Let , and choose in each circle the point opposite :
In the subspace topology from the Euclidean plane, the sequence converges to , which does not belong to . Thus is not closed in .
On the other hand, let . With the quotient map from part (i),
This is closed in : its complement is the open set . The definition of the quotient topology, applied to complements, says that is closed in . A homeomorphism would carry this closed set to the closed set , a contradiction. Therefore is not a homeomorphism.
The obstruction occurs at the common point. The open set contains the collapsed point, but its image contains no neighbourhood of , since . The wedge sum topology allows a separate small neighbourhood on each circle; a neighbourhood of in the Hawaiian earring must contain all sufficiently small whole circles.
Let be an open cover of by open subsets of . The continuity of makes each preimage open in , and these preimages cover . By compactness, choose with
Applying gives . Thus every open cover of has a finite subcover, proving the continuous image of a compact space theorem. A cover by sets open in gives the same argument after expressing them as intersections with ambient open sets.
The intended hypothesis is that is not connected. The original PDF has the same grammatical ambiguity as the transcription. If only were assumed not connected, the assertion would fail for the discrete space with its usual metric and the closed subset : two disjoint sets cannot both meet that singleton.
Under the intended reading, choose a separation of a topological space . Both and are nonempty and closed in , because each is the complement of the other relatively open part. Since is closed in , both are closed in .
For a nonempty subset of the metric space , the distance to a set satisfies
Indeed, the triangle inequality gives , and swapping proves the bound. Thus the two distance to a set functions below are continuous. Set
These are disjoint open sets. For , we have and , since is closed and . Hence . Similarly . Therefore and both and meet , as required. The construction is a concrete instance of the normality of every metric space.
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.
The quotient set consists of the equivalence classes . Its collapsing map is the canonical projection of a quotient set
Equip this set with the quotient topology:
This is a topology because preimages preserve arbitrary unions, finite intersections, the empty set, and the whole set. The resulting topological space is the quotient space. The displayed rule immediately implies that the preimage of every open set is open, so is continuous; it is also surjective.
Any two nonempty open sets of the infinite cofinite topology intersect: their complements are finite sets, so the complement of their intersection is finite and cannot be all of .
Suppose the quotient space had distinct points with disjoint open neighbourhoods . Since the quotient map is surjective, both preimages would be nonempty. Since is continuous, these would be disjoint open subsets of with its cofinite topology, contradicting the observation above. Thus any such quotient space with at least two points is not Hausdorff.
Peano existence theorem Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be an open set, , and a continuous function. Through every there is a local solution of a differential equation: a continuously differentiable function on an open interval containing , satisfying the displayed initial value problem pointwise. No Lipschitz condition is assumed.[ref]
Continuity of a proposed rate law therefore guarantees at least one trajectory for a short time. For a physical model, this is a first consistency check: can the stated rule and initial condition actually be followed? Prediction also needs uniqueness. The delayed solutions of a square-root differential equation below show how the same rule and initial condition can leave a departure time undetermined. The Picard-Lindelöf theorem supplies a sufficient additional hypothesis for uniqueness; failure of that hypothesis alone does not prove nonuniqueness.
For the initial value problem , , a forward solution of a differential equation can stay zero until any , then follow . The delayed solutions of a square-root differential equation verify this freedom exactly.
Figure 1.
One initial condition admits an arbitrary forward waiting time
. Colored curves leave zero at the marked waits ; the dashed curve stays zero forever. Every curve satisfies the same original differential equation for . Details.
Local existence gives neither a global solution of a differential equation nor a bound on all future values. The continuous function already permits finite-time blowup; the finite-dimensional continuation criterion explains the additional issue of extending a trajectory within its domain.
