[Math] Prove that the Sorgenfrey line is totally disconnected

connectednessgeneral-topologysorgenfrey-line

Problem:

Let $ \mathbb{R}_l $ denote the topological space whose underlying set is the real line $ \mathbb{R} $ and the topology is generated by the half closed intervals $ [a,b) $. Prove that the topological space $ \mathbb{R}_l $ is totally disconnected.

My proof:

A space is totally disconnected if its only connected components are one-point sets. Given any set $ I\in \mathbb{R}_l $, $ I=[a,b) $ for some $ a\le b $ in $ R $. If $ a=b $, $ I $ is a one-point set and clearly a connected component (there are no $ A,B\in I $ both non-empty and proper). If $ a<b $, $ I $ is not a one-point set and there exists a $ c $ with $ a<c<b $. Then $ A=[a,c) $ and $ B=[c,b) $ are both non-empty, proper open subsets of $ I $ and they constitute a separation of $ I $ because $ A\cap B=\emptyset $ and $ A\cup B=I $. It is therefore clear that the only connected components in $ \mathbb{R}_l $ are the one-point sets, and hence the topological space $ \mathbb{R}_l $ is totally disconnected.

Question: Is my proof correct?

Best Answer

Your proof is almost complete, and what you have shown is done very nicely.

However:

What about sets that are not half-closed intervals?

Your proof only shows that all intervals are not connected components. It should be easy to complete it by showing that

  • closed intervals are not connected
  • open intervals are not connected
  • if a set $A\subseteq \mathbb R$ is not an interval, it also cannot be connected.

Hint:

$X\subseteq$ is not an interval if and only if there exist some $a<b<c$ such that $a\in X$, $b\notin X$ and $c\in X$

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