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In a compact Hausdorff space every quasicomponent is connected, so quasicomponents and components coincide
Statement
Let be a compact Hausdorff space (Open cover, subcover, and compact topological space; a compact subset is a subspace that is compact in its own right, Hausdorff space: distinct points have disjoint open neighbourhoods; every metrizable space is Hausdorff and the indiscrete topology on two points is not, Topology on a set, open and closed sets, clopen sets, the closed-set axiomatisation, and the coarser/finer comparison) and let . Then the quasicomponent is connected (Connected components, quasicomponents, and totally disconnected spaces, Separation of a topological space, connected and disconnected spaces, clopen sets, and connected subsets), and consequently
the component of and the quasicomponent of are the same set, so the components and the quasicomponents of are the same family of subsets.
The inclusion holds in every space (Every quasicomponent is a closed union of components, so each component is contained in a quasicomponent, and the quasicomponents partition the space, claim 1) and can be strict; what the two hypotheses buy is the reverse inclusion. No choice principle is used.
Facts & Assumptions
Given: A compact Hausdorff space and a point .
is the intersection of all clopen subsets of containing , a nonempty family since itself is one; so a clopen set containing contains (Connected components, quasicomponents, and totally disconnected spaces).
, and is closed in (Every quasicomponent is a closed union of components, so each component is contained in a quasicomponent, and the quasicomponents partition the space, claims 1 and 2).
is connected, contains , and contains every connected subset of that contains (The components of a space are its maximal connected subsets, they partition it, and each of them is closed, claim 1).
A separation of a space is a pair of disjoint nonempty open subsets whose union is the space, and each piece of a separation is also closed, being the complement of the other; a subset is connected when the subspace it carries is (Separation of a topological space, connected and disconnected spaces, clopen sets, and connected subsets, 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).
The closed subsets of a subspace are the traces of the closed subsets of , so a subset closed in a closed is closed in (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).
A closed subset of a compact space is a compact subset of it (A closed subspace of a compact space is compact, and a finite union of compact subspaces is compact, claim 1).
In a Hausdorff space two disjoint compact subsets lie in disjoint open sets (In a Hausdorff space a point and a disjoint compact set, and two disjoint compact sets, have disjoint open neighbourhoods; hence every compact subset is closed, and in a compact Hausdorff space the compact subsets are exactly the closed ones, claim 2).
A space is compact exactly when every family of closed subsets with the finite intersection property has nonempty intersection; a family has that property when the intersection of every finite list in it is nonempty, the intersection of the empty list being the whole space (A space is compact exactly when every family of closed subsets with the finite intersection property has nonempty intersection, Finite intersection property).
Finite intersections of open sets are open and finite intersections of closed sets are closed; a set is clopen when it is both (Topology on a set, open and closed sets, clopen sets, the closed-set axiomatisation, and the coarser/finer comparison).
Proof
Write and suppose carries a separation: disjoint nonempty sets , open in the subspace , with , and after renaming, since by [L1]. By [L4] each of and is also closed in ; is closed in by [L2], so and are closed in by [L5] and compact subsets of by [L6].
By [L7] there are disjoint open and in , and then .
Let be the family of clopen subsets of containing and put , a family of closed subsets of by [L9]. Its intersection is by [L1], which is empty by step 2.1.
By [L8] the family therefore fails the finite intersection property, so some finite list in it has empty intersection; the empty list is not such a list, its intersection being , which contains the nonempty . So there are and with , and is a clopen set containing with .
is clopen: it is open as an intersection of two open sets, and it equals , since and , so it is the intersection of the closed with the closed complement of . It contains , because and .
So belongs to and [L1] gives ; but is a nonempty subset of contained in , so it lies in . This is impossible, so admits no separation and is connected by [L4].
Hence is a connected subset of containing , so by [L3], while by [L2]; the two sets are equal, and since every component and every quasicomponent is of the form and for a point , the two families coincide.
Remarks
Both hypotheses are used, and each does one thing. The Hausdorff condition turns the two closed pieces of a hypothetical separation into sets that can be surrounded by disjoint open sets; compactness turns the intersection of all clopen sets through into a finite intersection, which is again clopen. Drop either and the argument stops: without compactness the clopen sets through need not shrink to finitely, and without the Hausdorff condition the two pieces need not be separated at all.
The inclusion that can be strict. In an arbitrary space a quasicomponent may properly contain a component, and the witness is a space that is not compact; the general containment is Every quasicomponent is a closed union of components, so each component is contained in a quasicomponent, and the quasicomponents partition the space, which explicitly declines to assert equality. This theorem is the standard hypothesis under which the two notions agree, and it is the reason the distinction is rarely visible in the compact Hausdorff spaces of everyday use.
What is not claimed. Nothing above says the components are open. If every component of is a singleton then is totally disconnected, that being the definition; what the theorem adds is that the quasicomponents are then singletons too. Components need not be open (The components of a space are its maximal connected subsets, they partition it, and each of them is closed); local connectedness is a separate hypothesis, and it is exactly the condition that every component of every open subspace is open, which also makes the components of itself clopen (A space is locally connected exactly when every component of every open subspace is open; in that case the components of the space itself are clopen).
Depends on
- Connected components, quasicomponents, and totally disconnected spaces
- Every quasicomponent is a closed union of components, so each component is contained in a quasicomponent, and the quasicomponents partition the space
- The components of a space are its maximal connected subsets, they partition it, and each of them is closed
- Separation of a topological space, connected and disconnected spaces, clopen sets, and connected subsets
- Open cover, subcover, and compact topological space; a compact subset is a subspace that is compact in its own right
- A space is compact exactly when every family of closed subsets with the finite intersection property has nonempty intersection
- Hausdorff space: distinct points have disjoint open neighbourhoods; every metrizable space is Hausdorff and the indiscrete topology on two points is not
- A closed subspace of a compact space is compact, and a finite union of compact subspaces is compact
- In a Hausdorff space a point and a disjoint compact set, and two disjoint compact sets, have disjoint open neighbourhoods; hence every compact subset is closed, and in a compact Hausdorff space the compact subsets are exactly the closed ones
- Topology on a set, open and closed sets, clopen sets, the closed-set axiomatisation, and the coarser/finer comparison
- 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
- Finite intersection property
- A space is locally connected exactly when every component of every open subspace is open; in that case the components of the space itself are clopen
Used by
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Sources
- Connected space (Wikipedia) (standard reference, not scraped)
- Locally connected space (Wikipedia) (standard reference, not scraped)
- D. Calegari, Notes on Point Set Topology (standard reference, not scraped)
- Stacks Project, Tag 0059 (standard reference, not scraped)