Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-topology-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/1/b/solution

For every , the Hausdorff condition gives disjoint open neighbourhoods of and of . The form an open cover of , so choose a finite subcover . Put
Then are open sets, and . If a point belonged to , it would belong to some and to , contrary to their choice. Thus
The finiteness matters: a finite intersection of open sets is open. This is separation of a point and a compact set. If , use , .
Every consequently has an open neighbourhood contained in . The complement is open, so a compact subset of a Hausdorff space is closed.
The conclusion can fail without the Hausdorff condition. Take the two-point set with the indiscrete topology . The singleton is compact, since one member of any open cover suffices. It is not closed, because its complement is not open. The two points cannot have disjoint open neighbourhoods, so this example is indeed not Hausdorff.

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