Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 ib Paper 2 4A i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ib Paper 4 13G b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
A closed set is compact because it is closed in the compact space . Its image is compact by the fact that a continuous image of a compact space is compact, and every compact subset of the Hausdorff space is closed. Thus the continuous bijection is a closed map. Its inverse is consequently continuous, so is a homeomorphism. This is the compact-to-Hausdorff continuous bijection theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ib Paper 1 10F b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
This may be false because continuity only forces the continuous image of a compact space to be compact, not the whole codomain. For example, let , let , and set . The domain is compact and is continuous, but is not compact.
The profinite group is compact, and the preceding part shows thatis its image. By the continuous image of a compact space theorem, the conjugacy class is compact. Since a profinite group is Hausdorff, every compact subset is closed, so is closed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 3 21G c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
If is compact and is continuous, then is compact by the continuous image of a compact space theorem. Every compact subset of is bounded, so is bounded.
Conversely, suppose the metric space is not compact. For metric spaces, compactness is equivalent to sequential compactness, so there is a sequence of distinct points having no convergent subsequence. The setis closed: an accumulation point would supply a convergent subsequence. It is also discrete for the same reason. Consequently the functionis continuous. By part (a), is normal, and the Tietze extension theorem extends to a continuous . Since , this extension is unbounded. Therefore, if every continuous real-valued function on is bounded, must be compact. This is the bounded-continuous-function characterization of compact metric spaces.