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If $X$ is a compact space and $f:X\to Y$ is a continuous map, the graph of a function of $f$ is compact in the product topology on $X\times Y$. Indeed,is a continuous map onto that graph, so the result follows from the continuous image of a compact space theorem. No Hausdorff assumption on $Y$ is needed.

The coordinate projection map restricted to the graph is a continuous inverse to $G$. Thus the graph is actually homeomorphic to $X$. For instance, the graph of $x^2$ over $[0,1]$ has the same intrinsic topology as the interval, even though it is curved in the plane.

For a topological space $Y$ and topological spaces $X_i$, a function $f:Y\to {\prod }_i{X}_i$ is continuous into the product topology exactly when every coordinate function $f_i={\pi }_i\circ f$ is continuous.^[ref]

Proof outline: one direction uses function composition with the continuous projection maps. For the other, the preimage of a basic cylinder set isa finite set intersection of open sets in $Y$. This gives continuity on every basic test. It explains, for example, why $t\mapsto (t,t^2,t^3,\dots )$ from the real line to ${\mathbb{R}}^{\mathbb{N}}$ is continuous in the product topology: each coordinate is a polynomial function. The general coordinate criterion fails for the box topology, where infinitely many preimages can be required at once. For example, $g(t)=(t,t,\dots )$ has continuous coordinate functions, but the preimage of the box ${\prod }_{j\ge 1}(-1/j,1/j)$ is $\{0\}$, which is not an open set in the real line.

For arbitrary topological spaces $X_i$, an index set $I$, a sequence $x^{(n)}\in {\prod }_i{X}_i$, and a point $x$ in that Cartesian product, convergence in a product space to $x$ in the product topology is equivalent to coordinatewise convergence in every factor. No countability or Hausdorff assumption on the factors is needed. For a product space of copies of the real line, regarding each point as a function $I\to \mathbb{R}$ identifies this with pointwise convergence.

Proof outline: the forward implication follows because each projection map is continuous. Conversely, given a basic neighborhood $B(F,U)$ of $x$, each of its finitely many coordinate tests holds for all $n\ge N_i$. Taking $N={\max }_{i\in F}{N}_i$ makes all tests hold simultaneously; if $F$ is empty, any threshold works. This proves eventual membership in every neighborhood, rather than only in a sampled collection of cylinders. The same equivalence holds for nets: a directed set supplies a common upper bound for finitely many thresholds. Sequences alone need not characterize the whole topology of an arbitrary product space.

For the coordinate projection map $p_i:X_1\times X_2\to X_i$, let $X_j$ denote the other factor. Then $p_i$ is surjective exactly when $X_i$ is the empty set or $X_j$ is nonempty. If $X_i$ is nonempty, a preimage of one chosen element requires an element of $X_j$, and that same element provides a preimage for every element of $X_i$.

The projection map is injective exactly when $X_i$ is the empty set or $X_j$ has at most one element. When $X_i$ contains an element and $X_j$ contains two distinct elements, the corresponding distinct ordered pairs have the same projection. With at most one omitted coordinate available, two pairs with the same retained coordinate must agree.

These conditions include the cases with the empty set as the domain of a function. In particular, a surjection onto an empty Cartesian product need not induce a surjection onto a nonempty factor: the empty function onto $\{a\}\times \varnothing$ is surjective, while the resulting empty function into $\{a\}$ is not.

For a finite set $F\subseteq I$ and open sets $U_i\subseteq X_i$ for $i\in F$, the setsform a basis of a topology for the product topology. The empty set intersection is $X$. Each basic open set is a cylinder set; all coordinates outside $F$ are free. Arbitrary open sets are unions of these basic tests and need not themselves depend on one fixed finite collection of coordinates.^[ref]

Why finitely many? Any topology making the projection maps continuous must contain their preimages of open sets, and hence finite set intersections of those preimages. Taking arbitrary unions supplies exactly the product topology. Intersecting two basic cylinder sets still restricts only the finite union of their coordinate sets.

An inverse limit carries the coarsest topology making every coordinate projection map continuous. It is the subspace topology inherited from the product of the component spaces.

On two copies of the real line with their usual topologies, let $U=(1,2)$ and $V=(2,4)$. The coordinate projection maps giveThe first two open sets are unbounded strips; their set intersection is an open rectangle. The point $(1.4,3)$ passes both coordinate tests, whereas $(2,3)$ fails the first because the endpoint $2$ is excluded.

