Past exam of the topology course of the University of Oxford / 2021 (A5, A13757W1)

Original solutions to all three questions of the University of Oxford Part A topology examination, sat on 25 June 2021. Source: officially released examination PDF, parent PDF pages 94–96; printed paper pages 1–3. All 25 answer parts are covered, including every alternative. Only the best two questions counted towards the examination mark.

The two conditions for a basis of a topology both hold. First, every real number $x$ belongs to $[x,x+1)$, so the proposed basic intervals cover the real line. Second, ifthen $\max (a,c)\le x<\min (b,d)$, andis itself one of the proposed basic intervals. Thus every point in an intersection of two basic sets has a basic neighbourhood contained in that intersection.

Consequently the arbitrary unions of members of $\mathcal{B}$, including the empty union, form a topology $\mathcal{T}$. The basis of a topology conditions give closure under finite intersections; arbitrary unions are built into the definition. This is the lower limit topology, also called the Sorgenfrey line.

Yes, $[0,1]$ is closed. Its complement is $(-\infty ,0)\cup (1,\infty )$. Every $x<0$ has the basic open neighbourhood $[x,0)$ contained in this complement, and every $x>1$ has $[x,x+1)$ contained in it. Hence the complement is open in ${\mathbb{R}}_{\mathcal{T}}$.

No, $[0,1]$ is not open. Every basic neighbourhood $[a,b)$ of $1$ has $b>1$, so it contains points larger than $1$. Therefore $1$ has no open neighbourhood contained in $[0,1]$.

The interval $[0,1)$ is a basic open set contained in $[0,1]$. The remaining point $1$ is not an interior point, by the preceding argument. Thus

The only isolated point of the subset $[0,1]$ is $1$. Indeed,so $\{1\}$ is open in the subspace topology. If $0\le x<1$, every basic neighbourhood $[a,b)$ containing $x$ also contains a point strictly between $x$ and $\min (b,1)$, hence another point of $[0,1]$. Such an $x$ is not an isolated point of the subset. Here isolation refers to $[0,1]$ with its subspace topology; $1$ is not an isolated point of the ambient Sorgenfrey line.

Let $U$ be open in the Euclidean topology on the real line, and let $x\in U$. There is an $\epsilon >0$ with $(x-\epsilon ,x+\epsilon )\subseteq U$. The basic open set $[x,x+\epsilon )$ contains $x$ and is contained in $U$. Taking the union of these basic neighbourhoods over $x\in U$ shows that $U\in \mathcal{T}$. ThusIn fact this is a strictly finer topology: $[0,1)$ is open in $\mathcal{T}$ but not in the Euclidean topology, since no usual open ball about $0$ is contained in it.

The usual real line is connected. In contrast,is a separation of a topological space. Both pieces are nonempty and disjoint; the first is open by part (c), and the second is the open union ${\bigcup }_{n\ge 1}[0,n)$. Thus the Sorgenfrey line is not connected. Since a homeomorphism preserves connectedness, the two topological spaces are not homeomorphic. Merely showing that their topologies differ would not by itself exclude some other homeomorphism between them.

$X$ is not compact. In the subspace topology on $X=[0,1]$, consider the open coverThe intervals are basic open sets in the ambient Sorgenfrey line, and $\{1\}=X\cap [1,2)$ is open in $X$. Every $x<1$ belongs to one of those intervals, while the singleton covers $1$.

A finite subcover would have to include $\{1\}$. Among its finitely many other members, let $N$ be the largest index. Their union is $[0,1-1/N)$, leaving $1-1/N$ uncovered. Selecting no such member also fails to cover $0$. Hence no finite subcover exists.

$X$ 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.

Use the Heaviside step function with the value at the jump chosen as follows:For any open set in the target Sorgenfrey line, its preimage is one of $\varnothing$, $\mathbb{R}$, $(-\infty ,0)$, and $[0,\infty )$. All four are open in the source Sorgenfrey line, so $f$ is continuous. In the Euclidean topology, the preimage of $(1/2,3/2)$ is $[0,\infty )$, which is not open. Hence the same function is not continuous as a usual real-to-real map.

TakeIt is continuous for the Euclidean metric, since $|g(x)-g(y)|=|x-y|$. But the basic open set $[0,1)$ of the target Sorgenfrey line has preimageThis is not open in the source Sorgenfrey line: every basic neighbourhood of $0$ contains positive points. Thus $g$ is not continuous for the lower limit topology.

