric space the collection of all balls is a basis for the
topology.

Example 1.2.12. On R2 the collection of all interiors of circles, the collection of

all interiors of squares, and collection of all interiors of ellipses are bases of the
Euclidean topology.

So, note that a topology may have many bases.

Definition 1.2.13. A collection S ⊂ τ is called a subbasis (tiền cơ sở) for the topol-
ogy τ if the collection of finite intersections of members of S is a basis for τ.

Clearly a basis for a topology is also a subbasis for that topology.

Briefly, given a topology, a subbasis is a subset of the topology that can gener-
ate the entire topology by unions and finite intersections.

Example 1.2.14. Let X = {1, 2, 3}. The topology τ = {0, / {1, 2}, {2, 3}, {2}, {1, 2, 3}}
has a basis {{1, 2}, {2, 3} {2}} and a subbasis {{1, 2}, {2, 3}}.

Example 1.2.15. The collection of all open rays, that are, sets of the forms (a, ∞)
and (−∞, a), is a subbasis for the Euclidean topology of R.
The collection of all open half-planes (meaning not consisting the separating
lines) is a subbasis for the Euclidean topology of R2 .

Comparing topologies.

Definition 1.2.16. Let τ1 and τ2 be two topologies on X. If τ1 ⊂ τ2 we say that

τ2 is finer (mịn hơn) (or stronger, bigger) than τ1 and τ1 is coarser (thô hơn) (or
weaker, smaller) than τ2 .

Example 1.2.17. On a set the trivial topology is the coarsest topology and the
discrete topology is the finest one.
4Be careful that not everyone uses this convention. For instance Kelley [Kel55] uses this convention
but Munkres [Mun00] requires a neighborhood to be open.
12 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

Generating topologies. Suppose that we have a set and we want certain subsets
of that set to be open, how do find a topology for that purpose?

Theorem 1.2.18. Let S be a collection of subsets of X. Then the collection τ

consisting of the empty set, X, and all unions of finite intersections of members of
S is the coarsest topology on X that contains S, called the topology generated by S.
The collection S ∪ {X} is a subbasis for this topology.5

PROOF. To check that τ is a topology we only need to check that the inter-
section of two unions of finite intersections of members of S is a union of finite
intersections of members of S.
Let A and B be two collections of finite intersections of members of S. We have
( C∈A C) ∩ ( D∈B D) = C∈A, D∈B (C ∩ D). Since each C ∩ D is a finite intersection
S S S

of elements of S we get the desired conclusion. 

By this theorem, given a set, any collection of subsets generates a topology on
that set.
Given a collection of subsets of a set, when is it a basis for a topology?

Proposition 1.2.19. Let B be a collection of subsets of X. Then B ∪ {X} is a basis

for a topology on X if and only if the intersection of two members of B is either
empty or is a union of some members of B. 6 If B satisfies this condition, then the
collection τ consists of the empty set, X and unions of members of B is a topology
on X.

PROOF. Verifying that τ is a topology is reduced to checking that the intersec-

tion of two members of τ is a member of τ. Indeed, if A and C are two collections
of members of B, then ( D∈A D) ∩ ( E∈C E) = D∈A,E∈C (D ∩ E). By assumption
S S S

D ∩ E is either empty or is a union of some elements of B. 

Example 1.2.20. Let X = {1, 2, 3, 4}. The set {{1}, {2, 3}, {3, 4}} generates the
topology {0,
/ {1}, {3}, {1, 3}, {2, 3}, {3, 4}, {1, 2, 3}, {1, 3, 4}, {2, 3, 4}, {1, 2, 3, 4}}.
A basis for this topology is {{1}, {3}, {2, 3}, {3, 4}}.

Example 1.2.21 (Ordering topology). Let (X, ≤) be a totally ordered set with at
least two elements. The collection of subsets of the forms {β ∈ X | β < α} and
{β ∈ X | β > α} generates a topology on X, called the ordering topology.

Example 1.2.22. The Euclidean topology on R is the ordering topology with re-
spect to the usual order of real numbers. (This is just a different way to state
1.2.15.)
5In some textbooks to avoid adding the element X to S it is required that the union of all members of
S is X.
6In some textbooks to avoid adding the element X to B it is required that the union of all members of
B is X.
 1.2. TOPOLOGICAL SPACES 13

Problems.

1.2.23. A collection B of open sets is a basis if for each point x and each open set O
containing x there is a U in B such that U contains x and U is contained in O.

1.2.24. Show that two bases generate the same topology if and only if each member of one
basis is a union of members of the other basis.

1.2.25. In a metric space the set of all balls with rational radii is a basis for the topology.
1
1.2.26. In a metric space the set of all balls with radii 2m , m ≥ 1 is a basis.

1.2.27 (Rn has a countable basis). * The set of all balls each with rational radius whose
center has rational coordinates forms a basis for the Euclidean topology of Rn .

1.2.28. On Rn consider the following norms. Let x = (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ).

(1) kxk1 = ∑ni=1 |xi |.
(2) kxk2 = (∑ni=1 xi 2 )1/2 .
(3) kxk∞ = max1≤i≤n |xi |.
Draw the unit ball for each norm. Show that these norms generate the same topologies.

1.2.29. Let d1 and d2 be two metrics on X. If there are α, β > 0 such that for all x, y ∈ X,
αd1 (x, y) < d2 (x, y) < β d1 (x, y) then the two metrics are said to be equivalent. Show that
two equivalent metrics generate the same topology.
Hint: Show that a ball in one metric contains a ball in the other metric with the same center.

1.2.30 (All norms in Rn generate the Euclidean topology). In Rn denote by k·k2 the
Euclidean norm, and let k·k be any norm.
(1) Check that the map x 7→ kxk from (Rn , k·k2 ) to R is continuous.
(2) Let Sn be the unit sphere under the Euclidean norm. Show that the restriction of
the map above to Sn has a maximum value β and a minimum value α. Hence
x
α ≤ kxk ≤ β for all x 6= 0.
2
Deduce that any two norms in Rn are equivalent, hence all norms in Rn generate the Eu-
clidean topology.

1.2.31. Is the Euclidean topology on R2 the same as the ordering topology on R2 with
respect to the dictionary order? If it is not the same, can the two be compared?

1.2.32. Show that an open set in R is a countable union of open intervals.

1.2.33. The collection of intervals of the form [a, b) generates a topology on R. Is it the
Euclidean topology?

1.2.34. Describe all sets that has only one topology.

1.2.35. * On the set of all integer numbers Z, consider all arithmetic progressions

Sa,b = a + bZ,

where a ∈ Z and b ∈ Z+ .
(1) Show that these sets form a basis for a topology on Z.
14 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

(2) Show that with this topology each set Sa,b is both open and closed.
(3) Show that the set {±1} is closed.
(4) Show that if there are only finitely many prime numbers then the set {±1} is
open.
(5) Conclude that there are infinitely many prime numbers.
 1.3. CONTINUITY 15

1.3. Continuity
Continuous function.

Definition 1.3.1. Let X and Y be topological spaces. We say a map f : X → Y is

continuous at a point x in X if for any open set U of Y containing f (x) there is an
open set V of X containing x such that f (V ) is contained in U.
We say that f is continuous on X if it is continuous at every point in X.

Remark 1.3.2. Equivalently, f is continuous at x if for any open set U containing

f (x), the set f −1 (U) is a neighborhood of x. Note that we cannot require f −1 (U)
to be open.

Theorem 1.3.3. A map is continuous if and only if the inverse image of an open
set is an open set.

PROOF. (⇒) Suppose that f : X → Y is continuous. Let U be an open set in

Y . Let x ∈ f −1 (U). Since f is continuous at x and U is an open neighborhood of
f (x), there is an open set V containing x such that V is contained in f −1 (U). Thus
x is an interior point of f −1 (U). Therefore f −1 (U) is open.
(⇐) Suppose that the inverse image of any open set is an open set. Let x ∈
X. Let U be an open neighborhood of f (x). Then V = f −1 (U) is an open set
containing x, and f (V ) is contained in U. Therefore f is continuous at x. 

Example 1.3.4. Let X and Y be topological spaces.

(a) The identity function, idX : X → X, x 7→ x, is continuous.
(b) The constant function, with given a ∈ Y , x 7→ a, is continuous.

Proposition 1.3.5. A map is continuous if and only if the inverse image of a closed
set is a closed set.

Example 1.3.6 (Metric space). Let (X, d1 ) and (Y, d2 ) be metric spaces. Recall
that in the theory of metric spaces, a map f : (X, d1 ) → (Y, d2 ) is continuous at
x ∈ X if and only if

∀ε > 0, ∃δ > 0, d1 (y, x) < δ ⇒ d2 ( f (y), f (x)) < ε.

In other words, given any ball B( f (x), ε) centered at f (x), there is a ball B(x, δ )
centered at x such that f brings B(x, δ ) into B( f (x), ε).
It is apparent that this definition is equivalent to the definition of continuity in
topological spaces where the topologies are generated by the metrics.
In other words, if we look at a metric space as a topological space then continu-
ity in the metric space is the same as continuity in the topological space. Therefore
we inherit all results concerning continuity in metric spaces.
16 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

Homeomorphism. A map from one topological space to another is said to be a

homeomorphism (phép đồng phôi) if it is a bijection, is continuous and its inverse
map is also continuous.
Two spaces X and Y are said to be homeomorphic (đồng phôi), sometimes
written X ≈ Y , if there is a homeomorphism from one to the other.

Example 1.3.7. Any two open intervals in the real number line R under the Eu-
clidean topology are homeomorphic.

Proposition 1.3.8. If f : (X, τX ) → (Y, τY ) is a homeomorphism then it induces a

bijection between τX and τY .

PROOF. The map

f˜ : τX → τY
O 7→ f (O)
is a bijection. 

Roughly speaking, in the field of Topology, when two spaces are homeomor-
phic they are the same.

Topology generated by maps. Let (X, τX ) be a topological space, Y be a set,

and f : X → Y be a map. We want to find a topology on Y such that f is continuous.
The requirement for such a topology τY is that if U ∈ τY then f −1 (U) ∈ τX .
The trivial topology on Y satisfies that requirement. It is the coarsest topology
satisfying that requirement.
On the other hand the collection {U ⊂ Y | f −1 (U) ∈ τX } is actually a topology
on Y . This is the finest topology satisfying that requirement.
In another situation, let X be a set, (Y, τY ) be a topological space, and f : X → Y
be a map. We want to find a topology on X such that f is continuous.
The requirement for such a topology τX is that if U ∈ τY then f −1 (U) ∈ τX .
The discrete topology on X is the finest topology satisfying that requirement.
The collection τX = { f −1 (U) | U ∈ τY } is the coarsest topology satisfying that
requirement. We can observe further that if the collection SY generates τY then τX
is generated by the collection { f −1 (U) | U ∈ SY }.

1.3.9. If f : X → Y and g : Y → Z are continuous then g ◦ f is continuous.

1.3.10. * Suppose that f : X → Y and S is a subbasis for the topology of Y . Show that f is
continuous if and only if the inverse image of any element of S is an open set in X.

1.3.11. Define an open map to be a map such that the image of an open set is an open set.
A closed map is a map such that the image of a closed set is a closed set.
Show that a homeomorphism is both an open map and a closed map.

1.3.12. A continuous bijection is a homeomorphism if and only if it is an open map.

 1.3. CONTINUITY 17

1.3.13. * Let X be a set and (Y, τ) be a topological space. Let fi : X → Y, i ∈ I be a collec-

tion of maps. Find the coarsest topology on X such that all maps fi , i ∈ I are continuous.
Note: In Functional Analysis this construction is used to construct the weak topology on a
normed space. It is the coarsest topology such that all linear functionals which are continuous under
the norm are still continuous under the topology. See for instance [Con90].

1.3.14. * Suppose that X is a normed space. Prove that the topology generated by the norm
is exactly the coarsest topology on X such that the norm and the translations (maps of the
form x 7→ x + a) are continuous.
18 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

1.4. Subspace
Subspace topology. Let (X, τ) be a topological space and let A be a subset of
X. The subspace topology on A, also called the relative topology (tôpô tương đối),
is defined to be the collection {A ∩ O | O ∈ τ}. With this topology we say that A is
a subspace (không gian con) of X.
Thus a subset of a subspace A of X is open in A if and only if it is a restriction
of a open set in X to A.

Proposition 1.4.1. A subset of a subspace A of X is closed in A if and only if it is

a restriction of a closed set in X to A.

Remark 1.4.2. An open or a closed subset of a subspace A of a space X is not

necessarily open or closed in X. For example, under the Euclidean topology of R,
the set [0, 1/2) is open in the subspace [0, 1], but is not open in R.
When we say that a set is open, we must know which space we are talking
about.

Example 1.4.3 (Stereographic projection). Define the sphere Sn to be the sub-

space of the Euclidean space Rn+1 {(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn+1 ) ∈ Rn+1 | x12 +x22 +· · ·+xn+1
2 =
1}.
Then Sn \ {(0, 0, . . . , 0, 1)} is homeomorphic to Rn via the stereographic pro-
jection (phép chiếu nổi).

FIGURE 1.4.1. The stereographic projection.

The formula for this projection is:

Sn \ {(0, 0, . . . , 0, 1)} → Rn × {0}
(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn+1 ) 7→ (y1 , y2 , . . . , yn , 0)
1
where yi = xi .
1 − xn+1
Proposition 1.4.4. Suppose that X is a topological space and Z ⊂ Y ⊂ X. Then
the relative topology of Z with respect to Y is the same as the relative topology of
Z with respect to X.
 1.4. SUBSPACE 19

Embedding. An embedding (or imbedding) (phép nhúng) from the topological

space X to the topological space Y is a map f : X → Y such that its restriction
f˜ : X → f (X) is a homeomorphism. This means f maps X homeomorphically
onto its image. If there is an imbedding from X to Y , i.e. if X is homeomorphic to
a subspace of Y then we say that X can be embedded in Y .

Example 1.4.5. The Euclidean line R can be embedded in the Euclidean plane R2
as a line in the plane.

Example 1.4.6. Suppose that f : R → R2 is continuous under the Euclidean topol-

ogy. Then R can be embedded into the plane as the graph of f .

Interior – Closure – Boundary. Let X be a topological space and let A be a

subset of X. Let x be a point in X.
The point x is said to be an interior point of A in X if there is a neighborhood
of x that is contained in A.
The point x is said to be a contact point (điểm dính) (or point of closure) of A
in X if any neighborhood of x contains a point of A.
The point x is said to be a limit point (điểm tụ) (or cluster point, or accumu-
lation point) of A in X if any neighborhood of x contains a point of A other than
x.
Of course a limit point is a contact point. We can see that a contact point of A
which is not a point of A is a limit point of A.
A point x is said to be a boundary point (điểm biên) of A in X if every neigh-
borhood of x contains a point of A and a point of the complement of A.
In other words, a boundary point of A is a contact point of both A and the
complement of A.
The set of all interior points of A is called the interior (phần trong) of A in X,
denoted by Å or int(A).
The set of all contact points of A in X is called the closure (bao đóng) of A in
X, denoted by A or cl(A).
The set of all boundary points of A in X is called the boundary (biên) of A in
X, denoted by ∂ A.

Example 1.4.7. On the Euclidean line R, consider the subspace A = [0, 1) ∪ {2}.
Its interior is intA = (0, 1), the closure is clA = [0, 1] ∪ {2}, the boundary is ∂ A =
{0, 1, 2}, the set of all limit points is [0, 1].

Remark 1.4.8. It is crucial to understand that the notions of interior, closure,

boundary, contact points, and limit points of a space A only make sense relative
to a certain space X containing A as a subspace (there must be a “mother space”).

Proposition 1.4.9. The interior of A in X is the largest open subset of X that is

contained in A.
20 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

A subspace is open if all of its points are interior points.

Proposition 1.4.10. The closure of A in X is the smallest closed subset of X con-

taining A.
A subspace is closed if and only if it contains all of its contact points.

Problems.

1.4.11. Let X be a topological space and let A ⊂ X. Then the subspace topology on A
is exactly the coarsest topology on A such that the inclusion map i : A 7→ X, x 7→ x is
continuous.

1.4.12. (a) Let f : X → Y be continuous and let Z be a subspace of X. Then the restriction
of f to Z is still continuous.
(b) Let f : X → Y be continuous and let Z be a space containing Y as a subspace.
Consider f as a function from X to Z, then it is still continuous.

1.4.13 (Gluing continuous functions). * Let X = A ∪ B where A and B are both open or
are both closed in X. Suppose f : X → Y , and f |A and f |B are both continuous. Then f is
continuous.
Another way to phrase this is the following. Let g : A → Y and h : B → Y be continuous
and g(x) = h(x) on A ∩ B. Define

g(x), x ∈ A
f (x) = .
h(x), x ∈ B

Then f is continuous.
Is it still true if the restriction that A and B are both open or are both closed in X is
removed?

1.4.14. * Any two balls in a normed space are homeomorphic.

1.4.15. * A ball in a normed space is homeomorphic to the whole space.

1
Hint: Consider a map from the unit ball to the space, such as: x 7→ p x.
1 − ||x||2
1.4.16. Is it true that any two balls in a metric space homeomorphic?
Hint: Consider a metric space with only two points.
2
x2
1.4.17. In the Euclidean plane an ellipse a2
+ by2 = 1 is homeomorphic to a circle.

1.4.18. In the Euclidean plane the upper half-plane {(x, y) ∈ R2 | y > 0} is homeomorphic
to the plane.

1.4.19. In the Euclidean plane:

(1) A square and a circle are homeomorphic.
(2) The region bounded by a square and the region bounded by a the circle are
homeomorphic.

1.4.20. * If f : X → Y is a homeomorphism and Z ⊂ X then X \ Z and Y \ f (Z) are home-

omorphic.
 1.4. SUBSPACE 21

1.4.21. On the Euclidean plane R2 , show that:

(1) R2 \ {(0, 0)} and R2 \ {(1, 1)} are homeomorphic.
(2) R2 \ {(0, 0), (1, 1)} and R2 \ {(1, 0), (0, 1)} are homeomorphic.

1.4.22. Show that N and Z are homeomorphic under the Euclidean topology.
Further, prove that any two discrete spaces having the same cardinalities are homeo-
morphic.

1.4.23. Among the following spaces, which one is homeomorphic to another? Z, Q, R,

each with the Euclidean topology, and R with the finite complement topology.

1.4.24. Show that any homeomorphism from Sn−1 onto Sn−1 can be extended to a homeo-
morphism from the unit disk Dn = B0 (0, 1) onto Dn .

1.4.25. The closure of a subspace is the union of the subspace and the set of all of its limit
points.

1.4.26. Show that A is the disjoint union of Å and ∂ A.

1.4.27. Show that X is the disjoint union of Å, ∂ A, and X \ A.

√ √
1.4.28. The set {x ∈ Q | − 2 ≤ x ≤ 2} is both closed and open in Q under the Euclidean
topology of R.

1.4.29. The map ϕ : [0, 2π) → S1 given by t 7→ (cost, sint) is a bijection but is not a
homeomorphism, under the Euclidean topology.
Hint: Compare the subinterval [1, 2π) and its image via ϕ.

1.4.30. Find the closures, interiors and the boundaries of the interval [0, 1) under the Eu-
clidean, discrete and trivial topologies of R.

1.4.31. * In a metric space X, a point x ∈ X is a limit point of the subset A of X if and only
if there is a sequence in A \ {x} converging to x.
Note: This is not true in general topological spaces.

1.4.32. * In a normed space, show that the boundary of the ball B(x, r) is the sphere
{y | d(x, y) = r}, and so the ball B0 (x, r) = {y | d(x, y) ≤ r} is the closure of B(x, r).

1.4.33. In a metric space, show that the boundary of the ball B(x, r) is a subset of the
sphere {y | d(x, y) = r}. Is the closed ball B0 (x, r) = {y | d(x, y) ≤ r} the closure of B(x, r)?
Hint: Consider a metric space consisting of two points.
Y X
1.4.34. Suppose that A ⊂ Y ⊂ X. Then A = A ∩Y . Furthermore if Y is closed in X then
Y X
A =A .

1.4.35. Let On = {k ∈ Z+ | k ≥ n}. Check that {0} / ∪ {On | n ∈ Z+ } is a topology on Z+ .

Find the closure of the set {5}. Find the closure of the set of all even positive integers.

1.4.36. Verify the following properties.

(1) X \ Å = X \ A.
(2) X \ A = X \˚ A.
22 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

(3) If A ⊂ B then Å ⊂ B̊.

1.4.37. Which ones of the following equalities are correct?

˚ B = Å ∪ B̊.
(1) A ∪
˚ B = Å ∩ B̊.
(2) A ∩
(3) A ∪ B = A ∪ B.
(4) A ∩ B = A ∩ B.
 1.5. CONNECTEDNESS 23

1.5. Connectedness
A topological space is said to be connected (liên thông) if is not a union of two
non-empty disjoint open subsets.
Equivalently, a topological space is connected if and only if its only subsets
which are both closed and open are the empty set and the space itself.

Remark 1.5.1. When we say that a subset of a topological space is connected we

implicitly mean that the subset under the subspace topology is a connected space.

Example 1.5.2. The Euclidean real number line minus a point is no longer con-
nected.

Proposition 1.5.3. If two connected subspaces of a space have non-empty inter-

section then their union is connected.

PROOF. Let X be a topological space and let A and B be two connected sub-
spaces. Suppose that A ∩ B 6= 0.
/ Suppose that C is subset of A ∪ B that is both open
and closed in A ∪ B. Suppose that C 6= 0. / Then either C ∩ A 6= 0/ or C ∩ B 6= 0. /
Without loss of generality, assume that C ∩ A 6= 0.
/
Note that C ∩ A is both open and closed in A (we are using 1.4.4 here). Since
A is connected, C ∩ A = A. Then C ∩ B 6= 0, / so the same argument shows that
C ∩ B = B, hence C = A ∪ B. 

The same proof gives a more general result:

Proposition 1.5.4. If a collection of connected subspaces of a space have non-

empty intersection then their union is connected.

Proposition 1.5.5 (Continuous image of connected space is connected). If f :

X → Y is continuous and X is connected then f (X) is connected.

Connected component. Let X be a topological space. Define a relation on X

whereas two points are related if both belong to a connected subspace of X (we say
that the two points are connected). Then this relation is an equivalence relation, by
1.5.3.

Proposition 1.5.6. An equivalence class under the above equivalence relation is

connected.

PROOF. Consider the equivalence class [a] represented by a point a. By the

definition, b ∈ [a] if and only if there is a connected set Ob containing both a and
S
b. Thus [b] = b∈[a] Ob . By 1.5.4, [a] is connected. 

Definition 1.5.7. Under the above equivalence relation, the equivalence classes are
called the connected components of the space.
24 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

Thus a space is a disjoint union of its connected components.

Proposition 1.5.8. A connected component is a maximal connected subset under

the set inclusion.

Theorem 1.5.9. If two spaces are homeomorphic then they have the same num-
ber of connected components, i.e. there is a bijection between the collections of
connected components of the two spaces.
In particular, if two spaces are homeomorphic and one space is connected then
the other space is also connected.

We say that the number of connected components is a topological invariant.

Proposition 1.5.10. A subspace with a limit point added is still connected. As a

corollary, the closure of a connected subspace is connected.

PROOF. Let A be a connected subspace of a space X and let a ∈

/ A be a limit
point of A, we show that A ∪ {a} is connected.
Let B be a non-empty, open and closed subset of A ∪ {a}. Then B ∩ A is both
open and closed in A, by 1.4.4.
If B ∩ A = 0/ then B = {a}. There is an open subset O of X such that B =
O ∩ (A ∪ {a}). That implies that O contains a but does not contain any point of A,
contradicting the assumption that a is a limit point of A.
So B ∩ A = A. Thus A ⊂ B. There is a closed subset C of X such that B =
C ∩ (A ∪ {a}). Since a is a limit point of A in X and A ⊂ C we must have a ∈ C.
This implies a ∈ B, so B = A ∪ {a}. 

