Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 4 13E a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Let be an open cover of in its subspace topology. Write with each open in . Since is a closed set, is open, and is an open cover of the compact space . A finite subcover restricts to a finite subcover of . Hence the closed subset is compact.
If is an open cover of in its subspace topology, the inverse images under the restricted continuous map form an open cover of . Take a finite subcover; the corresponding cover . Thus the continuous image is compact. Neither argument assumes a Hausdorff space or asserts that a compact set must be closed set in an arbitrary topological space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 106 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The weak topology is the coarsest topology making every bounded linear functional continuous. A neighbourhood basis at consists of sets for finite families in .
Mazur theorem says that for any convex subset of a real or complex normed vector space,The norm closure is convex. If is outside it, the Hahn-Banach separation theorem gives a bounded linear functional and a real with . In the real case omit the real part. Thus has a weak neighbourhood missing , proving that the weak closure lies in the norm closure. The other inclusion follows because the weak topology is weaker than the norm topology. In the complex case real separation is converted to a complex functional by .
The sequential formulation, Mazur lemma, follows as well. If , then lies in the weak closure of each tail and hence in the norm closure of its convex hull. Select a finite convex combination of the th tail at norm distance less than from .
A weakly bounded set satisfies for every . Regard as a pointwise bounded family of functionals on . The completeness of the dual space holds even if is incomplete: a norm-Cauchy sequence of functionals has a pointwise bounded linear limit and then converges uniformly on the unit ball. The Uniform boundedness principle therefore gives , and proves norm boundedness.
One can see the precise Baire argument here. The closed sets cover the Banach space . The Baire category theorem makes some contain a ball , after shrinking the radius. For , both and lie in , so . Scaling and the dual norm formula yield . A weakly compact set is weakly bounded because each functional has compact, hence bounded, image. Consequently it is norm bounded.
For a Banach space, let be its canonical isometry. We use two explicitly stated weak-star facts: Banach-Alaoglu theorem makes a dual unit ball weak-star compact, and Goldstine theorem makes weak-star dense in . The weak topology on is carried by to on its image, since their coordinates are the same evaluations .
If is a reflexive Banach space, and Banach-Alaoglu proves weak compactness. Conversely, if is weakly compact, its image is weak-star compact and hence closed in the Hausdorff space . Goldstine density then forces , which implies . This proves the weak compactness characterization of reflexivity:Finally let be weakly compact and let separate points. If is empty there is nothing to prove; otherwise defineThe summands are bounded by and separation makes only for . The coordinate maps are weakly continuous, so the series, being uniformly convergent, makes the identity from weak to metric continuous. A continuous bijection from a compact space to a Hausdorff space is a homeomorphism. Thus induces precisely the weak topology on , the countable separating family metrizes a weakly compact set result. No norm-density of the separating family in is claimed or required.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 132 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Label the polygon vertices cyclically. Translation pairing of opposite sides identifieswith indices modulo . The vertex classes are consequently the cosets of the subgroup generated by in , and their number isThe quotient is a compact Hausdorff space. An interior point has a disk neighbourhood, a paired-side point has two half-disks joined to a disk, and each vertex class has its incident sectors cyclically joined to a cone, topologically a disk. Thus it is a connected closed surface with an orientation. Its Euler characteristic is , since there are paired edges and one face. Hence
The polygon interior and paired-side charts are translation surface charts with . Each corner angle is . For even , all corners meet, giving cone angle ; for odd , each of the two classes contains corners, giving cone angle . Both are integral multiples of . A cone of angle has the local uniformizing coordinate with ; the holomorphic one-form is . Filling the vertices therefore supplies the Riemann surface structure and the holomorphic one-form, withAn order-zero entry denotes a regular point, not an actual zero: for the surface is a torus and the form is nowhere zero. The zero orders otherwise sum to , as a check against the degree of the canonical bundle.
For , the form has one double zero and lies in the stratum of holomorphic one-forms ; for , it has two simple zeros and lies in . The SL2R action on differentials preserves zero multiplicities, as the local cone argument shows. ThereforeTheir equal genus and area do not distinguish the orbits; their different strata of holomorphic one-forms do.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 311 2 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The relevant Penrose singularity theorem states: a connected time-oriented four-dimensional globally hyperbolic spacetime with a noncompact Cauchy hypersurface, a nonempty compact orientable boundaryless trapped surface, and the null convergence condition is future null-geodesically incomplete. Under the Einstein field equations, the null energy condition supplies the curvature hypothesis. A trapped surface here is spacelike and has both future normal null expansions strictly negative. The conclusion is an incomplete null geodesic, not necessarily a divergent curvature invariant at an identifiable point.