For the sphere model of the real projective plane, letThen ${\mathbb{RP}}^2=S^2/{\sim }_S$ with the quotient topology: each equivalence class is an antipodal pair.

For the closed disc model, letGive $D^2/{\sim }_D$ the quotient topology. Only antipodal pairs on the boundary circle are identified in the closed disc model; interior points remain distinct.

Let $q_S:S^2\to S^2/{\sim }_S$ and $q_D:D^2\to D^2/{\sim }_D$ be the quotient maps. The continuous mapis a homeomorphism onto the upper hemisphere; its inverse function is the restriction of the projection map $(x,y,z)\mapsto (x,y)$. Every antipodal pair on $S^2$ meets that hemisphere. Moreover, two points of this hemisphere are antipodal only if both lie on the equator. ThusBy the universal property of the quotient topology, $q_S\circ h$ induces a continuous bijection

To justify continuity of the inverse function, the source is compact, being a continuous image of a compact space $D^2$; the Heine-Borel theorem gives compactness of $D^2$. The target is Hausdorff, as follows. For distinct equivalence classes $[u]\ne [v]$, putIn $S^2$, take the union $U$ of the two relative open balls of radius $\delta /3$ about $u,-u$, and similarly take $V$ about $v,-v$. Every distance between their respective centres is at least $\delta$, so the triangle inequality gives $U\cap V=\varnothing$. These open sets contain entire antipodal pairs, hence $q_S^{-1}(q_S(U))=U$ and similarly for $V$. The quotient topology therefore makes $q_S(U)$ and $q_S(V)$ disjoint open neighbourhoods of the two classes.

The compact-to-Hausdorff continuous bijection theorem now gives the required homeomorphism $H$.

The sphere $S^2$ is path-connected. For $u,v\in S^2$ which are not an antipodal pair, a continuous path isThe denominator never vanishes: a zero would make $u$ and $v$ antipodal. If $v=-u$, choose a unit vector $w$ perpendicular to $u$ and concatenate the paths from $u$ to $w$ and from $w$ to $v$ of the same form. Thus $S^2$ is connected. The quotient map $q_S$ is continuous and surjective, so the continuous image of a connected space theorem proves that ${\mathbb{RP}}^2$ is connected. In fact composing the paths above with $q_S$ also proves path connectedness.

False, with “disjoint union” understood as a topological disjoint union. Take the rational numbers $\mathbb{Q}$ with the usual subspace topology from the real line.

Every connected subset of $\mathbb{Q}$ has at most one point. Indeed, if it contained $r<s$, choose an irrational number $t\in (r,s)$. The two relatively open setspartition $\mathbb{Q}$ and separate any subset containing both $r$ and $s$. Hence the connected components of $\mathbb{Q}$ are singletons.

If a topological disjoint union of nonempty connected spaces were homeomorphic to $\mathbb{Q}$, the image of each summand would be connected, hence a singleton. Every summand would therefore be a one-point topological space. Their topological disjoint union is a discrete space, since each summand is open. But $\mathbb{Q}$ is not a discrete space: for each $r\in \mathbb{Q}$, the distinct rational numbers $r+1/n$ approach $r$, so $r$ is not an isolated point. This is a contradiction. The set decomposition into connected components always exists; giving those pieces the topological disjoint union topology need not recover the original topology.

Write $Z={\coprod }_{n\in \mathbb{N}}{X}_n$, where each $X_n$ is a labelled copy of the topological space $X$, with its topological disjoint union topology. Define the bijectionFor a subset $U\subseteq \mathbb{N}\times X$, let $U_n=\{x\in X:(n,x)\in U\}$. By definition of the topological disjoint union, $F^{-1}(U)$ is open in $Z$ exactly when each $U_n$ is open in $X$.

The same condition characterizes open sets in the product topology on $\mathbb{N}\times X$. If $U$ is open, the map $x\mapsto (n,x)$ is continuous, so each $U_n$ is open. Conversely, if each $U_n$ is open, thenis open, since the discrete topology makes every $\{n\}$ open in $\mathbb{N}$. Hence $F$ and its inverse function are continuous, proving the required homeomorphism. This also covers the case $X=\varnothing$.

