INTRODUCTION TO TOPOLOGY (MA30055)

SEMESTER 2 MATHEMATICS: PROBLEM SHEET 1: SOLUTIONS

1. True or false?
(a) In the discrete topology Y = Y , for all Y X.
(b) In the trivial topology Y = X, for all Y X. [Hint: is your answer always true?]
(c) If a topological space X = A B, with A, B disjoint open subspaces, then one of A or
B is empty.
(d) Let f : X Y be a map between topological spaces. Suppose that, whenever F is
closed in X, the image f (F ) is closed in Y . Then, whenever U is open in X, f (U ) is
open in Y .
Solution:
(a) True: every subspace is closed.
(b)False: = , but true for non-empty subspaces.
(c) False: e.g. X = {0, 1} with the discrete topology, A = {0}, B = {1}.
(d) False: remember that f (U c ) 6= (f (U ))c (its f (U c ) = (f! (U ))c ). This statement does
hold whenever f is bijective. Options for a counterexample include:
() any map between cofinite topological spaces preserves closed, i.e. finite, subspaces under
direct image, but not necessarily open ones.
() Let be the Sierpi
nski space and define f : by f (x) = 0 for all x .
Note that the converse is not true either: a map that preserves open subspaces under direct
image does not necessarily preserve closed subspaces.
2. Show that, if X is a topological space and Y X, then X \ Y = X \ Y and X \ Y =
(X \ Y ) .
Solution: X \Y is closed and contains X \Y (because Y is open and Y Y ). Therefore
X \ Y X \ Y . On the other hand, X \ (X \ Y ) = Y , and X \ X \ Y is open and
contained in Y , so it is contained in Y . Therefore X \ X \ Y X \ (X \ Y ), so, taking
complements, X \ Y X \ Y .
3. Recall that N is a neighbourhood of x X if there is U TX with x U N . Prove
the following properties.
(a) If N is a neighbourhood of x and N N 0 , then N 0 is a neighbourhood of x.
(b) If N1 and N2 are neighbourhoods of x, then so is N1 N2 .
(c) x Y if and only if every neighbourhood of x intersects Y .
Solution: (a) If x U N with U open, then x U N 0 . Thus N 0 is a neighbourhood
of x.

(b) If x U1 N1 and x U2 N2 with U1 , U2 open, then x U1 U2 N1 N2

and U1 U2 is open because it is th intersection of two open sets. Thus N1 N2 is a
neighbourhood of x.
(c) One option is to prove the contrapositive: x
/ Y if and only if x X \ Y = (X \ Y ) ,
i.e. there is an open U X such that x U and U X \ Y .
Alternatively, tackle the problem head-on. For this, x Y if and only if Y Z implies
x Z for each closed set Z X. But that says x U Y U 6= for each closed set
U X, i.e. every open neighbourhood of x intersects Y .
However, every neighbourhood of x contains an open neighbourhood of x, so every neighbourhood of x meets Y if and only if every open neighbourhood of x does.
4. Let Y be a subspace of a topological space X. Show that subspace F Y is closed in
Y if and only F = Y E for some closed subspace E X. Deduce that the closure of any
subspace Z Y in Y is the intersection of Y with the closure of Z in X.
Solution: Firstly, Z closed in Y Y \ Z open in Y Y \ Z = Y U for some U
open in X Z = Y (X \ U ) for some U open in X Z = Y E, for some E
closed in X.
The third equivalence is justified because y Y (y 6 Z y U ) is equivalent to
y Y (y Z y 6 U ).
But then, for any Z Y , note that Z Y W for W X if and only if Z W .
Therefore

Z (in Y ) =

\
ZW CY

W =

(Y W ) = Y

ZW CX

W = Y Z (in X),

ZW CX

where CX and CY are the collections of all closed subsets in X and Y .

5. Let f : X Y be a map of topological spaces. Show that f is continuous if and only if
for every W X, f (W ) f (W ).
[Hint: use the equivalent definition of continuity that for any Z Y , f (Z) f (Z), and
a relationship between inverse and direct image from Sheet 0.]
Solution: First, suppose that f is continuous, so that for Z Y , f (Z) f (Z), i.e.,
f (f (Z)) Z,
and put Z = f (W ), noting that R f (f (W )), so that f (W ) f (f (f (W )) f (W ).
Conversely if the stated property holds for all W X, consider W = f (Z), and use
f (f (Z)) Z.

Can you formulate a characterisation of continuity using f! (N 0 )?

6. (Kuratowskis closure axioms.) Let X be a topological space with closure operation
Y 7 Y .
(a) Show that Y = Y if and only if Y is closed.
(b) Show that, for all A, B X:
(K1) A A;


(K2) A = A;
(K3) A B = A B;
(K4) = ;
(K5) if A B then A B.
(c) Show that (K3) implies (K5). [Hint: A B A B = B.]
(d) Show that any operation Y 7 Y satisfying axioms (K1)(K4) is the closure operation
of some topology on X.
Solution:
(a) Y is closed, so if Y = Y then Y is closed; conversely, if Y is closed then it is certainly
the smallest closed subspace containing Y , so Y = Y .
(b)
(K1) A is an intersection of sets containing A, so it contains A.
(K2) if Y = A, then Y is closed and so Y = Y , by (a).
(K3) A B is closed as it is the intersection of closed sets. If F is any closed set
with A B F then A F , so A F and B F , so B F . Hence A B F and so
A B is the smallest closed set containing A B.
(K4) is closed, so this follows from (a).
(K5) A B B. Hence B is a closed set which contains A, so A B.
c) If A B then B = A B. Hence, by (K3), B = A B and so A B.
(d) Given the operation Y 7 Y , define a set C = {F X : F = F }. We show first that
this satisfies the properties of a collection of closed sets and so defines a topology on X.
(K4) implies that C, while (K1) implies that X = X since this is the only set which
contains X: hence X C.
If A, B C, then A B = A B by (K3), but that is = A B so A B C.
T
If A C for I and F = I A , then for all I we have F A so F A = A .
T
Hence F I A = F . But F F , by (K1), so F = F and so F C.
It remains to show that the topology defined by C has the original operation as its closure
operation. To see this observe that (K2) implies that Y C for all Y , while for any other

set F C with Y F , we have Y F = F by (K5). Hence Y is the smallest set in C

that contains Y and so is the closure in this topology.
Moral: a closure operation is another way of defining the notion of a topological space. Can
you formulate yet another definition, using the idea of an interior operation N 7 N ?
GKS, 8/2/16