Past exam of the options I for mathematics and philosophy course of the University of Oxford / 2013 / E / 2 / a

Let $q:X\to X/\mathcal{R}$ send each point to its equivalence class. The quotient topology isIt is the finest topology on the quotient set making the canonical surjection $q$ continuous. The preimage test, rather than a choice of representatives, defines its open sets.

Use the equivalence relation of belonging to the same fibre:The map $\bar{f}:X/\mathcal{R}\to Y$, $[x]\mapsto f(x)$, is well defined, injective by the definition of the relation, and surjective because $f$ is surjective. It is continuous by the quotient topology: for open $V\subseteq Y$, $q^{-1}({\bar{f}}^{-1}(V))=f^{-1}(V)$ is open.

The quotient space is compact as the continuous image of compact $X$, and $Y$ is Hausdorff. The compact-to-Hausdorff continuous bijection theorem makes $\bar{f}$ a homeomorphism. Indeed, images of closed subsets of a compact space are compact and hence closed in a Hausdorff space, so the inverse is continuous.