Every point of an open set in the Euclidean plane has such an open rectangle around it inside that open set. Conversely, every open rectangle contains a small Euclidean ball around each of its points. Thus the product topology here is the usual metric topology of the Euclidean plane. With finitely many factors all coordinates may be restricted; on an infinite Cartesian product a basic cylinder set must leave all but finitely many factors free.

Fix a horizontal line $L=\mathbb{R}\times \{c\}$. The restriction of every member of $\mathcal{H}$ to $L$ is continuous in its usual topology. Therefore every subbasic open set intersects $L$ in a usual open set, so the induced topology is no finer than the usual one. Conversely the first coordinate projection is continuous for the initial topology, and its inverse images induce every usual open set on $L$. The two topologies on $L$ are equal. The second projection gives the identical argument for a vertical line.

Write $F={\overline{Y}}^X$. For every nonzero rational $r$, the intersection of $Y$ with $\{r\}\times \mathbb{R}$ is dense in that vertical line, since the nonzero rational numbers are dense in the real line. Hence $\{r\}\times \mathbb{R}\subseteq F$. For each real $c$, it follows that $F\cap (\mathbb{R}\times \{c\})$ contains $(\mathbb{Q}\setminus \{0\})\times \{c\}$ and is closed in that line. This dense subset forces the whole horizontal line into $F$. Thus $F=X$: $Y$ is a countable dense subset. The two successive uses of line density are necessary; the initial topology is finer than the Euclidean topology, so Euclidean density alone would not suffice.

Let $\mathcal{H}$ be the set of separately continuous real-valued functions on the plane. Take as a subbasis all sets $h^{-1}(U)$, where $h\in \mathcal{H}$ and $U$ is open in the usual real line. Unions of finite intersections of these sets form a topology, and every $h$ is continuous for it by construction. Conversely every topology making every $h$ continuous must contain the subbasis, hence this entire generated topology. Thus the required coarsest topology exists and is unique: it is the initial topology of the family $\mathcal{H}$.

The family is a set, being a subset of ${\mathbb{R}}^{{\mathbb{R}}^2}$, so this construction has no proper-class issue. The coordinate projections belong to $\mathcal{H}$; consequently this topology contains the ordinary Euclidean topology. This last observation will also make convergence in the new topology imply ordinary coordinatewise convergence.

Suppose for contradiction that $p_n=(u_n,v_n)\in Y$ converges to the origin in the initial topology. The coordinate projections then give $u_n\to 0$ and $v_n\to 0$ in the usual real line. Rectangular bumps detecting nonconvergence, using anisotropic supports, avoids any unsupported regularity assertion about a radial maximum. SetThe radii are positive since neither coordinate of $p_n$ vanishes. Each rectangular support misses both coordinate axes, so $B$ vanishes on those axes. For a fixed $y=c\ne 0$, all but finitely many vertical support intervals miss $c$, because their centres and radii tend to zero. Hence $B(x,c)$ is a finite maximum of continuous functions of $x$, and is continuous. At $c=0$ it is identically zero. The same argument with the coordinates exchanged proves separate continuity everywhere. Thus $B$ is continuous for the initial topology.

However $B(p_n)=1$ for every $n$, whereas $B(0,0)=0$. This contradicts preservation of convergent sequences by a continuous function. Therefore no sequence from $Y$ converges to the origin.

The radial hint in the scan is not separately continuous for every candidate sequence: for $p_n=(2^{-n},2^{-2n})$, its value at the origin is zero, while its value at $(2^{-n},0)$ is at least $1-2(2^{-2n})/\sqrt{2^{-2n}+2^{-4n}}$, which tends to one. The rectangular construction supplies the needed valid proof independently of that hint.

Write the parameter along a characteristic curve as $r$. Charpit's equations areAt $r=0$, prescribe $x=x_0(s)$, $y=y_0(s)$, $u=u_0(s)$ and choose $p_0,q_0$ satisfying both $F(x_0,y_0,u_0,p_0,q_0)=0$ and the compatibility relation $p_0{x}_0^{\prime }+q_0{y}_0^{\prime }=u_0^{\prime }$. Direct differentiation givesThus the initial constraint propagates. A chosen initial-gradient branch is locally unique whenThis is simultaneously the implicit-function determinant for the initial gradients and the projection map determinant for the surface generated by the method of characteristics. Uniqueness continues while that projection map is invertible, the flow remains regular, and distinct characteristic curves do not give competing values at the same point. Multiple initial-gradient branches, characteristic curve initial points or a caustic require separate analysis.