Corollary 1.5.11. A connected component must be closed.

Connected sets in the Euclidean real number line.

Proposition 1.5.12. A connected subspace of the Euclidean real number line must
be an interval.

PROOF. Suppose that a subset A of R is connected. Suppose that x, y ∈ A and

x < y. If x < z < y we must have z ∈ A, otherwise the set {a ∈ A | a < z} = {a ∈
A | a ≤ z} will be both closed and open in A. Thus A contains the interval [x, y].
Let a = inf A if A is bounded from below and a = −∞ otherwise. Similarly
let b = sup A if A is bounded from above and b = ∞ otherwise. Suppose that A
contains more than one element. There are sequences {an }n∈Z+ and {bn }n∈Z+ of
elements in A such that a < an < bn < b, and an → a while bn → b. By the above
argument, [an , bn ] ⊂ A for all n. So (a, b) ⊂ ∞
n=1 [an , bn ] ⊂ A. It follows that A is
S

either (a, b) or [a, b) or (a, b] or [a, b]. 

Proposition 1.5.13. The Euclidean real number line is connected.

 1.5. CONNECTEDNESS 25

PROOF. In this proof we use the property that the set of all real numbers is
complete.
Let C be a non-empty proper, both open and closed subset of R.
Let x ∈/ C. The set D = C ∩ (−∞, x) is the same as the set C ∩ (−∞, x]. This
implies that D is both open and closed in R, and is bounded from above.
If D 6= 0,
/ let s = sup D. Since D is closed and s is a contact point of D, s ∈ D.
Since D is open s must belong to an open interval contained in D. But then there
are points in D which are bigger than s, a contradiction.
If D = 0/ we let E = C ∩ (x, ∞), consider t = inf E and proceed similarly. 

Theorem 1.5.14. A subset of the Euclidean real number line is connected if and
only if it is an interval.

PROOF. By homeomorphisms we just need to consider the intervals (0, 1),

(0, 1], and [0, 1]. Note that [0, 1] is the closure of (0, 1), and (0, 1] = (0, 3/4) ∪
[1/2, 1].
Or we can modify the proof of 1.5.13. 

Example 1.5.15. The Euclidean line R is itself connected. Since the Euclidean Rn
is the union of all lines passing through the origin, it is connected.

Path-connected Space. Let X be a topological space and let a and b be two

points of X. A path (đường đi) in X from x to y is a continuous map f : [a, b] →
X such that f (a) = x and f (b) = y, where the interval [a, b] has the Euclidean
topology.
The space X is said to be path-connected (liên thông đường) if for any two
different points x and y in X there is a path in X from x to y.

Example 1.5.16. A normed space is path-connected, and so is any convex subspace

of that space: any two points x and y are connected by a straight line segment
x + t(y − x), t ∈ [0, 1].

Example 1.5.17. In a normed space, the sphere S = {x | ||x|| = 1} is path-connected.

One way to show this is as follow. If two points x and y are not opposite then they
x+t(y−x)
can be connected by the arc ||x+t(y−x)|| , t ∈ [0, 1]. If x and y are opposite, we can
take a third point z, then compose a path from x to z with a path from z to y.

Proposition 1.5.18. Let X be a topological space. Define a relation on X whereas

a point x is related to a point y there is a path in X from x to y. Then this is an
equivalence relation.
An equivalence class under the above equivalence relation is called a path-
connected component.

Proposition 1.5.19. A path-connected component is a maximal path-connected

subset under the set inclusions.
26 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

Theorem 1.5.20. A path-connected space is connected.

PROOF. This is a consequence of the fact that an interval on the Euclidean

real number line is connected. Let X be path-connected. Let x, y ∈ X. There is a
path from x to y. The image of this path is a connected subspace of X. That means
every point y belongs to the connected component containing x. Therefore X has
only one connected component. 

A topological space is said to be locally path-connected if every neighborhood

of a point contains a path-connected neighborhood of that point.

Example 1.5.21. All open sets in a normed space are locally path-connected.

Generally, the reverse statement of 1.5.20 is not correct. However we have:

Proposition 1.5.22. A connected, locally path-connected space is path-connected.

PROOF. Suppose that X is connected and locally path-connected. Let C be a

path-connected component of X. If x ∈ X is a contact point of C then there is a
path-connected neighborhood U in X of x such that U ∩C 6= 0./ By 1.5.40, U ∪C is
path-connected , we have U ⊂ C. This implies that C is both open and closed in X,
hence C = X. 

Topologist’s sine curve. The closure in the Euclidean plane of the graph of the
function y = sin 1x , x > 0 is often called the Topologist’s sine curve. This is a classic
example of a space which is connected but is not path-connected.

1
sin(1/x)

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

FIGURE 1.5.1. Topologist’s sine curve.

Denote A = {(x, sin 1x ) | x > 0} and B = {0} × [−1, 1]. Then the Topologist’s
sine curve is X = A ∪ B.

Proposition 1.5.23. The Topologist’s sine curve is connected.

 1.5. CONNECTEDNESS 27

PROOF. By 1.5.30 the set A is connected. Each point of B is a limit point of

A, so by 1.5.10 X is connected. 

Proposition 1.5.24. The Topologist’s sine curve is not path-connected.

PROOF. Suppose that there is a path γ(t) = (x(t), y(t)), t ∈ [0, 1] from the
origin (0, 0) on B to a point on A, we show that there is a contradiction.
Let t0 = sup{t ∈ [0, 1] | x(t) = 0}. Then x(t0 ) = 0, t0 < 1, and for all t > t0
we have x(t) > 0. Thus t0 is the moment when the path γ departs from B. We
can see that the path jumps immediately when it departs from B. Thus we will
show that γ(t) cannot be continuous at t0 , by showing that for any δ > 0 there are
t1 ,t2 ∈ (t0 ,t0 + δ ) such that y(t1 ) = 1 and y(t2 ) = −1.
To find t1 , note that the set x([tt ,t0 + δ2 ]) is an interval [0, x0 ] where x0 > 0.
There exists an x1 ∈ (0, x0 ) such that sin x11 = 1: we just need to take x1 = π +k2π 1
2
with sufficiently large k. There is t1 ∈ (t0 ,t0 + δ2 ] such that x(t1 ) = x1 . Then y(t1 ) =
sin x(t11 ) = 1. We can find t2 similarly. 

The Borsuk-Ulam theorem. Below is a simple version of the Borsuk-Ulam the-

orem:

Theorem 1.5.25 (Borsuk-Ulam theorem). If a real function on a sphere Sn is

continuous then there must be two antipodal points on the sphere where the values
of the function are same. 7

PROOF. Let f : Sn → R be continuous. Let g(x) = f (x) − f (−x). Then g is

continuous and g(x) = −g(−x). If there is an x such that g(x) 6= 0 then g(x) and
g(−x) have opposite signs. Since Sn is connected (see 1.5.28), the range g(Sn )
is a connected subset of the Euclidean R, and so is an interval, containing the
interval [g(x), g(−x)]. So 0 is in the range of g (this is a form of Intermediate value
theorem). 

Problems.

1.5.26. A space is connected if whenever it is a union of two non-empty disjoint subsets,

then one of them must contain a contact point of the other one.

1.5.27. Here is a different proof of 1.5.13. Suppose that A and B are non-empty, disjoint
subsets of (0, 1) whose union is (0, 1). Let a ∈ A and b ∈ B. Let a0 = a, b0 = b, and for
each n ≥ 1 consider the middle point of the segment from an to bn . If an +b
2
n
∈ A then let
an +bn an +bn
an+1 = 2 and bn+1 = bn ; otherwise let an+1 = an and bn+1 = 2 . Then:
(1) The sequence {an | n ≥ 1} is a Cauchy sequence, hence is convergent to a number
a.
7On the surface of the Earth at any moment there are two opposite places where temperatures are
same!
28 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

(2) The sequence {bn | n ≥ 1} is also convergent to a. This implies that (0, 1) is
connected.

1.5.28. Show that the sphere Sn is connected.

1.5.29 (Intermediate value theorem). If X is a connected space and f : X → R is contin-

uous, where R has the Euclidean topology, then the image f (X) is an interval.
A consequence is the following familiar theorem in Calculus: Let f : [a, b] → R be
continuous under the Euclidean topology. If f (a) and f (b) have opposite signs then the
equation f (x) = 0 has a solution.

1.5.30. * If f : R → R is continuous under the Euclidean topology then its graph is con-
nected in the Euclidean plane. Moreover the graph is homeomorphic to R.

1.5.31. Let X be a topological space and let Ai , i ∈ I be connected subspaces. If Ai ∩ A j 6= 0/

for all i 6= j then i Ai is connected.
S

1.5.32. Let X be a topological space and let Ai , i ∈ Z+ be connected subsets. If Ai ∩ Ai+1 6=

0/ for all i ≥ 1 then ∞
S
i=1 Ai is connected.
Sn
Hint: Note that the conclusion is different from that i=1 Ai is connected for all n ∈ Z+ .

1.5.33. Is an intersection of connected subsets of a space connected?

1.5.34. Let X be connected and let f : X → Y be continuous. If f is locally constant on

X (meaning that every point has a neighborhood on which f is a constant map) then f is
constant on X.

1.5.35. Let X be a topological space. A map f : X → Y is called a discrete map if Y has the
discrete topology and f is continuous. Show that X is connected if and only if all discrete
maps on X are constant.
Use this criterion to prove some of the results in this section.

1.5.36. What are the connected components of N and Q on the Euclidean real number
line?

1.5.37. * What are the connected components of Q2 on the Euclidean plane?

1.5.38. Show that if a space has finitely many components then each component is both
open and closed.
Is it still true if there are infinitely many components?

1.5.39. Suppose that a space X has finitely many connected components. Show that a map
defined on X is continuous if and only if it is continuous on each components.
Is it still true if X has infinitely many components?

1.5.40. If a collection of path-connected subspaces of a space has non-empty intersection

then its union is path-connected.

1.5.41. If f : X → Y is continuous and X is path-connected then f (X) is path-connected.

 1.5. CONNECTEDNESS 29

1.5.42. If two space are homeomorphic then there is a bijection between the collections of
path-connected components of the two spaces. In particular, if one space is path-connected
then the other space is also path-connected.

1.5.43. The plane with a point removed is path-connected under the Euclidean topology.

1.5.44. The plane with countably many points removed is path-connected under the Eu-
clidean topology.
Hint: Let A be countable and a ∈ R2 \ A. There is a line `a passing through a that does not
intersect A (by an argument involving cardinalities of sets).

1.5.45. * The Euclidean line and the Euclidean plane are not homeomorphic.
Hint: Delete a point from R. Use 1.4.20 and 1.5.9.

1.5.46. Find as many ways to prove that Sn is path-connected as you can!

1.5.47. Show that R with the finite complement topology and R2 with the finite comple-
ment topology are homeomorphic.

1.5.48. A topological space is locally path-connected if and only if the collection of all
open path-connected subsets is a basis for the topology.

1.5.49. The Topologist’s sine curve is not locally path-connected.

1.5.50. * Classify the alphabetical characters up to homeomorphisms, that is, which of the
following characters are homeomorphic to each other as subsets of the Euclidean plane?
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Note that the result depends on the font you use!
Do the same for the Vietnamese alphabetical characters.
AĂÂBCDĐEÊGHIKLMNOÔƠPQRSTUƯVXY
Hint: Use 1.4.13 to modify a letter part by part.

Further readings

Invariance of dimension. That the Euclidean spaces R2 and R3 are not homeomorphic
is not easy. It is a consequence of the following difficult theorem of L. Brouwer in 1912:

Theorem 1.5.51 (Invariance of dimension). If two subsets of the Euclidean Rn are home-
omorphic and one set is open then the other is also open.

This theorem is often proved using Algebraic Topology, see for instance [Mun00, p.
381], [Vic94, p. 34], [Hat01, p. 126].

Corollary 1.5.52. The Euclidean spaces Rm and Rn are not homeomorphic if m 6= n.

PROOF. Suppose that m < n. It is easy to check that the inclusion map Rm → Rn ,
(x1 , x2 , . . . , xm ) 7→ (x1 , x2 , . . . , xm , 0, . . . , 0) is a homeomorphism onto its image A ⊂ Rn . If A
is homeomorphic to Rn then by Invariance of dimension, A is open in Rn . But A is clearly
not open in Rn . 

This result allows us to talk about topological dimension.

30 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

Jordan curve theorem. The following is an important and deep result of plane topology.

Theorem 1.5.53 (Jordan curve theorem). A simple, continuous, closed curve separates
the plane into two disconnected regions. More concisely, if C is a subset of the Euclidean
plane homeomorphic to the circle then R2 \C has two connected components.

Nowadays this theorem is usually proved in a course in Algebraic Topology.

Space filling curves. A rather curious and surprising result is:

Theorem 1.5.54. There is a continuous curve filling a rectangle on the plane. More con-
cisely, there is a continuous map from the interval [0, 1] onto the square [0, 1]2 under the
Euclidean topology.

Note that this map cannot be injective, in other words the curve cannot be simple.
Such a curve is called a Peano curve. It could be constructed as a limit of an iteration
of piecewise linear curves.
 1.6. SEPARATION 31

1.6. Separation
Definition 1.6.1. We define:
T1 : A topological space is called a T1 -space if for any two points x 6= y there
is an open set containing x but not y and an open set containing y but not
x.
T2 : A topological space is called a T2 -space or Hausdorff if for any two
points x 6= y there are disjoint open sets U and V such that x ∈ U and
y ∈ V.
T3 : A T1 -space is called a T3 -space or regular (chính tắc) if for any point x
and a closed set F not containing x there are disjoint open sets U and V
such that x ∈ U and F ⊂ V . 8
T4 : A T1 -space is called a T4 -space or normal (chuẩn tắc) if for any two
disjoint closed sets F and G there are disjoint open sets U and V such that
F ⊂ U and G ⊂ V .

These definitions are often called separation axioms because they involve “sep-
arating” certain sets from each other by open sets.

Proposition 1.6.2. A space is T1 if and only if a set containing exactly one point is
a closed set.

Corollary 1.6.3 (T4 ⇒ T3 ⇒ T2 ⇒ T1 ). If a space is Ti then it is Ti−1 , for 2 ≤ i ≤ 4.

Example 1.6.4. Any space with the discrete topology is normal.

Example 1.6.5. Let X = {a, b} and τ = {0,

/ {a}, {a, b}}. Then X is T0 but is not
T1 .

Example 1.6.6. The real number line under the finite complement topology is T1
but is not T2 .

Remark 1.6.7. There are examples of a T2 -space which is not T3 , and a T3 -space
which is not T4 , but they are rather difficult, see 1.6.16, 1.11.12, [Mun00, p. 197]
and [SJ70].

Proposition 1.6.8. Any metric space is normal.

PROOF. We introduce the notion of distance between two sets in a metric

space X. If A and B are two subsets of X then we define the distance between A
and B as d(A, B) = inf{d(x, y) | x ∈ A, y ∈ B}. In particular if x ∈ X then d(x, A) =
inf{d(x, y) | y ∈ A}. Using the triangle inequality we can check that d(x, A) is a
continuous function with respect to x.

8Some authors do not include the T requirement.

1
32 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

Now suppose that A and B are disjoint closed sets. Let U = {x | d(x, A) <
d(x, B)} and V = {x | d(x, A) > d(x, B)}. Then A ⊂ U, B ⊂ V , U ∩V = 0,
/ and both
U and V are open. 

Proposition 1.6.9. A T1 -space X is regular if and only if given a point x and an

open set U containing x there is an open set V such that x ∈ V ⊂ V ⊂ U.

PROOF. Suppose that X is regular. Since X \U is closed and disjoint from C

there is an open set V containing x and an open set W containing X \U such that V
and W are disjoint. Then V ⊂ (X \W ), so V ⊂ (X \W ) ⊂ U.
Now suppose that X is T1 and the condition is satisfied. Given a point x and a
closed set C disjoint from x. Let U = X \C. Then there is an open set V containing
x such that V ⊂ V ⊂ U. Then V and X \V separate x and C. 
Similarly we have:

Proposition 1.6.10. A T1 -space X is normal if and only if given a closed set C and
an open set U containing C there is an open set V such that C ⊂ V ⊂ V ⊂ U.

Problems.

1.6.11. If a finite set is a T1 -space then the topology is the discrete topology.

1.6.12. Prove directly that any metric space is regular.

1.6.13. A subspace of a Hausdorff space is Hausdorff.

1.6.14. Let X be Hausdorff and let f : X → Y be continuous. Is f (X) Hausdorff?

1.6.15. A closed subspace of a normal space is normal.

Note: A subspace of a normal space might not be normal.

1.6.16. Show that the set R with the topology generated by all the subsets of the form (a, b)
and (a, b) ∩ Q is Hausdorff but is not regular.
Hint: Consider the set of all irrational numbers.

1.6.17. * Let X be normal, let f : X → Y be surjective, continuous, and closed. Prove that
Y is normal.
 1.7. CONVERGENCE 33

1.7. Convergence
In metric spaces we can study continuity of functions via convergence of se-
quences. In general topological spaces, we need to use a notion more general than
sequences, called nets. Roughly speaking in general topological spaces, sequences
(countable indexes) might not be enough to describe the neighborhood systems at
a point, we need something of arbitrary index.
A directed set (tập được định hướng) is a (partially) ordered set I such that for
any two indices i and j there is an index k that is greater than or is equal to both i
and j. In symbols: ∀i, j ∈ I, ∃k ∈ I, k ≥ i ∧ k ≥ j.
A net (lưới) (also called a generalized sequence) is a map from a directed set
to a space. In other words, a net on a space X with index set a directed set I is a
map x : I → X. It is an element of the set ∏i∈I X. Thus, writing xi = x(i), we often
denote the net as (xi )i∈I . The notation {xi }i∈I is also used.

Example 1.7.1. Nets with index set I = N with the usual order are exactly se-
quences.

Example 1.7.2. Let X be a topological space and x ∈ X. Let I be the family of

open neighborhoods of x. Define an order on I by U ≤ V ⇐⇒ U ⊃ V . Then I
becomes a directed set.
It will be clear in a moment that this is the most important example of directed
sets concerning nets.

Convergence.

Definition 1.7.3. A net (xi ) is said to be convergent (hội tụ) to x ∈ X if for each
neighborhood U of x there is an index i ∈ I such that if j ≥ i then x j belongs to U.
The point x is called a limit of the net {xi }i∈I , and we often write xi → x.

Example 1.7.4. Convergence of nets with index set I = N is exactly convergence

of sequences.

Example 1.7.5. Let X = {x1 , x2 , x3 } with topology {0, / X, {x1 , x3 }, {x2 , x3 }, {x3 }}.
The net (x3 ) converges to x1 , x2 , and x3 . The net (x1 , x2 ) converges to x2 .
If X has the trivial topology then any net in X is convergent to any point in X.

Proposition 1.7.6. A point x ∈ X is a limit point of a subset A ⊂ X if and only if

there is a net in A \ {x} convergent to x.

This proposition allows us to describe topologies in terms of convergences.

With it many statements about convergence in metric spaces could be carried to
topological spaces by simply replacing sequences by nets.
PROOF. (⇒) Suppose that x is a limit point of A. Consider the directed set I
consisting of all the open neighborhoods of x with the partial order U ≤ V if U ⊃ V .
34 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

For any open neighborhood U of x there is an element xU ∈ U ∩ A, xU 6= x.

Consider the net {xU }U∈I . It is a net in A \ {x} convergent to x. Indeed, given an
open neighborhood U of x, for all V ≥ U, xV ∈ V ⊂ U.
(⇐) Suppose that there is a net (xi )i∈I in A \ {x} convergent to x. Let U be an
open neighborhood of x. There is an i ∈ I such that for j ≥ i we have x j ∈ U, in
particular xi ∈ U ∩ (A \ {x}). 

Remark 1.7.7 (When can nets be replaced by sequences?). By examining the

above proof we can see that the term net can be replaced by the term sequence if
there is a countable collection F of neighborhoods of x such that any neighborhood
of x contains a member of F. In other words, the point x has a countable neigh-
borhood basis. A space having this property at every point is said to be a first
countable space. A metric space is such a space, where for example each point has
a neighborhood basis consisting of balls of rational radii. See also 1.7.16.

Similarly to the case of metric spaces we have:

Theorem 1.7.8. Let X and Y be topological spaces. Then f : X → Y is continuous

at x if and only if whenever a net n in X converges to x, the net f ◦ n converges to
f (x).
In more familiar notations, f is continuous at x if and only if for all nets (xi ),
xi → x ⇒ f (xi ) → f (x).

PROOF. The proof is simply a repeat of the proof for the case of metric spaces.
(⇒) Suppose that f is continuous at x. Let U is a neighborhood of f (x). Then
f −1 (U) is a neighborhood of x in X. Since (xi ) is convergent to x, there is an i ∈ I
such that for all j ≥ i we have x j ∈ f −1 (U), which implies f (x j ) ∈ U.
(⇐) We will show that if U is an open neighborhood in Y of f (x) then f −1 (U)
is a neighborhood in X of x. Suppose the contrary, then x is not an interior point
of f −1 (U), so it is a limit point of X \ f −1 (U). There is a net (xi ) in X \ f −1 (U)
convergent to x. Since f is continuous, f (xi ) ∈ Y \ U is convergent to f (x) ∈ U.
That contradicts the assumption that U is open. 

Proposition 1.7.9. If a space is Hausdorff then a net has at most one limit.

PROOF. Suppose that a net (xi ) is convergent to two different points x and y.
Since the space is Hausdorff, there are disjoint open neighborhoods U and V of x
and y. There is i ∈ I such that for γ ≥ i we have xγ ∈ U, and there is j ∈ I such that
for γ ≥ j we have xγ ∈ U. Since there is a γ ∈ I such that γ ≥ i and γ ≥ j, the point
xγ will be in U ∩V , a contradiction. 
Problems.

1.7.10. Let I = (0, ∞). If a, b ∈ I, define a  b if a ≥ b. On the Euclidean line, define a

net xa = a/2 for a ∈ I. Is this net convergent?
 1.7. CONVERGENCE 35

1.7.11. Let R have the finite complement topology. Let (xi )i∈R be a net of distinct points
in R, i.e. xi 6= x j if i 6= j. Where does this net converge to?

1.7.12. Suppose that τ1 and τ2 are two topologies on X. Show that if for all nets xi and all
τ1 τ2
points x, xi → x ⇒ xi → x then τ1 ⊃ τ2 .
In other words, if convergence in τ1 implies convergence in τ2 then τ1 is finer than τ2 .
Is the converse true?
Hint: Consider the identity map on X.

1.7.13. Let X be a topological space, R have the Euclidean topology and f : X → R be

continuous. Suppose that A ⊂ X and f (x) = 0 on A. Show that f (x) = 0 on A, by:
(1) using nets.
(2) not using nets.

1.7.14. * Let Y be Hausdorff and let f , g : X → Y be continuous. Show that the set {x ∈
X | f (x) = g(x)} is closed in X, by:
(1) using nets.
(2) not using nets.
Show that, as a consequence, if f and g agree on a dense (trù mật) subspace of X (meaning
the closure of that subspace is X) then they agree on X.

1.7.15. The converse statement of 1.7.9 is also true. A space is Hausdorff if and only if a
net has at most one limit.
Hint: Suppose that there are two points x and y that could not be separated by open sets.
Consider the directed set whose elements are pairs (Ux ,Vy ) of open neighborhoods of x and y, under
set inclusion. Take a net n such that n(Ux ,Vy ) is a point in Ux ∩Vy .

