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CounterexampleConstruction: AI-adaptedVerification: AI-generatedSession-authored (Fable 5 assisted)precheck passverified 2026-08-04 (gpt-5.6-sol-codex-subscription)
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Two copies of R\mathbb{R} glued along R{0}\mathbb{R} \setminus \{0\} give a non-Hausdorff quotient of a metrizable space, by an open quotient map

Statement refuted

Refuted: that a quotient of a Hausdorff space is Hausdorff (FALSE: a quotient of a Hausdorff space is Hausdorff, Hausdorff space: distinct points have disjoint open neighbourhoods; every metrizable space is Hausdorff and the indiscrete topology on two points is not).

Witness. Let S:=RR=i<2RS := \mathbb{R} \sqcup \mathbb{R} = \bigsqcup_{i<2}\mathbb{R} be the disjoint union of two copies of the real line with its usual topology (The disjoint union (coproduct) iXi\bigsqcup_i X_i with the final topology of the canonical injections: a set is open exactly when each of its traces is, The absolute value makes R\mathbb{R} a metric space: d(x,y)=xyd(x,y) = |x-y| is a metric, its open balls are the intervals (xr,x+r)(x-r, x+r), and it is unbounded), so the points of SS are the pairs (x,i)(x,i) with xRx \in \mathbb{R} and i<2i < 2. Let \sim have as classes {(x,0),(x,1)}\{(x,0),(x,1)\} for x0x \ne 0 together with the two singletons {(0,0)}\{(0,0)\} and {(0,1)}\{(0,1)\}, let L:=S/ ⁣L := S/\!\sim carry the quotient topology and let qq be the canonical projection (The quotient topology of a surjection, quotient maps, saturated sets, and the quotient of a space by an equivalence relation with its canonical projection). Then:

  1. SS is metrizable, by the explicit metric d((x,i),(y,j))  :=  {min{xy, 1}i=j,2ij,d\big((x,i),(y,j)\big) \;:=\; \begin{cases} \min\{|x-y|,\ 1\} & i = j, \\ 2 & i \ne j,\end{cases} which induces the disjoint union topology (Metrizable space: a topological space whose topology is induced by some metric; metrizability is topological, the metric is not, Metric space: d(x,y)=0d(x,y) = 0 iff x=yx = y, symmetry, and the triangle inequality; pseudometric and ultrametric). In particular SS is Hausdorff (Hausdorff space: distinct points have disjoint open neighbourhoods; every metrizable space is Hausdorff and the indiscrete topology on two points is not).
  2. qq is an open map, hence an open quotient map (A continuous open surjection, a continuous closed surjection, and a continuous surjection admitting a continuous section are all quotient maps): the saturation of an open set is open, being the set together with the image of its part off the two origins under the homeomorphism of SS that swaps the two copies.
  3. LL is not Hausdorff: the two origins a:=q(0,0)a := q(0,0) and b:=q(0,1)b := q(0,1) are distinct and every pair of open sets containing them respectively meets.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: S=i<2RS = \bigsqcup_{i<2}\mathbb{R} with the disjoint union topology; the function dd above; the relation \sim, the quotient L=S/ ⁣L = S/\!\sim and its projection qq; the points a=q(0,0)a = q(0,0) and b=q(0,1)b = q(0,1); the set N:={(x,i)S:x0}N := \{\, (x,i) \in S : x \ne 0 \,\} and the swap σ(x,i):=(x,1i)\sigma(x,i) := (x, 1-i).

[A2]

qq is a surjection and VLV \subseteq L is open exactly when q1[V]q^{-1}[V] is open in SS; the saturation of ASA \subseteq S is q1[q[A]]q^{-1}[q[A]] (The quotient topology of a surjection, quotient maps, saturated sets, and the quotient of a space by an equivalence relation with its canonical projection).

[L2]

s0|s| \ge 0 with s=0|s| = 0 iff s=0s = 0, s=s|s| = |-s| (Basic properties of the absolute value), and sust+tu|s-u| \le |s-t| + |t-u| (The triangle inequality); the order of R\mathbb{R} is total, so two reals have a minimum, which lies in the pair and is a lower bound for it (Maximum and minimum of a set).

Counterexample

technique · direct
1.1

dd satisfies (M1) and (M2): for i=ji = j one has min{xy,1}=0\min\{|x-y|,1\} = 0 exactly when xy=0|x-y| = 0, that is x=yx = y, by [L2]; for iji \ne j the value is 202 \ne 0 and the two points differ; and both clauses are symmetric in the two arguments.

L1L2
1.2

dd satisfies (M3). If the two outer points share a tag, the left side is at most 11; a middle point with the same tag gives min{xz,1}xzxy+yz\min\{|x-z|,1\} \le |x-z| \le |x-y|+|y-z| when both right-hand terms are below 11, and a right-hand side of at least 11 otherwise, while a middle point with the other tag gives a right-hand side of 44. If the two outer points have different tags, the left side is 22 and the middle point shares a tag with at most one of them, so at least one right-hand term is 22.

