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ExampleConstruction: AI-adaptedVerification: AI-generatedprecheck passjudge pass (z-ai/glm-5.2)verified 2026-07-29 (claude-fable-5)
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The cofinite topology on an infinite set, and the cocountable topology on R, are T1 with a diagonal whose closure is the whole square; on a countably infinite set the cocountable topology is discrete instead

Example

Standard topologies are as in The discrete, indiscrete, cofinite, cocountable, particular-point and Sierpinski topologies, diagonals as in The diagonal ΔX⊆X×X, the diagonal map δX, and the pairing ⟨f,g⟩ of two maps, and every square carries the product topology (The product set ∏i∈IXi of functions choosing a point in each factor, the projections, the box topology, and the product topology as the initial topology of the projections; the empty product is a one-point space).

  1. Cofinite, on an infinite set. Let X be infinite (Finite, countably infinite, countable, uncountable) and give it the cofinite topology Tcof. Then (X,Tcof) is T1 (T0 (Kolmogorov) and T1 (Frechet) spaces), no two nonempty open sets are disjoint, ΔX‾  =  X×X  ≠  ΔX, so ΔX is not closed and the space is not Hausdorff.
  2. Cocountable, on R. Give R the cocountable topology Tcoc. The same three conclusions hold: (R,Tcoc) is T1, no two nonempty open sets are disjoint, and ΔR‾=R×R≠ΔR.
  3. "Infinite" is the wrong hypothesis for the cocountable half. If Z is countably infinite then Tcoc on Z is the discrete topology, which is Hausdorff and whose diagonal is therefore closed. So clause 2 must be asserted of a set large enough that a cocountable set is a genuine restriction, and R is such a set; an arbitrary infinite set is not.

In every case the verdict on the diagonal matches A space is Hausdorff if and only if its diagonal is closed in the square carrying the product topology, as it must.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: An infinite set X with the cofinite topology; R with the cocountable topology; a countably infinite set Z with the cocountable topology; and each square with the product topology.

[A1]

The cofinite topology consists of ∅ together with the sets of finite complement, and its closed sets are the whole set together with the finite subsets; the cocountable topology consists of ∅ together with the sets of at most countable complement, and its closed sets are the whole set together with the at most countable subsets (The discrete, indiscrete, cofinite, cocountable, particular-point and Sierpinski topologies, Topology on a set, open and closed sets, clopen sets, the closed-set axiomatisation, and the coarser/finer comparison).

[A3]

A subset of a finite set is finite and a union of two finite sets is finite, both discharged in The discrete, indiscrete, cofinite, cocountable, particular-point and Sierpinski topologies; a set with at most one element is equinumerous with 0 or with 1 and hence finite, so an infinite set has at least two distinct elements (Finite, countably infinite, countable, uncountable).

[L2]

A point lies in A‾ exactly when every basic open set containing it meets A, and A is closed exactly when A=A‾ (A point lies in the closure of A iff every basic neighbourhood of it meets A; the closure is the smallest closed superset and equals A together with its derived set, claims 1(d) and 2).

[L4]

In the cocountable topology on R no two nonempty open sets are disjoint, so that space is not Hausdorff (FALSE: a space in which every sequence has at most one limit is Hausdorff).

Verification

technique · direct
1.1

Every singleton of X is finite, hence closed in Tcof, so (X,Tcof) is T1; every singleton of R is finite, hence at most countable, hence closed in Tcoc, so (R,Tcoc) is T1.

A1A3L1
1.2

No two nonempty U,V∈Tcof are disjoint: X∖U and X∖V are finite by [A1], so X∖(U∩V)=(X∖U)∪(X∖V) is finite by [A3], and X is infinite, so U∩V≠∅.

A1A3
1.3

No two nonempty members of Tcoc on R are disjoint.

L4
1.4

Each of X and R has two distinct points, X being infinite and R containing 0 and 1.

A3
1.5

Every subset of the countably infinite Z is at most countable by [L5], so every subset of Z has at most countable complement and is therefore open in Tcoc; thus Tcoc on Z is the discrete topology.

A1L5
2.1

Let (Y,T) be either (X,Tcof) or (R,Tcoc), and let z∈Y×Y and U×W be a basic open box containing z; then U∋z0 and W∋z1 are nonempty open, so U∩W≠∅ by step 1.2 or step 1.3, and any t∈U∩W gives (t,t)∈(U×W)∩ΔY.

step 1.2step 1.3A2
2.2

For distinct p,q∈Y the point (p,q) lies in Y×Y and not in ΔY, so ΔY≠Y×Y.

step 1.4
3.1

By step 2.1 and [L2] every point of Y×Y lies in ΔY‾, so ΔY‾=Y×Y, which by step 2.2 differs from ΔY; hence ΔY is not closed and by [L3] Y is not Hausdorff. This is claims 1 and 2, together with step 1.1.

step 1.1step 2.1step 2.2L2L3
4.1

Distinct p,q∈Z are separated by the disjoint open sets {p} and {q}, so (Z,Tcoc) is Hausdorff and by [L3] its diagonal is closed in Z×Z; this is claim 3, and with step 3.1 the example is verified.

step 3.1step 1.5L3∎

Remarks

  • Why clause 3 is stated rather than left implicit. The cofinite and the cocountable topologies behave alike only when the underlying set is large enough for the excluded sets to be a genuine restriction. On a countably infinite set "at most countable complement" excludes nothing, so the cocountable topology collapses to the discrete one and every conclusion of clause 2 reverses. Stating the two clauses with the same hypothesis would be a falsehood, and the falsehood is invisible unless the degenerate case is written out.

  • The closure of the diagonal is as large as it can be. In both spaces of clauses 1 and 2 it is the entire square, so the diagonal is not merely non-closed: it is dense. That is the extreme opposite of the metric picture of The diagonal of R is closed in R2, computed from the product basis, where the diagonal is closed and its complement is open.

  • T1 is doing no work here. Both spaces satisfy T1 and neither satisfies T2, which is exactly the separation between the two axioms; the diagonal criterion detects the second and is blind to the first, since it is a statement about the square rather than about singletons.

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