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ExampleConstruction: AI-adaptedVerification: AI-generatedSession-authored (Fable 5 assisted)precheck passverified 2026-08-05 (gpt-5.6-sol-codex-subscription)
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R\mathbb{R} and Q\mathbb{Q} are σ\sigma-compact, and Lindel"of assuming countable choice; R\mathbb{R} is locally compact and Q\mathbb{Q} is nowhere locally compact

Example

Let R\mathbb{R} carry its usual topology and let Q\mathbb{Q}, the rationals inside R\mathbb{R}, carry the subspace topology (Subspace topology: the traces of the open sets, its closed sets and its bases, the continuity of the inclusion, and the characteristic property of a map into a subspace). Then:

  1. R\mathbb{R} is σ\sigma-compact (Countably compact, Lindel"of, sequentially compact, limit point compact and σ\sigma-compact spaces, and relatively compact subsets): R=nN[ι(n),ι(n)]\mathbb{R} = \bigcup_{n \in \mathbb{N}} [-\iota(n), \iota(n)], and each of those intervals is compact.
  2. Q\mathbb{Q} is σ\sigma-compact, being an at most countable union of its own singletons (Q\mathbb{Q} is countably infinite).
  3. Assuming the Axiom of Countable Choice (The Axiom of Countable Choice (ACω\mathrm{AC}_\omega)), both R\mathbb{R} and Q\mathbb{Q} are Lindelöf.
  4. R\mathbb{R} is locally compact (Locally compact topological space: every point has a compact neighbourhood; and what this says in a metric space) and Q\mathbb{Q} is locally compact at no point of it.

Claims 1, 2 and 4 are theorems of ZF. Claim 3 spends countable choice twice: once to name a finite subcover for each of countably many pieces, and once more through Countable unions of at most countable sets, assuming ACω\mathrm{AC}_\omega, which is what makes the union of those countably many finite families at most countable.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: R\mathbb{R} with its usual topology, the canonical natural ι\iota, the rationals QR\mathbb{Q} \subseteq \mathbb{R} with the subspace topology, and for nNn \in \mathbb{N} the interval In:={tR:ι(n)tι(n)}I_n := \{\, t \in \mathbb{R} : -\iota(n) \le t \le \iota(n) \,\}.

[L4]

Q\mathbb{Q} is countably infinite, so there is a surjection NQ\mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{Q}, and every nonempty at most countable family may be indexed by N\mathbb{N} (Q\mathbb{Q} is countably infinite, Finite, countably infinite, countable, uncountable, A nonempty set is at most countable iff it is a surjective image of N\mathbb{N}).

[L5]

Countable choice: for every family (Yn)nN(Y_n)_{n \in \mathbb{N}} of nonempty sets there is ff on N\mathbb{N} with f(n)Ynf(n) \in Y_n (The Axiom of Countable Choice (ACω\mathrm{AC}_\omega)).

[L6]

A space is σ\sigma-compact when it is the union of an at most countable family of compact subsets, and Lindelöf when every open cover has an at most countable subcover; a space is locally compact when every point has a compact neighbourhood, a neighbourhood of xx being a set containing an open set containing xx (Countably compact, Lindel"of, sequentially compact, limit point compact and σ\sigma-compact spaces, and relatively compact subsets, Locally compact topological space: every point has a compact neighbourhood; and what this says in a metric space, Neighbourhood of a point and neighbourhood base, with this library's convention that a neighbourhood need not be open).

[L9]

A subset KK of a space XX is compact exactly when every family of open subsets of XX covering KK has a finite subfamily covering KK; the intrinsic and ambient readings agree (A subspace is compact exactly when every family of open subsets of the ambient space covering it, indexed or not, has finitely many members covering it).

[L10]

Assuming the Axiom of Countable Choice, a union nNAn\bigcup_{n \in \mathbb{N}} A_n of at most countable sets indexed by N\mathbb{N} is at most countable (Countable unions of at most countable sets, assuming ACω\mathrm{AC}_\omega, The Axiom of Countable Choice (ACω\mathrm{AC}_\omega)).