Suppose, for contradiction, that every future null geodesic is complete. Write for the trapped surface andThe equality follows because the causal future of a compact set is closed in a globally hyperbolic spacetime. This future horismos is a closed achronal boundary. It is nonempty: the restriction of a Cauchy time function to compact has a minimum, and a point at that minimum cannot be chronologically preceded by another point of .
Normalize the two future null normal directions along against a smooth future timelike field, fixing the affine scale continuously. Their initial null expansions are continuous and strictly negative. Compactness of the normalized normal bundle gives a uniform with everywhere on . The preceding null focusing theorem forces a conjugate point to a spacelike surface along each normal generator within affine length .
By the supplied boundary-generator result, every point of is reached by an orthogonal future null geodesic which has no earlier conjugate point. No such boundary generator can remain on the boundary beyond its first focal point. Every point of therefore lies inThe parameter set is compact. Future null completeness makes its geodesic flow defined throughout this common finite interval, and smooth dependence on initial data makes its image compact. Since is closed and contained in , it is compact. This is the compactness of the future horismos of a trapped surface step; a merely pointwise finite bound would not suffice without compactness and uniform normalization.
Choose a smooth complete timelike vector field, obtained if necessary by positive rescaling against a complete auxiliary Riemannian metric. Its inextendible integral curves of a vector field meet a chosen smooth Cauchy hypersurface exactly once. Projection along those curves defines a continuous map . The achronal set property makes this map an injective function: two boundary points on the same timelike integral curve of a vector field would be timelike related.
An achronal boundary is a topological hypersurface without boundary, even at nonsmooth generator junctions; the submanifold property allowed in the question supplies this fact. Thus domain and codomain are both three-dimensional topological manifolds without boundary. Invariance of domain makes open in . Compactness makes it closed in the Hausdorff space , and it is nonempty. Connectedness of the spacetime gives connectedness of , so this image is all of . That would make compact, contradicting the noncompact Cauchy hypersurface hypothesis. The completeness assumption is false, proving the theorem.
The noncompactness hypothesis and strict trapping are essential to this version. Global hyperbolicity cannot simply be omitted in the compactness and projection steps, and nonpositive initial expansion with zeros does not supply the uniform focusing bound used here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 19F iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Let be disjoint closed subsets of . They are compact. For each , the Hausdorff space condition gives disjoint open neighbourhoods . For fixed , finitely many cover ; intersect the corresponding and take the union of those to obtain disjoint open sets and . Finitely many cover . Their union and the intersection of the corresponding are disjoint open neighbourhoods of . The case of an empty set is immediate. Hence is a normal topological space.
Urysohn lemma states that in a normal topological space satisfying , disjoint closed sets admit a continuous function with on and on .
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 2020 ib Paper 2 10E ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
The identity mapis a continuous bijection by . Its domain is compact by part (i), and its codomain is a Hausdorff space because every metric space is Hausdorff. The compact-to-Hausdorff continuous bijection theorem therefore makes the identity a homeomorphism. Consequently
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ib Paper 4 2F c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
No. Take the Hausdorff space and declare all nonzero points equivalent, leaving in its own class. The quotient has two points,The nonzero class is open because its inverse image is open. However, the only saturated set containing but not the other class is , which is not open. Thus every neighbourhood of is the whole quotient, so the two quotient points cannot have disjoint neighbourhoods. Therefore need not be Hausdorff.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 130 4 Solution 2026-09-28
A filter on a set is a nonempty family that excludes the empty set, is upward closed, and is closed under finite intersections. An ultrafilter is a proper filter that contains exactly one of and for every subset .
To prove the ultrafilter lemma, order the proper filters containing by inclusion. The union of any chain is again a proper filter, so Zorn lemma gives a maximal extension . If neither nor belonged to , adjoining either one would generate an improper filter. There would then be with and . But , contradicting propriety. Hence is an ultrafilter.
The Stone-Čech compactification of the natural numbers is the set of all ultrafilters on , with basic setsThe identitiesshow that these sets form a basis of clopen sets. Distinct ultrafilters disagree on some ; one lies in and the other in the disjoint set . Thus is a Hausdorff space.
If a family of basic closed sets has the finite intersection property, then the sets have the same property. They generate a proper filter, which extends to an ultrafilter lying in every . The Alexander subbase theorem now implies that is a compact space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ib Paper 4 2G Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-10-03
The closure is the intersection of all closed subsets containing ; equivalently, every neighbourhood of a point of meets . The subspace is dense when . A space is Hausdorff when distinct points have disjoint neighbourhoods.
