[Math] Difference between interior and set of accumulation points

general-topology

I don't understand the difference between the interior of a set, and the set of all its accumulation points.

My understanding of an accumulation point is any point in a set which has an epsilon neighborhood around it, which is contained in the set- not necessarily implying that the accumulation point itself is in the set.

From what I can gather, the interior is identical. Can someone explain the difference?

Best Answer

There is no necessary relationship between the two sets.

Let $A$ be a set in a topological space $X$. A point $x$ is in the interior of $A$ if there is an open set $U$ such that $x\in U\subseteq A$; in particular this implies that $x\in A$. A point $x$ is an accumulation point of $A$ if for each open set $U$ containing $x$, $U\cap(A\setminus\{x\}\ne\varnothing$; in words, if every open nbhd of $x$ contains at least one point of $A$ different from $x$. This does not imply that $x\in A$.

Take the space $\Bbb R$ with the usual topology as a familiar example. The set $\Bbb Z$ has empty interior: for any $n\in\Bbb Z$, no matter how small an $\epsilon>0$ you take, $(n-\epsilon,n+\epsilon)\nsubseteq\Bbb Z$, so $n$ is not in the interior of $\Bbb Z$. $\Bbb Z$ also has no accumulation points: if $x\in\Bbb R\setminus Z$, there is an integer $n$ such that $n<x<n+1$, and $(n,n+1)$ is then an open nbhd of $n$ that contains no point of $\Bbb Z$; and if $n\in\Bbb Z$, $(n-1,n+1)$ is an open nbhd of $n$ that contains no point of $\Bbb Z\setminus\{n\}$.

  • The set $\left\{\frac1n:n\in\Bbb Z^+\right\}$, on the other hand, has empty interior and exactly one accumulation point, $0$. In this case the interior of the set is its set of accumulation points. But now consider the following sets:

  • $\Bbb Q$ also has empty interior, and every real number is an accumulation point of $\Bbb Q$.

  • $[0,1]$, $[0,1)$, and $(0,1)$ all have interior $(0,1)$, and all have $[0,1]$ as their set of accumulation points.

(In each case you should try to prove the assertions.)

If we look at $\Bbb Z$ as a space in its own right, with the discrete topology, then every subset of $\Bbb Z$ is open, and no point of $\Bbb Z$ is an accumulation point of any subset of $\Bbb Z$. Thus, if $A\subseteq\Bbb Z$, then the interior of $A$ is $A$ itself, but $A$ has no accumulation points.