Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2021 / iii / Paper 151 / 1 / a

For an inverse system of sets $(X_j,f_{ij})$ indexed by a directed set $J$, the inverse limit is the set of compatible tuplesIts projection to $X_j$ sends $(x_i{)}_i$ to $x_j$.

Give each nonempty finite set $X_j$ the discrete topology. The product space $X={\prod }_j{X}_j$ is compact by the Tychonoff theorem. For each $i\le j$, the compatibility condition $f_{ij}(x_j)=x_i$ defines a closed subset $C_{ij}\subseteq X$.

These sets have the finite intersection property. Indeed, for finitely many conditions choose an index $k$ above every index occurring in them, choose any $x_k\in X_k$, and use the transition maps from $k$ to define all required coordinates; choose the remaining coordinates arbitrarily. Compactness therefore givesThis is the nonemptiness theorem for inverse limits of finite sets.