For Hausdorff , the diagonal is closed in . Thusis closed. Since it contains the dense set , it equals .
The conclusion fails without Hausdorffness. Let have the Sierpiński space topology and let , which is dense. The identity map and the constant map with value are continuous and agree on , but differ at .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 4 10G i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
A compact space is a topological space in which every open cover has a finite subcover. A Hausdorff space is one in which every two distinct points have disjoint open neighbourhoods. A homeomorphism is a bijection that is continuous and whose inverse is continuous.
For an equivalence relation on , let be the set of equivalence classes and letThe quotient topology declares open exactly when is open in . It follows directly from the definition that is continuous.
Suppose that the continuous map is constant on equivalence classes. The only possible factorisation iswhich is well-defined by the hypothesis and satisfies . For every open ,is open in . The definition of the quotient topology therefore makes open, so is continuous. This proves the universal property of the quotient topology.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 130 3 Solution 2026-09-28
Hindman theorem states that every finite coloring of admits an infinite sequence whose finite-sums set is monochromatic.
Identify the Stone-Čech compactification of the natural numbers with the compact Hausdorff space of ultrafilters on , equipped with addition on the Stone-Čech compactification of the natural numbers. This makes a compact Hausdorff left-topological semigroup. For completeness, the Ellis–Numakura lemma gives an idempotent in every such semigroup: by the Hausdorff space property and compactness, the intersection of a descending chain of nonempty compact subsemigroups is nonempty, so Zorn's lemma gives a minimal one . For , the compact subsemigroup equals . Hence the nonempty compact subsemigroupis also , and in particular . Choose the resulting idempotent ultrafilter on the natural numbers .
One color class belongs to . For , writeand defineThe identity implies . It also implies that for every : both and the set of for which belongs to lie in , and their intersection is .
Choose . Having chosen with every nonempty finite sum in , chooseThis is possible because it is a finite intersection of members of the ultrafilter . Every old finite sum remains in , and every new one has the form and also lies in . By mathematical induction, all nonempty finite sums lie in , proving Hindman's theorem.
Now putfor each . If , then their intersection belongs to and is nonempty, whileThus the sets have the finite intersection property. Their closures are closed subsets of the compact interval , so their total intersection contains some . Equivalently, every neighbourhood of meets every ; this is the ultrafilter limit of the sequence.
The point is unique. If distinct points both had this property, choose disjoint neighborhoods . The index set must belong to , because otherwise its complement would belong to and the associated would miss . Similarly . Their intersection is empty, contradicting the definition of an ultrafilter.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 ib Paper 2 10G Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
The product topology has basis with open in and open in . Since and similarly for , both projections are continuous.
If is Hausdorff, a point off the diagonal has disjoint product neighborhoods, so the diagonal is closed. Conversely, if the diagonal is closed, its complement supplies disjoint neighborhoods of any two distinct points.
Quotient topological space 2026-10-06
A quotient topological space identifies points of a topological space according to an equivalence relation and equips the set of equivalence classes with the quotient topology. A subset is open exactly when its inverse image under the canonical quotient map is open. Even a Hausdorff space can have a non-Hausdorff quotient; identifying real numbers differing by a rational number gives a multi-point quotient with the indiscrete topology.
Separation axiom 2026-10-06
A separation axiom is a condition on a topological space expressing how points or closed subsets can be distinguished by open sets. The Kolmogorov space condition distinguishes distinct points by some open set; the T1 space condition makes every point closed; the stronger Hausdorff space condition gives disjoint neighbourhoods to distinct points.
T1 space 2026-10-06
A topological space is T1 when every point is a closed point. Equivalently, for distinct there is an open set containing but not , and an open set containing but not . These open sets need not be disjoint. Every Hausdorff space is T1, but an infinite set with its cofinite topology is T1 without being Hausdorff.
Topological embedding 2026-10-05
A continuous map injective map that is a homeomorphism onto its image with the subspace topology. A continuous map injective map from a compact space into a Hausdorff space is a topological embedding.
Topological surface Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
A topological surface is a Hausdorff space with a countable basis in which every point has a neighborhood homeomorphic to an open subset of .
Ultralimit Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-03
A point is the limit of a map along an ultrafilter on when for every neighbourhood of . Every ultrafilter on a compact space has a limit, and that limit is unique in a Hausdorff space.