1.7.16 (Sequence is not adequate for describing convergence). * Let (A, ≤) be a well-
ordered uncountable set (see 1.1.34). If A does not have a biggest element then add an
element to A and define that element to be the biggest one. Thus we can assume now that
A has a biggest element, denoted by ∞. For a, b ∈ A denote [a, b] = {x ∈ A | a ≤ x ≤ b} and
[a, b) = {x ∈ A | a ≤ x < b}. For example we can write A = [0, ∞].
Let Ω be the smallest element of the set {a ∈ A | [0, a] is uncountable} (this set is
non-empty since it contains ∞).
(1) Show that [0, Ω) is uncountable, and for all a ∈ A, a < Ω the set [0, a] is count-
able.
(2) Show that every countable subset of [0, Ω) is bounded in [0, Ω).
(3) Consider [0, Ω] with the order topology. Show that Ω is a limit point of [0, Ω].
(4) However, show that a sequence in [0, Ω) cannot converge to Ω.
So this is an example of a space for which sequence is not adequate for describing conver-
gence.
S
Hint: (b) Let C be a countable subset of [0, Ω). The set c∈C [0, c) is countable while the set
[0, Ω) is uncountable.

1.7.17 (Filter). A filter (lọc) on a set X is a collection F of non-empty subsets of X such

that:
36 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

(1) if A, B ∈ F then A ∩ B ∈ F,
(2) if A ⊂ B and A ∈ F then B ∈ F.
For example, given a point, the collection of all neighborhoods of that point is a filter.
A filter is said to be convergent to a point if any neighborhood of that point is an
element of the filter.
A filter-base (cơ sở lọc) is a collection G of non-empty subsets of X such that if
A, B ∈ G then there is C ∈ G such that G ⊂ (A ∩ B).
If G is a filter-base in X then the filter generated by G is defined to be the collection
of all subsets of X each containing an element of G: {A ⊂ X | ∃B ∈ G, B ⊂ A}.
For example, in a metric space, the collection of all open balls centered at a point is
the filter-base for the filter consisting of all neighborhoods of that point.
A filter-base is said to be convergent to a point if the filter generated by it converges to
that point.
(1) Show that a filter-base is convergent to x if and only if every neighborhood of x
contains an element of the filter-base.
(2) Show that a point x ∈ X is a limit point of a subspace A of X if and only if there
is a filter-base in A \ {x} convergent to x.
(3) Show that a map f : X → Y is continuous at x if and only if for any filter-base F
that is convergent to x, the filter-base f (F) is convergent to f (x).
Filter gives an alternative way to net for describing convergence. For more see [Dug66, p.
209], [Eng89, p. 49], [Kel55, p. 83].
 1.8. COMPACT SPACE 37

1.8. Compact Space

A cover of a set X is a collection of subsets of X whose union is X. A cover
is said to be an open cover if each member of the cover is an open subset of X. A
subset of a cover which is itself still a cover is called a subcover.
A space is compact if every open cover has a finite subcover.

Example 1.8.1. Any finite space is compact.

Remark 1.8.2. Let A be a subspace of a topological space X. Let I be an open

cover of A. Each O ∈ I is an open set of A, so it is the restriction of an open set
UO of X. Thus we have a collection {UO | O ∈ I} of open sets of X whose union
contains A. On the other hand if we have a collection I of open sets of X whose
union contains A then the collection {U ∩ O | O ∈ I} is an open cover of A. For
this reason we often use the term open cover of a subspace A of X in both senses:
either as an open cover of A or as a collection of open cover of the space X whose
union contains A.

Example 1.8.3. Any subset of R with the finite complement topology is compact.
Note that this space is not Hausdorff (1.6.6).

Theorem 1.8.4. In a Hausdorff space compact subsets are closed.

PROOF. Let A be a compact set in a Hausdorff space X. We show that X \ A

is open.
Let x ∈ X \ A. For each a ∈ A there are disjoint open sets Ua containing x
and Va containing a. The collection {Va | a ∈ A} covers A, so there is a finite
subcover {Vai | 1 ≤ i ≤ n}. Let U = ni=1 Uai and V = ni=1 Vai . Then U is an open
T S

neighborhood of x disjoint from V , a neighborhood of A. 

Theorem 1.8.5 (Continuous image of compact space is compact). If X is com-

pact and f : X → Y is continuous then f (X) is compact.

Proposition 1.8.6. A closed subspace of a compact space is compact.

PROOF. Suppose that X is compact and A ⊂ X is closed. Let I be an open

cover of A. By adding the open set X \ A to I we get an open cover of X. This open
cover has a finite subcover. This subcover of X must contain X \ A, thus omitting
this set we get a finite subcover of A from I. 

Proposition 1.8.7. In a compact space an infinite set has a limit point.

PROOF. Let A be an infinite set in a compact space X. Suppose that A has no

limit point. Let x ∈ X, then there is an open neighborhood Ux of x that contains at
most one point of A. The collection of such Ux cover A, so there is a finite subcover.
But that implies that A is finite. 
38 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

Characterization of compact spaces in terms of closed subsets. In the

definition of compact spaces, writing open sets as complements of closed sets, we
get a dual statement: A space is compact if for every collection of closed subsets
whose intersection is empty there is a a finite subcollection whose intersection is
empty.
A collection of subsets of a set is said to have the finite intersection property if
the intersection of every finite subcollection is non-empty.

Theorem 1.8.8. A space is compact if and only if every collection of closed subsets
with the finite intersection property has non-empty intersection.

Compact sets in metric spaces. The following results have been studied in
Functional Analysis. It is useful for the reader to review them.

Proposition 1.8.9. A metric space is compact if and only if every sequence has a
convergent subsequence.

Proposition 1.8.10. If a subset of a metric space is compact then it is closed and

bounded.

Proposition 1.8.11. A subset of the Euclidean space Rn is compact if and only if it

is closed and bounded.

Example 1.8.12. In the Euclidean space Rn the closed ball B0 (a, r) is compact.

Theorem 1.8.13 (Lebesgue’s number). Let X be a compact metric space and let I
be an open cover of X. Then there exists a number ε > 0 such that any ball B(x, ε)
is contained in a member of the cover I.

PROOF. Given x ∈ X there is an open set Ux ∈ I containing x. There is a

number εx > 0 such that the ball B(x, 2εx ) is contained in Ux . The collection
{B(x, εx ) | x ∈ X} is an open cover of X, therefore there is a finite subcover {B(xi , εi ) | 1 ≤
i ≤ n}. Let ε = min{εi | 1 ≤ i ≤ n}.
Suppose that y ∈ B(x, ε). There is an i0 , 1 ≤ i0 ≤ n, such that x ∈ B(xi0 , εi0 ).
We have d(y, xi0 ) < ε + εi0 ≤ 2ε. This implies y belongs to the element Uxi0 of I,
and so B(x, ε) is contained in Uxi0 . 
Problems.

1.8.14. Find a cover of the interval (0, 1) with no finite subcover.

1.8.15. A discrete compact topological space is finite.

1.8.16. In a topological space a finite unions of compact subsets is compact.

1.8.17. In a Hausdorff space an intersection of compact subsets is compact.

1.8.18 (An extension of Cantor Lemma in Calculus). Let X be compact and X ⊃ A1 ⊃

A2 ⊃ · · · ⊃ An ⊃ . . . be a ascending sequence of closed, non-empty sets. Then ∞
n=1 An 6= 0.
T
/
 1.8. COMPACT SPACE 39

1.8.19 (The extreme value theorem). * If X is a compact space and f : X → (R, Euclidean)
is continuous then f has a maximum value and a minimum value.

1.8.20. * If X is compact, Y is Hausdorff, f : X → Y is bijective and continuous, then f is

a homeomorphism.

1.8.21. In a Hausdorff space a point and a disjoint compact set can be separated by open
sets.
Hint: See the proof of 1.8.4.

1.8.22. In a regular space a closed set and a disjoint compact set can be separated by open
sets.

1.8.23. In a Hausdorff space two disjoint compact sets can be separated by open sets.
Hint: Use 1.8.21.

1.8.24. A compact Hausdorff space is normal.

Hint: Use 1.8.23.

1.8.25. * The set of n × n-matrix with real coefficients, denoted by M(n; R), could be
2
naturally considered as a subset of the Euclidean space Rn by considering entries of a
matrix as coordinates, via the map

(ai, j ) 7−→ (a1,1 , a2,1 , . . . , an,1 , a1,2 , a2,2 , . . . , an,2 , a1,3 , . . . , an−1,n , an,n ).

The Orthogonal Group O(n) is defined to be the group of matrices representing or-
thogonal linear maps of Rn , that are linear maps that preserve inner product. Thus

O(n) = {A ∈ M(n; R)| A · AT = In }.

The Special Orthogonal Group SO(n) is the subgroup of O(n) consisting of all or-
thogonal matrices with determinant 1.
(1) Show that any element of SO(2) is of the form
!
cos(ϕ) − sin(ϕ)
.
sin(ϕ) cos(ϕ)
This is a rotation in the plane around the origin with an angle ϕ. Thus SO(2) is
the group of rotations on the plane around the origin.
(2) Show that SO(2) is path-connected.
(3) How many connected components does O(2) have?
(4) Show that SO(n) is compact.
(5) The General Linear Group GL(n; R) is the group of all invertible n × n-matrices
with real coefficients. Show that GL(n; R) is not compact.
(6) Find the number of connected components of GL(n; R).

1.8.26 (Point-wise convergence topology). Let X and Y be two spaces. Let ( fi )i∈I be a
net of functions from X to Y .
We say that the net ( fi )i∈I converges to a function f : X → Y point-wise if for any x ∈ X
the net ( fi (x))i∈I converges to f (x).
40 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

Now we consider a function from X to Y as an element of the set Y X = ∏x∈X Y . In this

view a function f : X → Y is an element f ∈ Y X , and for each x ∈ X the value f (x) is the
x-coordinate of the element f .
(1) Show that with this point of view, the net of functions ( fi )i∈I converges to a
function f : X → Y point-wise if and only if the net of points ( fi )i∈I converges
to the point f in the product topology of Y X . (b) Let C(X,Y ) be the set of all
continuous functions from X to Y . Define the point-wise convergence topology
on C(X,Y ) as the topology generated by sets of the form

S(x,U) = { f ∈ C(X,Y ) | f (x) ∈ U}

with x ∈ X and U ⊂ Y is open.

(2) Show that the point-wise convergence topology is exactly the product topology
on Y X restricted to C(X,Y ).
Hint: See 1.9.6 and 1.9.9.

1.8.27 (Compact-open topology). * Let X and Y be two spaces. Let C(X,Y ) be the set
of all continuous functions from X to Y .
The topology on C(X,Y ) generated by all sets of the form

S(A,U) = { f ∈ C(X,Y ) | f (A) ⊂ U}

where A ⊂ X is compact and U ⊂ Y is open is called the compact-open topology on C(X,Y ).

(1) A net ( fi ) in C(X,Y ) is said to be convergent point-wise (hội tụ từng điểm) to
f ∈ C(X,Y ) if for all x ∈ X the net ( fi (x)) converges to f (x) .
(2) Show that if ( fi ) converges to f in the compact-open topology then it converges
to f point-wise.
(3) Show that if ( fi ) converges to f in the compact-open topology then f is contin-
uous.
(4) If X is compact and Y is a metric space with a metric d then we say the net ( fi )
converges to f uniformly if the net (sup{d( fi (x), f (x)) | x ∈ X}) converges to 0.
This is the usual uniform convergence in Analysis.
(5) Show that if ( fi ) converges to f in the compact-open topology then it converges
to f uniformly.
(6) Define a metric on C(X,Y ) as d( f , g) = sup{d( f (x), g(x)) | x ∈ X}. This metric
generates a topology on C(X,Y ) called the uniform convergence topology. In
fact, the compact-open topology is exactly the uniform convergence topology.
 1.9. PRODUCT OF SPACES 41

1.9. Product of Spaces

Finite products of spaces. Let X and Y be two topological spaces, and consider
the Cartesian product X ×Y . The product topology on X ×Y is the topology gen-
erated by the collection F of sets of the form U × V where U is an open set of X
and V is an open set of Y .
The collection F is a subbasis for the product topology. Actually, since the
intersection of two members of F is also a member of F, the collection F is a basis
for the product topology.
Thus every open set in the product topology is a union of products of open sets
of X with open sets of Y .
Similarly, the product topology on ∏ni=1 (Xi , τi ) is defined to be the topology
generated by the collection ∏ni=1 τi .

Remark 1.9.1. Note that, as sets:

(1) (A × B) ∩ (C × D) = (A ∩C) × (B ∩ D).
(2) (A × B) ∪ (C × D) (A ∪ C) × (B ∪ D) = (A × B) ∪ (A × D) ∪ (C × B) ∪
(C × D).

Proposition 1.9.2. If each bi is a basis for Xi then ∏ni=1 bi is a basis for the product
topology on ∏ni=1 Xi .

Example 1.9.3 (Euclidean topology). Recall that Rn = |R × R ×

{z· · · × R}. The Eu-
n times
clidean topology on R is generated by open intervals. An open set in the product
topology of Rn is a union of products of open intervals.
Since a product of open intervals is an open rectangle, and an open rectangle is
a union of open balls and vice versa, the product topology is exactly the Euclidean
topology (see 1.2.12).

Infinite products of spaces.

Definition 1.9.4. Let {(Xi , τi )}i∈I be a family of topological spaces. The product
topology on ∏i∈I Xi is the topology generated by the collection F consisting of all
sets of the form ∏i∈I Ui , where Ui ∈ τi and Ui = Xi for all except finitely many i ∈ I.

Proposition 1.9.5. The collection F above is a basis of the product topology.

For j ∈ I the projection p j : ∏i∈I Xi → X j is defined by p j ((xi )) = x j . It is the

“projection to the j coordinate”.
The definition of the product topology is explained in the following:

Theorem 1.9.6 (Product topology is the topology such that projections are con-
tinuous). The product topology is the coarsest topology on ∏i∈I Xi such that all
the projection maps pi are continuous. In other words, the product topology is the
topology generated by the projection maps.
42 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

PROOF. Note that if O j ∈ X j then p−1

j (O j ) = ∏i∈I Ui with Ui = Xi for all i
except j, and U j = O j .
The topology generated by all the maps pi is the topology generated by all sets
of the form p−1
i (Oi ) with Oi ∈ τi , see 1.3.13. A finite intersection of these sets is
exactly a member of the basis of the product topology as in the definition. 

Theorem 1.9.7 (Map to product space is continuous if and only if each compo-
nent map is continuous). A map f : Y → ∏i∈I Xi is continuous if and only if each
component fi = pi ◦ f is continuous.

Remark 1.9.8. However continuity of a map from a product space is not the same
as continuity with respect to each variable, as we have seen in Calculus.

Theorem 1.9.9 (Convergence in product topology is coordinate-wise conver-

gence). A net n : J → ∏i∈I Xi is convergent if and only if all of its projections pi ◦ n
are convergent.

PROOF. (⇐) Suppose that each pi ◦ n is convergent to ai , we show that n is

convergent to a = (ai )i∈I .
A neighborhood of a contains an open set of the form U = ∏i∈I Oi with Oi are
open sets of Xi and Oi = Xi except for i ∈ K, where K is a finite subset of I.
For each i ∈ K, pi ◦ n is convergent to ai , therefore there exists an index ji ∈ J
such that for j ≥ ji we have pi (n( j)) ∈ Oi . Take an index j0 such that j0 ≥ ji for
all i ∈ K. Then for j ≥ j0 we have n( j) ∈ U. 

Tikhonov Theorem.
9
Theorem 1.9.10 (Tikhonov theorem). A product of compact spaces is compact.

Example 1.9.11. Let [0, 1] have the Euclidean topology. The space ∏i∈Z+ [0, 1] is
called the Hilbert cube. By Tikhonov theorem the Hilber cube is compact.

Applications of Tikhonov theorem include the Banach-Alaoglu theorem in

Functional Analysis and the Stone-Cech compactification.
Tikhonov theorem is equivalent to the Axiom of choice. The proofs we have
are rather difficult. However in the case of finite product it can be proved more
easily (1.9.25). Different techniques can be used in special cases of this theorem
(1.9.28 and 1.9.29).
PROOF OF TIKHONOV THEOREM. Let Xi be compact for all i ∈ I. We will
show that X = ∏i∈I Xi is compact by showing that if a collection of closed subsets
of X has the finite intersection property then it has non-empty intersection (see
1.8.8).10
9Proved by Andrei Nicolaievich Tikhonov around 1926. The product topology was defined by him.
His name is also spelled as Tychonoff.
10A proof based on open covers is also possible, see [Kel55, p. 143].
 1.9. PRODUCT OF SPACES 43

Let F be a collection of closed subsets of X that has the finite intersection

property. We will show that A∈F A 6= 0.
T
/
Have a look at the following argument, which suggests that proving the Tikhonov
theorem might not be easy. If we take the closures of the projections of the collec-
tion F to the i-coordinate then we get a collection {pi (A), A ∈ F} of closed subsets
of Xi having the finite intersection property. Since Xi is compact, this collection
has non-empty intersection.
From this it is tempting to conclude that F must have non-empty intersection
itself. But that is not true, see the figure.

In what follows we will overcome this difficulty by first enlarging the collection
F.
(1) We show that there is a maximal collection F̃ of subsets of X such that F̃
contains F and still has the finite intersection property. We will use Zorn
lemma for this purpose.11
Let K be the collection of collections G of subsets of X such that G
contains F and has the finite intersection property. On K we define an
order by the usual set inclusion.
Now suppose that L is a totally ordered subcollection of K. Let H =
G∈L G. We will show that H ∈ K, therefore H is an upper bound of L.
S

First H contains F. We need to show that H has the finite intersection

property. Suppose that Hi ∈ H, 1 ≤ i ≤ n. Then Hi ∈ Gi for some Gi ∈ L.
Since L is totally ordered, there is an i0 , 1 ≤ i0 ≤ n such that Gi0 contains
all Gi , 1 ≤ i ≤ n. Then Hi ∈ Gi0 for all 1 ≤ i ≤ n, and since Gi0 has the
finite intersection property, we have ni=1 Hi 6= 0.
T
/
(2) Since F̃ is maximal, it is closed under finite intersection. Moreover if a
subset of X has non-empty intersection with every element of F̃ then it
belongs to F̃.
(3) Since F̃ has the finite intersection property, for each i ∈ I the collection
{pi (A) | A ∈ F̃} also has the finite intersection property, and so does the
collection {pi (A) | A ∈ F̃}. Since Xi is compact, A∈F̃ pi (A) is non-empty.
T

11This is a routine step; it might be easier for the reader to carry it out instead of reading.
44 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

(4) Let xi ∈ A∈F̃ pi (A) and let x = (xi )i∈I ∈ ∏i∈I [ A∈F̃ pi (A)]. We will show
T T

that x ∈ A for all A ∈ F̃, in particular x ∈ A for all A ∈ F.

We need to show that any neighborhood of x has non-empty intersec-
tion with every A ∈ F̃. It is sufficient to prove this for neighborhoods of x
belonging to the basis of X, namely finite intersections of sets of the form
p−1
i (Oi ) where Oi is an open neighborhood of xi = pi (x). For any A ∈ F̃,
since xi ∈ pi (A) we have Oi ∩ pi (A) 6= 0./ Therefore p−1 i (Oi ) ∩ A 6= 0.
/ By
−1
the maximality of F̃ we have pi (Oi ) ∈ F̃, and the desired result follows.

Problems.

1.9.12. Check that in topological sense R3 = R2 × R = R × R × R.

Hint: Look at their bases.
More generally, is the product associative? Namely, is (X ×Y ) × Z = X × (Y × Z)? Is
(X ×Y ) × Z = X ×Y × Z?

1.9.13. Show that the sphere S2 with the North Pole and the South Pole removed is home-
omorphic to the infinite cylinder S1 × R.

1.9.14. Show that a space X is Hausdorff if and only if the diagonal ∆ = {(x, x) ∈ X × X}
is closed in X × X, by:
(1) using nets,
(2) not using nets.

1.9.15. If Y is Hausdorff and f : X → Y is continuous then the graph of f (the set {(x, f (x)) | x ∈
X}) is closed in X ×Y .

1.9.16. If for each i ∈ I the space Xi is homeomorphic to the space Yi then ∏i∈I Xi is
homeomorphic to ∏i∈I Yi .

1.9.17. * Show that each projection map pi is a an open map, mapping an open set onto an
open set.
Hint: Only need to show that the projection of an element of the basis is open.

1.9.18. Is the projection pi a closed map, in general?

1.9.19. Is it true that a map on a product space is continuous if it is continuous on each

variable?

1.9.20 (Disjoint union). Let A and B be topological spaces.

On the set (A × {0}) ∪ (B × {1}) consider the topology generated by subsets of the
form U × {0} and V × {1} where U is open in A and V is open in B. Show that A × {0}
is homeomorphic to A, while B × {1} is homeomorphic to B. In this space A × {0} and
B × {1} are (disjoint) connected components.
The space (A × {0}) ∪ (B × {1}) is called the disjoint union (hội rời) of A and B,
denoted by A t B. We use this construction when for example we want to consider a space
consisting of two disjoint circles.
 1.9. PRODUCT OF SPACES 45

1.9.21. * Fix a point O = (Oi ) ∈ ∏i∈I Xi . Define the inclusion map f : Xi → ∏i∈I Xi by

O if j 6= i
j
x 7→ f (x) with f (x) j = .
x if j = i

Show that f is a homeomorphism onto its image X̃i (an embedding of Xi ).

Thus X̃i is a copy of Xi in ∏i∈I Xi . The spaces X̃i have O as the common point.
This is an analog of the coordinate system Oxy on R2 .
Hint: Use 1.9.7 to prove that the inclusion map is continuous.

1.9.22. * Show that:

(1) If each Xi , i ∈ I is Hausdorff then ∏i∈I Xi is Hausdorff.
(2) If ∏i∈I Xi is Hausdorff then each Xi is Hausdorff.
Hint: (b) Use 1.9.21.

1.9.23. Show that:

(1) If ∏i∈I Xi is path-connected then each Xi is path-connected.
(2) If each Xi , i ∈ I is path-connected then ∏i∈I Xi is path-connected.
Hint: (b) Let (xi ) and (yi ) be in ∏i∈I Xi . Let γi (t) be a continuous path from xi to yi . Let
γ(t) = (γi (t)). Use 1.9.7.

1.9.24. Show that:

(1) If ∏i∈I Xi is connected then each Xi is connected.
(2) If X and Y are connected then X ×Y is connected.
Hint: Use 1.9.21.
(3) * If each Xi , i ∈ I is connected then ∏i∈I Xi is connected.
Hint: Fix a point x ∈ ∏i∈I Xi . Use (b) to show that the set Ax of points that differs
from x at at most finitely many coordinates is connected. Furthermore Ax is dense in
∏i∈I Xi .

1.9.25. Show that:

(1) If ∏i∈I Xi is compact then each Xi is compact.
(2) * If X and Y are compact then X ×Y is compact.
Hint: Use 1.9.21. It is enough to prove for the case an open cover of X × Y by
open sets of the form a product of an open set in X with an open set in Y . For each
Tnx
“slice” {x} × Y there is finite subcover {Ux,i × Vx,i | 1 ≤ i ≤ nx }. Take Ux = i=1 Ux,i .
The family {Ux | x ∈ X} covers X so there is a subcover {Ux j | 1 ≤ j ≤ n}. The family
{Ux j ,i ×Vx j ,i | 1 ≤ i ≤ nx j , 1 ≤ j ≤ n} is a finite subcover of X ×Y .

1.9.26. (a) If Oi is an open set in Xi for all i ∈ I then is ∏i∈I Oi open?

(b) If Fi is a closed set in Xi for all i ∈ I then is ∏i∈I Fi closed?

1.9.27 (Zariski topology). * Let F = R or F = C.

