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LemmaStatement: AI-adaptedProof: AI-generatedprecheck passverified 2026-08-04 (gpt-5.6-sol-codex-subscription)
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  • 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.
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The graph of the piecewise-linear map oscillating between 0 and 1 on the intervals [1/(n+2),1/(n+1)] is path-connected, its closure adds the segment {0}×[0,1], and that closure is connected, is not path-connected because no path joins the segment to the graph, and is not locally connected

Statement

Write ι for the canonical natural of R (The canonical natural ι(n)=n⋅1F of a field), so that 1/(n+1) means 1/ι(n+1), and recall that N contains 0. For n∈N put

In  :=  [1n+2, 1n+1]⊆(0,1],

so that I0=[1/2,1] and ⋃n∈NIn=(0,1] (Intervals of R: the nine order-convex forms, nondegeneracy, and length). Define εn:=0 for n even and εn:=1 for n odd, and let

f:(0,1]→[0,1]

be the function that is affine on each In with f(1/(n+1))=εn for every n∈N; explicitly, for x∈In,

f(x)  =  εn+1  +  (εn−εn+1)⋅x−1n+21n+1−1n+2.

The two clauses agree at each shared endpoint 1/(n+1), both giving εn, so f is a well-defined function; f(1)=ε0=0; and on each In the map f runs affinely between 0 and 1, so it takes both values 0 and 1 on In, at the two endpoints. Let

G  :=  { (x,f(x)):x∈(0,1] }  ⊆  R2,

the graph of f, with R2 carrying the product topology, which is the metric topology of d∞ (For n≥1 the product topology on n copies of the usual topology of R is the metric topology of d∞ on Rn, and hence also of d1 and d2, so Rn as a product and Rn as a metric space are one space, Rn as the set of functions n→R, and d1, d2, d∞ are metrics on it, Metrizable space: a topological space whose topology is induced by some metric; metrizability is topological, the metric is not), and let subsets 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. f is continuous, and G is homeomorphic to (0,1]; hence G is path-connected (Paths, path-connected spaces and path components), connected, and locally connected (Locally connected and locally path-connected spaces: a neighbourhood base of open connected, respectively open path-connected, sets at every point).
  2. The closure is G‾=G∪({0}×[0,1]).
  3. G‾ is connected (Separation of a topological space, connected and disconnected spaces, clopen sets, and connected subsets).
  4. G‾ is not path-connected; more precisely, no path in G‾ joins a point of {0}×[0,1] to a point of G.
  5. G‾ is not locally connected at any point (0,t), t∈[0,1], so it is not locally connected.

There is no trigonometric function anywhere in this construction. Every piece of f is affine, and the oscillation comes from the alternating endpoint values εn alone.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: The intervals In, the function f, the graph G, and R2 with the product topology; π0,π1:R2→R denote the two projections.

[A8]

A nonempty subset of R bounded above has a least upper bound, and for every ε>0 some element of it exceeds sup⁡−ε (Complete ordered field (least-upper-bound property), Epsilon characterisation of the supremum).

[A9]

X is locally connected at x when every open U∋x contains an open connected V with x∈V⊆U; a homeomorphism h carries such a V to h[V], which is connected as a continuous image and open because a homeomorphism is an open map, so local connectedness is a topological property (Locally connected and locally path-connected spaces: a neighbourhood base of open connected, respectively open path-connected, sets at every point, A continuous image of a connected space is connected, and connectedness is a topological property claim 1, Homeomorphism, open map, closed map, embedding, and what it means for a property to be topological).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1

f is continuous. For n∈N the restriction of f to the closed set In∪In+1=[1/(n+3),1/(n+1)] is continuous, being affine on each of the two closed pieces by [A1] and agreeing at the shared endpoint, so the finite closed cover clause of [A2] applies with two pieces; likewise f is affine, hence continuous, on [1/2,1]=I0.

A1A2
1.2

(0,1] is order-convex, hence a connected subset of R by [A4], and it is path-connected: for x,y∈(0,1] the map t↦x+t(y−x) is continuous by [A1] and takes values in (0,1] by order-convexity.

