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TheoremStatement: AI-adaptedProof: AI-generatedSession-authored (Fable 5 assisted)precheck passjudge pass (z-ai/glm-5.2)audited 2026-07-29
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For a metric domain and a metric target the compact-open topology on C(X,Y)C(X,Y) is the topology of compact convergence

Statement

Let (X,dX)(X,d_X) and (Y,d)(Y,d) be metric spaces (Metric space: d(x,y)=0d(x,y) = 0 iff x=yx = y, symmetry, and the triangle inequality; pseudometric and ultrametric), each carrying its metric topology, and let C(X,Y)C(X,Y) be the set of continuous maps XYX \to Y (Continuity of a map of topological spaces at a point and globally). Then the compact-open topology (The compact-open topology on C(X,Y)C(X,Y) for a metric domain XX, with subbasis S(K,V)={f:f[K]V}S(K,V) = \{f : f[K] \subseteq V\}) and the topology of compact convergence (The topology of compact convergence on C(X,Y)C(X,Y) for metric XX and YY: uniform convergence on each compact subset of XX) on C(X,Y)C(X,Y) are the same topology.

Both halves are proved by exhibiting, around each point of a generating set of one topology, a generating set of the other inside it. No choice principle is used: the only cover produced below is indexed by pairs, so the indexed form of compactness (A subset of a metric space is open in the subspace metric exactly when it is the trace of an open set of the ambient space, and it is compact as a metric space in its own right exactly when every family of open subsets of the ambient space covering it, indexed or not, has finitely many members covering it) returns everything that is needed.

The metric hypothesis on the target is not removable by anything on this page. The topology of compact convergence is defined only for a metric target, since its basic sets are written with a distance in YY; the compact-open topology needs only the open sets of YY. The theorem is a statement about the case where both are defined.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: Metric spaces (X,dX)(X,d_X) and (Y,d)(Y,d) with their metric topologies, the set C(X,Y)C(X,Y) of continuous maps, the sets S(K,V)S(K,V) of The compact-open topology on C(X,Y)C(X,Y) for a metric domain XX, with subbasis S(K,V)={f:f[K]V}S(K,V) = \{f : f[K] \subseteq V\}, the sets BK(f,ε)B_K(f,\varepsilon) of The topology of compact convergence on C(X,Y)C(X,Y) for metric XX and YY: uniform convergence on each compact subset of XX, and the topologies Tco\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{co}} and Tcc\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{cc}} they respectively generate.

[L2]

The sets BK(f,ε)B_K(f,\varepsilon) are a basis for Tcc\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{cc}}, and B(f,ε)=C(X,Y)B_{\varnothing}(f,\varepsilon) = C(X,Y); facts (U1), (U2) and (U3) of The topology of compact convergence on C(X,Y)C(X,Y) for metric XX and YY: uniform convergence on each compact subset of XX are available, in particular the existence of maxxKd(f(x),g(x))\max_{x \in K} d(f(x),g(x)) for f,gC(X,Y)f, g \in C(X,Y) and nonempty compact KK (The topology of compact convergence on C(X,Y)C(X,Y) for metric XX and YY: uniform convergence on each compact subset of XX).

[L3]

A topology generated by a family S\mathcal{S} is contained in every topology containing S\mathcal{S}, and a set all of whose points lie in a basic set inside it is a union of basic sets, hence open (Basis and subbasis for a topology, and the topology generated by a family of sets, A family is a basis for a unique topology iff it covers the set and every point of an intersection of two members lies in a member inside that intersection; finite intersections of any subbasis form a basis).

[L8]

KK compact and (Ui)iI(U_i)_{i \in I} open in XX with KiUiK \subseteq \bigcup_i U_i give nNn \in \mathbb{N} and indices i0,,inIi_0, \dots, i_n \in I with KUi0UinK \subseteq U_{i_0} \cup \dots \cup U_{i_n}, unless K=K = \varnothing (A subset of a metric space is open in the subspace metric exactly when it is the trace of an open set of the ambient space, and it is compact as a metric space in its own right exactly when every family of open subsets of the ambient space covering it, indexed or not, has finitely many members covering it, claim 3).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1

First half: let KXK \subseteq X be compact, let VYV \subseteq Y be open and let fS(K,V)f \in S(K,V); it suffices to produce a real ε>0\varepsilon > 0 with BK(f,ε)S(K,V)B_K(f,\varepsilon) \subseteq S(K,V), since then every point of S(K,V)S(K,V) lies in a basic set of Tcc\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{cc}} inside it.