A polynomial in n variables on F is a function from Fn to F that is a finite sum of terms
of the form ax1m1 x2m2 · · · xnmn , where a, xi ∈ F and mi ∈ N. Let P be the set of all polynomials
in n variables on F.
46 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

If S ⊂ P then define Z(S) to be the set of all common zeros of all polynomials in S,
thus Z(S) = {x ∈ Fn | ∀p ∈ S, p(x) = 0}. Such a set is called an algebraic set.
(1) Show that if we define that a subset of Fn is closed if it is algebraic, then this
gives a topology on Fn , called the Zariski topology.
(2) Show that the Zariski topology on F is exactly the finite complement topology.
(3) Show that if both F and Fn have the Zariski topology then all polynomials on Fn
are continuous.
(4) Is the Zariski topology on Fn the product topology?
The Zariski topology is used in Algebraic Geometry.

1.9.28. Using the characterization of compact subsets of Euclidean spaces, prove the
Tikhonov theorem for finite products of compact subsets of Euclidean spaces.

1.9.29. Let (X, dX ) and (Y, dY ) be metric spaces. Prove that the product topology on X ×Y
is given by the metric

d((x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 )) = max{dX (x1 , x2 ), dY (x2 , y2 )}.

Using the characterization of compact metric spaces in terms of sequences, prove the
Tikhonov theorem for finite products of compact metric spaces.

Further readings

Strategy for a proof of Tikhonov theorem based on net. The proof that we will
outline here is based on further developments of the theory of nets and a characterization
of compactness in terms of nets.

Definition 1.9.30 (Subnet). Let I and I 0 be directed sets, and let h : I 0 → I be a map such
that
∀k ∈ I, ∃k0 ∈ I 0 , (i0 ≥ k0 ⇒ h(i0 ) ≥ k).
If n : I → X is a net then n ◦ h is called a subnet of n.

The notion of subnet is an extension of the notion of subsequence. If we take ni ∈ Z+

such that ni < ni+1 then (xni ) is a subsequence of (xn ). In this case the map h : Z+ → Z+
given by h(i) = ni is a strictly increasing function. Thus a subsequence of a sequence is a
subnet of that sequence. On the other hand a subnet of a sequence does not need to be a
subsequence, since for a subnet the map h is only required to satisfy limi→∞ h(i) = ∞.
A net (xi )i∈I is called eventually in A ⊂ X if there is j ∈ I such that i ≥ j ⇒ xi ∈ A.

Definition 1.9.31. Universal net A net n in X is universal if for any subset A of X either n
is eventually in A or n is eventually in X \ A.

Proposition 1.9.32. If f : X → Y is continuous and n is a universal net in X then f (n) is a

universal net.

Theorem 1.9.33. The following statements are equivalent:

(1) X is compact.
(2) Every universal net in X is convergent.
(3) Every net in X has a convergent subnet.
 1.9. PRODUCT OF SPACES 47

The proof of the last two propositions above could be found in [Bre93].
Then we finish the proof of Tikhonov theorem as follows.

PROOF OF TIKHONOV THEOREM. Let X = ∏i∈I Xi where each Xi is compact. Sup-

pose that (x j ) j∈J is a universal net in X. By 1.9.9 the net (x j ) is convergent if and only if
the projection (pi (x j )) is convergent for all i. But that is true since (pi (x j )) is a universal
net in the compact set Xi . 
48 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

1.10. Compactification
A compactification (compắc hóa) of a space X is a compact space Y such that
X is homeomorphic to a dense subset of Y .
Example 1.10.1. A compactification of the Euclidean interval (0, 1) is the Eu-
clidean interval [0, 1]. Another is the circle S1 . Yet another is the Topologist’s sine
curve {(x, sin 1x ) | 0 < x ≤ 1} ∪ {(0, y) | − 1 ≤ y ≤ 1} (see 1.5.1).
Example 1.10.2. A compactification of the complex plane C is the sphere S2 , is
often called the Riemann sphere.
One-point compactification. In some cases it is possible to compactify a non-
compact space by adding just one point. It is called a one-point compactification.
For example [0, 1] is a compactification of [0, 1).
Let X be a space, let ∞ be not in X, and let X ∞ = X ∪ {∞}. Let us see what a
topology on X ∞ should be in order for X ∞ to be compact. First X ∞ contains X as a
subspace, so each open subset of X must be open in X ∞ . If an open subset of X ∞
contains ∞ then its complement in X ∞ must be closed in X ∞ , and hence is compact,
and is a subset of X.
The existence of such a topology is given in the following:
Theorem 1.10.3 (Alexandroff compactification). Let X be a space. Let ∞ be not
in X and let X ∞ = X ∪ {∞}. Define a topology on X ∞ as follow: an open set in X ∞
is an open subset of X, or is X ∞ \C where C is a closed compact subset of X. With
this topology X ∞ is compact and contains X as a subspace.
If X is not compact then X is dense in X ∞ , and in this case X ∞ is called the
Alexandroff compactification of X. 12
PROOF. We go through several steps.
(1) We check that we really have a topology.
Let {Ci }i∈I be a collection of closed compact sets in X. Then i (X ∞ \
S

Ci ) = X ∞ \ i Ci , where i Ci is closed compact.

T T

If O is open in X and C is closed compact in X then O ∪ (X ∞ \C) =

X ∞ \ (C \ O), where C \ O is closed and compact subset of X.
Also O ∩ (X ∞ \C) = O ∩ (X \C) is open in X.
If C1 and C2 are closed compact in X then (X ∞ \ C1 ) ∩ (X ∞ \ C2 ) =
X ∞ \ (C1 ∪C2 ), where C1 ∪C2 is closed compact.
So we do have a topology. With this topology X is a subspace of X ∞ .
(2) We show that X ∞ is compact. Let F be an open cover of X ∞ . Then an
element O ∈ F will cover ∞. The complement of O in X ∞ is a closed
compact set C in X.
12Proved in the early 1920s by Pavel Sergeyevich Alexandrov. Alexandroff is another way to spell
his name.
 1.10. COMPACTIFICATION 49

Then F \ {O} is an open cover of C. From this cover there is a finite

cover. This finite cover together with O is a finite cover of X ∞ .
(3) Since X is not compact and X ∞ is compact, X cannot be closed in X ∞ ,
therefore the closure of X in X ∞ is X ∞ .


A space X is called locally compact if every point has a compact neighborhood.

Example 1.10.4. The Euclidean space Rn is locally compact.

Proposition 1.10.5. The Alexandroff compactification of a locally compact Haus-

dorff space is Hausdorff.

PROOF. Suppose that X is locally compact and is Hausdorff. We check that

∞ and x ∈ X can be separated by open sets. Since X is locally compact there is a
compact set C containing an open neighborhood O of x. Since X is Hausdorff, C
is closed in X. Then X ∞ \C is open in the Alexandroff compactification X ∞ . So O
and X ∞ \C separates x and ∞. 

The need for the locally compact assumption is discussed in 1.10.20.

Proposition 1.10.6. If X is homeomorphic to Y then a Hausdorff one-point com-

pactification of X is homeomorphic to a Hausdorff one-point compactification of
Y.

In particular, Hausdorff one-point compactification is unique up to homeomor-

phisms. For this reason sometimes we mention the one-point compactification.

PROOF. Suppose that h : X → Y is a homeomorphism. Let X ∪ {a} and Y ∪

{b} be Hausdorff one-point compactifications of X and Y . Let h̃ : X ∪ {a} →
Y ∪ {b} be defined by h̃(x) = h(x) if x 6= a and h̃(a) = b. We show that h̃ is a
homeomorphim. Because the role of X and Y are same, it is suffiencient to prove
that h̃ is continuous, or we can refer to 1.8.20.
Let U be an open subset of Y ∪ {b}. If U does not contain b then U is open
in Y , so h−1 (U) is open in X, and so is open in X ∪ {a}. If U contains b then
(Y ∪ {b}) \ U is closed in Y ∪ {b}, which is compact, so (Y ∪ {b}) \ U = Y \ U is
compact. Then h̃−1 ((Y ∪ {b}) \U) = h−1 (Y \U) is a compact subspace of X ∪ {a}.
Since X ∪ {a} is Hausdorff, h̃−1 ((Y ∪ {b}) \U) is closed in X ∪ {a}. Thus h̃−1 (U)
must be open in X ∪ {a}. 

Example 1.10.7. The Euclidean line R is homeomorphic to the circle S1 minus

a point. The circle is of course a Hausdorff one-point compactification of the
circle minus a point. Thus a Hausdorff one-point compactification (in particular,
the Alexandroff compactification) of the Euclidean line is homeomorphic to the
circle.
50 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

Stone-Cech compactification. Let X be a space. Denote by C(X) the set of all

bounded continuous functions from X to R where R has the Euclidean topology.
Let Φ be a function from X to Y = ∏ f ∈C(X) [inf f , sup f ] defined by for each
x ∈ X and each f ∈ C(X), the f -coordinate of the point Φ(x) is Φ(x) f = f (x). This
means the f -component of Φ is f , i.e. p f ◦ Φ = f , where p f is the projection to the
f -coordinate.
Since Y is compact, the subspace Φ(X) is compact. Under certain conditions
Φ is an embedding, and so the space Φ(X) is a compactification of X.

Definition 1.10.8. A space is said to be completely regular (also called a T3 1 -

2
space) if it is a T1 -space and for each point x and each closed set A with x ∈
/ A there
is a map f ∈ C(X) such that f (x) = a and f (A) = {b} where a 6= b.

Thus in a completely regular space a point and a closed set disjoint from it can
be separated by a continuous real function.

Theorem 1.10.9. If X is completely regular then Φ : X → Φ(X) is a homeomor-

phism. In other words Φ is an embedding.
In this case the space Φ(X) is called the Stone-Cech compactification of X.

PROOF. We goes through several steps.

(1) Φ is injective: If x 6= y then since X is completely regular there is f ∈ C(X)
such that f (x) 6= f (y), therefore Φ(x) 6= Φ(y).
(2) Φ is continuous: Since the f -component of Φ is f , which is continuous,
the result follows from 1.9.7.
(3) Φ−1 is continuous: We prove that Φ brings an open set onto an open
set. Let U be an open subset of X and let x ∈ U. There is a function
f ∈ C(X) that separates x and X \ U. In particular there is an interval
(a, b) such that f (x) ∈ ((a, b)) and f −1 ((a, b)) ∩ (X \ U) = 0. / We have
−1 −1 −1 −1
f ((a, b)) = (p f ◦ Φ) ((a, b)) = Φ (p f ((a, b))) ⊂ U. Apply Φ to
both sides, we get p−1 −1
f ((a, b)) ∩ Φ(X) ⊂ Φ(U). Since p f ((a, b)) ∩ Φ(X)
is an open set in Φ(X) containing Φ(x), we see that Φ(x) is an interior
point of Φ(U). We conclude that Φ(U) is open.


Proposition 1.10.10. The Stone-Cech compactification of a completely regular

space is Hausdorff.

PROOF. The space Y is Hausdorff, by 1.9.22. Then the result follows from
1.6.13. 

Theorem 1.10.11. A bounded continuous real function on a completely regular

space has a unique extension to the Stone-Cech compactification of the space.
 1.10. COMPACTIFICATION 51

More concisely, if X is a completely regular space and f ∈ C(X) then there is

a unique function f˜ ∈ C(Φ(X)) such that f = f˜ ◦ Φ.

X
Φ / Φ(X)
{
{{
f
{{{ ˜
 }{{ f
R
PROOF. A continuous extension of f , if exists, is unique, by 1.7.14.
Since p f ◦ Φ = f the obvious choice for f˜ is the projection p f . 

Problems.

1.10.12. Find the one-point compactification of the Euclidean (0, 1) ∪ (2, 3).

1.10.13. What is the one-point compactification of { n1 | n ∈ Z+ } under the Euclidean

topology?

1.10.14. What is the one-point compactification of Z+ under the Euclidean topology?

How about Z?

1.10.15. Show that Q is not locally compact (under the Euclidean topology of R). Is its
Alexandroff compactification Hausdorff?

1.10.16. What is the one-point compactification of the Euclidean open ball B(0, 1)? Find
the one-point compactification of the Euclidean space Rn .

1.10.17. What is the one-point compactification of the Euclidean annulus {(x, y) ∈ R2 | 1 <
x2 + y2 < 2}?

1.10.18. Define a topology on R ∪ {±∞} such that it is a compactification of the Euclidean

R.

1.10.19. If a subset of X is closed will it be closed in the Alexandroff compactification of

X?

1.10.20. If there is a topology on the set X ∞ = X ∪ {∞} such that it is compact, Hausdorff,
and containing X as a subspace, then X must be Hausdorff, locally compact, and there is
only one such topology–the topology of the Alexandroff compactification.

1.10.21. We could have noticed that the notion of local compactness as we have defined
is not apparently a local property. For a property to be local, every neighborhood of any
point must contain a neighborhood of that point with the given property (as in the cases of
local connectedness and local path-connectedness).
Show that for Hausdorff spaces local compactness is indeed a local property.

1.10.22. A locally compact Hausdorff space is regular.

Hint: Suppose that a point x and a closed set C are disjoint. The set X \C contains a compact
neighborhood A of x, by 1.10.21. So A contains an open neighborhood U of x. Since X is Hausdorff,
A is closed.
52 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

1.10.23. A space is locally compact Hausdorff if and only if it is homeomorphic to an open

subspace of a compact Hausdorff space.
Hint: (⇐) Use 1.8.24 and 1.6.9.

1.10.24. A completely regular space is regular.

1.10.25. Prove 1.10.9 using nets.

1.10.26. A space is completely regular if and only if it is homeomorphic to a subspace of

a compact Hausdorff space.
As a corollary, a locally compact Hausdorff space is completely regular.
Hint: (⇐) Use 1.8.24 and the Urysohn lemma 1.11.1.

Further readings
By 1.10.26 if a space has a Hausdorff Alexandroff compactification then it also has a
Hausdorff Stone-Cech compactification.
In a certain sense, for a noncompact space the Alexandroff compactification is the
“smallest” Hausdorff compactification of the space and the Stone-Cech compactification
is the “largest” one. For more discussions on this topic see for instance [Mun00, p. 237].
 1.11. URYSOHN LEMMA 53

1.11. Urysohn Lemma

Here we consider real functions, i.e. maps to the Euclidean R.

Urysohn lemma.

Theorem 1.11.1 (Urysohn lemma). If X is normal, F is closed, U is open, and

F ⊂ U, then there exists a continuous map f : X → [0, 1] such that f (x) = 0 on F
and f (x) = 1 on X \U.
An equivalent statement to Urysohn lemma is:
1.11.2. Let A and B be two disjoint closed subsets of a normal space X. Then there is a
continuous function f from X to [0, 1] such that f (x) = 0 on A and f (x) = 1 on B.
Thus in a normal space two disjoint closed subsets can be separated by a continuous
real function.
It is much easier to prove Urysohn lemma for metric space, using the function
d(x, A)
f (x) = .
d(x, A) + d(x, B)
Example 1.11.3. If X = R, A = (−∞, 0] and B = [1, ∞) then we can take:

0 if x ≤ 0


f (x) = x if 0 < x < 1 .


1 if x ≥ 1


PROOF OF URYSOHN LEMMA. Recall 1.6.10: Because X is normal, if F is

closed, U is open, and F ⊂ U then there is an open set V such that F ⊂ V ⊂ V ⊂ U.
(1) We construct a family of open sets in the following manner.
Let U1 = U.
n = 0: F ⊂ U0 ⊂ U0 ⊂ U1 .
n = 1: U0 ⊂ U 1 ⊂ U 1 ⊂ U1 .
2 2
n = 2: U0 ⊂ U 1 ⊂ U 1 ⊂ U 2 = U 1 ⊂ U 2 ⊂ U 3 ⊂ U 3 ⊂ U 4 = U1 .
4 4 4 2 4 4 4 4
Inductively we have a family of open sets:

F ⊂ U0 ⊂ U0 ⊂ U 1n ⊂ U 1n ⊂ U 2n ⊂ U 2n ⊂ U 3n ⊂ U 3n ⊂ · · · ⊂
2 2 2 2 2 2

⊂ U 2n −1
n
⊂ U 2n −1
n
⊂ U 2nn = U1 .
2 2 2

Let I = { 2mn
| m, n ∈ N; 0 ≤ m ≤ 2n }.
We have a family of open sets
{Ur | r ∈ I} having the property r < s ⇒ Ur ⊂ Us .
(2) We can check that I is dense in [0, 1] (this is really the same thing as that
any real number in [0, 1] can be written in binary form).
(3) Define f : X → [0, 1],

inf{r ∈ I | x ∈ U } if x ∈ U
r
f (x) = .
1 if x ∈
/U
54 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

We prove that f is continuous, then this is the function we are look-

ing for. It is enough to prove that sets of the form {x | f (x) < a} and
{x | f (x) > a} are open.
(4) We have f (x) < a if and only if there is r ∈ I such that r < a and x ∈ Ur .
Thus {x | f (x) < a} = {x ∈ Ur | r < a} = r<b Ur is open.
S

(5) We have f (x) > a if and only if there is r ∈ I such that r > a and x ∈
/ Ur .
Thus {x | f (x) > a} = {x ∈ X \Ur | r > a} = r>a X \Ur .
S

Now we show that r>a X \ Ur = r>a X \ Ur , which implies that

S S

r>a X \ Ur is open. Indeed, if r ∈ I and r > a then there is s ∈ I such

S

that r > s > a. Then Us ⊂ Ur , therefore X \Ur ⊂ X \Us .



Tiestze extension theorem. An application of Urysohn lemma is:

Theorem 1.11.4 (Tiestze extension theorem). Let X be a normal space. Let F

be closed in X. Let f : F → R be continuous. Then there is a continuous map
g : X → R such that g|F = f .

Thus in a normal space a continuous real function on a closed subspace can

be extended continuously to the whole space.

PROOF. First consider the case where f is bounded.

(1) The general case can be reduced to the case when infF f = 0 and supF f =
1. We will restrict our attention to this case.
(2) By Urysohn lemma, there is a continuous function g1 : X → [0, 13 ] such
that 
0 if x ∈ f −1 ([0, 1 ])
0 3
g1 (x) = .
 1 if x ∈ f −1 ([ 2 , 1])
3 0 3

Let f1 = f − g1 . Then supX g1 = supF f1 = 32 , and infF f1 = 0.

1
3,
(3) Inductively, once we have a function fn : F → R, for a certain n ≥ 1 we

n
will obtain a function gn+1 : X → [0, 13 23 ] such that

n
0 if x ∈ fn−1 ([0, 13 23 ])
gn+1 (x) =
.
 1 2 n if x ∈ f −1 ([ 2 n+1 , 2 n ])



3 3 n 3 3

n
n+1
Let fn+1 = fn − gn+1 . Then supX gn+1 = 13 23 , supF fn+1 = 32 , and
infF fn+1 = 0.
(4) The series ∑∞n=1 gn converges uniformly to a continuous function g.
(5) Since fn = f − ∑ni=1 gi , the series ∑nn=1 gn |F converges uniformly to f .
Therefore g|F = f .
(6) Note that with this construction infX g = 0 and supX g = 1.
Now consider the case when f is not bounded.
 1.11. URYSOHN LEMMA 55

(1) Suppose that f is neither bounded from below nor bounded from above.
Let h be a homeomorphism from (−∞, ∞) to (0, 1). Then the range
of f1 = h ◦ f is a subset of (0, 1), therefore it can be extended as in
the previous case to a continuous function g1 such that infx∈X g1 (x) =
infx∈F f1 (x) = 0 and supx∈X g1 (x) = supx∈F f1 (x) = 1.
If the range of g1 includes neither 0 nor 1 then g = h−1 ◦ g1 will be
the desired function.
It may happens that the range of g1 includes either 0 or 1. In this case
let C = g−11 ({0, 1}). Note that C ∩ F = 0./ By Urysohn lemma, there is
a continuous function k : X → [0, 1] such that k|C = 0 and k|F = 1. Let
g2 = kg1 + (1 − k) 12 . Then g2 |F = g1 |F and the range of g2 is a subset
of (0, 1) (g2 (x) is a certain convex combination of g1 (x) and 21 ). Then
g = h−1 ◦ g2 will be the desired function.
(2) If f is bounded from below then similarly to the previous case we can use
a homeomorphism h : [a, ∞) → [0, 1), and we let C = g−1 1 ({1}).
The case when f is bounded from above is similar.

Problems.

1.11.5. A normal space is completely regular. So: normal ⇒ completely regular ⇒ regu-
lar. In other words: T4 ⇒ T3 1 ⇒ T3 .
2

1.11.6. Show that the Tiestze extension theorem implies the Urysohn lemma.

1.11.7. The Tiestze extension theorem is not true without the condition that the set F is
closed.

1.11.8. Show that the Tiestze extension theorem can be extended to maps to the space
∏i∈I R where R has the Euclidean topology.

1.11.9. Let X be a normal space and F be a closed subset of X. Then any continuous map
f : F → Sn can be extended to an open set containing F.
Hint: Use 1.11.8.

1.11.10. * Show that if X is Hausdorff and Y is a retract of X then Y is closed in X.

Hint: Use nets.

1.11.11. Prove the following version of Urysohn lemma, as stated in [Rud86].

Suppose that X is a locally compact Hausdorff space, V is open in X, K ⊂ V , and K is
compact. Then there is a continuous function f : X → [0, 1] such that f (x) = 1 for x ∈ K
and supp( f ) ⊂ V , where supp( f ) is the closure of the set {x ∈ X | f (x) 6= 0}, called the
support of f .
Hint: Use 1.10.22 and 1.8.22.

1.11.12 (Niemytzki space). * Let H = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | y ≥ 0} be the upper half-plane.

Equip H with the topology generated by the Euclidean open disks (i.e. open balls) in
56 1. GENERAL TOPOLOGY

K = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | y > 0}, together with sets of the form {p} ∪ D where p is a point on the
line L = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | y = 0} and D is an open disk in K tangent to L at p. This is called
the Niemytzki space.
(1) Check that this is a topological space.
(2) What is the subspace topology on L?
(3) What are the closed sets in H?
(4) Show that H is Hausdorff.
(5) Show that H is regular.
(6) Show that H is not normal.
Hint: Any real function on L is continuous. The cardinality of the set of such
function is cc . A real function on H is continuous if and only if it is continuous on
the dense subset of points with rational coordinates, so the cardinality of the set of such
functions is at most cℵ0 . Since cc > cℵ0 , the space H cannot be normal, by Tiestze
Extention Theorem.

Further readings

Metrizability. A space is said to be metrizable if its topology can be generated by a metric.

Theorem 1.11.13 (Urysohn Metrizability Theorem). A regular space with a countable

basis is metrizable.

The proof uses the Urysohn lemma [Mun00].

