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A Hausdorff space is one in which any distinct points $x,y$ have disjoint open neighborhoods: there exist open sets $U,V$ with $x\in U$, $y\in V$ and $U\cap V=\varnothing$.

Every map has $f(x)=f(x)$, so the relation is reflexive. Equality is symmetric, so $f(x)=f(y)$ for all the specified maps is equivalent to $f(y)=f(x)$; the relation is symmetric. If $x\mathcal{R}y$ and $y\mathcal{R}z$, every continuous map to every Hausdorff space has $f(x)=f(y)=f(z)$, proving $x\mathcal{R}z$. Thus $\mathcal{R}$ is an equivalence relation.

A sequence $x_n$ converges to $x$ if every open neighbourhood of $x$ contains all sufficiently late terms. A Hausdorff space separates any two distinct points by disjoint open neighbourhoods.

If a sequence had distinct limits $x,y$ in a Hausdorff space, choose disjoint open neighbourhoods $U$ of $x$ and $V$ of $y$. Convergence to each limit implies that all sufficiently late terms lie in both $U$ and $V$, contradicting $U\cap V=\varnothing$. Hence a convergent sequence in a Hausdorff space has a unique limit.

The product topology on $X\times Y$ has as a basis of a topology the rectangles $U\times V$ with $U$ open in $X$ and $V$ open in $Y$; arbitrary unions of such rectangles are its open sets.

For distinct points $(x_1,y_1),(x_2,y_2)$, at least one coordinate differs. If $x_1\ne x_2$, disjoint open neighbourhoods $U_1,U_2$ in the Hausdorff space $X$ give disjoint open neighbourhoods $U_1\times Y,U_2\times Y$ of the two points. If the second coordinates differ instead, use $X\times V_1,X\times V_2$. Thus a product of two Hausdorff spaces is Hausdorff.

For the quotient map $q:X\to X/\sim$, the quotient topology is defined byTake the Hausdorff space $X=\mathbb{R}$ and identify two numbers precisely when they are both rational or both irrational. The quotient has two points. The inverse images of its singleton subsets are $\mathbb{Q}$ and $\mathbb{R}\setminus \mathbb{Q}$, neither of which is open in $\mathbb{R}$, since each is dense and has dense complement. Hence the quotient has the indiscrete topology and is not Hausdorff.

Compact subsets of a Hausdorff space are closed. Regard every $K_n$ as a closed subset of the compact set $K_1$. Any finite intersection equals the member with largest index and is therefore nonempty. The finite intersection property for closed subsets of a compact space impliesEquivalently, an empty intersection would give an open cover of $K_1$ by their complements, with a finite subcover contradicting nested nonemptiness.

The inclusion $f({\bigcap }_n{K}_n)\subseteq {\bigcap }_{n}f(K_n)$ holds for every map. For the reverse choose $y\in {\bigcap }_{n}f(K_n)$ and let $L_n=K_n\cap f^{-1}(\{y\})$. These sets are nonempty and nested. A Hausdorff space has closed singletons, and continuity makes the fibre closed, so each $L_n$ is compact. Part (b)(i) gives a point $x\in {\bigcap }_n{L}_n$. Then $x\in {\bigcap }_n{K}_n$ and $f(x)=y$. Hence

In any topological space a closed subset of a compact set is compact: add its open complement to an open cover and take a finite subcover of the compact set. However, compact subsets need not be closed in a general space. In the indiscrete two-point space a singleton is compact but not closed. Conversely a closed subset need not be compact: $\mathbb{R}$ itself is closed in $\mathbb{R}$ but the cover $\{(-n,n):n\ge 1\}$ has no finite subcover.

In a Hausdorff space every compact subset $K$ is closed. Given $x\notin K$, separate $x$ and each $k\in K$ by disjoint neighborhoods; compactness selects finitely many neighborhoods covering $K$, and the intersection of their companion neighborhoods of $x$ misses $K$. Thus the complement is open. Closedness still need not imply compactness, as the same real-line example shows. It does imply compactness if the ambient space is compact.

In a metric space compactness implies boundedness: finitely many radius-one balls cover the set, so their centers have a finite maximal distance from any fixed center and the triangle inequality gives a global bound. The converse is false. An infinite set with discrete metric $d(x,y)=1$ for $x\ne y$ is bounded, but its singleton cover has no finite subcover. It is even closed and complete, so closedness plus boundedness alone does not suffice in general metric spaces.

Any two nonempty open sets of $Y$ are cofinite by part (iii). Their complements have finite union, so the two sets must intersect because $Y$ is infinite. Thus $Y$ is a hyperconnected space.

