Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 ib Paper 2 4E Solution 2026-10-14
For the cofinite topology , the empty set and are included. A nonempty union of cofinite sets is cofinite because its complement is contained in the finite complement of any one member. A finite intersection is cofinite because its complement is a finite union of finite sets; intersections involving the empty set are empty. This proves all topology axioms.
For the tail topology on the natural numbers , . Any nonempty collection of tails has a smallest starting index, so its union is that tail; a finite intersection of tails is the tail with largest starting index. Empty sets and empty-family conventions supply the remaining cases. Thus is also a topology.
We classify continuous maps between cofinite and tail topologies. Continuity is equivalent toIf has unbounded image, each is nonempty, hence cofinite. For every threshold , eventually , which is exactly . If the image is bounded, it is a nonempty finite subset of and has a maximum . Then is nonempty and cofinite, but always, so except at finitely many indices. These exhaust the two possibilities and prove necessity. Their sufficiency is checked separately below.