 GUIDE FOR FURTHER READING IN GENERAL TOPOLOGY 57

Guide for Further Reading in General Topology

The book by Kelley [Kel55] has been a classics and a standard reference al-
though it was published in 1955. Its presentation is rather abstract. The book
contains no figure!
Munkres’ book [Mun00] is famous and is probably the best textbook at present.
The treatment there is somewhat more modern than that in Kelley’s book, with
many examples, figures and exercises. It also has a section on Algebraic Topology.
Hocking and Young’s book [HY61] contains many deep and difficult results.
This book together with Kelley’s and Munkres’ books contain many topics not
discussed in our lectures.
The more recent book by Roseman [Ros99] works mostly in Rn , is more down-
to-earth, and contains many new topics such as knots and manifolds. The new
textbook [AF08] contains many interesting applications of topology.
Some other good books on General Topology are the books by Cain [Cai94],
Viro and colleagues [VINK08].
If you want to have some ideas about current research in General Topology
you can visit the website of Topology Atlas [Atl], or you can browse the journal
Topology and Its Applications, available on the web.
For General Topology as a service to Analysis, [KF75] is an excellent textbook.
 CHAPTER 2

Geometric Topology

2.1. Quotient Space

Suppose that X is a topological space, Y is a set, and f : X → Y is a map. We
want to find a topology on Y such that f becomes a continuous map. Define V ⊂ Y
to be open in Y if f −1 (V ) is open in X. This is a topology on Y , called the quotient
topology (tôpô thương) generated by f , denoted by Y / f . This is the finest topology
on Y such that f is continuous, see 1.3.13.
Let X be a topological space and ∼ be an equivalence relation on X. Let
p : X → X/ ∼ be the projection x 7→ [x]. The set X/ ∼ with the quotient topology
generated by p is called the quotient space of X by ∼. We can think of the quo-
tient space X/ ∼ as the space obtained from X by gluing all the points which are
equivalent to each other into one point.
If A ⊂ X then there is an equivalence relation on X: x ∼ x if x ∈ / A, and x ∼ y if
x, y ∈ A. The quotient space X/ ∼ is also denoted by X/A. We can think of X/A as
the space obtained from X by collapsing the whole subspace A into one point.
From the definition of quotient topology we get a characterization of continu-
ous maps on quotient spaces:

Theorem 2.1.1. Suppose that f : X → Y and Y has the quotient topology corre-
sponding to f . Let Z be a topological space. Then g : Y → Z is continuous if and
only if g ◦ f is continuous.
f
X ? /Y
? ??
?? g
g◦ f ? 
Z

The following result will provide us a tool to identify some quotient spaces:

Theorem 2.1.2. Suppose that X is compact and ∼ is an equivalence relation on X.

Suppose that Y is Hausdorff, and f : X → Y is continuous and onto. Suppose that
f (x1 ) = f (x2 ) if and only if x1 ∼ x2 . Then f induces a homeomorphism from X/ ∼
to Y .
More concisely, define h : X/ ∼→ Y by h([x]) = f (x), then f = h ◦ p and h is
a homeomorphism.
59
60 2. GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY

p
X D / X/ ∼
D DD
DD
DD h
f D! 
Y

PROOF. By 2.1.1 and 1.8.20. 

Example 2.1.3 (Gluing the two end-points of a line segment gives a circle).
More precisely [0, 1]/0 ∼ 1 is homeomorphic to S1 :
p
[0, 1] / [0, 1]/0 ∼ 1
KKK
KKK
K
f KKKK 
h
%
S1
Here f is the map t 7→ (cos(2πt), sin(2πt)).

Example 2.1.4 (Gluing a pair of opposite edges of a square gives a cylinder).

Let X = [0, 1] × [0, 1]/ ∼ where (0,t) ∼ (1,t) for all 0 ≤ t ≤ 1. Then X is home-
omorphic to the cylinder [0, 1] × S1 . The homeomorphism is induced by the map
(s,t) 7→ (s, cos(2πt), sin(2πt)).

Example 2.1.5 (Gluing opposite edges of a square gives a torus). Let X =

[0, 1] × [0, 1]/ ∼ where (s, 0) ∼ (s, 1) and (0,t) ∼ (1,t) for all 0 ≤ s,t ≤ 1, then
X is homeomorphic to the torus (mặt xuyến) T 2 = S1 × S1 . 1

FIGURE 2.1.1. The torus.

The torus T 2 is homeomorphic to a subspace of R3 (we say that the torus can be
embedded in R3 ). The subspace is the surface of revolution obtained by revolving
a circle around a line not intersecting it.
Suppose that the circle is on the Oyz-plane, the center is on the y-axis and the
axis for the rotation is the z-axis. Let a be the distance from the center of the circle
to the z-axis, b be the radius of the circle (a > b). Let S be the surface of revolution,

1The plural form of the word torus is tori.

 2.1. QUOTIENT SPACE 61

FIGURE 2.1.2. The torus embedded in R3 .

then the embedding is given by

[0, 2π] × [0, 2π] / T 2 = ([0, 2π]/0 ∼ 2π) × ([0, 2π]/0 ∼ 2π)
WWWW
WWWW
WWWW
WWWW h
WWWW
f
WWWW 
+
S
where f (s,t) = ((a + b cos(s)) cos(t), (a + b cos(s)) sin(t), b sin(s)).
p
We also obtain an implicit equation for this surface: ( x2 + y2 − a)2 + z2 = b2 .

Example 2.1.6 (Gluing the boundary circle of a disk together gives a sphere).
More precisely D2 /∂ D2 is homeomorphic to S2 . We only need to construct a con-
tinuous map from D2 onto S2 such that after quotient out by the boundary ∂ D2 it
becomes injective, see Figure 2.1.6.

FIGURE 2.1.3.

Example 2.1.7 (The Mobius band). Gluing a pair of opposite edges of a square
in opposite directions gives the Mobius band (dải, lá Mobius). More precisely the
Mobius band is X = [0, 1] × [0, 1]/ ∼ where (0,t) ∼ (1, 1 − t) for all 0 ≤ t ≤ 1.
The Mobius band could be embedded in R3 . It is homeomorphic to a sub-
space of R3 obtained by rotating a straight segment around the z-axis while also
turning that segment “up side down”. The embedding can be induced by the map
(s,t) 7→ ((a +t cos(s/2)) cos(s), (a +t cos(s/2)) sin(s),t sin(s/2)), with 0 ≤ s ≤ 2π
and −1 ≤ t ≤ 1.
62 2. GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY

FIGURE 2.1.4. The Mobius band embedded in R3 .

t
a

s/2

FIGURE 2.1.5. The embedding of the Mobius band in R3 .

Example 2.1.8 (The projective plane). Identifying opposite points on the bound-
ary of a disk (they are called antipodal points) we get a topological space called
the projective plane (mặt phẳng xạ ảnh) RP2 .

The real projective plane cannot be embedded in R3 . It can be embedded in

R4 .

Example 2.1.9 (The projective space). More generally, identifying antipodal points
of Sn , or homeomorphically, identifying antipodal boundary points of Dn gives us
the projective space (không gian xạ ảnh) RPn .

Example 2.1.10 (The Klein bottle). Identifying one pair of opposite edges of a
square and the other pair in opposite directions gives a topological space called the
Klein bottle . More precisely it is [0, 1] × [0, 1]/ ∼ with (0,t) ∼ (1,t) and (s, 0) ∼
(1 − s, 1).
This space cannot be embedded in R3 , but it can be immersed in R3 . An
immersion (phép nhúng chìm) is a local embedding. More concisely, f : X → Y is
an immersion if each point in X has a neighborhood U such that f |U : U → f (U)
is a homeomorphism. Intuitively, an immersion allows self-intersection (tự cắt).

Problems.
 2.1. QUOTIENT SPACE 63

FIGURE 2.1.6. The Klein bottle.

FIGURE 2.1.7. The Klein bottle immersed in R3 .

2.1.11. Describe the space [0, 1]/ 12 ∼ 1.

2.1.12. Show that RP2 is homeomorphic to the sphere with antipodal points identified,
that is, S2 /x ∼ −x.

2.1.13. On the Euclidean R define x ∼ y if x − y ∈ Z. Show that R/ ∼ is homeomorphic

to S1 .
The space R/ ∼ is also described as “R quotient by the action of the group Z”.

2.1.14. On the Euclidean R2 , define (x1 , y1 ) ∼ (x2 , y2 ) if (x1 − x2 , y1 − y2 ) ∈ Z × Z. Show

that R2 / ∼ is homeomorphic to T 2 .

2.1.15. Show that the following spaces are homeomorphic (one of them is the Klein bottle).
b a

a a a b

b b

2.1.16. Describe the space that is the sphere S2 quotient by its equator S1 .

2.1.17. If X is connected then X/ ∼ is connected.

2.1.18. The one-point compactification of the open Mobius band (the Mobius band without
the boundary circle) is the projective space RP2 .

2.1.19. Show that RP1 is homeomorphic to S1 .

2.1.20. Show that RPn is a compactification of Rn .

64 2. GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY

2.1.21. In order for the quotient space X/ ∼ to be Hausdorff, a necessary condition is that
each equivalence class [x] must be a closed subset of X. Is this condition sufficient?
 2.2. TOPOLOGICAL MANIFOLDS 65

2.2. Topological Manifolds

The idea of a manifold is quite simple and natural. We are living on the surface
of the Earth, which is of course a sphere. Now, if we don’t travel far and only stay
around our small familiar neighborhood, then we don’t regcorgnize the curvature
of the surface and to us it is undistinguishable from a plane. This is the reason why
in ancient time people thought that the Earth was flat. So we see that globally a
sphere is different from a plane, but locally is same. The idea of manifold, put forth
for the first time by Bernard Riemann, is this: a space is a manifold if locally it is
the same as a Euclidean space.
Manifold is a central object in modern mathematics.

Definition 2.2.1. A topological manifold (đa tạp tôpô) of dimension n is a topolog-

ical space each point of which has a neighborhood homeomorphic to the Euclidean
space Rn .

Remark 2.2.2. In this section we assume Rn has the Euclidean topology unless we
mention otherwise.

Proposition 2.2.3. An equivalent definition of manifold is: A manifold of dimen-

sion n is a space such that each point has a neighborhood homeomorphic to an
open subset of Rn .

We can think of a manifold as a space which could be covered by a collection

of open sets each of which homeomorphic to Rn .

Remark 2.2.4. By Invariance of dimension 1.5.51, Rn and Rm are not homeomor-

phic unless m = n, therefore a manifold has a unique dimension.

Example 2.2.5. Any open subset of Rn is a manifold of dimension n.

Example 2.2.6. If f : R → R is continuous then the graph of f is a one-dimensional

manifold. More generally, let f : D → R be a continuous function where D ⊂ Rn is
66 2. GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY

an open set. Then the graph of f , the set {(x, f (x)) | x ∈ D} as a subspace of Rn+1
is an n-dimensional manifold.

Example 2.2.7. The sphere Sn is an n-dimensional manifold.

One way to show this is to cover Sn with two neighborhoods Sn \{(0, 0, . . . , 0, 1)}
and Sn \ {(0, 0, . . . , 0, −1)}. Each of these neighborhoods is homeomorphic to Rn
via stereographic projections.
Another way is covering Sn by hemispheres {(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn+1 ) ∈ Sn | xi > 0}
and {(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn+1 ) ∈ Sn | xi < 0}, 1 ≤ i ≤ n + 1.

Example 2.2.8. The torus is a two-dimensional manifold.

Let us consider the torus as the quotient space of the square [0, 1]2 by identify-
ing opposite edges. Each point has a neighborhood homeomorphic to an open disk,
as can be seen easily in the following figure, though explicit description would be
time consuming.

FIGURE 2.2.1. The sets with same colors are glued to form a
neighborhood of a point on the torus. Each such neighborhood
is homeomorphic to a sphere.
p
We can also view the torus as a surface in R3 , given by the equation ( x2 + y2 −
a)2 +z2 = b2 . As such it can be covered by the open subsets corresponding to z > 0,
z < 0, x2 + y2 < a2 , x2 + y2 > a2 .

Remark 2.2.9. The interval [0, 1] is not a manifold. It is a manifold with boundary.
Similarly the Mobius band is not a manifold, but is a manifold with boundary. We
will not give a precise definition of manifold with boundary here.

Problems.

2.2.10. Show that if two spaces are homeomorphic and one space is an n-dimensional
manifold then the other is also an n-dimensional manifold.

2.2.11. Show that RPn is an n-dimensional topological manifold.

 2.2. TOPOLOGICAL MANIFOLDS 67

Further readings
Bernard Riemann proposed the idea of manifold in his Habilitation dissertation. A
translation of this article is available in [Spi99].
Two conditions are often added to the definition of a manifold: it is Hausdorff, and it
has a countable basis. The first condition is useful for doing Analysis on manifolds, and
the second condition guarantees the existence of Partition of Unity.

Theorem 2.2.12 (Partition of Unity). Let U be an open cover of a manifold M. Then

there is a collection F of continuous real functions f : M → [0, 1] such that
(1) For each f ∈ F, there is V ∈ U such that supp( f ) ⊂ V .
(2) For each x ∈ M there is a neighborhood of x such that there are only finitely
many f ∈ F which is non-zero on that neighborhood.
(3) For each x ∈ M,
∑ f (x) = 1
f ∈F

A Partition of Unity allows us to extend some local properties to global ones, by

“patching” neighborhoods. It is needed for such important results as the existence of a
Riemannian metric on a manifold in Differential Geometry, the definition of integration
on manifold in Theory of Differential Forms. It is also used in the proof of the Riesz
Representation Theorem in Measure Theory [Rud86].

2.2.13. Check that Rn has a countable basis.

Hint: The set of all balls with rational radius whose center has rational coordinates forms a
basis for the Euclidean topology of Rn .

2.2.14. Any subset of Rn is Hausdorff and has a countable basis.

With the above additional assumptions we can show:

2.2.15. A manifold is locally compact.

2.2.16. A manifold is a regular space.

Hint: By 1.10.22.

By the Urysohn Metrizability Theorem 1.11.13 we have:

2.2.17. A manifold is metrizable.

68 2. GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY

2.3. Classification of Compact Surfaces

In this section by a surface (mặt) we mean a two-dimensional manifold, with
or without boundary. Often we further assume that it is connected and compact.
We already know some surfaces: the sphere, the torus, the projective plane, the
Klein bottle. Now we will list all possible compact surfaces.

Connected sum. Let S and T be two surfaces. From each surface deletes an open
disk, obtaining a surface with a circle boundary. Glue the two surfaces along the
two boundary circles. The resulting surface is called the connected sum (tổng trực
tiếp) of the two surfaces, denoted by S#T .

◦ ◦
S \ D2 T \ D2 S #T

The connected sum does not depend on the choices of the disks.

Example 2.3.1. If S is any surface then S#S2 = S.

Classification.

Theorem 2.3.2 (Classification of compact boundaryless surfaces). A connected

compact without boundary surface is homeomorphic to either the sphere, or a
connected sum of tori, or a connected sum of projective planes.

We denote by Tg the connected sum of g tori, and by Mg the connected sum of

g projective planes. The number g is called the genus (giống) of the surface.
The sphere and the surfaces Tg are orientable (định hướng được) surface , while
the surfaces Mg are non-orientable (không định hướng được) surfaces. We will not
give a precise definition of orientability here.

FIGURE 2.3.1. Orientable surfaces: S2 , T1 , T2 , . . .

Notice that at this stage we have not yet been able to prove that those surfaces
are distinct.
 2.3. CLASSIFICATION OF COMPACT SURFACES 69

Triangulation. A triangulation (phép phân chia tam giác) of a surface is a home-

omorphism from the surface to a union of finitely many triangles, with a require-
ment that two triangles are either disjoint, or have one common edge, or have one
common vertex.
Intuitively, the surface is expressed as a proper union of triangles.

FIGURE 2.3.2. A triangulation of the sphere.

FIGURE 2.3.3. A triangulation of the torus.

1
0.8
1 0.6
0.4
0.2
0.5 0
-0.2
0 -0.4
-0.6
-0.5 -0.8
-1
-1
3
2
1
-3 0
-2
-1 -1
0
1 -2
2
3 -3

FIGURE 2.3.4. Another triangulation of the torus.

It is known that any surface can be triangulated, this was proved in the 1920’s.
70 2. GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY

FIGURE 2.3.5. A triangulation of the projective plane.

Euler Characteristics. The Euler Characteristics (đặc trưng Euler) χ(S) of a

triangulated surface S is the number V of vertices minus the number E of edges
plus the number F of triangles (faces):

χ(S) = V − E + F

Theorem 2.3.3. The Euler Characteristics with respect to two triangulations of the
same surface are equal.

By this theorem the Euler Characteristics of a surface is defined and does not
depend on the choice of triangulation. Since the Euler Characteristics does not
change under homeomorphisms, just like the number of connected components, it
is said to be a topological invariant (bất biến tôpô). If two surfaces have different
Euler Characteristics, then they are not homeomorphic.

Example 2.3.4. By Theorem 2.3.3 we have χ(S2 ) = 2.

A consequence is the famous formula of Leonhard Euler: For any convex poly-
hedron, V − E + F = 2.
From any triangulation of the torus, we get χ(T 2 ) = 0. For the projective plane,
χ(RP2 ) = 1.
As a consequence, the sphere, the torus, and the projective plane are not home-
omorphic to each other: they are different surfaces.

Problems.

2.3.5. (a) Show that RP2 with an open disk removed is the Mobius band.
(b) Show that T 2 #RP2 = K#RP2 , where K is the Klein bottle.

2.3.6. Show that gluing two Mobius band along their boundaries gives the Klein bottle. In
other words, RP2 #RP2 = K. 2
2There is a humorous poem:
A mathematician named Klein
Thought the Mobius band was divine
Said he, “If you glue
The edges of two,
You’ll get a weird bottle like mine.”
 2.3. CLASSIFICATION OF COMPACT SURFACES 71

2.3.7 (Surfaces are homogeneous). A space is homogeneous (đồng nhất) if given two
points there exists a homeomorphism from the space to itself bringing one point to the
other point.
(1) Show that the sphere S2 is homogeneous.
(2) Show that the torus T 2 is homogeneous.
It is known that any manifold is homogeneous, see 3.7.4.

2.3.8. (a) Show that Tg #Th = Tg+h .

(b) Show that Mg #Mh = Mg+h .
(c) What is Mg #Th ?

2.3.9. Show that χ(S1 #S2 ) = χ(S1 ) + χ(S2 ) − 2.

Hint: Deleting an open disk is the same as deleting the interior of a triangle.

2.3.10. * Compute the Euler Characteristics of all connected compact without boundary
surfaces.
Deduce that the orientable surfaces S2 and Tg , for different g, are distinct, meaning not
homeomorphic to each other. Similarly the non-orientable surfaces Mg are all distinct.

Further readings

Proof of the Classification Theorem. Let S be a triangulated surface. Cut S along the
triangles. Label the edges by alphabet characters and mark the orientations of each edge.
In this way each edge will appear twice on two different triangles.
Take one triangle. Pick a second triangle which has one common edge with the first
one, then glue the two along the common edge following the orientation of the edge. Con-
tinue this gluing process in such a way that at every step the resulting polygon is planar.
This is possible if at each stage the gluing is done in such a way that there is one edge of
the polygon such that the entire polygon is on one of its side. The last polygon P is called
a fundamental polygon of the surface.
The boundary of the fundamental polygon consists of labeled and oriented edges.
Choose one edge as the initial one then follow the edge of the polygon in a predetermined
direction. This way we associate each polygon with a word w.
We consider two words equivalent if they give rise to homeomorphic surfaces.

Example 2.3.11. A fundamental polygon of the sphere and its associated word.

In the reverse direction, the surface can be reconstructed from an associated word. We
consider two words equivalent if they give rise to homeomorphic surfaces. In order to find
all possible surfaces we will find all possible associated words up to equivalence.

Theorem 2.3.12. An associated word to a connected compact without boundary surface

is equivalent to a word of the forms:
(1) aa−1 ,
(2) a1 b1 a−1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1
1 b1 a2 b2 a2 b2 · · · ag bg ag bg ,
(3) c21 c22 · · · c2g .

A direct consequence is:

72 2. GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY

Theorem 2.3.13. A connected compact without boundary surface is homeomorphic to a

surface determined by a word of the forms:
(1) aa−1 ,
(2) a1 b1 a−1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1
1 b1 a2 b2 a2 b2 · · · ag bg ag bg ,
(3) c21 c22 · · · c2g .

This theorem gives the the Classification Theorem.

Proof of Theorem 2.3.12. Let w be a word of a fundamental polygon.

Lemma 2.3.14. A pair of the form aa−1 in w can be deleted, meaning that this action will
give an equivalent word corresponding to a homeomorphic surface.

PROOF. If w is not aa−1 then it can be reduced as illustrated in the figure. 

a a−1
a

FIGURE 2.3.6. Lemma 2.3.14.

Lemma 2.3.15. The word w is equivalent to a word whose all of the vertices of the associ-
ated polygon is identified to a single point on the associated surface (w is “reduced”).

PROOF. When we do the following operation, the number of P vertices is decreased.

When there is only one P vertex left, we arrive at the situation in Lemma 2.3.14. 

Lemma 2.3.16. A word of the form −a − a− is equivalent to a word of the form −aa−.

Lemma 2.3.17. Suppose that w is reduced. Assume that w has the form −aαa−1 − where
α is a non-empty word. Then there is a letter b such that b is in α but the other b or b−1 is
not.

PROOF. If all letters in α appear in pairs then the vertices in the part of the polygon
associated to α are identified only with themselves, and are not identified with a vertex
outside of that part. This contradicts the assumption that w is reduced. 

Lemma 2.3.18. A word of the form −a − b − a−1 − b−1 − is equivalent to a word of the
form −aba−1 b−1 −.

Lemma 2.3.19. A word of the form −aba−1 b−1 − cc− is equivalent to a word of the form
−a2 − b2 − c2 −.
 2.3. CLASSIFICATION OF COMPACT SURFACES 73

P P
b a a
b
c Q c
Q
Q
c

b P P
b

c Q

b P
a
c Q

FIGURE 2.3.7. Lemma 2.3.15.

c a
a c
a c a

c c
a

FIGURE 2.3.8. Lemma 2.3.16.

PROOF. Do the operation in the figure, after that we are in a situation where we can
apply Lemma 2.3.16 three times.


PROOF OF THEOREM 2.3.12. The proof follows the following steps.

1. Bring w to the reduced form by using 2.3.15 finitely many times.
2. If w has the form −aa−1 − then go to 2.1, if not go to 3.
2.1. If w has the form aa−1 then stop, if not go to 2.2.
74 2. GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY

a a

b c b b c c b

a a
a a

c c c
b
c d
a
a

a
d
c c
d a

d c c
a
d

FIGURE 2.3.9. Lemma 2.3.18.

b b
a a
a

b
d
d

c c
c
d

a b

FIGURE 2.3.10. Lemma 2.3.19.

2.2. w has the form aa−1 α where α 6= 0.

/ Repeatedly apply 2.3.14 finitely many times,
deleting pairs of the form aa−1 in w until no such pair is left or w has the form aa−1 . If no
such pair is left go to 3.
3. w does not have the form −aa−1 −. Repeatedly apply 2.3.16 finitely many times
until w no longer has the form −aαa− where α 6= 0. / Note that if we apply 2.3.16 then
some pairs of of the form −aαa− with α 6= 0/ could become a pair of the form −a − a−1 −,
but a pair of the form −aa− will not be changed. Therefore 2.3.16 could be used finitely
many times until there is no pair −aαa− with α = 0/ left.
 2.3. CLASSIFICATION OF COMPACT SURFACES 75

Also it is crucial from the proof of 2.3.16 that this step will not undo the steps before
it.
4. If there is no pair of the form −aαa−1 where α 6= 0,
/ then stop: w has the form
a21 a22 · · · a2g .
5. w has the form −aαa−1 where α 6= 0. / By 2.3.17 w must has the form −a − b −
a−1 − b−1 −, since after Step 3 there could be no −b − a−1 − b−.
6. Repeatedly apply 2.3.18 finitely many times until w no longer has the form −aαbβ a−1 γb−1 −
where at least one of α, β , or γ is non-empty.
7. If w is not of the form −aa− then stop: w has the form a1 b1 a−1 −1 −1 −1
1 b1 · · · ag bg ag bg .
8. w has the form −aba−1 b−1 − cc−. Use 2.3.19 finitely many times to transform w
to the form a21 a22 · · · a2g . 
76 2. GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY

2.4. Homotopy
Homotopy of paths. Recall that a path (đường đi) in a space X is a continuous
map α from the Euclidean interval [0, 1] to X. The point α(0) is called the initial
end point, and α(1) is called the final end point. In this section for simplicity of
presentation we assume the domain of a path is the Euclidean interval [0, 1] instead
of any Euclidean closed interval as before.
Let α and β be two paths from a to b in X. A homotopy (phép đồng luân) from
α to β is a family of maps Ft : X → X, t ∈ [0, 1], such that the map (t, s) 7→ Ft (s) is
continuous, F0 = α, F1 = β , and for each t the path Ft goes from a to b.
If there is a homotopy from α to β we say that α is homotopic (đồng luân) to
β , sometimes written α ∼ β .