Proof outline: choose a compact set . By the extreme value theorem, . Take with . Forward Euler method polygons remain in the closed ball and satisfy . The Arzelà-Ascoli theorem yields a convergent subsequence with uniform convergence. Uniform continuity of on makes their integral equation defect tend uniformly to zero, so the limit satisfies
The fundamental theorem of calculus gives a continuously differentiable function. Repeat backward and join at , where both derivatives equal .[ref]
The compact set here uses a finite-dimensional vector space; bounded closed balls in an arbitrary Banach space need not be compact. When , the constant solution of a differential equation works on the entire time interval in . In general the proof selects a subsequence, without asserting that all polygons converge to one unique trajectory.
Picard-Lindelöf theorem Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be an open set and a continuous function. Suppose is locally Lipschitz in the state , with a Lipschitz constant uniform on a sufficiently small time-state neighborhood of each point. Then each determines a unique local solution of a differential equation to the displayed initial value problem, on an interval around . This is the local theorem in Ordinary Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems by Gerald Teschl.
For example, , , has the solution of a differential equation : its derivative is itself and its starting value is . The Lipschitz constant is , since . Thus uniqueness follows even before computing . Picard iteration below constructs this exponential function one polynomial at a time.
The Lipschitz condition has real content. For the continuous function involving a square root,
each waiting time gives a different forward solution of a differential equation:
The constant solution of a differential equation is another choice. At , delays give respectively. Before the join, both sides of the ordinary differential equation are zero; afterwards, . Both one-sided derivatives at are zero, so the join is valid. All these trajectories can also be extended by zero to . The failed Lipschitz condition is visible in the quotient
For this quotient is . Continuity still allows local existence by the Peano existence theorem; it cannot choose a waiting time. MIT's 18.034 Lecture 2, Example 2.3 develops the same waiting-time mechanism for a different ordinary differential equation, .
Figure 1.
Failure of uniqueness and finite-time blowup are different obstructions
. Left: several delayed solutions of a differential equation of share . Right: the unique solution of a differential equation of , , has finite-time blowup at . The right vertical axis ends at ; the curve continues upward beyond the plot, and there is no finite endpoint value. Details.
The useful promise is that an initial condition and a sufficiently regular local rule select one trajectory. It justifies comparing models and following trajectories without an arbitrary choice at each instant. A locally Lipschitz continuous rule need not keep that trajectory bounded: meets the theorem's hypotheses everywhere but has finite-time blowup. Longer existence is governed by the finite-dimensional continuation criterion.
Preimage 2026-10-14
For a function and a subset , its preimage is
It is a subset of the original domain of a function. The notation does not require an inverse function: the preimage of a singleton set can have no members, one member, or many members. In the finite example, , and . The preimage of a singleton set is also its fiber of a function.
For subsets , preimages preserve both unions and intersections:
For the intersection, the same input belongs precisely when its single output belongs to both and . There is no opportunity to choose different witnesses, which is what made the image counterexample fail. The identities also hold for arbitrary families of output subsets.
In the finite example, choose and . Then
The intersection of the two preimages is exactly the same set . Complements are preserved with respect to the appropriate source and target sets:
For example, the unused output three contributes no extra input: with , both sides of the complement identity are . See Lebl, Proposition 0.3.15: preimages of unions, intersections and complements.
This makes preimages useful for transporting conditions. The solution set of is , and a zero set is a preimage of zero. Requiring two output conditions takes the intersection of their preimages. In topology, a continuous function pulls every open set back to an open set; a measurable function pulls the specified measurable sets in its codomain back to measurable sets in its domain of a function. These definitions use preimages because their set operations remain consistent even when the function is noninjective.
Probability pushforward embedding theorem Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-25
A homeomorphic embedding of a metric space induces a homeomorphic embedding of its probability measures for their weak topologies. The inverse continuity follows from the open-set Portmanteau theorem, since every relatively open set is the trace of an ambient open set. This does not give surjectivity onto when points of are outside the embedded image.