L1L2L3suffices: each subbasic compact open set is a union of basic compact convergence sets
1.2

Second half: let KXK \subseteq X be compact, let f0C(X,Y)f_0 \in C(X,Y), let ε0>0\varepsilon_0 > 0 be real and let gBK(f0,ε0)g \in B_K(f_0,\varepsilon_0); it suffices to produce a finite intersection of sets S(K,V)S(K',V') containing gg and contained in BK(f0,ε0)B_K(f_0,\varepsilon_0).

L1L2L3suffices: each basic compact convergence set is a union of compact open sets
2.1

In step 1.1, if K=K = \varnothing or V=YV = Y then S(K,V)=C(X,Y)S(K,V) = C(X,Y), which is open in Tcc\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{cc}}, and ε:=1\varepsilon := 1 serves since BK(f,1)C(X,Y)B_K(f,1) \subseteq C(X,Y); so assume KK \ne \varnothing and VYV \ne Y, whence YVY \setminus V is nonempty.

step 1.1L1L2
2.2

In step 1.2, if K=K = \varnothing then BK(f0,ε0)=C(X,Y)=S(,Y)B_K(f_0,\varepsilon_0) = C(X,Y) = S(\varnothing, Y), which is subbasic and hence open in Tco\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{co}}; so assume KK \ne \varnothing.

step 1.2L1L2
3.1

Under step 2.1: f[K]f[K] is a nonempty compact subset of YY, and the function ψ(y):=d(y,YV)\psi(y) := d(y, Y \setminus V) is defined and continuous on YY.

step 2.1L4L5
3.2

Under step 2.2: M:=maxxKd(f0(x),g(x))M := \max_{x \in K} d(f_0(x), g(x)) exists and satisfies M<ε0M < \varepsilon_0, because gBK(f0,ε0)g \in B_K(f_0,\varepsilon_0) makes ε0\varepsilon_0 a strict upper bound of the values; put δ:=ε0M>0\delta := \varepsilon_0 - M > 0.

step 2.2L2
4.1

Under step 2.1: the restriction of ψ\psi to the nonempty compact metric subspace f[K]f[K] is continuous, so it attains a least value ε:=ψ(y0)\varepsilon := \psi(y_0) at some y0f[K]y_0 \in f[K], and εψ(y)\varepsilon \le \psi(y) for every yf[K]y \in f[K].

step 3.1L6choose
4.2

Under step 2.2: let P\mathcal{P} be the set of pairs (a,r)(a,r) with aKa \in K, r>0r > 0 real and g[Bˉ(a,r)K]B(g(a),δ/4)g[\bar B(a,r) \cap K] \subseteq B(g(a), \delta/4); the family (B(a,r))(a,r)P(B(a,r))_{(a,r) \in \mathcal{P}} consists of open subsets of XX and covers KK, since continuity of gg at aKa \in K gives s>0s > 0 with g[B(a,s)]B(g(a),δ/4)g[B(a,s)] \subseteq B(g(a),\delta/4) and then r:=s/2r := s/2 satisfies Bˉ(a,r)B(a,s)\bar B(a,r) \subseteq B(a,s), so (a,r)P(a,r) \in \mathcal{P} and aB(a,r)a \in B(a,r).

step 3.2constructL6L9
5.1

Under step 2.1: ε>0\varepsilon > 0, because y0f[K]Vy_0 \in f[K] \subseteq V with VV open gives a real s>0s > 0 with B(y0,s)VB(y_0,s) \subseteq V, so every zYVz \in Y \setminus V satisfies d(y0,z)sd(y_0,z) \ge s, making ss a lower bound of the distances from y0y_0 to YVY \setminus V and hence ψ(y0)s>0\psi(y_0) \ge s > 0.

step 4.1L5L9
5.2

Under step 2.2: since KK \ne \varnothing is compact, there are nNn \in \mathbb{N} and pairs (a0,r0),,(an,rn)P(a_0,r_0), \dots, (a_n,r_n) \in \mathcal{P} with KB(a0,r0)B(an,rn)K \subseteq B(a_0,r_0) \cup \dots \cup B(a_n,r_n); each index is a pair, so the centres and radii come back with the indices and nothing is selected.

step 4.2L8
6.1

Under step 2.1: for uBK(f,ε)u \in B_K(f,\varepsilon) and xKx \in K we have d(f(x),u(x))<εψ(f(x))d(f(x),u(x)) < \varepsilon \le \psi(f(x)) by step 4.1, since f(x)f[K]f(x) \in f[K]; were u(x)YVu(x) \in Y \setminus V, the distance d(f(x),u(x))d(f(x),u(x)) would be one of the distances from f(x)f(x) to YVY \setminus V and hence at least ψ(f(x))\psi(f(x)), which it is not; so u(x)Vu(x) \in V.