A1A4
1.3

(0,1] is locally connected: a basic open subset of it is the trace of an interval of R, hence order-convex, hence connected by [A4]; so the open connected subsets form a neighbourhood base at each of its points, which is [A9].

A4A9
1.4

G‾⊆G∪({0}×[0,1]). Let (x,y)∈G‾. Every point of G lies in [0,1]×[0,1], which is closed, being a product of closed sets whose complement is a union of basic open sets; so (x,y)∈[0,1]×[0,1] by [A5]. If x=0 the point lies in {0}×[0,1].

A5
1.5

A second consequence, used twice below: for every real ρ>0 there are x0,x1∈(0,ρ] with f(x0)=0 and f(x1)=1. Indeed [A7] gives a natural k≥1 with 1/k<ρ; with n:=k−1∈N the interval In⊆(0,ρ], and the two endpoints of In carry the values εn and εn+1, which are 0 and 1 in one order or the other.

A7
2.1

The sets Wn:=(1/(n+3),1/(n+1)) for n∈N, together with W∗:=(1/2,1], form an open cover of (0,1] in its subspace topology, and f restricted to each is a restriction of one of the continuous maps of step 1.1; so f is continuous by the open cover clause of [A2].

step 1.1A2
3.1

The map g:(0,1]→R2, g(x):=(x,f(x)), is continuous by [A3], its components being the inclusion and f, both continuous by step 2.1 and [A2]; it is injective, since g(x) determines x; and its image is G.

step 2.1A2A3
3.2

{0}×[0,1]⊆G‾. Let t∈[0,1] and let (a,b)×(c,d) be a basic open set containing (0,t). By [A7] there is a natural k≥1 with 1/k<min⁡{b,1}, and putting n:=k−1∈N the interval In lies in (0,b), since 1/(n+1)=1/k<b. As f runs affinely between 0 and 1 on In, [A4] gives x∈In with f(x)∈(c,d): the image of In under f is order-convex and contains 0 and 1, hence contains t and every point near it inside [0,1]. Then (x,f(x))∈G lies in the basic set, so (0,t)∈G‾ by [A5].

step 2.1A4A5A7
4.1

The corestriction g0:(0,1]→G is a continuous bijection by step 3.1 and [A2], and its inverse is the restriction of π0 to G, which is continuous by [A3] and [A2]; so g0 is a homeomorphism and G≅(0,1].

step 3.1A2A3
4.2

Suppose instead x>0, so x∈(0,1] and f(x) is defined. Let ε>0. By step 2.1 and [A3] there is δ>0 such that ∣f(s)−f(x)∣<ε for every s∈(x−δ,x+δ)∩(0,1]. The basic set (x−δ,x+δ)×(y−ε,y+ε) contains (x,y), hence meets G by [A5] in a point (s,f(s)); then ∣y−f(x)∣≤∣y−f(s)∣+∣f(s)−f(x)∣<2ε. As ε>0 was arbitrary, y=f(x) and (x,y)∈G. With step 3.2 and step 1.4 this proves claim 2.

step 2.1step 3.2step 1.4A3A5
4.3

Claim 5. Fix t∈[0,1] and let U:=G‾∩(R×(t−1/4, t+1/4)), an open subset of G‾ containing (0,t). Suppose V is open in G‾, connected, with (0,t)∈V⊆U. Then V contains a set G‾∩((−η,η)×(t−η,t+η)) for some η>0 by [A3], and that set meets G by step 3.2, at a point whose first coordinate x satisfies 0<x<η.

step 3.2A3A5
5.1

Hence G is path-connected, connected and locally connected, these being carried across the homeomorphism of step 4.1 from step 1.2 and step 1.3, using [A6] for connectedness and [A9] for local connectedness. This is claim 1.

step 1.2step 1.3step 4.1A6A9
5.2

A useful consequence of claim 2, used twice below: if p∈G‾ has π0(p)>0 then p=(π0(p),f(π0(p))), so π1(p)=f(π0(p)).

step 4.2
5.3

Claim 4. Suppose γ:[0,1]→G‾ is a path with γ(0)∈{0}×[0,1] and γ(1)∈G, and write k:=π0∘γ and h:=π1∘γ, both continuous by [A3] and [A2]. Then J:={ u∈[0,1]:k(u)=0 } is closed in [0,1], being the preimage of the closed set {0}, it contains 0, and 1∉J since π0(γ(1))>0.