Quotient topology Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The quotient topology turns an instruction to glue points together into a precise topological space. Start with a topological space and an equivalence relation . The quotient set consists of equivalence classes, and its canonical projection of a quotient set is
The quotient topology is defined by the rule using preimages of open sets:
Thus a subset of the quotient space is open if and only if its entire preimage is open in . Each fiber is the whole equivalence class , so the preimage includes every point glued to any of its members.[ref]
This is the finest topology making a continuous map: every topology with that property can contain only subsets whose preimages are open. It really is a topology, because preimages preserve the empty set, the whole set, arbitrary unions, and finite intersections. The gluing example below shows why checking a complete preimage matters, especially at the seam.
The quotient topology also makes continuous maps out of a glued space easy to construct. A continuous map descends to a unique continuous map exactly when it is constant on every fiber of , meaning . Define ; the equivalence class representative cannot affect the answer. For every open set ,
The right side is open, so the quotient topology makes open. Conversely, if for a continuous map , then composition of continuous functions makes continuous, and equal equivalence classes force equal values. This is the universal property of the quotient topology. [ref]
A surjective continuous map is not automatically a quotient map. On the same two-point set , take the identity map from the discrete topology to the indiscrete topology. It is continuous and surjective, but is not open in the target even though its preimage is open in the domain. The quotient topology for this identity map would be the discrete topology. Thus continuity supplies only one direction of the rule using preimages of open sets; a quotient map requires both.
A family is Ramsey in the homogeneous-cone sense if there is an infinite such that either or . This is the existence of one infinite homogeneous cone. Requiring such a refinement inside every infinite initial ground set gives the stronger definition used for a Ramsey set of infinite subsets; requiring a homogeneous refinement in every finite-stem neighbourhood gives a completely Ramsey set.
These quantifiers should be distinguished. For example, the existence of a homogeneous cone on the even numbers does not constrain a family's restriction to the odd numbers. If is the finite-symmetric-difference parity colouring class on the odd numbers, the family consisting of alone has a homogeneous cone disjoint from it on the even numbers, but no homogeneous cone on the odd numbers. Every open set in the ordinary topology on infinite subsets has homogeneous cones inside all infinite ground sets, as follows by deciding finite stems through fusion.
The reciprocal chart makes infinity an ordinary coordinate origin. Its domain is the Riemann sphere minus the point ; and elsewhere. A neighbourhood of infinity becomes the open disc . In sphere coordinates this is exactly the cap
For , the exterior together with infinity becomes and . The boundary itself is excluded from each open set.
Figure 1.
The same neighbourhood of infinity as a plane exterior, a north-pole cap, and a disc in the reciprocal chart
. Details.
The point lies in this neighbourhood because . Its reciprocal coordinate is , with , and its sphere height is . The negative imaginary part of is the axis reversal required by the holomorphic stereographic atlas of the sphere.
For a complex-valued holomorphic function defined outside a large disc, having a removable singularity at infinity means that extends to a holomorphic function at . This definition reduces questions at infinity to familiar questions at a finite point.[ref] For example,
The geometric series gives a Taylor series at the new origin, so and . The coefficient is the derivative in the specified coordinate. In contrast, becomes , displaying a pole of order two at infinity when the target is the complex plane. As a holomorphic map to the Riemann sphere, it uses the target reciprocal coordinate , which is regular at zero.
Every open subset of a product of two topological spaces is a rectangle exactly when at least one factor has the indiscrete topology. For necessity, if both factors have nonempty proper open sets , , then is open, projects onto both full factors, and omits every point of . A rectangle with both full projections would be the whole product, a contradiction. For sufficiency, if is indiscrete, every basic open rectangle is or empty; an arbitrary union is . The same argument works when is indiscrete. Empty factors cause no exception because their topology is indiscrete.
If and are compact subsets of two spaces and is an open neighborhood of their product, there are open sets with . First use compactness of to produce a rectangle around each slice , intersecting finitely many first factors and uniting second factors. Then use compactness of , uniting finitely many resulting first factors and intersecting second factors. No Hausdorff assumption is required.