Here the initial coordinate is $s=x$, so $p_0=3s^2/4$ and the equation forces $q_0^3=-s^3$, hence $q_0=-s$. The projection map determinant on the initial line is $3s^2$, nonzero for $0<s\le 1$. Solving the characteristic curve ordinary differential equations giveswith $p=3s^2{e}^{-2r}/4$ and $q=-s{e}^{-r}$. These satisfy both the equation and all the noncharacteristic initial values.

The projection map determinant is $J=3s^2{e}^r(2e^{-2r}-1)$. Starting from $r=0$, the first caustic occurs at $r_c=\frac{1}{2}\log 2$. At the initial endpoint $s=0$ the non-characteristic condition fails, and its entire characteristic curve remains the single point $(0,0)$; it does not generate an open region of determination.

The maximal regular sheet connected to the initial line uses $r<r_c$. Its interior image is exactlyIndeed the inverse on this sheet isand the inequalities say $0<s<1$ and $s>x/\sqrt{2}$. The upper boundary is the caustic; the lower boundary is the characteristic curve from $s=1$. Endpoints of that latter boundary can be retained as one-sided data. For forward characteristic curves alone, also impose $r\ge 0$: this retains $y\ge 0$, with lower boundary zero for $x\le 1$ and the displayed endpoint characteristic curve for $1<x<\sqrt{2}$. The other square-root branch belongs to the folded sheet after the caustic and does not provide a unique regular continuation from the initial data.

The sum of the two metrics is nonnegative and symmetric. It vanishes exactly when both coordinate distances vanish, hence exactly when the two points agree. Adding the two component triangle inequalities gives the triangle inequality on the Cartesian product, so the displayed function is a metric. Moreover,so the projection map is $1$-Lipschitz and therefore continuous.

To prove sequential compactness directly from compactness, take a sequence $(x_n)$ in $X$. If every point $x$ had a neighborhood containing sequence terms at only finitely many indices, these neighborhoods would form an open cover with a finite subcover, implying that only finitely many sequence terms exist, a contradiction. Thus some $x\in X$ has infinitely many indices in every neighborhood. Choose increasing indices $n_k$ with $d_X(x_{n_k},x)<1/k$; then $x_{n_k}\to x\in X$.

Now let $F\subset X\times Y$ be closed and suppose $y_n\in \pi (F)$ converges to $y$. Choose $x_n$ such that $(x_n,y_n)\in F$. A convergent subsequence $x_{n_k}\to x$ exists by the preceding argument. In the product metric, $(x_{n_k},y_{n_k})\to (x,y)$, and the fact that $F$ is closed gives $(x,y)\in F$. Thus $y\in \pi (F)$, proving that the projection with a compact factor is closed. The sequential criterion for a closed set in a metric space follows by choosing points at distance less than $1/k$ from any point of its closure.

For a counterexample without a compact factor, take $X=Y=\mathbb{R}$ with their usual metrics andThe continuous product function makes $F$ closed, but $\pi (F)=\mathbb{R}\setminus \{0\}$ is not closed. Thus compactness of the discarded factor is essential to the general conclusion.

The universal property of Cartesian products constructs the desired map pointwise:Its coordinate projection maps are $f_1$ and $f_2$. Any other map with those projection maps must have the same two coordinates at every $y$, and hence must equal $g$. This also covers $Y=\varnothing$.

For joint injectivity of a pair of functions, equality $g(y)=g(y^{\prime })$ means equality of both coordinate images. If either coordinate function is injective, it follows that $y=y^{\prime }$, so $g$ is injective. The converse fails: take $Y=\{a,b,c\}$ and map these points to $(0,0),(0,1),(1,0)$ in $\{0,1{\}}^2$. The paired map is injective, but the first coordinate identifies $a,b$ and the second identifies $a,c$.

There is an empty-factor defect in the printed surjectivity implication. If both $X_1$ and $X_2$ are nonempty and $g$ is surjective, every element of either factor can be completed to a pair and then lifted through $g$. Hence both $f_i$ are surjective. If both factors are empty, existence of the $f_i$ forces $Y$ to be empty and both coordinate maps are again surjective. But takeThen $g:\varnothing \to X_1\times X_2=\varnothing$ is surjective, while $f_1:\varnothing \to \{0\}$ is not. Without a nonempty-factor assumption, the printed implication is false. This is exactly the exception found for the projection maps in part (ii).

