Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-options-ii-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2010/e/e3/b/iii/solution

Let be a component of the open set . Being a connected subset of the real line, is an interval. For any , openness of gives with . This interval is connected and meets , so their union is connected. Maximality of makes the entire interval lie in . Thus every point of is interior, so each component is an open interval, allowing unbounded endpoints.

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