A Hausdorff space with at least two points has disjoint nonempty open neighbourhoods of two distinct points. This is impossible here. Therefore $Y$ is not Hausdorff.

Collapsing the integers gives a Hausdorff space. For two distinct noninteger points, choose disjoint small open intervals around them that avoid $\mathbb{Z}$. Each interval is saturated under the saturation of a subset operation, so its image is an open neighbourhood of its class. For a noninteger $x$ and the collapsed class, choose $0<r<\mathrm{dist}(x,\mathbb{Z})$. The disjoint open setsare saturated; $U$ contains $x$ and $V$ contains all integers. Their images separate the two quotient points. These exhaust all pairs of distinct classes.

Collapsing the rationals does not give a Hausdorff space. The preimage of the singleton collapsed point is $\mathbb{Q}$, which is not closed in $\mathbb{R}$. Therefore that quotient singleton is not closed, whereas every singleton of a Hausdorff space is closed.Equivalently, every nonempty saturated open subset of $\mathbb{R}$ meets the dense set $\mathbb{Q}$ and therefore contains it all. Every nonempty quotient open set contains the collapsed point, making separation from any other quotient point impossible.

A topological space is Hausdorff when any two distinct points have disjoint open neighbourhoods.

Any two nonempty open sets of the infinite cofinite topology intersect: their complements are finite sets, so the complement of their intersection is a finite union of finite sets and cannot be all of $Z$. Thus $Z$ is a hyperconnected space.

If the continuous map $f$ took distinct values at $s,t\in Z$, choose disjoint open neighbourhoods $G,H$ of $f(s),f(t)$ in the Hausdorff space $Y$. By continuity, $f^{-1}(G)$ and $f^{-1}(H)$ would be nonempty disjoint open sets of $Z$, a contradiction. ThereforeThe proof establishes the general fact that continuous maps from an infinite cofinite space to a Hausdorff space are constant.

Write $Q=(Z\times I)/\mathcal{R}$. Since $Q$ is homeomorphic to the circle, it is Hausdorff. For fixed $t\in I$, the functionis continuous, being a coordinate slice of the quotient map. Part (a)(i) therefore makes it constant. Choose $x_0\in Z$ and setThen $g$ is continuous andSince the quotient map $p$ is a surjection, so is $g$. This is Hausdorff factorization through a cofinite product factor: a continuous map into a Hausdorff space cannot distinguish the points of the coordinate with the cofinite topology.

If $g$ were injective, it would be a continuous bijection from the compact closed interval $I$ to the Hausdorff space $Q$. Part (a)(ii) would make it a homeomorphism, contradicting the fact that the circle and interval are not homeomorphic.

To recall that obstruction explicitly, remove the interior point $1/2$ from $I$. The resulting topological subspace is separated by the nonempty relatively open sets $[0,1/2)$ and $(1/2,1]$, so it is not connected. The circle with any one point removed is connected: after a rotation, it is the image under a continuous map of the connected open interval $(0,2\pi )$ under $t\mapsto (\cos t,\sin t)$. A homeomorphism and its restriction preserve connectedness, giving a contradiction.

Thus $g$ is not injective. Choose distinct $a,b\in I$ with $g(a)=g(b)$. ThenIn particular the requested $x,a,b$ exist. The argument proves the stronger conclusion that the same two interval coordinates work for every $x$.

A topological surface is a Hausdorff space with a countable basis of a topology in which each point has a neighbourhood homeomorphic to an open subset of ${\mathbb{R}}^2$. This definition has no boundary; allowing half-plane charts gives a surface with boundary. A closed surface is compact and has no boundary.

The classification theorem for closed combinatorial surfaces states that the realization of a finite connected closed combinatorial surface is homeomorphic to exactly one of:

The orientable family, including the sphere at $g=0$, has Euler characteristic $2-2g$; the nonorientable family has characteristic $2-k$. If disconnected complexes are permitted, apply the list to each connected component.

For polygon descriptions, read the boundary counterclockwise and pair equally labelled edges in the direction of their arrows. An inverse exponent means that the arrow runs against this boundary traversal. The following standard polygon words for closed surfaces give the required models:For $k=1$ the last model is a digon; alternatively the square word $abab$, identifying antipodal boundary points, gives the real projective plane. A square with word $ab{a}^{-1}b$ gives the Klein bottle, the case $k=2$. All polygon sides are paired, so these models have no boundary.

$X$ does not have sequential compactness. Take the sequenceEvery subsequence has usual limit of a sequence $1$. If a subsequence converged in the subspace topology of the Sorgenfrey line, it would also converge in the usual subspace topology, since part (c) makes the identity function from the former to the latter continuous. Uniqueness of a limit of a sequence in the usual Hausdorff space therefore forces that limit of a sequence to be $1$.