Verification

technique · direct
1.1

Each InI_n is closed in R\mathbb{R}, its complement being the union of the open sets {t:t<ι(n)}\{t : t < -\iota(n)\} and {t:t>ι(n)}\{t : t > \iota(n)\}, and it is bounded; so InI_n is a compact subset of R\mathbb{R} by [L2]. By [L3] every real tt satisfies t<ι(n)|t| < \iota(n) for some nn, so R=nNIn\mathbb{R} = \bigcup_{n \in \mathbb{N}} I_n, an at most countable union of compact subsets: claim 1.

L1L2L3L6
1.2

Each singleton {r}\{r\} with rQr \in \mathbb{Q} is a compact subset of Q\mathbb{Q}, the subspace it carries being a one-point space; and Q\mathbb{Q} is the union of the family of its singletons, which is at most countable by [L4]. So Q\mathbb{Q} is σ\sigma-compact: claim 2.

L4L6
1.3

For claim 4 in R\mathbb{R}: given pRp \in \mathbb{R} the set {t:tp1}\{t : |t-p| \le 1\} is closed and bounded, hence compact by [L2], and it contains the open (p1,p+1)p(p-1,p+1) \ni p, so it is a compact neighbourhood of pp and R\mathbb{R} is locally compact.

L1L2L6
2.1

For claim 3 assume countable choice and let U\mathcal{U} be an open cover of R\mathbb{R}. For nNn \in \mathbb{N} the set TnT_n of finite subfamilies of U\mathcal{U} covering InI_n is nonempty, InI_n being compact by step 1.1 and the ambient reading being licensed by [L9], so [L5] supplies VnTn\mathcal{V}_n \in T_n for every nn; the union nNVn\bigcup_{n \in \mathbb{N}} \mathcal{V}_n is an at most countable subfamily of U\mathcal{U} by [L10], being a countable union of finite sets, and covers R\mathbb{R} by step 1.1. The same argument with the singletons of step 1.2 in place of the InI_n shows Q\mathbb{Q} is Lindelöf: claim 3.

L4L5L6L9L10step 1.1step 1.2
2.2

For claim 4 in Q\mathbb{Q}, let rQr \in \mathbb{Q} and suppose KQK \subseteq \mathbb{Q} were a compact neighbourhood of rr in Q\mathbb{Q}; then some set open in Q\mathbb{Q} lies between rr and KK, so by [L1] there is a real ε>0\varepsilon > 0 with (rε,r+ε)QK(r-\varepsilon, r+\varepsilon) \cap \mathbb{Q} \subseteq K, and by [L8] the set KK is a compact subset of R\mathbb{R} as well, hence closed in R\mathbb{R} by [L2].

L1L2L6L8step 1.2
3.1

By [L7] there is an irrational tt with r<t<r+εr < t < r + \varepsilon. Every neighbourhood of tt contains an interval (c,d)(c,d) with r<c<t<d<r+εr < c < t < d < r+\varepsilon, and [L7] puts a rational qq with c<q<dc < q < d in it; that qq lies in (rε,r+ε)QK(r-\varepsilon, r+\varepsilon) \cap \mathbb{Q} \subseteq K. So every neighbourhood of tt meets KK, and KK closed gives tKQt \in K \subseteq \mathbb{Q} by [L8], contradicting the irrationality of tt. Hence no point of Q\mathbb{Q} has a compact neighbourhood in Q\mathbb{Q}, which completes claim 4.

L7L8step 2.2

Remarks

σ\sigma-compactness is much weaker than compactness. Both R\mathbb{R} and Q\mathbb{Q} are σ\sigma-compact and neither is compact; and Q\mathbb{Q} is σ\sigma-compact for the cheapest possible reason, being at most countable, which shows that the property says nothing about how the pieces fit together.

Local compactness is what separates the two spaces. The line and the rationals agree on σ\sigma-compactness and on Lindelöfness and differ on local compactness, which is why Q\mathbb{Q} is the standard witness that local compactness is not hereditary (FALSE: every subspace of a locally compact space is locally compact).

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