Even when both factors are nonempty, the reverse implication fails. For $Y=X_1=X_2=\{0,1\}$, let $f_1(y)=f_2(y)=y$. Both coordinate maps are surjective, but $g(y)=(y,y)$ misses $(0,1)$ and $(1,0)$. Thus coordinate surjectivity does not guarantee that every pair is attained.

The empty-set cases for Cartesian projections matter here. For $p_i$, write $X_j$ for the other factor. If $X_j$ is nonempty, any $x_i\in X_i$ can be paired with an element of $X_j$, so $p_i$ is surjective. If $X_j$ is empty, the Cartesian product is empty and its image is empty. ConsequentlyThe possibility $X_i=\varnothing$ is included because the empty function onto the empty set is surjective.

If $X_i$ is empty, $p_i$ has empty domain and is injective. If $X_j$ has at most one element, an ordered pair is determined by its $i$th coordinate, so $p_i$ is also injective. Conversely, when $X_i$ is nonempty and $X_j$ contains two different elements, pairing those two elements with one fixed $x_i$ gives distinct ordered pairs with the same projection map. Therefore

The product topology has as a basis of a topology all sets $U\times V$, where $U$ is open in $X$ and $V$ is open in $Y$. Open sets are arbitrary unions of these rectangles. The projection maps are $p(x,y)=x$ and $q(x,y)=y$. For any open $U\subset X$ and $V\subset Y$,These are open rectangles, including the empty case. Taking inverse images of open sets therefore proves that both projection maps are continuous functions.

If $g=xh{x}^{-1}$ in $G$, applying each projection map gives $p_j(g)=p_j(x)p_j(h)p_j(x{)}^{-1}$ in $G_j$.

Conversely, suppose $p_j(g)$ and $p_j(h)$ are conjugate for every $j$. Define the nonempty finite setEvery transition map $G_j\to G_i$ carries $X_j$ into $X_i$, so the $X_j$ form an inverse system. By the nonemptiness theorem for inverse limits of finite sets, there is a compatible tuple $(x_j)\in {\underleftarrow{\lim }}_j{X}_j\subseteq G$. Coordinatewise equality then gives $xh{x}^{-1}=g$. This proves the finite-quotient criterion for conjugacy in a profinite group.

The product topology on $X\times Y$ has as a basis all open rectanglesThus a subset $W\subseteq X\times Y$ is open precisely when, around every $(x,y)\in W$, there are open $U\ni x$ and $V\ni y$ with $U\times V\subseteq W$. These rectangles cover the product, and their pairwise intersections are rectangles because $(U\times V)\cap (U^{\prime }\times V^{\prime })=(U\cap U^{\prime })\times (V\cap V^{\prime })$. Hence they define a topology by part (b).

This is equivalently the coarsest topology making the two coordinate projection maps continuous: the preimages of factor-open sets are the open strips $U\times Y$ and $X\times V$, whose finite intersections are the basis rectangles.

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 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.

A binary categorical product of objects of a category $A,B$ is an object $P$ with categorical morphisms $p_A:P\to A$ and $p_B:P\to B$. Its universal property is that, for every object $X$ and pair of arrows $f:X\to A$, $g:X\to B$, there is exactly one arrow $h:X\to P$ satisfyingThe arrows $p_A,p_B$ are called the product projections. Existence lets us combine two maps; uniqueness means there is no extra unspecified information in the combined map.

In the Category of sets, take $A=\{0,1\}$ and $B=\{a,b,c\}$. Their Cartesian product contains six ordered pairs, and the projection maps select the first and second coordinates. Let $X=\{u,v,w\}$, $f(u)=0$, $f(v)=1$, $f(w)=1$, and $g(u)=a$, $g(v)=b$, $g(w)=a$. The unique required map is $h(u)=(0,a)$, $h(v)=(1,b)$, $h(w)=(1,a)$. Reading either coordinate recovers the corresponding input map.

In a partially ordered set viewed as a category, the projection arrows mean $P\le A$ and $P\le B$. The universal property says that every common lower bound $X$ satisfies $X\le P$, so $P$ is the greatest lower bound. For subsets ordered by inclusion this is $A\cap B$, the intersection; it is a different construction from the Cartesian product in the Category of sets because the allowed arrows have changed.

The universal property also compares any two proposed products: each supplies a unique map to the other compatible with the projections. The two composites have the same projections as the corresponding identity morphisms, so uniqueness makes them identities. Thus a categorical product is determined up to a unique projection-preserving isomorphism, which explains why we can use whichever concrete construction is convenient.