Infinite Intersection of Nested Connected Sets that are Disconnected

compactnessconnectednesselementary-set-theorygeneral-topology

I am working through a book in real analysis and am having trouble with a problem. I know that the following statement is false:

If we have connected sets $S_1 \supset S_2\supset S_3\supset\cdots$, then $S=\cap\;S_n$ (the infinite intersection of all $S_n$) is connected.

However, I am not being able to find a counterexample. What is one that I could understand fairly easily?

Additionally, the next part of this asks whether this is true if the sets are also compact. I think that the statement is then true but am having a lot of trouble proving this as well.

Best Answer

Let $A_n \subset \mathbb R^2$ be $\{x = n,\ y \in [0, 1]\}$, and $B_n$ be $(\bigcup_{m\ge n} A_m) \cup \{y = 0\} \cup \{y = 1\}$. Then each $B_n$ is connected but $\bigcap_n B_n = \{y = 0\} \cup \{y = 1\} $ is disconnected.

Related Question