Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2008 / ib / Paper 1 / 12F (Metric and Topological Spaces)

A topology on $X$ is a family $\mathcal{T}$ of subsets containing $\varnothing$ and $X$, closed under arbitrary unions and finite intersections. Its members are the open sets. A Hausdorff space separates each pair of distinct points by disjoint open neighbourhoods; a compact space is one for which every open cover has a finite subcover.

Not a topology. Each singleton $\{n\}$ with $n>0$ is finite and hence belongs to the proposed family, but their union $\{1,2,3,\dots \}$ is infinite and excludes zero, so does not belong. The arbitrary-union axiom fails.

A Hausdorff compact topology. The empty set omits zero and $\mathbb{Z}$ has finite complement. An arbitrary union omitting zero belongs to the family. If a union contains zero, one of its constituent sets contains zero and is cofinite, so the union is also cofinite. A finite intersection either omits zero or is an intersection of finitely many cofinite sets and is therefore cofinite. This proves all topology axioms.

For distinct nonzero integers $a,b$, the disjoint open singletons $\{a\},\{b\}$ separate them. To separate $0$ and $n\ne 0$, use the disjoint open sets $\mathbb{Z}\setminus \{n\}$ and $\{n\}$. Thus this is a Hausdorff space. Every open cover has a member containing zero, which leaves only finitely many integers uncovered; choose one member for each of those points. This gives a finite subcover and proves compactness. The space is the one-point compactification of the discrete space $\mathbb{Z}\setminus \{0\}$, with zero as the added point.

Not a topology. For every integer $k\ge 2$, the set $U_k=\mathbb{Z}\setminus k\mathbb{Z}$ is periodic with period $k$, so belongs to the family. Their union is $\mathbb{Z}\setminus \{0\}$: for a nonzero $n$, choose $k>|n|$, which cannot divide $n$. But this union has no positive integer period. If it had period $k$, membership of $-k$ would force membership of zero. Again arbitrary unions fail the topology axiom.

A Hausdorff, noncompact topology. The condition says precisely that each point of $U$ lies in a residue class $n+k\mathbb{Z}$ contained in $U$. These classes form a basis: the intersection of two classes containing a common point contains the class through that point with modulus equal to the least common multiple of their moduli. Thus arbitrary unions obey the condition, and so do finite intersections. Also $\varnothing$ and $\mathbb{Z}$ obey it. This is the profinite topology on $\mathbb{Z}$.

If $a\ne b$, choose $k>|a-b|$. Then $a+k\mathbb{Z}$ and $b+k\mathbb{Z}$ are disjoint open neighbourhoods, proving the Hausdorff property. To test compactness, defineEvery $F_n$ is nonempty and both open and closed: its complement is a finite union of other residue classes. Since $a_{n+1}-a_n=4^n$, $F_{n+1}\subseteq F_n$. If $x$ belonged to their intersection, then $3x+1$ would be divisible by $4^n$ for every $n$, forcing $3x+1=0$, impossible for an integer. Therefore $U_n=\mathbb{Z}\setminus F_n$ is an increasing open cover of $\mathbb{Z}$. Any finite subcollection has union $U_N$ for its largest index and misses the nonempty $F_N$. This proves that the profinite topology on the integers is not compact.