Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-topology-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2023/2/a/ii/solution
Past exam of the topology course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 a ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Use the equivalence relation induced by a function:Equality in supplies reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity, so this is an equivalence relation. Define by . It is well-defined; it is injective by the definition of and surjective because is surjective.
For an open set ,is open by continuity of . The quotient topology therefore makes open, proving that is continuous.
The continuous image of a compact space theorem applied to makes compact. If is closed in , it is compact, and is compact in the Hausdorff space , hence closed. Thus is a closed map. Its inverse function is continuous, since its preimage of is precisely . We have proved that is a homeomorphism, including the compact-to-Hausdorff continuous bijection theorem used in the argument.
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