L1L2
1.3

σ\sigma is a homeomorphism of SS: it is its own inverse, and it carries a set UU with traces U0,U1U_0, U_1 to the set with traces U1,U0U_1, U_0, so it preserves openness by [A1].

A1L4
1.4

aba \ne b, the classes {(0,0)}\{(0,0)\} and {(0,1)}\{(0,1)\} being distinct; and q(t,0)=q(t,1)q(t,0) = q(t,1) for every t0t \ne 0.

A2
1.5

NN is open in SS, both of its traces being R{0}\mathbb{R}\setminus\{0\}, which is open by [L3].

A1L3
2.1

For 0<r10 < r \le 1: Bd((x,i),r)=(xr, x+r)×{i}B_d((x,i), r) = (x-r,\ x+r) \times \{i\}, since a point with the other tag is at distance 2r2 \ge r, and for the same tag min{xy,1}<r\min\{|x-y|,1\} < r holds exactly when xy<r|x-y| < r.

step 1.1L1L2L3
2.2

The saturation of USU \subseteq S is Uσ[UN]U \cup \sigma[U \cap N]: the class of (x,i)(x,i) is {(x,0),(x,1)}\{(x,0),(x,1)\} for x0x \ne 0 and {(x,i)}\{(x,i)\} for x=0x = 0, so saturating adds exactly the swapped copies of the points of UU off the two origins.

step 1.4step 1.5A2
2.3

Suppose V,WV, W are open in LL with aVa \in V, bWb \in W. Then q1[V]q^{-1}[V] and q1[W]q^{-1}[W] are open in SS by [A2], containing (0,0)(0,0) and (0,1)(0,1) respectively, so by [A1] and [L3] there are ε,δ>0\varepsilon, \delta > 0 with (ε,ε)×{0}q1[V](-\varepsilon,\varepsilon)\times\{0\} \subseteq q^{-1}[V] and (δ,δ)×{1}q1[W](-\delta,\delta)\times\{1\} \subseteq q^{-1}[W].

step 1.4A1A2L3
3.1

Td\mathcal{T}_d is the disjoint union topology. If WW is dd-open and (x,i)W(x,i) \in W, a ball of radius r1r \le 1 inside WW is (xr,x+r)×{i}(x-r,x+r)\times\{i\} by step 2.1, so each trace WiW_i is open by [L3], whence WW is open in SS by [A1]; conversely if UU is open in SS and (x,i)U(x,i) \in U, then UiU_i is open, so [L3] gives ρ>0\rho > 0 with (xρ,x+ρ)Ui(x-\rho,x+\rho) \subseteq U_i, and the ball of radius min{ρ,1}\min\{\rho,1\} lies in UU by step 2.1 and [L2].

step 2.1A1L1L2L3
3.2

By steps 1.3, 1.5 and 2.2 the saturation of an open UU is the union of the open sets UU and σ[UN]\sigma[U \cap N], hence open; so q[U]q[U] is open in LL by [A2], and qq is an open quotient map by [L4]. This is claim 2.

step 1.3step 1.5step 2.2A2L4
3.3

With t:=min{ε,δ}/2t := \min\{\varepsilon,\delta\}/2 one has 0<t<ε0 < t < \varepsilon and t<δt < \delta by [L2] and [L3], so t0t \ne 0, and q(t,0)=q(t,1)q(t,0) = q(t,1) by step 1.4 lies in VWV \cap W; hence VWV \cap W \ne \varnothing. As VV and WW were arbitrary, aa and bb have no disjoint open neighbourhoods, and LL is not Hausdorff by [A3]. This is claim 3.

step 1.4step 2.3A3L2L3
4.1

By steps 1.1, 1.2 and 3.1 the function dd is a metric inducing the topology of SS, so SS is metrizable and hence Hausdorff by [A3]. This is claim 1.

step 1.1step 1.2step 3.1A3L1
5.1

By step 4.1 the space SS is Hausdorff, by step 3.2 the map qq is a quotient map, and by step 3.3 the quotient LL is not Hausdorff; so a quotient of a Hausdorff space need not be Hausdorff, which refutes the claim.

step 4.1step 3.2step 3.3

Remarks

  • The name. As a set, LL is R\mathbb{R} with the point 00 doubled: every class other than the two origins has a unique representative (x,i)(x,i) with x0x \ne 0 and is determined by xx alone. Each origin has neighbourhoods that look like intervals around 00, and any two such intervals overlap away from 00, which is exactly step 3.3.

  • The metric of claim 1 is the standard truncation trick. Truncating at 11 keeps the two copies at distance 22 from each other while leaving the topology of each copy untouched, since only balls of radius at most 11 matter for the topology (step 2.1). Any bounded metric equivalent to the usual one on each copy would do.

  • Strengthening the source's separation and countability properties does not help here. SS is metrizable, hence Hausdorff and first countable, and qq is an open quotient map; none of that is enough. What would be needed is a condition on the relation itself, and no such condition is stated at this point in the reading order (What the theory of these constructions still owes at this point in the reading order: preservation of quotient maps under products, separation beyond Hausdorff, and the invariants that tell the glued spaces apart).

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