step 4.2A2A3A5
6.1

Claim 3: G is connected by step 5.1 and G⊆G‾⊆G‾, so G‾ is connected by [A6].

step 5.1A6
6.2

Let c:=sup⁡J, which exists by [A8]. Every open set containing c contains an interval around it, which by [A8] meets J; so c∈J‾, and J is closed in [0,1] while J‾⊆[0,1]‾=[0,1], so c∈J by [A5]. Hence k(c)=0 and c<1.

step 5.3A5A8
6.3

So π0[V] is a connected subset of R by [A2, A3, A4], hence order-convex, and it contains 0 and x>0; therefore [0,x]⊆π0[V]. By step 1.5 with ρ:=x there are x0,x1∈(0,x] with f(x0)=0 and f(x1)=1, so V contains points p0,p1 with π0(pi)=xi>0, and π1(pi)=f(xi) by step 5.2.

step 5.2step 1.5step 4.3A2A3A4
7.1

By continuity of h at c there is δ>0 with c+δ≤1 and ∣h(u)−h(c)∣<1/4 for all u∈[c,c+δ]; put t:=h(c). Moreover k(c+δ)>0, since c+δ>c=sup⁡J puts c+δ outside J while k≥0 everywhere by step 1.4.

step 5.3step 6.2A3
8.1

The restriction of k to [c,c+δ] is continuous on a connected space by [A4] and step 1.2, so its image is order-convex and contains k(c)=0 and k(c+δ)>0; hence [0,k(c+δ)] lies in that image. By step 1.5 with ρ:=k(c+δ) there are x0,x1∈(0,k(c+δ)] with f(x0)=0 and f(x1)=1, and therefore u0,u1∈[c,c+δ] with k(ui)=xi>0.

step 1.5step 7.1A4
9.1

By step 5.2, h(ui)=f(k(ui))=f(xi), so h(u0)=0 and h(u1)=1; but both lie within 1/4 of t by step 7.1, giving 1=∣h(u1)−h(u0)∣≤∣h(u1)−t∣+∣t−h(u0)∣<1/2, which is false. So no such path exists, and since G‾ contains points of both kinds by claim 2, it is not path-connected. This is claim 4.

step 5.2step 7.1step 8.1
10.1

Hence V contains a point with second coordinate 0 and a point with second coordinate 1, both of which must lie in (t−1/4,t+1/4) because V⊆U; that gives 1≤∣0−t∣+∣t−1∣<1/2, which is false. So no such V exists and G‾ is not locally connected at (0,t), by [A9]; this is claim 5.

step 4.3step 6.3A9∎

Remarks

  • Why continuity is checked on an OPEN cover and never on the closed one. The intervals In form a closed cover of (0,1] with infinitely many members, and the closed pasting lemma is false for infinite covers, the standing witness being R covered by its closed singletons: every restriction of the indicator of {0} is continuous and the map is not, so the closed pasting lemma needs finiteness. The proof therefore pastes only two closed pieces at a time, producing continuity on a slightly larger closed interval, and then uses the open cover clause, which carries no finiteness restriction.

  • What each claim is for. Claim 3 with claim 4 gives a connected space that is not path-connected; claim 1 with claim 4 gives a path-connected set whose closure is not path-connected; claim 1 with claim 5 gives a locally connected set whose closure is not locally connected. Each of the three is used as a witness later on this page.

  • The failure is exactly at the added segment. By claim 2 the only points of G‾ not in G are those of {0}×[0,1], and claim 5 locates the failure of local connectedness at each of them. At every point of G the space G‾ still looks like (0,1], since G is open in G‾ — its complement {0}×[0,1] is closed — so no pathology occurs away from the segment.

  • Both endpoint values are attained on every piece, and that is the whole mechanism. The proof never uses any property of f beyond continuity and the fact recorded in step 5.3: arbitrarily close to 0 the function takes the value 0 and the value 1. Any function with that property and a path-connected graph would serve.

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