[Math] Topology of the excluded point topology.

general-topology

Fix a set $X$ with at least 2 elements and $p\in X$. Let $\mathcal{T}_p = \{ U \subset X \mid p \notin U \} \cup \{ X \}$.

  1. Show that $\mathcal{T}_p$ is a topology and denote this topological space by $X$.

  2. Is $X$ connected?

  3. Is $X$ Hausdorff?

  4. Let $(x_n)$ be the sequence with $x_n = a$ for all $n$ for some $a \in X$. For what values of $a$ does $(x_n)$ converge? If $(x_n)$ converges, where does it converge to?

My work.

  1. $X, \emptyset \in \mathcal{T}_p$.

    Suppose $U_1 \subset X$ and $U_2 \subset X$ and $p \notin U_1$ and $p \notin U_2$ then $p \notin U_1 \cup U_2 \subset X$ so $U_1 \cup U_2 \in \mathcal{T}_p$ Hence unions of elements of $\mathcal{T}_p$ are in $\mathcal{T}_p$.

    Suppose $U_1 \subset X$ and $U_2 \subset X$ and $p \notin U_1$ and $p \notin U_2$ then $p \notin U_1 \cap U_2 \subset X$ so $U_1 \cap U_2 \in \mathcal{T}_p$ Hence intersections of elements of $\mathcal{T}_p$ are in $\mathcal{T}_p$.

  2. $X$ is connected since the only set in $\mathcal{T}_p$ containing $p$ is the entire set $X$, and hence there cannot exist a separation.

  3. $X$ is not Hausdorff since it is connected

I think (1) and (2) are right, I think (3) is wrong and I don't know what to do for (4).

Best Answer

  1. This is almost correct, but for the union part write it up for arbitrary unions, not just finite ones. Make explicit why $\emptyset \in \mathcal{T}_p$.

  2. The reason is essentially correct, make the write-up more formal: suppose $X = A \cup B$ is a separation of $X$. One of the sets contains $p$ etc...

  3. This has a bogus argument: the reals are connected and very Hausdorff. Think of the same reason why $X$ is connected (neighbourhoods of $p$) and use that $X$ has another element besides $p$...

  4. Just use the definition of convergence. And consider for limits all $x \neq p$ and $p$ separately. What is a typical open neighbourhood of $x \neq p$ and $p$? Does the sequence stay inside the neighbourhood or not?

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