Alphabeta Math
LemmaStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedPipeline-generatedjudge pass (gpt-5.6-terra)audited 2026-09-14
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The first chip identifies the source of the statement or construction; the second identifies the source of its local proof or verification.

  • Literature-sourced: the exact statement appears in a cited source; only wording and notation differ.
  • AI-adapted: a semantically identical restatement of literature-sourced material, modulo indexing, notation, and boundary cases adopted by the library.
  • AI-generated: a genuinely novel statement formulated by AI, with no source for the claim itself.

These labels describe origin, not correctness: citations and verification chips remain separate evidence.

A non-hereditarily-Lindelof regular space yields an ideal witness

Statement

Let X be a regular Hausdorff space that is not hereditarily Lindelöf. Then X has a right-separated subspace S={xα:α<ω1} and open sets Uα⊆S such that

xα∈Uα⊆Uα‾,S⊆{xξ:ξ≤α}.

The countable closed sets Cα=Uα‾,S generate modulo finite an ω1-generated ideal I of countable subsets of S. Every uncountable subset of S inside I is nonseparable, and every uncountable subset outside I is discrete and hence nonseparable.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: ZFC and the space X in the statement.

[F1]

L-spaces, S-spaces, and strong S-spaces gives hereditary Lindelöfness and separability their all-subspaces meanings.

[F4]

The simple dichotomy for omega-one-generated ideals defines generation modulo finite and the inside and outside predicates.

[F5]

The Axiom of Choice supplies the length-ω1 recursive choices, the chosen cover members, and countable enumerations. Hausdorffness supplies closed singletons, so removing finitely many points preserves openness.

Proof

technique · direct construction
1.1F1F5given

By [F1], some subspace Y⊆X has an open cover V with no countable subcover. Recursively for α<ω1, the earlier chosen Vξ∈V do not cover Y, so choose xα∈Y∖⋃ξ<αVξ and then choose Vα∈V containing xα. This also makes the xα distinct.

2.1step 1.1

Put S={xα:α<ω1}. If β>α, construction gives xβ∉Vα. Hence Vα∩S is a neighbourhood of xα contained in the initial segment Sα={xξ:ξ≤α}. The union of these neighbourhoods for ξ≤α shows that every Sα is open in S, so S is right-separated.

3.1F2F3F5step 2.1

By [F2], S is regular and Hausdorff. Apply [F3] inside S to xα∈Sα: choose open Uα with xα∈Uα⊆Cα=Uα‾,S⊆Sα. The set Cα is closed in S and countable because α<ω1.

4.1F4step 3.1

Let I be the ideal generated modulo finite by the Cα. Explicitly, a countable a⊆S lies in I exactly when a⊆∗⋃α∈uCα for some finite u⊆ω1. The defining family consists of ω1 countable members, and the formula is downward closed, closed under finite unions, and contains every finite set.

5.1F4F5step 3.1step 4.1

Let D⊆S be uncountable and inside I, and let E⊆D be countable. By inside-ness and step 4.1, E⊆K=⋃α∈uCα∪F for some finite u and finite F⊆S. The set K is countable and closed in the Hausdorff space S: the Cα are closed and the finite set F is closed. Choose d∈D∖K. Then the nonempty open subset D∖K of D misses E, so E is not dense in D. Since this holds for every countable E, the space D is nonseparable.

5.2F4F5step 3.1step 4.1

Let instead D⊆S be uncountable and outside I. For xα∈D, outside-ness gives D∩Cα finite. Remove from Uα the finite closed set (D∩Cα)∖{xα}. The result is an open neighbourhood in S whose intersection with D is exactly {xα}, so D is discrete. Every dense subset of a discrete space is the whole space; because D is uncountable, it is nonseparable.

6.1F5step 1.1step 2.1step 3.1step 4.1step 5.1step 5.2∎

Steps 1.1–4.1 give the promised right-separated sequence, closed neighbourhoods, and generated ideal, while steps 5.1 and 5.2 prove both nonseparability conclusions. The construction starts at α=0 with no earlier cover members; every Sα and Cα is nonempty because it contains xα; finite generator lists and finite errors may be empty; and all nonempty recursive selections are the uses of AC recorded in [F5].

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

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Sources