Use positive indices $n\ge 1$ and write $p=(0,-1)\in S^1$. SetFor fixed $n$, this function is a homeomorphism from the unit circle to $C_n$: it scales its radius to $1/n$ and translates its centre to $(0,1/n)$. Thus it takes values in the Hawaiian earring $X$ and is surjective onto $X$. It is continuous on each open slice $\{n\}\times S^1$; since these slices form an open cover of $\mathbb{N}\times S^1$, $f$ is continuous on the whole product topology.

Distinct circles $C_n,C_m$ meet only at $o=(0,0)$. To see this directly, their equations areFor $m\ne n$, subtraction gives $y=0$, then $x=0$. Each slice contains exactly one preimage of $o$, namely $(n,p)$. Therefore the only nonsingleton fibre of $f$ is $A$.

Let $q:\mathbb{N}\times S^1\to (\mathbb{N}\times S^1)/A$ be the quotient map collapsing $A$. The universal property of the quotient topology supplies a unique continuous map $\bar{f}$ with $f=\bar{f}\circ q$. The fibre calculation proves injectivity, and surjectivity follows from that of $f$. Hence $\bar{f}$ is the required continuous bijection.

Let $W=(\mathbb{N}\times S^1)/A$, and choose in each circle the point opposite $o$:In the subspace topology from the Euclidean plane, the sequence $z_n$ converges to $o$, which does not belong to $B$. Thus $B$ is not closed in $X$.

On the other hand, let $D={\bar{f}}^{-1}(B)\subseteq W$. With the quotient map $q$ from part (i),This is closed in $\mathbb{N}\times S^1$: its complement is the open set $\mathbb{N}\times (S^1\setminus \{(0,1)\})$. The definition of the quotient topology, applied to complements, says that $D$ is closed in $W$. A homeomorphism would carry this closed set to the closed set $B$, a contradiction. Therefore $\bar{f}$ is not a homeomorphism.

The obstruction occurs at the common point. The open set $W\setminus D$ contains the collapsed point, but its image $X\setminus B$ contains no neighbourhood of $o$, since $z_n\to o$. The wedge sum topology allows a separate small neighbourhood on each circle; a neighbourhood of $o$ in the Hawaiian earring must contain all sufficiently small whole circles.

The unit circle is Hausdorff and second countable, since both properties pass to topological subspaces of the Euclidean plane. To exhibit its local coordinate charts, consider the four open semicirclesThey cover $S^1$. On $U_{y,\pm }$, the projection map $(x,y)\mapsto x$ is a homeomorphism onto the open interval $(-1,1)$, with continuous inverse functionOn $U_{x,\pm }$, use $(x,y)\mapsto y$, with inverse function $t\mapsto (\pm \sqrt{1-t^2},t)$. These coordinate charts show that $S^1$ is a one-dimensional topological manifold with empty manifold boundary.

Let $o=(0,0)$ be the common point of the two circles. For sufficiently small $\epsilon >0$, the open neighbourhoodhas the following local structure: $W\setminus \{o\}$ consists of four disjoint open arcs, an upper and a lower branch from each circle. These are its four connected components, each open and closed relative to $W\setminus \{o\}$.

Suppose a coordinate chart of some dimension of a manifold $n$ existed at $o$. The case $n=0$ would make $o$ an isolated point, which it is not. For $n\ge 1$, shrink the chart inside $W$ so that its image is an open ball centred at the image of $o$. Its domain of a function $V$ is an open neighbourhood of $o$, so it meets all four arms of $W$. Intersecting those arms with $V\setminus \{o\}$ gives four disjoint nonempty clopen sets partitioning $V\setminus \{o\}$; hence there are at least four connected components.

But a punctured ball in $\mathbb{R}$ has exactly two connected components, and a punctured ball in ${\mathbb{R}}^n$ for $n\ge 2$ is path-connected. A homeomorphism preserves connected components, giving a contradiction in every dimension of a manifold. Thus $X$ is not a topological manifold. The argument uses arbitrarily small coordinate charts; the fact that the whole $X\setminus \{o\}$ has two pieces alone would not be a local obstruction.

Label the hexagon polygon vertices $v_0,\dots ,v_5$ in the direction in which its boundary word is $abc{a}^{-1}{b}^{-1}{c}^{-1}$, with the first side running from $v_0$ to $v_1$. Matching the endpoints according to the arrows givesThus the two vertex equivalence classes are $\{v_0,v_2,v_4\}$ and $\{v_1,v_3,v_5\}$.