Every finite positive Borel measure on Euclidean space is inner regular by compact sets and outer regular by open sets. For an open set , the compact sets increase to , so continuity from below of a measure gives inner approximation. The empty complement is handled by compact balls. The class of Borel sets admitting both approximations is closed under complements: interchange inner and outer approximations, then truncate the inner closed set by a large compact ball, using finiteness of the measure. For a countable union, approximate its components from outside with summable errors, and approximate finitely many components from inside after making the remaining union's measure small. Thus this class is a sigma-algebra containing the open sets. In particular, a finite measure carried by a Borel null set has compact subsets of that carrier capturing arbitrarily nearly all its mass.
Regular topological space 2026-10-31
A topological space is regular when a point and a closed set not containing it have disjoint open neighborhoods. Equivalently, for every point in an open set , there is an open with . To obtain shrinking, separate from the closed complement of ; the closure of the point's neighborhood avoids the other neighborhood. Conversely use such a shrinking and the complement of its closure. This definition alone does not require .
Residue theorem Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-13
Let be a piecewise smooth contour forming a simple closed curve, positively oriented: travel counterclockwise, with the interior on the left. Suppose is holomorphic on an open set containing and its interior, except at finitely many isolated singularities strictly inside. Then
No isolated singularity may lie on : the ordinary contour integral must be defined there. Reversing the direction of the contour reverses the sign of the answer. The theorem applies to essential singularities as well as poles. [ref]
Return to . A counterclockwise circle encloses both simple poles, so
Yet is nonzero everywhere it is defined. A zero contour integral does not imply a zero function, or even absence of poles: the enclosed residues can cancel. By contrast, the counterclockwise circle encloses only , giving
The picture compares these two selections. Changing the shape of a contour while keeping the same enclosed poles leaves the contour integral unchanged, provided the contour deformation stays where is holomorphic.
Figure 1.
Two contour choices for : cancellation around both poles, and integral around
. Details.
This is the practical appeal of the residue theorem: local Laurent coefficients determine a global contour integral. For a rational function, a few simple pole computations can replace a long parametrized calculation. It also makes real improper integrals accessible by treating the real line as part of a closed contour in the complex plane.
To compute , take and travel along the real line from to , then return along the upper semicircle , parametrized by for . This contour is positively oriented and encloses the simple pole only; is outside. Hence
The added arc must be controlled before taking a limit. On , the reverse triangle inequality gives , and the arc length is . The estimation lemma therefore yields
The denominator grows quadratically while the arc length grows only linearly. This quantitative comparison, rather than a sketch alone, explains why closing the contour does not alter the limiting real improper integral. It even supplies an error bound: the difference between and the finite real integral is at most .
For a numerical check, gives the finite real integral , leaving about to reach . The arc bound is , comfortably larger than that error. The graph shows both quantities approaching zero. The exact tail here can be checked with the antiderivative ; the residue theorem method remains useful for improper integrals where a convenient real antiderivative is unavailable.
Figure 2.
Upper semicircle orientation and convergence of the real integral, with the bound
. Details.
Finally, both one-sided improper integrals converge absolutely: for , , whose tails are integrable. Thus the symmetric limit computes the ordinary improper integral, not merely a Cauchy principal value, and
Closing below instead would enclose the simple pole . With the same left-to-right traversal of the real line, that contour is clockwise, so its contour integral is again. This provides a useful sign check: the opposite residue is accompanied by the opposite direction around the enclosed region.
The same strategy extends to many other rational functions: choose a contour, identify its enclosed isolated singularities, compute their residues, and bound the added pieces. The choice of contour and the bound are as much part of the calculation as the residues. [ref]
For open sets and , define , where extends the test function by zero. Because its compact support lies inside , this extension is smooth. Extension preserves convergence in the space of test functions, proving continuity of the restricted distribution. Successive restrictions agree with direct restriction.
Target: Locality of distributions. Parent: Distribution (mathematical analysis). Intended file: distribution-theory.bigb.