step 4.1step 5.1L5
6.2

Under step 2.2: for jnj \le n put Kj:=Bˉ(aj,rj)KK_j := \bar B(a_j,r_j) \cap K and Vj:=B(g(aj),δ/2)V_j := B(g(a_j), \delta/2); each KjK_j is closed in the compact metric space (K,dK)(K, d_K), being the trace on KK of the closed set Bˉ(aj,rj)\bar B(a_j,r_j), hence is compact, and each VjV_j is open in YY.

step 5.2L7L9
7.1

Under step 2.1: step 6.1 holds for every xKx \in K, so u[K]Vu[K] \subseteq V and uS(K,V)u \in S(K,V); hence BK(f,ε)S(K,V)B_K(f,\varepsilon) \subseteq S(K,V), which is what step 1.1 required, and every S(K,V)S(K,V) is open in Tcc\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{cc}}, so TcoTcc\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{co}} \subseteq \mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{cc}}.

step 1.1step 2.1step 6.1L3
7.2

Under step 2.2: gS(Kj,Vj)g \in S(K_j,V_j) for every jnj \le n, since KjBˉ(aj,rj)KK_j \subseteq \bar B(a_j,r_j) \cap K and (aj,rj)P(a_j,r_j) \in \mathcal{P} give g[Kj]B(g(aj),δ/4)Vjg[K_j] \subseteq B(g(a_j),\delta/4) \subseteq V_j; so gO:=S(K0,V0)S(Kn,Vn)g \in O := S(K_0,V_0) \cap \dots \cap S(K_n,V_n), a finite intersection of subbasic sets and hence open in Tco\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{co}}.

step 4.2step 5.2step 6.2L1
8.1

Under step 2.2: let hOh \in O and xKx \in K; step 5.2 gives jnj \le n with xB(aj,rj)x \in B(a_j,r_j), so xKjx \in K_j, whence d(h(x),g(aj))<δ/2d(h(x),g(a_j)) < \delta/2 and d(g(x),g(aj))<δ/4d(g(x),g(a_j)) < \delta/4, so d(h(x),g(x))<δ/2+δ/4<δd(h(x),g(x)) < \delta/2 + \delta/4 < \delta by the triangle inequality.

step 5.2step 6.2step 7.2L9
9.1

Under step 2.2: therefore d(f0(x),h(x))d(f0(x),g(x))+d(g(x),h(x))<M+δ=ε0d(f_0(x),h(x)) \le d(f_0(x),g(x)) + d(g(x),h(x)) < M + \delta = \varepsilon_0 for every xKx \in K, that is hBK(f0,ε0)h \in B_K(f_0,\varepsilon_0); so OBK(f0,ε0)O \subseteq B_K(f_0,\varepsilon_0), which is what step 1.2 required.

step 3.2step 8.1
10.1

By step 9.1 every point of every basic set of Tcc\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{cc}} is interior to it in Tco\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{co}}, so every basic set of Tcc\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{cc}} is open in Tco\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{co}}, and since those basic sets generate, TccTco\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{cc}} \subseteq \mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{co}}.

step 2.2step 9.1L2L3
11.1

With step 7.1 the two inclusions give Tco=Tcc\mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{co}} = \mathcal{T}_{\mathrm{cc}}.

step 7.1step 10.1

Remarks

  • The first half is where the compactness of the image is used, through the extreme value theorem applied to the distance to the closed set YVY \setminus V. Without it the number ε\varepsilon of step 4.1 would be an infimum that might be 00, and the conclusion would fail: the set S(K,V)S(K,V) genuinely needs f[K]f[K] to sit at a positive distance from the complement of VV, and that is a consequence of compactness, not of openness of VV.

  • The cases K=K = \varnothing and V=YV = Y are disposed of first for a reason. In both, S(K,V)S(K,V) is the whole space and the distance d(f[K],YV)d(f[K], Y \setminus V) is not defined — in the first because there is no point of KK to measure from, in the second because YVY \setminus V is empty and this library defines the distance to a set only for a nonempty set (Bounded subset, diameter, distance from a point to a set, and distance between two sets in a metric space).

  • The second half is a covering argument and is where the compact-open topology earns its subbasis. A single set S(K,V)S(K,V) cannot control gg uniformly on KK; what does is a finite family of sets S(Kj,Vj)S(K_j,V_j) on which gg varies by less than a quarter of the slack. That the pieces KjK_j are again compact is A closed subset of a compact metric space is compact applied inside KK.

  • This is the theorem that lets the rest of the page use whichever description is convenient. The comparison of the three topologies is proved against compact convergence, while the evaluation map and the exponential law are proved against the compact-open topology, and the two are the same topology whenever both are defined.

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