$17 Closed Sets and Limit Points ” Theorem 17.8. Every finite point set in a Hausdorff space X is closed. Proof. It suffices to show that every one-point set {xo} is closed. If x is a point of X different from xo, then x and xo have disjoint neighborhoods U and V, respectively. Since U does not intersect {xo}, the point x cannot belong to the closure of the set {xo}. As aresult, the closure of the set (x9) is (xo) itself, so that it is closed 7 The condition that finite point sets be closed is in fact weaker than the Hausdorff condition For example, the real line R in the finite complement topology is not a Hausdorff space, but it is a space in which finite point sets are closed The condition that finite point sets be closed has been given a name of its own: it is called the T; ax- iom. (We shall explain the reason for this strange terminology in Chapter 4.) The T, axiom will appear in this book in a few exercises, and in just one theorem, which is the following: Theorem 17.9. Let X be a space satisfying the T; axiom; let A be a subset of X. Then the point x is a limit point of A if and only if every neighborhood of x contains infinitely many points of A Proof. Mf every neighborhood of x intersects A in infinitely many points, it certainly intersects A in some point other than x itself, so that x is a limit point of A Conversely, suppose that x is a limit point of A, and suppose some neighbor- hood U of x intersects A in only finitely many points. Then U also intersects A — {x} in finitely many points; let {x1,. Xm} be the points of UM (A — {x}). The set «+, Sm} is an open set of X, since the finite point set (x1, ..., xm) is closed; UN(X = (x1, -., Xm) is a neighborhood of x that intersects the set A — {x} not at all. This contradicts the assumption that x is a limit point of A. . One reason for our lack of interest in the T; axiom is the fact that many of the interesting theorems of topology require not just that axiom, but the full strength of the Hausdorff axiom. Furthermore, most of the spaces that are important to mathe- maticians are Hausdorff spaces. The following two theorems give some substance to these remarks. Theorem 17.10. If X is a Hausdorff space, then a sequence of points of X converges to at most one point of X Proof. Suppose that xp is a sequence of points of X that converges tox If y # x, let U and V be disjoint neighborhoods of x and y, respectively. Since U contains x» for all but finitely many values of n, the set V cannot Therefore, x, cannot converge toy. .100 Topological Spaces and Continuous Functions Ch.2 If the sequence x, of points of the Hausdorff space X converges to the point x of X, we often write xq —> x, and we say that x is the limit of the sequence xq. The proof of the following result is left to the exercises. Theorem 17.11. Every simply ordered set is a Hausdorff space in the order topology. The product of two Hausdorff spaces is a Hausdorff space. A subspace of a Hausdorff space is a Hausdorff space. The Hausdorff condition is generally considered to be a very mild extra condition to impose on a topological space. Indeed, in a first course in topology some mathe- maticians go so far as to impose this condition at the outset, refusing to consider spaces that are not Hausdorff spaces. We shall not go this far, but we shall certainly assume the Hausdorff condition whenever it 1s needed in a proof without having any qualms about limiting seriously the range of applications of the results. The Hausdorff condition is one of a number of extra conditions one can impose on a topological space. Each time one imposes such a condition, one can prove stronger theorems, but one limits the class of spaces to which the theorems apply. Much of the research that has been done in topology since its beginnings has centered on the prob- lem of finding conditions that will be strong enough to enable one to prove interesting theorems about spaces satisfying those conditions, and yet not so strong that they limit severely the range of applications of the results. We shall study a number of such conditions in the next two chapters. The Haus- dorff condition and the 7; axiom are but two of a collection of conditions similar to one another that are called collectively the separation axioms. Other conditions include the countability axioms, and various compactness and connectedness conditions. Some of these are quite stringent requirements, as you will see. Exercises 1. Let @ be a collection of subsets of the set X. Suppose that @ and X are in C, and that finite unions and arbitrary intersections of elements of C are in C. Show that the collection T =(X-CICeC) is a topology on X. Show that if A is closed in Y and Y is closed in X, then A is closed in X. Show that if A is closed in X and B is closed in Y, then A x B is closed in X x ¥. Show that if U is open in X and A is closed in X, then U — A is open in X, and A — U is closed in X. 5. Let