Alphabeta Math
TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedprecheck passaudited 2026-08-16
How statement and proof provenance work

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.

Two lifts from a connected space that agree at one point agree everywhere

Statement

Let Y be connected and let f,g:Y→E be lifts through the same covering of the same map Y→B. If f(y0)=g(y0) for some y0∈Y, then f=g.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: The objects, hypotheses, and choice principles stated above.

[F1]

Let p:E→B be a covering and f:Y→B continuous. A lift of f through p is a continuous map f~:Y→E with p∘f~=f. This includes lifts of paths I→B and of homotopies Y×I→B; an initial lift prescribes the restriction at time 0 (def-homotopy-relative-and-path-homotopy, def-path-connected). (Lifts of maps, paths, and homotopies through a covering map).

[F2]

Let (X,T) be a topological space (def-topological-space). A separation of X is an ordered pair (U,V) of open, nonempty, disjoint subsets of X with U∪V=X; X is disconnected when a separation of X exists and connected when none does. Since U and V are complementary each is clopen, so a separation is the same thing as a partition of X into two nonempty clopen pieces. A subset A⊆X is a connected subset when the subspace (A,TA) is connected. (Separation of a topological space, connected and disconnected spaces, clopen sets, and connected subsets).

[F3]

A covering map is a continuous surjection p:E→B such that every b∈B has an open neighbourhood U for which p−1(U) is a disjoint union of open sets Vj, called sheets, and each restriction p∣Vj:Vj→U is a homeomorphism (def-continuous-map-top, def-homeomorphism-and-open-maps, def-disjoint-union-topology). Such a U is evenly covered, and p−1(b) is the fibre over b. A covering is trivial when it is isomorphic over B to a product projection B×F→B with F discrete. (Covering maps, evenly covered neighbourhoods, fibres, sheets, and trivial coverings).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1givenF3F1F2

The equaliser of two lifts is open because a common image point has an evenly covered neighbourhood and both lifts must lie in the same sheet near an agreement point.

2.1step 1.1F3

Its complement is open by choosing disjoint sheets near a disagreement point.

3.1step 2.1F3

Connectedness and the named agreement point force the equaliser to be the whole domain.

4.1step 3.1∎

The preceding construction and implications establish the assertion.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

14 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.

Sources