F0 = α
Ft

a b

F1 = β

FIGURE 2.4.1. We can think of α being homotopic to β as there

is a way (a homotopy) to continuously brings α to β , similar to a
motion picture.

Example 2.4.1. In a normed space any two paths α and β with the same initial
points and end points are homotopic, via the homotopy (1 − t)α + tβ . This is also
true for any convex subset of a normed space.

Proposition 2.4.2. Homotopic relation on the set of all paths from a to b is an

equivalence relation.

PROOF. If α is homotopic to β via a homotopy F then we can easily find a

homotopy from β to α, for instance Gt = F1−t .
We check that if α is homotopic to β via a homotopy F and β is homotopic to
γ via a homotopy G then α is homotopic to γ. Let

F ,
2t 0 ≤ t ≤ 21
Ht = .
G2t−1 , 1 ≤ t ≤ 1
2

Note that continuity of a map is not the same as continuity with respect to each vari-
able (see 1.9.8). However by an argument similar to 1.4.13 we can check directly
that the map H is continuous. It is a homotopy from α to γ. 
 2.4. HOMOTOPY 77

A loop (vòng) or a closed path (đường đi đóng) at a ∈ X is a path whose initial

point and end point are a. In other words it is a continuous map α : [0, 1] → X such
that α(0) = α(1) = a. The constant loop is the loop α(t) = a for all t ∈ [0, 1].
A space is said to be simply connected (đơn liên) if it is path-connected and
any loop is homotopic to a constant loop.

Example 2.4.3. As in a previous example, any convex subset of a normed space is

simply connected.

Deformation retract. Let X be a space, and let A be a subspace of X. A defor-

mation retraction (phép rút biến dạng) from X to A is a family of maps Ft : X → X,
t ∈ [0, 1], such that the map (t, x) 7→ Ft (x) is continuous, F0 = idX , Ft |A = idA , and
F1 (X) = A. If there is such a deformation retraction we say that A is a deformation
retract (rút biến dạng) of X. In this case for each point x ∈ X \ A there is a path
(namely Ft (x)) that goes from x to a point in A (namely F1 (x)).

Example 2.4.4. A normed space minus a point has a deformation retraction to

a sphere. Indeed a normed space minus the origin has a deformation retraction
x
Ft (x) = (1 − t)x + t ||x|| to the unit sphere at the origin.

Example 2.4.5. An annulus S1 × [0, 1] has a deformation retract to one of its circle
boundary S1 × {0}.

Homotopy of maps. Now we generalize the notion of homotopy of paths to ho-

motopy of maps between two spaces. Let f and g be continuous maps from X to Y .
We say that f is homotopic to g if there is a family of maps Ft : X → Y , t ∈ [0, 1],
such that continuous map, called a homotopy, F : X × [0, 1] → Y , often written
Ft (x), such that F0 = f and F1 = g.
Clearly, if f is homotopic to g then g is homotopic to f .

Remark 2.4.6. Homotopy of paths is a special case of homotopy of maps, with the
further requirement that the homotopy fixes the initial point and the end point.

Definition 2.4.7. The space X is said to be homotopic to the space Y if there are
continuous maps f : X → Y and g : Y → X such that g ◦ f is homotopic to the
identity map idX and f ◦ g is homotopic to the identity map idY .

Proposition 2.4.8. If a space X has a deformation retraction to a subspace A then

X is homotopic to A.

PROOF. Suppose that Ft is a deformation retraction from X to A. Consider

F1 : X → A and the inclusion map g : A → X, g(x) = x. Then idX is homotopic to
g ◦ F1 via Ft , while F1 ◦ g = idA . 

Example 2.4.9. The annulus and the Mobius band are both homotopic to the circle,
but are not homeomorphic to it.
78 2. GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY

Example 2.4.10. The letter A is homotopic to the letter O, as subspaces of the

Euclidean plane.

A space which is homotopic to a space containing only one point is called a

contractible space (thắt được).

Example 2.4.11. A ball in a normed space is contractible.

Example 2.4.12. A subset A of Rn is called star-shaped if there is a point x0 ∈ A

such that for any x ∈ A the straight segment from x to x0 is contained in A. Since A
has a deformation retract to x0 , it is contractible.

Theorem 2.4.13. The circle is not contractible.

This important result is often the beginning of either Algebraic Topology or

Differential Topology. It has many nice consequences.

The fundamental group. Let α be a path from a to b. Then the inverse path of
α is defined to be the path α −1 (t) = α(1 − t) from b to a.
Let α be a path from a to b, and β be a path from b to c, then the composition
(hợp) of α with β is defined to be the path

α(2t), 0 ≤ t ≤ 21
γ(t) =
β (2t − 1), 1 ≤ t ≤ 1.
2

The path γ is often denoted as α · β . By 1.4.13, α · β is continuous.

Proposition 2.4.14. If α ∼ α1 and β ∼ β1 then α · β ∼ α1 · β1 . Therefore we can

define [α] · [β ] = [α · β ].

PROOF. Let F be the first homotopy and G be the second homotopy. Consider
Ht = Ft · Gt . 

Proposition 2.4.15. If α is a path from a to b then α · α −1 is homotopic to the

constant loop at a.

PROOF. Our homotopy from α ·α −1 to the constant loop at a can be described

as follows. At a fixed t, the loop Ft starts at time 0 at a, goes along α but at twice the
speed of α, until time 21 − 2t , stays there until time 12 + 2t , then catches the inverse
path α −1 at twice its speed to come back to a.
More precisely,

α(2s),

 0 ≤ s ≤ 21 − 2t
Ft (s) = α( 21 − 2t ), 1
2 − 2t ≤ s ≤ 12 + 2t


 −1 1
α (2s), 2 + 2t ≤ s ≤ 1.

 2.4. HOMOTOPY 79

Theorem 2.4.16. The set of all homotopy classes of loops of X at a point x0 is a

group under the above composition.

This group is called the fundamental group (nhóm cơ bản) of X at x0 , denoted

by π1 (X, x0 ). The point x0 is called the base point.

Example 2.4.17. If X is a convex subset of a normed space then π1 (X, x0 ) is trivial.

The dependence of the fundamental group on the base point is explained in the
following proposition.

Proposition 2.4.18. Let γ be a path from x0 to y0 . Then the map

γ ∗ : π1 (X, x0 ) → π1 (X, y0 )
[ f ] 7→ [γ −1 · f · γ]
is an isomorphism.

Thus for a path-connected space the choice of the base point is not important
for the fundamental group.

Problems.

2.4.19. Show that the Mobius band has a deformation retract to a circle.

2.4.20. Show that if the space X is homotopic to the space Y and Y is homotopic to the
space Z then X is homotopic to Z.

2.4.21. If two spaces are homeomorphic then they are homotopic.

2.4.22. Show that the homotopy type of the Euclidean plane with a point removed does
not depend on the choice of the point.

2.4.23. Classify the alphabetical letters up to homotopy types.

2.4.24. Show that a contractible space is path-connected.

2.4.25. Let X be a topological space, and Y be a subspace of X. We say that Y is a retract

of X if there is a continuous map r : X → Y such that r|Y = idY . In other words the identity
map idY can be extended to X.
(1) Show that if Y is a retract of X then any map from Y to a topological space Z can
be extended to X.
(2) Show that a subset consisting of two points cannot be a retract of R2 .
Note: This shows that the Tiestze extension theorem cannot be automatically generalized to
maps to general topological spaces.

Further readings
One of most celebrated achievements in Topology is the resolution of the Poincaré
conjecture:
80 2. GEOMETRIC TOPOLOGY

Theorem 2.4.26 (Poincaré conjecture). A compact manifold that is homotopic to a sphere

is homeomorphic to the sphere.

The proof of this statement is the result of a cummulative effort of many mathemati-
cians, including Stephen Smale (for dimension ≥ 5, early 1960s), Michael Freedman (for
dimension 4, early 1980s), and Grigory Perelman (for dimension 3, early 2000s).
 CHAPTER 3

Differential Topology

3.1. Smooth Manifolds

Smooth maps on open sets in Rn . Let U be an open subset of Rk . A function
f : U → Rl is said to be smooth if all partial derivatives of all orders exist, i.e.
f ∈ C∞ (U).
Let U be an open subset of Rk and V an open subset of Rl . We say that
f : U → V is a diffeomorphism if it is bijective and both f and f −1 are smooth.

Remark 3.1.1. From now on in this chapter we assume that Rn has the Euclidean
topology.

Smooth manifolds. Let X be a subset of Rk . A map f : X → Rl is said to be

smooth at x ∈ X if it can be extended to a smooth function on a neighborhood of x
in Rk . Namely there is an open set U ⊂ Rk and a smooth function F : U → Rl such
that F|U∩X = f .
Let X ⊂ Rk and Y ⊂ Rl . Then f : X → Y is a diffeomorphism if it is bijective
and both f and f −1 are smooth.

Proposition 3.1.2. A set M ⊂ Rk is a smooth manifold of dimension m if any x ∈ M

has a neighborhood in M which is diffeomorphic to an open neighborhood in Rm .

A pair (U, φ ) of a neighborhood U ⊂ M and a diffeomorphism φ : U → Rm is

called a chart or coordinate system with domain U. The inverse map φ −1 is called
a parametrization .
3.1.3. A diffeomorphism is a homeomorphism. Therefore a smooth manifold is a topolog-
ical manifold.

Remark 3.1.4. In this part we only study smooth manifolds imbedded in Euclidean
spaces. Unless stated otherwise, manifolds mean smooth manifolds.

Remark 3.1.5. In the definition we can replace “an open neighborhood in Rm ” by

“Rm ”. Thus we can say that a smooth manifold of dimension m is a subset of a
Euclidean space Rk that is locally diffeomorphic to Rm .

Remark 3.1.6. We repeat that by Invariance of dimension 1.5.51, an open set in

Rm cannot be homeomorphic to an open set in Rn if m 6= n, therefore a manifold
has a unique dimension.
81
82 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

Example 3.1.7. A manifold of dimension 0 is a discrete set of points.

Example 3.1.8. The graph of a smooth function y = f (x) for x ∈ (a, b) (a smooth
curve) is a 1-dimensional manifold.

Example 3.1.9. The real number line R is a manifold, but t 7→ t 3 is not a parametriza-
tion of this manifold.

Example 3.1.10. On the coordinate plane, the union of the two axes is not a man-
ifold.

Example 3.1.11 (The circle). Let S1 = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | x2 + y2 = 1}. It is cov-

ered by four neighborhoods which are half circles, each corresponds to points
(x, y) ∈ S1 such that x > 0, x < 0, y > 0 and y < 0. Each of these neighbor-
hoods is diffeomorphic to (−1, 1). For example consider the projection from
{(x, y) ∈ S1 | x > 0} → (−1, 1) given by (x, y) 7→ y. The map (x, y) 7→ y is smooth
p
on R2 , so it is smooth on W1 . The inverse map y 7→ ( 1 − y2 , y) is smooth on
(−1, 1). Therefore the projection is a diffeomorphism.

Problems.

3.1.12. * Find a diffeomorphism from an open ball B(x, r) onto Rn .

3.1.13. * The graph of a smooth function z = f (x, y) is a 2-dimensional manifold.

3.1.14. * The sphere Sn = {(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn+1 ) ∈ Rn+1 | x12 + x22 + · · · + xn+1

2 = 1} is a differ-
entiable manifold of dimension n, covered by the hemispheres.
There is a another way to see that Sn as a manifold, by using two stereographic projec-
tions, one from the North Pole and one from the South Pole.

3.1.15. Show that the hyperboloid x2 + y2 − z2 = 1 is a manifold. Is the surface x2 + y2 −

z2 = 0 a manifold?
Hint: Graph the surfaces.

3.1.16. The torus can be obtained by rotating around the z axis a circle on the xOz plane
not intersecting the z axis. Show that the torus is a smooth manifold.
Hint: Since S1 can be covered by four neighborhoods, the torus T 2 = S1 × S1 can be covered
p
by 4 × 4 neighborhoods. It can be shown that the torus has the equation ( x2 + y2 − b)2 + z2 = a2
where 0 < a < b.

3.1.17. (a) Consider the union of the curve y = sin 1x , x > 0 and the segment {(0, y)| − 1 ≤
y ≤ 1} (the topologist’s sine curve, see also Section 1.5.1). Is it a manifold?
(b) Consider the curve which is the union of the curve y = x3 sin 1x , x 6= 0 and y = 0
when x = 0. Is this a manifold?
Hint: Consider a neighborhood of a point on the curve on the y-axis. Can it be homeomorphic
to an open neighborhood in R?

3.1.18. An open subset of a manifold is a manifold.

 3.1. SMOOTH MANIFOLDS 83

3.1.19. A connected manifold is path-connected.

Hint: See 1.5.22.

3.1.20. * The following is a common smooth function:


e−1/x , if x > 0
f (x) = .
0, if x ≤ 0

(1) The function f (x) is smooth.

Hint: Show that f (n) (x) = e−1/x Pn (1/x) where Pn (x) is a polynomial.
(2) Let a < b and let g(x) = f (x − a) f (b − x). Then g is smooth, g(x) is positive on
(a, b) and is zero everywhere else.
(3) Let Rx
g(x) dx
h(x) = R−∞∞ .
−∞ g(x) dx
Then h(x) is smooth, h(x) = 0 if x ≤ a, 0 < h(x) < 1 if a < x < b, and h(x) = 1
if x ≥ b.
(4) The function
f (x − a)
k(x) =
f (x − a) + f (b − x)
also has the above properties of h(x).
(5) In Rn , construct a smooth function whose value is 0 outside of the ball of radius
b, 1 inside the ball of radius a < b, and between 0 and 1 in between the two balls.

3.1.21. * Show that any diffeomorphism from Sn−1 onto Sn−1 can be extended to a diffeo-
morphism from Dn = B0 (0, 1) onto Dn .
Hint: See 1.4.24 and 3.1.20.
84 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

3.2. Tangent Spaces – Derivatives

Tangent spaces and derivatives on open sets in Rn . We summarize here
some results about derivatives of functions defined on open sets in Rn . See for
instance [Spi65] for more details.
Let U be an open set in Rk and V be an open set in Rl . Let f : U → V be
smooth. We define the tangent spaces of U at x to be TUx = Rk . We define the
derivative of f at x ∈ U to be the linear map d fx such that
d fx : TUx → TV f (x)
f (x + th) − f (x)
h 7→ d fx (h) = limh→0 .
t
Thus d fx (h) is the directional derivative of f at x in the direction of h.
The derivative d fx is a linear approximation of f at x.
Because we assumed that all the first order partial derivatives of f exist and
are continuous, the derivative of f exists. Furthermore in the canonical coordinate
system of Rn d fx is represented by an l × k-matrix J fx = [ ∂∂ xfij (x)] with 1 ≤ i ≤ l and
1 ≤ j ≤ k, called the Jacobian of f at x, and we have d fx (h) = J fx · h.
Some properties of derivatives:

Theorem 3.2.1 (The Chain Rule). Let U, V , W be open sets in Rk , Rl , R p respec-

tively, f : U → V and g : V → W be smooth maps, and y = f (x). Then

d(g ◦ f )x = dgy ◦ d fx .

In other words, the following commutative diagram

? V @@
~~~
f @@ g
~~ @@
~~ @
U /W
g◦ f

induces the commutative diagram

TVy
= FF
d fx {{{ FF dgy
{ FF
{{ FF
{{ #
TUx / TWg(y)
d(g◦ f )x

Proposition 3.2.2. Let U and V be open sets in Rk and Rl respectively. If f : U → V

is a diffeomorphism then k = l and the linear map d fx is invertible (in other words,
the Jacobian J fx is a non-singular matrix).

Tangent spaces of manifolds.

Example 3.2.3. To motivate the definition of tangent spaces of manifolds we recall

the notion of tangent spaces of surfaces. Consider a parametric surface in R3 given
 3.2. TANGENT SPACES – DERIVATIVES 85

by ϕ(u, v) = (x(u, v), y(u, v), z(u, v)). Consider a point ϕ(u0 , v0 ) on the surface.
Near to (u0 , v0 ) if we fix v = v0 and only allow u to change then we get a parametric
curve ϕ(u, v0 ) passing through ϕ(u0 , v0 ). The velocity vector of the curve ϕ(u, v0 )
is a “tangent vector” to the curve at the point ϕ(u0 , v0 ), and is given by the partial
derivative with respect to u: ∂∂ϕu (u0 , v0 ). Similarly we have another “tangent vector”
∂ϕ
∂ v (u0 , v0 ). Then the “tangent space” of the surface at ϕ(u0 , v0 ) is the plane spanned
the above two tangent vectors (under some further conditions for this notion to be
well-defined).

We can think of a manifold as a multi-dimensional surface. Therefore our

definition of tangent space of manifold is a natural generalization.

Definition 3.2.4. Let M be an m-dimensional manifold in Rk . Let x ∈ M and let

ϕ : U → M, where U is an open set in Rm , be a parametrization of a neighborhood
of x. Assume that x = ϕ(u) where u ∈ U. We define the tangent space of M at
x, denoted by T Mx to be the vector space in Rk spanned by the vectors ∂∂ xϕi (u),
1 ≤ i ≤ m.

Clearly T Mx = dϕu (TUu ) = dϕu (Rm ).

Example 3.2.5. Consider a surface z = f (x, y). Then the tangent plane at (x, y, f (x, y))
consists of the linear combinations of the vectors (1, 0, fx (x, y)) and (0, 1, fy (x, y)).
Consider the circle S1 . Let (x(t), y(t)) be any curve on S1 . The tangent space
of S1 at (x, y) is spanned by the velocity vector (x0 (t), y0 (t)) if this vector is not 0.
Since x(t)2 +y(t)2 = 1, differentiating both sides with respect to t we get x(t)x0 (t)+
y(t)y0 (t) = 0, or in other words (x0 (t), y0 (t)) is perpendicular to (x(t), y(t)). Thus
the tangent space is perpendicular to the radius.

Proposition 3.2.6. The tangent space does not depend on the choice of parametriza-
tion.

PROOF. Consider
? M `AA 0
ϕ ~~~ AA ϕ
~~~ AA
~~ A
U / U0
ϕ 0−1
◦ϕ

where ϕ 0−1 ◦ ϕ is a diffeomorphism. Notice that the map ϕ 0−1 ◦ ϕ is to be un-

derstood as follows. We have that ϕ(U) ∩ ϕ 0 (U 0 ) is a neighborhood of x ∈ M.
Restricting to ϕ −1 (ϕ(U) ∩ ϕ 0 (U 0 )), the map ϕ 0−1 ◦ ϕ is well-defined.
The above diagram gives us, with any v ∈ Rm :

dϕu (v) = dϕϕ0 0−1 ◦ϕ(u) d(ϕ 0−1 ◦ ϕ)u (v) .

86 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

Thus any tangent vector with respect to the parametrization ϕ is also a tangent
vector with respect to the parametrization ϕ 0 . We conclude that the tangent space
does not depend on the choice of parametrization. 

Proposition 3.2.7 (Tangent space has same dimension as manifold). If M is an

m-dimensional manifold then the tangent space T Mx is an m-dimensional linear
space.

PROOF. Since a parametrization ϕ is a diffeomorphism, there is a smooth

map F from an open set in Rk to Rm such that F ◦ ϕ = Id. So dFϕ(0) ◦ dϕ0 = IdRm .
This implies that the dimension of the image of dϕ0 is m. 

Derivatives of maps on manifolds. Let M ⊂ Rk and N ⊂ Rl be manifolds of

dimensions m and n respectively. Let f : M → N be smooth. Let x ∈ M. There is a
neighborhood W of x in Rk and a smooth extension F of f to W .

Definition 3.2.8. The derivative of f at x is defined to be the linear map

d fx : T Mx → T N f (x)
h 7→ d fx (h) = dFx (h).

Observe that d fx = dFx |T Mx .

We need to show that the derivative is well-defined.

Proposition 3.2.9. d fx (h) ∈ T N f (x) and does not depend on the choice of F.