X be an ordered set in the order topology. Show that (a, b) C (a, b}. Under what conditions does equality hold? PPp116 Topological Spaces and Continuous Functions Ch.2 Theorem 19.2. Suppose the topology on each space X,, is given by a basis By. The collection of all sets of the form [] 2. aes where By € By for each a, will serve as a basis for the box topology on Tes Xa- The collection of all sets of the same form, where By € Bq for finitely many indices a and By = Xq for all the remaining indices, will serve as a basis for the product topology Tye) Xe: EXAMPLE 1. Consider euclidean n-space R". A basis for R consists of all open intervals in R; hence a basis for the topology of R consists of all products of the form (ay, b1) x (az, b2) x +X (Any bn). Since R" is a finite product, the box and product topologies agree Whenever we con- sider R", we will assume that it is given this topology, unless we specifically state other- wise Theorem 193. Let Aq be a subspace of Xq. for each a € J. Then [| Aa is a subspace of |] Xq if both products are given the box topology, or if both products are given the product topology. Theorem 19.4. If each space Xq is a Hausdorff space, then [| Xq is a Hausdorff space in both the box and product topologies. Theorem 19.5. Let (Xq} be an indexed family of spaces; let Ag C Xq foreacha. If T] Xe is given either the product or the box topology, then ta.=TTx. Proof. Let x = (xq) bea point of [] Aq; we show that x € [[ Ag. Let U = []Ua be a basis element for either the box or product topology that contains x. Since xg € Ag, we can choose a point yg € Ug M Ag for each a. Then y = (yz) belongs to both U and [] Ag . Since U is arbitrary, it follows that x belongs to the closure of [] Aa- Conversely, suppose x = (xq) lies in the closure of [] Aq, in either topology. We show that for any given index 8, we have xg € Ag. Let Vg be an arbitrary open set of Xp containing xg. Since 1 '(Vp) is open in [] Xq in either topology, it contains a point y = (ye) of [] Aa. Then yg belongs to Vg M Ag. It follows that xg ¢ Ag. So far, no reason has appeared for preferring the product to the box topology. It is when we try to generalize our previous theorem about continuity of maps into product spaces that a difference first arises. Here is a theorem that does not hold if [| Xq is given the box topology:160 Connectedness and Compactness Ch. 3 To show the component C is connected, choose a point x9 of C. For each point x of C, we know that xo ~ x, so there is a connected subspace A, containing xo and x. By the result just proved, A, C C. Therefore, caUA xeC Since the subspaces A, are connected and have the point xo in common, their union is connected. s Definition. We detine another equivalence relation on the space X by defining x ~ y if there is a path in X from x to y. The equivalence classes are called the path compo- nents of X. Let us show this is an equivalence relation. First we note that if there exists a path f + a,b] + X from x to y whose domain is the interval (a, b], then there is also a path g from x to y having the closed interval [c,d] as its domain. (This follows from the fact that any two closed intervals in R are homeomorphic.) Now the fact that x ~ x for each x in X follows from the existence of the constant path f : [a,b] + X defined by the equation f(t) = x for all t. Symmetry follows from the fact that if Ff: [0,1] + X isa path from x to y, then the “reverse path” g : [0,1] > X defined by g(t) = f(1 —1) isa path from y to x. Finally, transitivity is proved as follows: Let f= (0, 1] > X bea path from x to y, and let g : [1,2] > X bea path from y to z. We can “paste f and g together” to get a path A : [0,2] + X from x to z; the path h will be continuous by the “pasting lemma,” Theorem 18.3. One has the following theorem, whose proof is similar to that of the theorem pre- ceding: Theorem 25.2. The path components of X are path-connected disjoint subspaces of X whose union is X, such that each nonempty path-connected subspace of X inter- sects only one of them. Note that each component of a space X is closed in X, since the closure of a connected subspace of X is connected. If X has only finitely many components, then each component is also open in X, since its complement is a finite union of closed sets. But in general the components of X need not be open in X. One can say even less about the path components of X, for they need be neither open nor closed in X. Consider the following examples: EXAMPLE |. __ If Q is the subspace of R consisting of the rational numbers, then each component of Q consists of a single point. None of the components of Q are open in Q. EXAMPLE 2. The “topologist’s sine curve” 5 of the preceding section is a space that has a single component (since it is connected) and two path components. One path component is the curve S and the other is the vertical interval V = 0 x (—1, 1]. Note that S is open in 5 but not closed, while V is closed but not open, If one forms a space from § by deleting all points of V having rational second co- ‘ordinate, one obtains a space that has only one component but uncountably many path components.