The polygonal schema gives a compact connected surface with empty manifold boundary. Interior points have disc neighbourhoods; a paired polygon edge glues two half-disc neighbourhoods into a disc. At each of the two vertex equivalence classes, its three corner sectors join cyclically, so the vertex link in a polygonal schema is a circle, again giving a disc neighbourhood. Pairing every label once positively and once negatively makes these gluings consistent with an orientation, so the resulting surface is orientable.

The resulting CW complex has CW cells comprising two vertices, three edges and one face. Its Euler characteristic isBy the classification of compact surfaces, a connected closed orientable surface with $\chi =0$ has genus $g$ satisfying $2-2g=0$, hence $g=1$. The quotient space is a torus.

True. Label the pentagon polygon vertices clockwise from the upper left asUse $a$ for the upward single arrows and $b$ for the rightward double arrows in the original diagram. Their endpoint identifications areAll five polygon vertices are therefore identified. The remaining diagonal polygon edge, from $v_3$ to $v_4$, has its endpoints identified and is the only boundary component of a surface.

The paired polygon edges join half-disc neighbourhoods into disc neighbourhoods. At the common vertex, the five corner sectors join in one chain whose two free ends lie on the unpaired polygon edge: its vertex link in a polygonal schema is a closed interval. Hence that point has a half-disc neighbourhood. This verifies that the quotient space is a surface with boundary, rather than merely counting its CW cells. The paired polygon edges are oppositely traversed around the polygon, so this surface is orientable.

Its CW cells comprise one vertex, three edges (the $a$ pair, the $b$ pair, and the free polygon edge), and one face. ThereforeThe classification of compact surfaces identifies it as a torus with an open disc removed.

False: the result is again a torus with one open disc removed. Label the hexagon polygon vertices clockwise from the upper left asWith the same arrow labels as in part (ii),There are two vertex equivalence classes, $P=\{v_0,v_2,v_4\}$ and $Q=\{v_1,v_3,v_5\}$. The free diagonal polygon edges are $v_1{v}_2$ and $v_4{v}_5$. Each joins $P$ to $Q$, so together they form one boundary component of a surface, not two. At each vertex equivalence class the three corner sectors join in a single chain between these two free polygon edges. Thus each vertex link in a polygonal schema is a closed interval, and the quotient space is an orientable surface with boundary.

Its CW complex has CW cells comprising two vertices, four edges and one face, givingIn contrast, a torus with two disjoint open discs removed has two boundary components of a surface and Euler characteristic $2-2-2=-2$. Either topological invariant rules out the proposed homeomorphism.

A complete pairing of the six polygon edges leaves three edges and one face as CW cells, together with the vertex equivalence classes. If $V$ denotes their number, then $V\ge 1$ and the polygonal-schema Euler count givesA closed orientable surface of genus two has Euler characteristic $2-2\cdot 2=-2$. Since the Euler characteristic is a topological invariant, no complete pairing of a hexagon can give that surface. Equivalently, the polygonal-schema Euler count bounds the genus of an orientable result by $2g\le 3$, so $g\le 1$.

Every complete polygon edge pairing gives a compact connected surface with empty manifold boundary. Here is the local reason at the vertices. Replace each polygon corner by a small link interval. The polygon edge pairings identify all endpoints of these link intervals in pairs. In a given vertex equivalence class, the resulting graph is connected: the endpoint identifications generating that vertex equivalence class also connect its corner intervals. Every link graph vertex has degree of a vertex two, so the graph is a circle. Its topological cone is a disc, giving the required local surface model. Edge and face CW cell interiors have the usual disc neighbourhoods as well. A finite triangulation compatible with the polygon edge pairings realizes the result as a finite simplicial complex, giving a Hausdorff, second-countable space.

For every such surface, $\chi =V-2\ge -1$. If it is orientable, the classification of compact surfaces gives $\chi =2-2g$, so $g=0$ or $1$. If it is a nonorientable surface, write $k\ge 1$ for its nonorientable genus; then $\chi =2-k\ge -1$ gives $k\le 3$. The exhaustive list is therefore

To prove that every listed possibility actually occurs, the following six-letter boundary words specify complete pairings of a hexagon:The vertex counts follow by matching starts and ends of equally directed arrows, just as in part (b). The first and third words pair every letter with its inverse, giving orientable surfaces. Each other word contains a letter twice with the same sign, giving a nonorientable surface: an orientation on the face would induce equal, rather than opposite, boundary directions along that glued pair. With the displayed Euler characteristics, the classification of compact surfaces identifies the examples exactly as listed. All five types occur, and no others occur.