PROOF. We have a commutative diagram

WO /N F

~~> O
f ◦ϕ
~
ϕ
~~~ ψ
~
U −1 / V
ψ ◦ f ◦ϕ

Assume that ϕ(u) = x, ψ(v) = f (x), h = dϕu (w). The diagram induces that
for w ∈ Rm : d fx (dϕu (w)) = dFx dϕu (w) = dψv d(ψ −1 ◦ f ◦ ϕ)u (w) . From this

we get the desired conclusion. 

Proposition 3.2.10 (The Chain Rule). If f : M → N and g : N → P are smooth

functions between manifolds, then

d(g ◦ f )x = dg f (x) ◦ d fx .

PROOF. There is a neighborhood of x in Rk and an extension F of f to that

neighborhood. Similarly there is a neighborhood y in Rl and an extension G of g to
that neighborhood. Then d(g ◦ f )x = d(G ◦ F)x |T Mx = (dGy ◦ dFx )|T Mx = dGy |T Ny ◦
dFx |T Mx = dgy ◦ d fx . 
 3.2. TANGENT SPACES – DERIVATIVES 87

Definition 3.2.11. If M and N are two smooth manifolds in Rk and M ⊂ N then we

say that M is a submanifold of N.

Proposition 3.2.12. If f : M → N is a diffeomorphism then d fx : T Mx → T N f (x) is

a linear isomorphism. In particular the dimensions of the two manifolds are same.

PROOF. Let m = dim M and n = dim N. Since d fx ◦ d f f−1

(x) = IdT N f (x) and
d f f−1
(x) ◦d f x = IdT Mx we deduce, via the rank of d f x that m ≥ n. Doing the same with
d f f−1
(x) we get m ≤ n, hence m = n. From that d f x must be a linear isomorphism. 

Corollary 3.2.13. Rk and Rl are not diffeomorphic if k 6= l.

Problems.

3.2.14. Calculate the tangent spaces of Sn .

3.2.15. Calculate the tangent spaces of the hyperboloid x2 + y2 − z2 = a, a > 0.

3.2.16. If Id : M → M is the identify map then d(Id)x is Id : T Mx → T Mx .

3.2.17. If M is a submanifold of N then T Mx is a subspace of T Nx .

3.2.18. * In general, a curve on a manifold M is a smooth map c from an open interval of

R to M. The derivative of this curve is a linear map dc dt (t0 ) : R → T Mc(t0 ) , represented by
the vector c0 (t0 ) ∈ Rk , this vector is called the velocity vector of the curve at t = t0 .
Show that any vector in T Mx is the velocity vector of a curve in M.

3.2.19. Show that if M and N are manifolds and M ⊂ N then T Mx ⊂ T Nx .

3.2.20. (a) Calculate the derivative of the map f : (0, 2π) → S1 , f (t) = (cost, sint).
(b) Calculate the derivative of the map f : S1 → R, f (x, y) = ey .

3.2.21 (Cartesian products of manifolds). * If X ⊂ Rk and Y ⊂ Rl are manifolds then

X ×Y ⊂ Rk+l is also a manifold. Furthermore T (X ×Y )(x,y) = T Xx × TYy .
88 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

3.3. Regular Values

Let M be a manifold of dimension m and N be manifold of dimension n, and
let f : M → N be smooth.
A point x ∈ M is called a regular point of f if d fx is surjective. If d fx is not
surjective then we say that x is a critical point of f .
If x is a critical point of f then its value y = f (x) is called a critical value of f .
A value y ∈ N is called a regular value if it is not a critical value, that is if
−1
f ({y}) contains only regular points.
For brevity we will write f −1 ({y}) as f −1 (y).
Thus y is a critical value if and only if f −1 (y) contains a critical point. In
particular, if y ∈ N \ f (M) then f −1 (y) = 0/ but y is still considered a regular value.
Example 3.3.1. The function f : R2 → R, f (x, y) = x2 − y2 has (0, 0) as the only
critical point.
Example 3.3.2. If f : M → N where dim(M) < dim(N) then every x ∈ M is a
critical point and every y ∈ N is a critical value.
Example 3.3.3. Let U be an open interval in R and let f : U → R be smooth. Then
x ∈ U is a critical point of f if and only if f 0 (x) = 0.
Example 3.3.4. Let U be an open set in Rn and let f : U → R be smooth. Then
x ∈ U is a critical point of f if and only if ∇ f (x) = 0.
The Inverse Function Theorem and the Implicit Function Theorem. First
we state the Inverse Function Theorem in Multivariables Calculus.
Theorem 3.3.5 (Inverse Function Theorem). Let f : Rk → Rk be smooth. If d fx
is bijective then f is locally a diffeomorphism.
More concisely, if det(J fx ) 6= 0 then there is an open neighborhood U of x and
an open neighborhood V of f (x) such that f |U : U → V is a diffeomorphism.
Remark 3.3.6. For a proof, see for instance [Spi65]. Usually the result is stated for
continuously differentiable function (i.e. C1 ), but the result for smooth functions
follows from that one, since the Jacobian matrix of the inverse map is the inverse
matrix of the Jacobian of the original map, and the entries of an inverse matrix can
be obtained from the entries of the original matrix via smooth operations, namely
1 ∗
(3.3.1) A−1 = A ,
det A
here A∗i, j = (−1)i+ j det(A j,i ), and A j,i is obtained from A by omitting the ith row
and jth column.
Theorem 3.3.7 (Implicit Function Theorem). Suppose that f : Rm+n → Rn is
smooth and f (x) = y. If d fx is onto then locally at x the level set f −1 (y) is a graph
of dimension m.
 3.3. REGULAR VALUES 89

More concisely, suppose that f : Rm × Rn → Rn is smooth and f (x0 , y0 ) = 0.

If the matrix [Dm+ j fi (x0 , y0 )], 1 ≤ i, j ≤ n is non-singular then there is a neighbor-
hood U ×V of (x0 , y0 ) such that for each x ∈ U there is a unique g(x) ∈ V satisfying
f (x, g(x)) = 0. The function g is smooth.

The Implicit Function Theorem is obtained by setting F(x, y) = (x, f (x, y)) and
applying the Inverse Function Theorem to F.

Theorem 3.3.8 (Inverse Function Theorem for manifolds). Let M and N be two
manifolds of the same dimensions, and let f : M → N be smooth. If x is a regular
point of f then there is a neighborhood in M of x on which f is a diffeomorphism
onto its image.

PROOF. Consider
f
MO /N
O
ϕ ψ
ψ −1 ◦ f ◦ϕ
U /V

Since d fx is surjective, it is bijective. Then d(ψ −1 ◦ f ◦ ϕ)u = dψ −1

f (x) ◦ d f x ◦ dϕu
is an isomorphism. The Inverse Function Theorem can be applied to ψ −1 ◦ f ◦ ϕ,
giving that it is a local diffeomorphism at u, so f is a local diffeomorphism at
x. 

Preimage of a regular value.

Corollary 3.3.9. If dim(M) = dim(N) and y is a regular value of f then f −1 (y) is

a discrete set. In other words, f −1 (y) is a zero dimensional manifold. Furthermore
if M is compact then f −1 (y) is a finite set.

PROOF. If x ∈ f −1 (y) then there is a neighborhood of x on which f is a bi-

jection. That neighborhood contains no other point in f −1 (y). Thus f −1 (y) is a
discrete set.
If M is compact then the set f −1 (y) is compact. If it the set is infinite then
it has a limit point x0 . Because of the continuity of f , we have f (x0 ) = y. That
contradicts the fact that f −1 (y) is discrete. 

Theorem 3.3.10 (Preimage of a regular value is a manifold). If y is a regular

value of f : M → N then f −1 (y) is a manifold of dimension dim(M) − dim(N).

The theorem is essentially the Implicit Function Theorem carried over to man-
ifolds.
90 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

PROOF. Let m = dim(M) and n = dim(N). The case m = n is already consid-

ered in 3.3.9. Now we assume m > n. Let x0 ∈ f −1 (y0 ). Consider the diagram
f
MO /N
O
ϕ ψ

O /W
g

where g = ψ −1 ◦ f ◦ ϕ and ψ(w0 ) = y0 .

Since d fx0 is onto, dgϕ −1 (x0 ) is also onto. If needed we can change g, O and ϕ by
permuting variables appropriately such that the matrix [D j gi (ϕ −1 (x0 ))], 1 ≤ i ≤ n,
m − n + 1 ≤ j ≤ m is non-singular. Denote ϕ −1 (x0 )) = (u0 , v0 ) ∈ Rm−n × Rn . By
the Implicit Function Theorem applied to g there is an open neighborhood U of u0
in Rm−n and an open neighborhood V of v0 in Rn such that U ×V is contained in
O and on U ×V we have g(u, v) = w0 if and only if v = h(u) for a certain smooth
function h : U → V . In other words, on U ×V the equation g(u, v) = w0 determines
a graph (u, h(u)).
Now we have ϕ(U ×V )∩ f −1 (y0 ) = {ϕ(u, h(u)) | u ∈ U}. Let ϕ̃(u) = ϕ(u, h(u))
then ϕ̃ is a diffeomorphism from U onto ϕ(U × V ) ∩ f −1 (y0 ), a neighborhood of
x0 in f −1 (y0 ). 

Example 3.3.11. To be able to follow the proof more easily the reader can try to
work it out for an example, such as the case where M is the graph of the function
z = x2 + y2 , and f is the height function f ((x, y, z)) = z defined on M.
The n-sphere Sn is a subset of Rn+1 determined by the implicit equation ∑n+1 2
i=1 xi =
1. Since 1 is a regular value of the function f (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn+1 ) = ∑n+1 2
i=1 xi we con-
clude that Sn is a manifold of dimension n.

Lie groups. The set Mn (R) of n × n matrices over R can be identified with the
2
Euclidean manifold Rn .
Consider the map det : Mn (R) → R. Let A = [ai, j ] ∈ Mn (R). Since det(A) =
∑σ ∈Sn (−1)σ a1,σ (1) a2,σ (2) · · · an,σ (n) = ∑ j (−1)i+ j ai, j det(Ai, j ), we can see that det
is a smooth function.
Let us find the critical points of det. A critical point is a matrix A = [ai, j ] at
which ∂∂ adet
i, j
(A) = (−1)i+ j det(Ai, j ) = 0 for all i, j. In particular, det(A) = 0. So 0 is
the only critical value of det.
Therefore SLn (R) = det−1 (1) is a manifold of dimension n2 − 1.
Furthermore we note that the group multiplication in SLn (R) is a smooth map
from SLn (R) × SLn (R) to SLn (R). The inverse operation is a smooth map from
SLn (R) to itself, because of for example Formula (3.3.1). We then say that SLn (R)
is a Lie group.
 3.3. REGULAR VALUES 91

Definition 3.3.12. A Lie group is a smooth manifold which is also a group, for
which the group operations are compatible with the smooth structure, namely the
group multiplication and inversion are smooth.

Let O(n) be the group of orthogonal n × n matrices, the group of linear trans-
formation of Rn that preserves distances.

Proposition 3.3.13. The orthogonal group O(n) is a manifold. Further, it is a Lie

group.

PROOF. Let S(n) be the set of symmetric n × n matrices. This is clearly a

2
manifold of dimension n 2+n .
Consider the smooth map f : M(n) → S(n), f (A) = AAt . We have O(n) =
f −1 (I). We will show that I is a regular value of f .
We compute the derivative of f at A ∈ f −1 (I):
f (A + tB) − f (A)
d fA (B) = lim = BAt + ABt .
t→0 t
We note that the tangents spaces of M(n) and S(n) are themselves. To check
whether d fA is onto for A ∈ O(n), we need to check that given C ∈ S(n) there is a
B ∈ M(n) such that C = BAt + ABt . We can write C = 12 C + 12 C, and the equation
1 t 1
2 C = BA will give a solution B = 2 CA, which is indeed a solution to the original
equation. 
Problems.

3.3.14. Let f : R2 → R, f (x, y) = x2 −y2 . Show that if a 6= 0 then f −1 (a) is a 1-dimensional

manifold, but f −1 (0) is not.

3.3.15. Show that if a and b are both positive or both negative then f −1 (a) and f −1 (b) are
diffeomorphic.

3.3.16. Let f : R3 → R, f (x, y) = x2 + y2 − z2 . Show that if a 6= 0 then f −1 (a) is a 2-

dimensional manifold, but f −1 (0) is not.
Show that if a and b are both positive or both negative then f −1 (a) and f −1 (b) are
diffeomorphic.

3.3.17. Show that the height function on the sphere S2 has exactly two critical points. The
height function is the function (x, y, z) 7→ z.

3.3.18. If x is a local extremum of f then x is a critical point of f .

3.3.19. If M is a compact manifold, dim(M) ≥ 1, and f is a smooth real function on M

then f has at least two critical points.

3.3.20. Let dim(M) = dim(N), M be compact and S be the set of all regular values of
f : M → N. For y ∈ S, let | f −1 (y)| be the number of elements of f −1 (y). The map
S → N
y 7 → | f −1 (y)|.
92 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

is locally constant.
Hint: Each x ∈ f −1 (y) has a neighborhood Ux on which f is a diffeomorphism. Let V =
f (Ux )] \ f (M \ Consider V ∩ S.
T S
[ x∈ f −1 (y) x∈ f −1 (y) Ux ).

3.3.21. Use regular value to show that the torus T 2 is a manifold.

Find the regular values of the function f (x, y, z) = [4x2 (1 − x2 ) − y2 ]2 + z2 − 41 .

3.3.22. Find a counter-example to show that 3.3.9 is not correct if regular value is replaced
by critical value.

3.3.23. * If f : M → N is smooth and x ∈ f −1 (y) is a regular point of f then the kernel of

d fx is exactly T f −1 (y)x .

3.3.24. Show that S1 is a Lie group.

3.3.25. Show that the set of all invertible n × n-matrices GL(n; R) is a Lie group and find
its dimension.

3.3.26. (a) Check that the derivative of the determinant map det : Mn (R) → R is repre-
sented by a gradient vector whose (i, j)-entry is (−1)i+ j det(Ai, j ).
(b) Determine the tangent space of SLn (R) at A ∈ SLn (R).
Hint: Use Problem 3.3.23.
(c) Let I be the n × n identity matrix. Show that the tangent space of SLn (R) at the
identity element I is the set of all n × n matrices with zero traces. This is called the Lie
algebra sln (R) of the Lie group SLn (R).
In general if G is a Lie group then the tangent space of G at its identity element is
called the Lie algebra of G, often denoted by g.
 3.4. MANIFOLDS WITH BOUNDARY 93

3.4. Manifolds with Boundary

Example 3.4.1. The closed disk Dn is an n-manifold with boundary.

Consider the closed half-space Hm = {(x1 , x2 , . . . , xm ) ∈ Rm | xm ≥ 0}. The

boundary of Hm is ∂ Hm = {(x1 , x2 , . . . , xm ) ∈ Rm | xm = 0} = Rm−1 × {0}.

Definition 3.4.2. A subset M of Rk is called a manifold with boundary of dimen-

sion m if each point in M has a neighborhood which is diffeomorphic to an open
neighborhood of Hm .
The boundary ∂ M of M is the set of all points of M which are mapped to ∂ Hm
under the above diffeomorphisms. The complement of the boundary is called the
interior.

We need to check that our definition of the boundary does not depend on the
choice of the parametrizations. An inspection shows that the question is reduced
to:

Lemma 3.4.3. Suppose that f is a diffeomorphism from the closed unit disk Dn =
B0 (0, 1) in Rn to itself. Then f maps interior points to interior points.

PROOF. Suppose that x is an interior point of Dn . Consider f |B(0,1) → Rn ,

a function defined on an open set in Rn . By the chain rule d fx is non-singular,
therefore by the Inverse Function Theorem f is a diffeomorphism from an open
ball containing x onto an open ball containing f (x). Thus f (x) must be an interior
point. 

Remark 3.4.4. Alternatively we can use Invariance of dimension 1.5.51.

Remark 3.4.5. The boundary of a manifold is not its topological boundary.

From now on when we talk about a manifold it may be with or without bound-
ary.

Proposition 3.4.6. Let M be an m-manifold with boundary. The boundary of M

is an (m − 1)-manifold without boundary, and the interior of M is an m-manifold
without boundary.

PROOF. Let x ∈ ∂ M. There is a parametrization ϕ from a neighborhood U

of 0 in ∂ Hm to a neighborhood V of x in M, such that ϕ(0) = x. By definition,
ϕ(U ∩∂ Hm ) = V ∩∂ M. Therefore ϕ|U∩∂ Hm is a parametrization of a neighborhood
of x in ∂ M. Thus ∂ M is an (m − 1)-manifold without boundary. 

Example 3.4.7. Let f be the height function on S2 and let y be a regular value.
Then the set f −1 ((−∞, y]) is a disk with the circle f −1 (y) as the boundary.
94 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

Theorem 3.4.8. Let M be an m-dimensional manifold without boundary. Let f :

M → R be smooth. Let y be a regular value of f . Then f −1 ([y, ∞)) is an m-
dimensional manifold with boundary f −1 (y).
PROOF. Let N = f −1 ([y, ∞)).
If x ∈ M such that f (x) > y then there is a neighborhood O of x in M such that
f (O) ⊂ [y, ∞). Since O ⊂ N, we conclude that x is an interior point of N.
The crucial case is when f (x) = y. As in the proof of 3.3.10, there is an open
ball U in Rm−1 containing 0 and an open interval V in R containing 0 such that in
U × V the set g−1 (y) is a graph {(u, v) | v = h(u), u ∈ U}. Then a neighborhood
in M of x is parametrized as ϕ(u, v) with (u, v) ∈ U ×V , and in that neighborhood
f −1 (y) is parametrized as ϕ(u, h(u)) with u ∈ U.

f
MO /R
yy<
y
yy
yy g
ϕ
yy
U ×V

f
y
x

ϕ g

FIGURE 3.4.1.
Since (U ×V ) \ g−1 (y) consists of two connected components, exactly one of
the two is mapped via g to (y, ∞). In order to be definitive, let us assume that it is
W = {(u, v) | v ≥ h(u)} that is mapped to [y, ∞). Then ϕ : W → N is a parametriza-
tion of a neighborhood of x in N. It is not difficult to see that W is diffeomor-
phic to an open neighborhood of 0 in Hm . In fact the map W → Hm given by
(u, v) 7→ (u, v − h(u)) would give the desired diffeomorphism. Thus x is a bound-
ary point of N. 
The tangent space of a manifold with boundary M is defined as follows. It x is
an interior point of M then T Mx is defined as before. If x is a boundary point then
there is a parametrization ϕ : U → M, where U is an open neighborhood of 0 in
Hm and ϕ(0) = x. Then T Mx is still defined as dϕ0 (Rm ).
 3.4. MANIFOLDS WITH BOUNDARY 95

Example 3.4.9. If y is a regular value of the height function on D2 then f −1 (y) is

a 1-dimensional manifold with boundary on ∂ D2 .
Theorem 3.4.10. Let M be an m-dimensional manifold with boundary, let N be
an n-manifold with or without boundary. Let f : M → N be smooth. Suppose that
y ∈ N is a regular value of both f and f |∂ M . Then f −1 (y) is an (m − n)-manifold
with boundary ∂ M ∩ f −1 (y).
PROOF. That f −1 (y)\∂ M is an (m−n)-manifold without boundary is already
proved in 3.3.10.
We consider the crucial case of x ∈ ∂ M ∩ f −1 (y).

x f
y

ϕ g̃

∂Hm
Ũ
T g̃−1 (y)u

FIGURE 3.4.2.

x f
y

U
ϕ g̃

∂Hm
T g̃−1 (y)u
Ũ

FIGURE 3.4.3.

The map g can be extended to g̃ defined on an open neighborhood Ũ of 0 in

Rm . As before, g̃−1 (y) is a graph of a function of (m − n) variables so it is an
(m − n)-manifold without boundary.
Let p : g̃−1 (y) → R be the projection to the last coordinate (the height function).
We have g−1 (y) = p−1 ([0, ∞)) therefore if we can show that 0 is a regular value of
96 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

p then the desired result follows from 3.4.8 applied to g̃−1 (y) and p. For that we
need to show that the tangent space T g̃−1 (y)u at u ∈ p−1 (0) is not contained in
∂ Hm . Note that since u ∈ p−1 (0) we have u ∈ ∂ Hm .
Since g̃ is regular at u, the null space of d g̃u on T Ũu = Rm is exactly T g̃−1 (y)u ,
of dimension m − n. On the other hand, g̃|∂ Hm is regular at u, which implies that the
null space of d g̃u restricted to T (∂ Hm )u = ∂ Hm has dimension (m − 1) − n. Thus
T g̃−1 (y)u is not contained in ∂ Hm . 
Problems.

3.4.11. Show that the subspace {(x1 , x2 , . . . , xm ) ∈ Rm | xm > 0} is diffeomorphic to the

space to Rm .
 3.5. THE BROUWER FIXED POINT THEOREM 97

3.5. The Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem

We use the following theorem of A. Sard, which belongs to Analysis:
Theorem 3.5.1. Sard Theorem Let U be an open subset of Rm and f : U → Rn be
smooth. Then the set of critical values of f is of Lebesgue measure zero.
See for instance [Mil97] for a proof.
On manifolds, we have:
Theorem 3.5.2. If M and N are two manifolds and f : M → N is smooth then f
has a regular value in N. In fact the set of all regular values of f is dense in N.
PROOF. Consider a neighborhood V in N parametrized by a diffeomorphism
ψ : V 0 → V . Consider any neighborhood U in M parametrized by a diffeomorphism
ϕ : U 0 → U such that f (U) ⊂ V . We have a commutative diagram:

f
UO /V
O
ϕ ψ
g
U0 / V0

From this diagram, if x is a critical point of f then u = ϕ −1 (x) is a critical point

of g, and g(u) = v is a critical value of g, and ψ(v) = f (x) is a critical value of f .
Let C be the set of all critical points of f . Let AU be the set of all critical values
of g. By Sard Theorem, AU is a set of measure zero in Rn .
The set of all critical values of f in V which are values of f on U is exactly
f (C ∩U) = ψ(AU ).
The set of all critical values of f which lie in V is the union of the sets f (C ∩U)
over all possible neighborhoods U.
We can a cover M by a countable collection I of parametrized neighborhoods.
This is possible because a Euclidean space has a countable topological basis (see
1.2.27), and so does a subset. From I we form the collection J = { f −1 (V )∩W | W ∈
I}. For each U ∈ J we have f (U) ⊂ V .
Now we have f (C) ∩V = U∈J f (C ∩U) = U∈J ψ(AU ) = ψ( U∈J AU ).
S S S

Since a countable union of sets of measure zero is a set of measure zero, we

S
have U∈J AU is of measure zero. Therefore this set cannot have non-empty inte-
S
rior. Since ψ is a homeomorphism, ψ( U∈J AU ) cannot have non-empty interior
either. Thus f (C) ∩V V , so there is a regular value of f in V . 
If N ⊂ M and f : M → N such that f |N = idN then f is called a retraction from
M to N and N is a retract of M.
Lemma 3.5.3. Let M be a compact manifold with boundary. There is no smooth
map f : M → ∂ M such that f |∂ M = id∂ M . In other words there is no smooth retrac-
tion from M to its boundary.
98 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

PROOF. Suppose that there is such a map f . Let y be a regular value of f .

Since f |∂ M is the identity map, y is also a regular value of f |∂ M . By Theorem
3.4.10 the inverse image f −1 (y) is a 1-manifold with boundary f −1 (y)∩∂ M = {y}.
But a 1-manifold cannot have boundary consisting of exactly one point. This result
is contained in the classification of compact one-dimensional manifolds. 

Theorem 3.5.4 (Classification of compact one-dimensional manifolds). A smooth

compact connected one-dimensional manifold is diffeomorphic to either a circle,
in which case it has no boundary, or an arc, in which case its boundary consists of
two points.

See [Mil97] for a proof.

Theorem 3.5.5 (Smooth Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem). A smooth map from
the disk Dn to itself has a fixed point.

PROOF. Suppose that f does not have a fixed point, i.e. f (x) 6= x for all x ∈ Dn .
The line from f (x) to x will intersect the boundary ∂ Dn at a point g(x). Then
g : Dn → ∂ Dn is a smooth function and is the identity on ∂ Dn . That is impossible,
by 3.5.3. 
Actually the Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem holds true for continuous map. The
proof use the smooth version of the theorem. Since its proof does not use smooth
techniques we will not present it here, the interested reader can find it in Milnor’s
book [Mil97]. Basically one approximates a continuous function by smooth ones.

Theorem 3.5.6 (Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem). A continuous map from the disk
Dn to itself has a fixed point.

Problems.

3.5.7. Show that a smooth loop on S2 (i.e. a smooth map from S1 to S2 ) cannot cover S2 .
Also, there is no smooth surjective map from R to Rn with n > 1. In other words, there is
no smooth space filling curves, in contrast to the continuous case (compare 1.5.54).

3.5.8. Prove the Brouwer fixed point theorem for [0, 1] directly.

3.5.9. Check that the function g in the proof of 3.5.5 above is smooth.

3.5.10. Show that the Brouwer fixed point theorem is not correct for (0, 1).

3.5.11. Show that the Brouwer fixed point theorem is not correct for open balls in Rn .
Hint: Let ϕ be a diffeomorphism from Bn to Rn . Let f be any smooth map on Rn . Consider
the map ϕ −1 f ϕ.

3.5.12. Find a smooth map from the solid torus to itself without fixed point.

3.5.13. Suppose that M is diffeomorphic (or homeomorphic) to Dn . Show that a smooth

(or continuous) map from M to itself has a fixed point.
 3.5. THE BROUWER FIXED POINT THEOREM 99

3.5.14. Let A be an n × n matrix whose entries are all nonnegative.

Av
(1) Check that the map à : Sn−1 → Sn−1 , v 7→ ||Av|| brings the first quadrant Q =
) ∈ Sn−1