§25 Components and Local Connectedness 161 Connectedness is a useful property for a space to possess. But for some purposes, it is more important that the space satisfy a connectedness condition locally. Roughly speaking, local connectedness means that each point has “arbitrarily small” neighbor- hoods that are connected. More precisely, one has the following definition: Definition. A space X is said to be locally connected at x if for every neighbor- hood U of x, there is aconnected neighborhood V of x contained in U. If X is locally connected at each of its points, it is said simply to be locally connected. Similarly, a space X is said to be locally path connected at x if for every neighborhood U of x, there is a path-connected neighborhood V of x contained in U. If X is locally path connected at each of its points, then it is said to be locally path connected. EXAMPLE 3. Each interval and each ray in the real line is both connected and locally connected. The subspace [~1, 0) U (0, 1] of R is not connected, but itis locally connected. ‘The topologist's sine curve is connected but not locally connected. The rationals Q are neither connected nor locally connected. Theorem 25.3. A space X is locally connected if and only if for every open set U of X, each component of U is open in X. Proof. Suppose that X is locally connected; let U/ be an open set in X; let C be a component of U. If x is a point of C, we can choose a connected neighborhood V of x such that V C U. Since V is connected, it must lie entirely in the component C of U Therefore, C is open in X. Conversely, suppose that components of open sets in X are open. Given a point x of X and a neighborhood U of x, let C be the component of U containing x. Now C is connected; since it is open in X by hypothesis, X is locally connected at x. . A similar proof holds for the following theorem: Theorem 25.4. A space X is locally path connected if and only if for every open set U of X, each path component of U is open in X. The relation between path components and components is given in the following theorem: Theorem 25.5. If X is a topological space, each path component of X lies in a component of X. If X is locally path connected, then the components and the path components of X are the same, Proof. Let C bea component of X; let x be a point of C; let P be the path component of X containing x. Since P is connected, P CC, We wish to show that if X is locally path connected, P = C. Suppose that P ¢ C. Let Q denote the union of all the path162 Connectedness and Compactness Ch. 3 components of X that are different from P and intersect C; each of them necessarily lies in C, so that c=PuQ. Because X is locally path connected, each path component of X is open in X. There- fore, P (which is a path component) and Q (which is a union of path components) are open in X, so they constitute a separation of C. This contradicts the fact that C is connected. . Exercises 1, What are the components and path components of R-? What are the continuous maps f :R— Ry? 2. (a) What are the components and path components of R® (in the product topol- ogy)? (b) Consider R® in the uniform topology. Show that x and y lie in the same component of R® if and only if the sequence X—y = (x1 — Yas t2— yas eee) is bounded. [Hint: It suffices to consider the case where y = 0.) (c) Give R® the box topology. Show that x and y lie in the same component of R* if and only if the sequence x — y is “eventually zero.” [Hint: If x—y is not eventually zero, show there is homeomorphism h of R® with itself such that h(x) is bounded and h(y) is unbounded. } 3. Show that the ordered square is locally connected but not locally path connected. What are the path components of this space? 4, Let X be locally path connected. Show that every connected open set in X is path connected. 5. Let X denote the rational points of the interval [0, 1] x 0 of R?. Let T denote the union of all line segments joining the point p = 0 x 1 to points of X. (a) Show that T is path connected, but is locally connected only at the point p. (b) Find a subset of R? that is path connected but is locally connected at none of its points. 6. A space X is said to be weakly locally connected at x if for every neighbor- hood U of x, there is a connected subspace of X contained in U that contains a neighborhood of x. Show that if X is weakly locally connected at each of its points, then X is locally connected. [Hint: Show that components of open sets are open.) 7. Consider the “infinite broom” X pictured in Figure 25.1. Show that X is not lo- cally connected at p, but is weakly locally connected at p. [Hint: Any connected neighborhood of p must contain all the points a;.}