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TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedPipeline-generatedaudited 2026-09-22
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Bing's Q-set space is a normal nonmetrizable Moore space

Facts & Assumptions

Given: An uncountable Q-set ER, the space Z:=Z(E) with open part P=R×(0,) and axis part E0=E×{0} (Q-sets and Bing's tangent-disk Moore-space interface), and for n1 the open covers Hn:={V(z,n):zZ},V(z,n):={B(z,min(1/n,z2/3))zP,U(z,n)zE0, where z2 is the second coordinate and U(z,n) is the tangent disk. Put Gm:=Hm+1 for every mN, including m=0.

[F1]

The tangent disks U((a,0),n) are basic open sets, U((a,0),n)E0={(a,0)}, and they form a local base at (a,0); the balls B(z,r)P are basic open sets of P and form a local base at zP (Q-sets and Bing's tangent-disk Moore-space interface, Open ball, closed ball and sphere in a metric space, Basis and subbasis for a topology, and the topology generated by a family of sets, Neighbourhood of a point and neighbourhood base, with this library's convention that a neighbourhood need not be open).

[F2]
[F3]

E0 is closed in Z and is a Q-set-indexed axis; every subset of E is relatively Gδ in E, and for A=EnSn with Sn open, decreasing, and ASn one has A=EnSn (Q-sets and Bing's tangent-disk Moore-space interface, Open subset of R (every point has a neighbourhood inside it), closed subset (complement open), and clopen).

[F4]

Normality means that every two disjoint closed sets have disjoint open neighbourhoods, including empty closed sets (Normal spaces and T4 spaces, with the source disagreement over whether normality includes T1 stated explicitly).

[L1]

A development's stars are open sets containing the point, and closeness of a point to a closed set is tested by neighbourhoods; closures in Z of subsets of P are computed with E0 closed (Moore spaces and developments, Q-sets and Bing's tangent-disk Moore-space interface, 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).

[L2]

A countable dense set D in a metric space gives a countable base of balls B(d,1/k), dD, k1: given xB(x,δ), choose k with 2/k<δ and then dDB(x,1/k); the ball B(d,1/k) contains x and lies in B(x,δ) by the triangle inequality. Enumerate the pairs using the fixed countable enumeration of D (Separability: the existence of an at most countable dense subset, Open ball, closed ball and sphere in a metric space).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1

Fix E, Z, P, E0 and the covers Hn.

givenF1
2.1

Each Hn is an open cover by open sets, because zV(z,n) and each V(z,n) is a basic open set by [F1].

step 1.1F1
2.2

The zero-based sequence (Gm)mN is a development, with positive scale n=m+1. At z=(a,0)E0, if qZ satisfies zV(q,n) and qz, then qP and dist(q,z)q2, while zV(q,n) forces dist(q,z)<q2/3, a contradiction; hence St(z,Hn)=U(z,n), and the tangent disks form a local base at z by [F1], so every neighbourhood of z contains a star. At zP, every member V(q,n) containing z satisfies V(q,n)B(z,2/n) when qP, and V(q,n)B(z,4/n) when qE0; hence St(z,Hn)B(z,4/n), which is contained in any prescribed Euclidean neighbourhood for n large.

step 1.1F1L1
2.3

Z is separable: the set of points of P with both coordinates rational is countable and dense: every ordinary ball in P contains a rational point, and the open disk part of U((a,0),n) contains (a,1/(2n)), hence also a rational point of P sufficiently close to it (Separability: the existence of an at most countable dense subset, Open ball, closed ball and sphere in a metric space).

step 1.1F1
2.4

E0 is closed in Z and discrete: it is the trace of the closed set R×{0}, and each of its points z has the neighbourhood U(z,1) with U(z,1)E0={z} by [F1].