But $\{1\}$ is an open neighbourhood of $1$ in $X$, and no term $x_n$ belongs to it. Thus no subsequence converges to $1$ in $X$, proving the assertion.

Let $K\subseteq X$ be compact, with $X$ a Hausdorff space. The empty set is closed, so suppose $K\ne \varnothing$. Fix $x\in X\setminus K$. For each $y\in K$, the Hausdorff property supplies disjoint open neighbourhoods $U_y$ of $y$ and $V_y$ of $x$.

The $U_y$ form an open cover of $K$. Choose a finite subcover $U_{y_1},\dots ,U_{y_m}$ and put $V={\bigcap }_{r=1}^m{V}_{y_r}$. This is an open neighbourhood of $x$. If a point of $V$ belonged to $K$, it would belong to some $U_{y_r}$ as well as $V_{y_r}$, a contradiction. Hence $V\subseteq X\setminus K$. Every point of the complement has such an open neighbourhood, so $X\setminus K$ is open and $K$ is closed.

Suppose $K\setminus \{a\}$ were compact. By the compact subset of a Hausdorff space theorem, it would be closed in $X$, hence closed in $K$. The singleton $\{a\}$ is also closed in the Hausdorff space $X$: each other point has an open neighbourhood avoiding $a$.

Consequently both $\{a\}$ and $K\setminus \{a\}$ are clopen in $K$. They are disjoint, nonempty, and cover $K$, giving a separation of a topological space in contradiction to the connectedness of $K$. Thus $K\setminus \{a\}$ is not compact.

Use the equivalence relation induced by a function:Equality in $Y$ supplies reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity, so this is an equivalence relation. Define $\bar{f}:X/\sim \to Y$ by $\bar{f}([x])=f(x)$. It is well-defined; it is injective by the definition of $\sim$ and surjective because $f$ is surjective.

For an open set $W\subseteq Y$,is open by continuity of $f$. The quotient topology therefore makes ${\bar{f}}^{-1}(W)$ open, proving that $\bar{f}$ is continuous.

The continuous image of a compact space theorem applied to $p$ makes $X/\sim$ compact. If $C$ is closed in $X/\sim$, it is compact, and $\bar{f}(C)$ is compact in the Hausdorff space $Y$, hence closed. Thus $\bar{f}$ is a closed map. Its inverse function is continuous, since its preimage of $C$ is precisely $\bar{f}(C)$. We have proved that $\bar{f}$ is a homeomorphism, including the compact-to-Hausdorff continuous bijection theorem used in the argument.

A topological surface is a Hausdorff space with a countable basis of a topology in which every point has an open neighbourhood homeomorphic to an open subset of the Euclidean plane. We use the convention that a surface has no boundary unless a surface with boundary is explicitly specified. A closed surface is compact and has no boundary. Some conventions also include connectedness in the definition; we impose it on the closed combinatorial surface below.

A closed combinatorial surface is a finite connected simplicial complex $K$ with the following properties: every simplex is a face of a simplex of dimension two, and the link of a simplex at every vertex is a cycle graph. Explicitly, for a vertex $v$ its link is the simplicial subcomplexTo say this is a cycle graph means that there are distinct vertices $w_1,\dots ,w_m$, with $m\ge 3$, and exactly the link edges $\{w_i,w_{i+1}\}$, with indices modulo $m$. In particular, every edge of $K$ belongs to exactly two triangles. The vertex-link condition also requires that the triangles around each vertex form one cyclic fan; edge incidence alone would allow singular examples.

These conditions make $|K|$ a closed surface. A point inside a triangle has a disc neighbourhood, the two triangles at an edge give a disc neighbourhood, and the cyclic fan at a vertex gives a disc neighbourhood. Finiteness gives compactness, the Hausdorff property, and a countable basis of a topology from a realization in a finite-dimensional Euclidean space. If disconnected closed combinatorial surfaces are allowed, each connected component satisfies this definition separately.

For locally compact noncompact Hausdorff spaces, a continuous proper map $f:X\to Y$ extends continuously to their one-point compactifications by the displayed rule. The inverse image of $\alpha Y\setminus K$ is $\alpha X\setminus f^{-1}(K)$, a neighborhood of infinity because the inverse image of a compact set is compact. The extension itself is proper, since it is continuous from a compact space to a Hausdorff space. A nonproper map can fail to admit any continuous extension: projection ${\mathbb{R}}^2\to \mathbb{R}$ sends two vertical sequences escaping to the same point at infinity to two distinct constant sequences, incompatible with continuity at that point.

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.