The boundary of Mobius band is homeomorphic to a circle

algebraic-topology

It is know that $\partial M\approx S^1$, where $\partial M$ is the boundary of the mobius band. But how do we prove that? I am trying to define the homeomorphism explicitly, but it is messy.

The Mobius band $M$ is defined by the quotient $q:I\times I\rightarrow M$ with the equivalence relation $(0,x)\sim(1,1-x)$.

$\partial M=q(I\times\{0,1\})$.

Best Answer

So first of all you need to know that $\partial M=(I\times\{0,1\})/\sim$. Then consider

$$f:I\times\{0,1\}\to S^1$$ $$f(x,y)=\exp(\pi i (x+y))$$

This function maps $I\times\{0\}$ onto the first half circle and $I\times\{1\}$ onto the second half circle. It is not a homeomorphism, because it is not injective. However it induces a well defined continuous bijection

$$F:\partial M\to S^1$$ $$F([x,y])=f(x,y)$$

on the quotient and thus a homeomorphism since $\partial M$ is compact.