step 1.1F1F3
2.5

(Axis separation.) Identify the axis with E via a(a,0) for this step. Let AE and put B:=EA; symbols for their neighbourhoods refer to the corresponding axis points. Since every subset of the Q-set E is relatively Gδ there are decreasing sequences (Sn) and (Tn) of open subsets of R with A=EnSn and B=EnTn, so ASn and BTn for every n; for nN put Bn:=BSn and An:=ATn. Fix n. For aA the set Sn is open and contains a, so let ln(a) be the least positive integer with (a1/ln(a),a+1/ln(a))Sn, and put εn(a)=1/ln(a). This is a positive real even when Sn=R. Every bBn=ESn has abεn(a). Let kn(a) be the least positive integer with 2/kn(a)εn(a). Then U((a,0),kn(a))U((b,0),1)= for every aA and bBn: tangent disks of radii 1/k and 1 at axis points at distance ρ are disjoint whenever ρ2/k, because their centre distance ρ2+(11/k)2 is then at least 1+1/k. Hence the open sets Vn:=bBnU((b,0),1) and Wn:=aAnU((a,0),kn(a)) satisfy BnVn, AnWn, U((a,0),kn(a))Vn= for aA, VnE0=Bn, WnE0=An, and VnWn=: a tangent disk meets the axis only at its own tangency point, and every disk occurring in Wn was chosen disjoint from Vn. Put V:=n(Vnk<ncl(Wk)) and W:=n(Wnk<ncl(Vk)). Both are open and they are disjoint. If xVnk<ncl(Wk) and xWmk<mcl(Vk) with n<m, then xVnk<mcl(Vk), contradicting the choice of xWm; symmetrically for m<n; and n=m is excluded by VnWn=. Also BV and AW: for bB the fact that bA=EnSn gives an m with bSm, that is bBmVm, while bk<mcl(Wk) because cl(Wk)E0=AkA is disjoint from B; symmetrically for aA. The closure identities cl(Wk)E0=Ak and cl(Vk)E0=Bk hold because Ak=ETk and Bk=ESk are closed in the Euclidean subspace E, not merely in the discrete axis: if a sequence of points of Wk converges to (c,0)E0, then its tangency points converge to c, since a point (x,y)U((a,0),r) with r1 satisfies xa2<2ryy2, so xa0 as y0; hence c lies in the Euclidean relatively closed set Ak, and dually for Bk.

step 1.1F1F3
3.1

Reduction to arbitrary closed sets. Let C,D be disjoint closed subsets of Z. By step 2.5 choose disjoint open O,Q containing CE0 and E0C, respectively. For each aCE0 choose the least positive n(a) with U(a,n(a))OD, and put RC=aCE0U(a,2n(a)). Its closure misses DE0, since RCO and DE0Q. Its closure also misses DP. Indeed, if a point q=(x,y) lies in the disk of radius r/2, tangent at a, where r=1/n(a)1, then (xa1)2+y2<ry, so its distance to the complement of the disk of radius r is at least y/2: the distance to the outer centre has square less than r2ry, and rr2ry=ry/(r+r2ry)y/2. The outer disk misses D. A sequence in RC converging to dDP would eventually have height at least d2/2, and therefore distance at least d2/4 from D, impossible. A closure point in P supplies such a sequence by its ordinary ball base (AC is available). Thus RCD=. Reversing the roles, using Q around DE0 and O around CE0, gives open RD with DE0RD and RDC=.

step 2.5F1F2F4L1
3.2

Z is T1 and regular: distinct points are separated by small balls or tangent disks, using that E0 is closed and P is open; for z=(a,0)E0 and a closed C∌z, choose n with U(z,n)C= by [F1], let D be the closed disk of radius 1/n about (a,1/n) and put U:=U(z,2n) and V:=Zcl(U); every point of cl(U) other than z lies in U(z,n)ZC and zC, so CV, while UV=. Together with step 2.2 the space Z is a Moore space.

step 2.2F1F2L1
3.3

Z is not metrizable. Suppose d induces its topology. By step 2.3 the metric space is separable, so by [L2] it has a countable base, say (Wi)iω. For zE0 the set U(z,1) is open and contains z, so by [F1] some i has zWiU(z,1), and then WiE0={z} by step 2.4; the map zmin{i:zWiU(z,1)} is therefore a definable injection E0ω, contradicting the uncountability of E and hence of E0.

step 2.3step 2.4F1L2
4.1

Every point of CP lies in an ordinary ball with rational centre and rational positive radius whose Euclidean closed ball is contained in PD: first take a sufficiently small ball inside that open set, then a rational centre sufficiently close to the point and a rational radius between the required bounds. Such a closed ball has positive distance from the axis and is closed in Z. The family of all such rational balls is at most countable and covers CP; list it with empty sets as padding, and prepend RC. This gives (In)nN covering C with InD=. Similarly obtain (Jn) covering D with JnC=, starting with RD. The sets I=n(InknJk) and J=n(Jnk<nIk) are open, contain C,D, and are disjoint: for a point in the terms indexed by n,m, if mn the first term excludes Jm, and if n<m the second excludes In. This includes empty traces and proves normality by [F4].

step 3.1F1F2F4
5.1

Steps 2.2, 3.2, 2.3, 3.3 and 4.1 show that Z is a Moore space, separable, nonmetrizable and normal, as claimed.

step 2.2step 3.2step 2.3step 3.3step 4.1

Remarks

  • Disjointness of the tangent disks in step 2.5. Tangent disks of radii 1/k and 1 with centres (a1,1/k) and (b1,1) are disjoint exactly when their centre distance ρ2+(11/k)2 is at least 1+1/k, where ρ=a1b1; squaring, this is equivalent to ρ2/k, which is the estimate used in the definition of kn(a). Since a tangent disk meets the axis only at its tangency point, this also gives VnE0=Bn and WnE0=An.

  • Why normality needs the Q-set property. The relative-Gδ presentations in step 2.5 provide the axis separation; steps 3.1 and 4.1 then establish full normality. No assertion that every arbitrary uncountable E gives a nonnormal space is made.

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