{(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn | xi ≥ 0, 1 ≤ i ≤ n} to itself.
(2) Prove that Q is homeomorphic to the closed ball Dn−1 .
(3) Derive a theorem of Frobenius that A must have a nonnegative eigenvalue.
100 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

3.6. Orientation
Orientation on vector spaces. On a finite dimensional real vector space, two
bases are said to determine the same orientation of the space if the change of bases
matrix has positive determinant. Being of the same orientation is an equivalence
relation on the set of all bases. With this equivalence relation the set of all bases is
divided into two equivalence classes. If we choose one of the two as the positive
one, then we say the vector space is oriented and the chosen equivalence class of
bases is called the orientation (or positive orientation). Thus any finite dimensional
real vector space is orientable (i.e. can be oriented) with two possible orientations.

Example 3.6.1. The standard positive orientation of Rn is represented by the basis

{e1 = (1, 0, . . . , 0), e2 = (0, 1, 0, . . . , 0), . . . , en = (0, . . . , 0, 1)}.

Let T be an isomorphism from an oriented finite dimensional real vector space

V to an oriented finite dimensional real vector space W . Then T brings a basis of
V to a basis of W .
There are only two possibilities. Either T brings a positive basis of V to a
positive basis of W , or T brings a positive basis of V to a negative basis of W . In
the fist case we say that T is orientation-preserving, and in the second case we say
that T is orientation-reversing.

Orientation on manifolds. A manifold M is said to be oriented if for each point

x ∈ M an orientation for T Mx is chosen and each point has a neighborhood that
can be parametrized by a diffeomorphism ϕ : U → M such that the derivative dϕu :
Rm → T Mx brings the standard positive orientation of Rm to the chosen orientation
of T Mx .
Equivalently, a manifold is said to be oriented if there is a consistent way to ori-
ent the tangent spaces of the manifold using parametrizations. Each parametriza-
tion induces a an orientation of the tangent space. Consistency (i.e. being well-
defined) means that when two parametrized neighborhood overlap the orientations
on the tangent spaces induced by the parametrizations must be the same.
Concisely, suppose that ϕ : U → M is a parametrization of a neighborhood
in M. At each point, the orientation on T Mx is given by the image of the stan-
dard basis of Rn via dϕu , i.e. it is given by the basis ∂∂uϕ1 = dϕu (e1 ), ∂∂uϕ2 (u) =

u
dϕu (e2 ), . . . , ∂∂uϕn (u) = dϕu (en ) . Suppose that ψ : V → M parametrizes an over-

lapping neighborhood. Then ψ gives an orientation of T Mx by the basis ∂∂ vψ1 =
v
dψv (e1 ), ∂∂ vψ2 (v) = dψv (e2 ), . . . , ∂∂ vψn (v) = dψv (en ) . Since dψv = d(ψ ◦ϕ −1 )v ◦dϕu ,
the consistency requirement is that the determinant of the change of base matrix
d(ϕ 0 ◦ ϕ −1 )v must be positive. We can say that the change of coordinates must be
orientation preserving.
 3.6. ORIENTATION 101

If a manifold could be oriented then we say that it is orientable . A connected

orientable manifold could be oriented in two ways.

Orientable Surfaces. A surface is two-sided if there is a smooth way to choose

a unit normal vector N(p) at each point p ∈ S. That is, the map N : S → R3 is
smooth.

FIGURE 3.6.1. The Mobius band is not orientable and is one-sided.

Proposition 3.6.2. A surface is orientable if and only if it is two-sided.

PROOF. If the surface is orientable then its tangent spaces could be oriented
ru × rv
smoothly. That means the unit normal vector is well-defined on the
||ru × rv ||
surface, and it is certainly smooth.
Conversely, if there is a smooth unit normal vector N(p) on the surface then
we can parametrize a neighborhood of any point by a parametrization r(u, v) such
that ru × rv is in the same direction with N (if the given parametrization gives the
reversed orientation we can just switch the variables u and v). This can be done if
we choose the neighborhood to be connected, since then hru × rv , Ni will always be
positive in that neighborhood. 

Example 3.6.3. The sphere is orientable.

Example 3.6.4. A graph is an orientable surface. Any surface which could be

parametrized by one parametrization is orientable.

Proposition 3.6.5. If f : R3 → R is smooth and a is a regular value of f then

f −1 (a) is an orientable surface.

PROOF. In Multi-variable Calculus we know that the gradient vector ∇ f (p)

is always perpendicular to the level set containing p. 

Example 3.6.6. The torus is orientable. This can be seen from an implicit equation
of the torus.
102 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

Orientation on the boundary of an oriented manifold. Suppose that M is a

manifold with boundary and the interior of M is oriented. We orient the boundary
of M as follows. Suppose that under an orientation-preserving parametrization ϕ
the point ϕ(x) is on the boundary ∂ M of M. Then the orientation {b2 , b3 , . . . , bn }
of ∂ Hn such that the ordered set {−en , b2 , b3 , . . . , bn } is a positive basis of Rn will
induce the positive orientation for T ∂ Mϕ(x) through dϕ(x). This is called the outer
normal first orientation of the boundary.
Problems.

3.6.7. Two diffeomorphic surfaces are either both orientable or both un-orientable.
Hint: d( f ◦ r) = d f ◦ dr and r0−1 ◦ r = ( f ◦ r0 )−1 ◦ ( f ◦ r).
 3.7. BROUWER DEGREE 103

3.7. Brouwer Degree

Let M and N be boundaryless, oriented manifolds of the same dimensions m.
Further suppose that M is compact.
Let f : M → N be smooth. Suppose that x is a regular point of f . Then d fx is an
isomorphism from T Mx to T N f (x) . Let sign(d fx ) = 1 if d fx preserves orientations,
and sign(d fx ) = −1 otherwise.
For any regular value y of f , let

deg( f , y) = ∑ sign(d fx ).
x∈ f −1 (y)

Notice that the set f −1 (y) is a finite because M is compact (see 3.3.9).
This number deg( f , y) is called the Brouwer degree (bậc Brouwer) 1 or topo-
logical degree of the map f with respect to the regular value y.
From the Inverse Function Theorem 3.3.8, each regular value y has a neigh-
borhood V and each preimage x of y has a neighborhood Ux on which f is a dif-
feomorphism onto V , either preserving or reversing orientation. Therefore we can
interpret that deg( f , y) counts the algebraic number of times the function f covers
the value y.
Example 3.7.1. Consider f : R → R, f (x) = x2 . Then deg( f , 1) = 0. This could
be explained geometrically from the graph of f , as f covers the value 1 twice in
opposite directions at x = −1 and x = 1.
On the other hand, consider g(x) = x3 − x with the regular value 0. From the
graph of f we see that f covers the value 0 three times with positive signs at x = −1
and x = 1 and negative sign at x = 0, therefore we see rightaway that deg(g, 0) = 1.
Homotopy invariance. In this section we will show that the Brouwer degree does
not depend on the choice of regular values and is invariant under smooth homotopy.
Lemma 3.7.2. Let M be the boundary of a compact oriented manifold X, oriented
as the boundary of X. If f : M → N extends to a smooth map F : X → N then
deg( f , y) = 0 for every regular value y.
PROOF. (a) Assume that y is a regular value of F. Then F −1 (y) is a 1-
dimensional manifold of dimension 1 whose boundary is F −1 (y) ∩ M = f −1 (y),
by Theorem 3.4.8.
By the Classification of one-dimensional manifolds, F −1 (y) is the disjoint
union of arcs and circles. Let A be a component that intersects M. Then A is
an arc with boundary {a, b} ⊂ M.
We will show that sign(det(d fa )) = − sign(det(d fb )). Taking sum over all arc
components of F −1 (y) would give us deg( f , y) = 0.
1L. E. J. Brouwer (1881–1966) is a Dutch mathematician. He had many important contributions in
the early development of topology, and founded Intuitionism.
104 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

An orientation on A. Let x ∈ A. Recall that TAx is the kernel of dFx : T Xx →

T Ny . We will choose the orientation on TAx such that this orientation together
with the pull-back of the orientation of T Ny via dFx is the orientation of X. Let
(v2 , v3 , . . . , vn+1 ) be a positive basis for T Ny . Let v1 ∈ TAx such that {v1 , dFx−1 (v2 ), . . . , dFx−1 (vn+1 )}
is a positive basis for T Xx . Then v1 determine the positive orientation on TAx .
At x = a or at x = b we have d fx = dFx |T Mx . Therefore d fx is orientation-
preserving on T Mx oriented by the basis {d fx−1 (v2 ), . . . , d fx−1 (vn+1 )}.
We claim that exactly one of the two above orientations of T Mx at x = a or
x = b is opposite to the orientation of T Mx as the boundary of X. This would show
that sign(det(d fa )) = − sign(det(d fb )).
Observe that if at a the orientation of TAa is pointing outward with respect to
X then b the orientation of TAb is pointing inward, and vice versa. Indeed, since
A is a smooth arc it is parametrized by a smooth map γ(t) such that γ(0) = a and
γ(1) = b. If we assume that the orientation of TAγ(t) is given by γ 0 (t) then it is clear
that at a the orientation is inward and at b it is outward.
(b) Suppose now that y is not a regular value of F. There is a neighborhood
of y in the set of all regular values of f such that deg( f , z) does not change in this
neighborhood. Let z be a regular value of F in this neighborhood, then deg( f , z) =
deg(F, z) = 0 by (a), and deg( f , z) = deg( f , y). Thus deg( f , y) = 0. 

Lemma 3.7.3. If f is smoothly homotopic to g then deg( f , y) = deg(g, y) for any

common regular value y.

PROOF. Let I = [0, 1] and X = M × I. Since f be homotopic to g there is a

smooth map F : X → N such that F(x, 0) = f (x) and F(x, 1) = g(x).
The boundary of X is (M × {0}) t (M × {1}). Then F is an extension of the
pair f , g from ∂ X to X, thus deg(F|∂ X , y) = 0 by the above lemma.
Note that one of the two orientations of M × {0} or M × {1} as the boundary of
X is opposite to the orientation of M (this is essentially for the same reason as in the
proof of the above lemma). Therefore deg(F|∂ X , y) = ±(deg( f , y) − deg(g, y)) = 0,
so deg( f , y) = deg(g, y). 

Lemma 3.7.4 (Homogeneity of manifold). Let N be a connected boundaryless

manifold and let y and z be points of N. Then there is a self diffeomorphism h :
N → N that is smoothly isotopic to the identity and carries y to z.

We do not present a proof for this lemma. The reader can find a proof in
[Mil97, p. 22].

Theorem 3.7.5. Let M and N be boundaryless, oriented manifolds of the same

dimensions. Further suppose that M is compact and N is connected. The Brouwer
degree of a map from M to N does not depend on the choice of regular values and
is invariant under smooth homotopy.
 3.7. BROUWER DEGREE 105

Therefore from now on we will write deg( f ) instead of deg( f , y).

PROOF. We have already shown that degree is invariant under homotopy.
Let y and z be two regular values for f : M → N. Choose a diffeomorphism h
from N to N that is isotopic to the identity and carries y to z.
Note that h preserves orientation. Indeed, there is a smooth isotopy F : N ×
[0, 1] → N such that F0 = h and F1 = id. Let x ∈ M, and let ϕ : Rm → M be
an orientation-preserving parametrization of a neighborhood of x with ϕ(0) = x.
Since dFt (x) ◦ dϕ0 : Rm × R is smooth with respect to t, the sign of dFt (x) does not
change with t.
As a consequence, deg( f , y) = deg(h ◦ f , h(y)).
Finally since h ◦ f is homotopic to id ◦ f , we have deg(h ◦ f , h(y)) = deg(id ◦
f , h(y)) = deg( f , h(y)) = deg( f , z). 
Example 3.7.6. Let M be a compact, oriented and boundaryless manifold. Then
the degree of the identity map on M is 1. On the other hand the degree of a constant
map on M is 0. Therefore the identity map is not homotopic to a constant map.
Example 3.7.7 (Proof of the Brouwer fixed point theorem via the Brouwer
degree). We can prove that Dn+1 cannot retract to its boundary (this is 3.5.3 for
the case of Dn+1 ) as follows. Suppose that there is such a retraction, a smooth map
f : Dn+1 → Sn that is the identity on Sn . Define F : [0, 1] × Sn by F(t, x) = f (tx).
Then F is a smooth homotopy from a constant map to the identity map on the
sphere. But these two maps have different degrees.
Theorem 3.7.8 (The fundamental theorem of Algebra). Any non-constant poly-
nomial with real coefficients has at least one complex root.
PROOF. Let p(z) = zn + a1 zn−1 + a2 zn−2 + · · · + an−1 z + an , with ai ∈ R, 1 ≤
i ≤ n. Suppose that p has no root, that is, p(z) 6= 0 for all z ∈ C. As a consequence,
an 6= 0.
For t ∈ [0, 1], let

qt (z) = (1 − t)n zn + a1 (1 − t)n−1tzn−1 + · · · + an−1 (1 − t)t n−1 z + ant n .

Then qt (z) is continuous with respect to the pair (t, z). Notice that if t 6= 0 then
qt (z) = t n p((1 − t)t −1 z), and q0 (z) = zn while q1 (z) = an .
If we restrict z to the set {z ∈ C | |z| = 1} = S1 then qt (z) has no roots, so |qqtt (z)
(z)|
is a continuous homotopy of maps from S1 to itself, starting with the polynomial
zn and ending with the constant polynomial |aann | . But these two polynomials have
different degrees, a contradiction. 

Vector field.

Definition 3.7.9. A (smooth) (tangent) vector field on a boundaryless manifold

M ⊂ Rk is a smooth map v : M → Rk such that v(x) ∈ T Mx for each x ∈ M.
106 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

Example 3.7.10. Let v : S1 → R2 , v((x, y)) = (−y, x), then it is a nonzero (not zero
anywhere) tangent vector field on S1 .
Similarly we can find a nonzero tangent vector field on Sn with odd n.

Theorem 3.7.11 (The Hairy Ball Theorem). There is no smooth nonzero tangent
vector field on Sn if n is even. 2

PROOF. Suppose that v is a nonzero tangent smooth vector field on Sn . Let

v(x)
w(x) = ||v(x)|| , then w is a unit smooth tangent vector field on Sn .
Notice that w(x) is perpendicular to x. On the plane spanned by x and w(x) we
can easily rotate vector x to vector −x. Precisely, let Ft (x) = cos(t) · x + sin(t) · w(x)
with 0 ≤ t ≤ π, then F is a homotopy from x to −x. But the degrees of these two
maps are different, see 3.7.20. 

Problems.

3.7.12. Find the topological degree of a polynomial on R. Notice that although the domain
R is not compact, the topological degree is well-defined for polynomial.

3.7.13. Let f : S1 → S1 , f (z) = zn , where n ∈ Z. We can also consider f as a vector-valued

function f : R2 → R2 , f (x, y) = ( f1 (x, y), f2 (x, y)). Then f = f1 + i f2 .
(1) Recalling the notion of complex derivative and the Cauchy-Riemann condition,
check that det(J fz ) = | f 0 (z)|2 .
(2) Check that all values of f are regular.
(3) Check that deg( f , y) = n for all y ∈ S1 .

3.7.14. Show that deg( f , y) is locally constant on the subspace of all regular values of f .

3.7.15. What happens if we drop the condition that N is connected in Theorem 3.7.5?
Where do we use this condition?

3.7.16. Let M and N be oriented boundaryless manifolds, M is compact and N is connected.

Let f : M → N. Show that if deg( f ) 6= 0 then f is onto.

3.7.17. * Let ri : Sn → Sn be the reflection map

ri ((x1 , x2 , . . . , xi , . . . , xn+1 )) = (x1 , x2 , . . . , −xi , . . . , xn+1 ).

Compute deg(ri ).

3.7.18. * Let f : Sn → Sn be the map that interchanges two coordinates:

f ((x1 , x2 , . . . , xi , . . . , x j , . . . , xn+1 )) = (x1 , x2 , . . . , x j , . . . , xi , . . . , xn+1 ).

Compute deg( f ).

3.7.19. Suppose that M, N, P are compact, oriented, connected, boundaryless m-manifolds.

f g
Let M → N → P. Then deg(g ◦ f ) = deg( f ) deg(g).

2This result can be interpreted cheerfully as that on our head there must be a spot with no hair!
 3.7. BROUWER DEGREE 107

3.7.20. * Let r : Sn → Sn be the antipodal map

r((x1 , x2 , . . . , xn+1 )) = (−x1 , −x2 , . . . , −xn+1 ).

Compute deg(r).

3.7.21. Let f : S4 → S4 , f ((x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 , x5 )) = (x2 , x4 , −x1 , x5 , −x3 ). Find deg( f ).

3.7.22. Show that any polynomial of degree n gives rise to a map from S2 to itself of degree
n.

3.7.23. Find a map from S2 to itself of any given degree.

3.7.24. If f , g : Sn → Sn be smooth such that || f (x) − g(x)|| < 2 for all x ∈ Sn then f is
smoothly homotopic g.
Hint: Note that f (x) and g(x) will not be antipodal points. Use the homotopy
(1 − t) f (x) + tg(x)
Ft (x) = .
||(1 − t) f (x) + tg(x)||

3.7.25. If f , g : Sn → Sn be smooth such that f (x) 6= g(x) for all x ∈ Sn then f is smoothly
homotopic to −g.

3.7.26. Let f : M → Sn be smooth. Show that if dim(M) < n then f is homotopic to a

constant map.
Hint: Using Sard Theorem show that f cannot be onto.

3.7.27 (Brouwer fixed point theorem for the sphere). Let f : Sn → Sn be smooth. If
deg( f ) 6= (−1)n+1 then f has a fixed point.
Hint: If f does not have a fixed point then f will be homotopic to the reflection map.

3.7.28. Show that any map of from Sn to Sn of odd degree carries some pair of antipodal
points to a pair of antipodal point.
108 3. DIFFERENTIAL TOPOLOGY

Guide for Further Reading in Differential Topology

We have closely followed John Milnor’s masterpiece [Mil97]. Another ex-
cellent text is [GP74]. There are not many textbooks such as these two books,
presenting differential topology to undergraduate students.
The book [Hir76] is a technical reference for some advanced topics. The book
[DFN85] is a masterful presentation of modern topology and geometry, with some
enlightening explanations, but it sometimes requires knowledge of many topics.
The book [Bre93] is rather similar in aim, but is more like a traditional textbook.
An excellent textbook for differential geometry of surfaces is [dC76].
 Bibliography

[AF08] Colin Adams and David Fransoza, Introduction to topology: Pure and applied, Prentice
Hall, 2008.
[Atl] Topology Atlas website, http://at.yorku.ca/topology/qintop.htm.
[Bre93] Glen E. Bredon, Topology and Geometry, Graduate Texts in Mathematics, vol. 139,
Springer, 1993.
[Cai94] George L. Cain, Introduction to general topology, Addison-Wesley, 1994.
[Con90] John B. Conway, A course in functional analysis, Springer-Verlag, 1990.
[dC76] Manfredo do Carmo, Differential geometry of curves and surfaces, Prentice-Hall, 1976.
[DFN85] Boris A. Dubrovin, Anatoly T. Fomenko, and Sergey P. Novikov, Modern Geometry–
Methods and Applications, Part II, Graduate Texts in Mathematics, vol. 104, Springer-
Verlag, 1985.
[DFN90] , Modern Geometry–Methods and Applications, Part III, Graduate Texts in Math-
ematics, vol. 124, Springer-Verlag, 1990.
[Duc01] Duong Minh Duc, Topo, Nha Xuat Ban Dai hoc Quoc gia Thanh pho Ho Chi Minh, 2001.
[Dug66] James Dugundji, Topology, Allyn and Bacon, 1966.
[End77] Herbert B. Enderton, Elements of set theory, Academic Press, 1977.
[Eng89] Ryszard Engelking, General topology, Heldermann Verlag, 1989.
[GP74] Victor Guillemin and Alan Pollack, Differential topology, Prentice-Hall, 1974.
[Hat01] Allen Hatcher, Algebraic Topology, Cambridge University Press, 2001.
[Hir76] Morris W. Hirsch, Differential Topology, Graduate Texts in Mathematics, vol. 33,
Springer, 1976.
[HY61] John G. Hocking and Gail S. Young, Topology, Dover, 1961.
[Kel55] John L. Kelley, General topology, Van Nostrand, 1955.
[KF75] A. N. Kolmogorov and S. V. Fomin, Introductory real analysis, Dover Publications Inc.,
New York, 1975.
[Lan93] Serge Lang, Algebra, 3 ed., Addison-Wesley, 1993.
[Lee00] John M. Lee, Introduction to topological manifolds, Springer, 2000.
[Mil97] John Milnor, Topology from the differentiable viewpoint, Princeton landmarks in Mathe-
matics and Physics, Princeton University Press, 1997.
[Mun00] James Munkres, Topology a first course, 2nd ed., Prentice-Hall, 2000.
[Ros99] Dennis Roseman, Elementary topology, Prentice-Hall, 1999.
[Rud86] Walter Rudin, Real and complex analysis, 3 ed., McGraw Hill, 1986.
[SJ70] Lynn A. Steen and J. Arthur Seebach Jr., Counterexamples in topology, Holt, Rinehart
and Winston, 1970.
[Spi65] Michael Spivak, Calculus on manifolds, Addison-Wesley, 1965.
[Spi99] , A comprehensive introduction to differential geometry, vol. 2, Publish or Perish,
1999.
[Vic94] James W. Vick, Homology theory: an introduction to algebraic topology, 2nd ed., Grad-
uate Texts in Mathematics, vol. 145, Springer-Verlag, 1994.

109
110 BIBLIOGRAPHY

[VINK08] O. Ya. Viro, O. A. Ivanov, N. Yu. Netsvetaev, and V. M. Kharlamov, Elementary topology
problem textbook, preprint, 2008.
 Index

Axiom of choice, 7 Euler Characteristics, 62

basis, 12 filter, 33
boundary, 18 filter-base, 33
Brouwer degree, 92 finite intersection property, 35
Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem, 88 fundamental group, 68

Cantor diagonal argument, 4 Hairy Ball Theorem, 94

Cantor-Bernstein-Schroeder Theorem, 6 Hilbert cube, 42
Cartesian product, 7 homeomorphism, 15
chart, 72 homogeneous, 62, 93
Classification of compact one-dimensional homotopy, 67
manifolds, 88
closure, 18 imbedding, 17
compact, 35 immersion, 56
compactification, 45 interior, 18
Alexandroff, 45 Invariance of dimension, 27, 58, 72
Hausdorff, 45
one-point, 45 Jacobian, 75
continuous map, 15 Jordan curve theorem, 28
Continuum hypothesis, 6
convergence Klein bottle, 56
point-wise, 38
Lie algebra, 82
uniform, 38
Lie group, 81
convergent, 31
loop, 67
coordinate system, 72
critical point, 79
manifold
critical value, 79
with boundary, 83
curve on a manifold, 78
orientable, 89
dense orientation, 89
subspace, 33 smooth, 72
derivative, 77 submanifold, 77
diffeomorphism, 72 topological, 58
distance map
between two sets, 29 closed, 16
discrete, 23
embedding, 17 open, 16

111
112 INDEX

smooth, 72 well-ordered, 9
metric space
equivalent, 14 completely regular, 46
Mobius band, 55, 90 first countable, 32
Hausdorff, 29
neighborhood, 11
homeomorphic, 15
net, 31
locally compact, 45
universal, 44
Niemytzki, 52
norm, 11
normal, 29
order quotient, 53
dictionary, 5 regular, 29
lower bound, 5 subspace, 17
minimal, 5 tangent, 76
smallest, 5 Space filling curve, 28
total, 5 sphere, 17
stereographic projection, 17
parametrization, 72 Stone-Cech compactification, 46
path, 25 subbasis, 12
composition, 67 support, 52
inverse, 67 surface, 60
Peano curve, 28 connected sum, 60
point fundamental polygon, 63
contact, 18 genus, 60
interior, 18 non-orientable, 60
limit, 18 orientable, 60
point-wise convergence topology, 37 two-sided, 89
projective plane, 56
projective space, 56 Tiestze extension theorem, 50
topological dimension, 27
regular point, 79
topological invariant, 62
regular value, 79
topological space
relation
connected, 21
equivalence, 5
connected component, 21
retract, 51, 87
Topologist’s sine curve, 26
retraction, 87
topology
Riemann sphere, 46
coarser, 12
Sard Theorem, 87 compact-open, 37
separation axioms, 29 discrete, 10
set Euclidean, 11
cardinal, 6 finer, 12
closed, 10 finite complement, 11
countable, 3 generated by subsets, 12
directed, 31 ordering, 13
equivalence, 2 product, 39
indexed family, 2 quotient, 53
open, 10 relative, 17
ordered, 5 subspace, 17
 INDEX 113

trivial, 10
uniform convergence, 38
Zariski, 41
torus, 54
trianglulation, 61

union
disjoint, 40
Urysohn lemma, 49
smooth, 74
Urysohn Metrizability Theorem, 52

vector field, 94

Zorn lemma, 7
 You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us ...
John Lennon, Imagine.