Topology - Theorems
1 Basic Topology
Theorem 1. Open balls, closed balls, and k-cells are convex.
Theorem 2. Every neighborhood is an open set.
Theorem 3. ∅ and X are both empty and closed.
Theorem 4. Let U be the family of all open sets in a metric space (X, ρ). Then (X, U) is a topological
space.
Theorem 5. If p is a limit point of E, then any neighborhood of p contains infinitely many points of
E.
Corollary 1. A finite point set has no limit points.
Theorem 6. Let {Eα } be a collection of set Eα . Then
!c
[ \
Eα = Eαc .
α α
Theorem 7. A set E is open iff its complement is closed.
Corollary 2. A set F is closed iff its complement is closed.
Theorem 8. Regarding intersections and unions of sets, the following hold:
1
S
a) For any collection {Gα } of open sets, α Gα is open.
T
b) For any collection {Fα } of closed sets, α Fα is closed.
Tn
c) For any finite collection G1 , · · · , Gn of open sets, i=1 Gi is open.
Sn
d) For any finite collection F1 , · · · , Fn of closed sets, i=1 Fi is closed.
Theorem 9. If X is a metric space and E ⊂ X, then
a) E is closed;
b) E = E iff E is closed;
c) E ⊂ F for every closed set F ⊂ X such that E ⊂ F .
(a) and (c) together imply that E is the smallest closed subset of X that contains E.
Theorem 10. Let E be a nonempty set of real numbers bounded above. Let y = supE. Then y ∈ E.
Hence y ∈ E if E is closed.
Theorem 11. Suppose Y ⊂ X. A subset E of Y is open relative to Y iff E = Y ∩ G for some open
subset G of X.
Theorem 12. Every finite set is compact.
Theorem 13. Suppose K ⊂ Y ⊂ X. Then K is compact relative to X iff K is compact relative to Y .
Theorem 14. Compact subsets of metric spaces are closed.
Theorem 15. Closed subsets of compact sets are compact.
Corollary 3. If F is closed and K is compact, F ∩ K is compact.
Theorem 16. If {Kα } is a collection of compact subsets of a metric space X such that the intersection
T
of a finite subcollection of {Kα } is nonempty, then α Ka is nonempty.
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Corollary 4. If {Kn } is a sequence of nonempty compact sets such that Kn ⊃ Kn+1 , then ∩∞
n=1 Kn is
not empty.
Theorem 17. If E is an infinite subset of a compact set K, then E has a limit point in K.
Theorem 18. If {In } is a sequence of intervals in R such that In ⊃ In+1 , then ∩∞
n=1 Kn is not empty.
Theorem 19. Let k ∈ N. If {In } is a sequence of k-cells such that In ⊃ In+1 , then ∩∞
n=1 In is not empty.
Theorem 20. Every k-cell is compact.
Theorem 21 (Heine-Borel). Let E ⊂ Rk . The following properties are equivalent.
a) E is closed and bounded.
b) E is compact.
c) Every infinite subset of E has a limit point in E.
Theorem 22 (Weierstrass). Every bounded infinite subset of Rk has a limit point in Rk .
Theorem 23. let P be a nonempty perfect set in Rk . Then P is uncountable.
Corollary 5. Every interval [a, b] with a < b is uncountable. In particular, the set of all real numbers
is uncountable.
Theorem 24. A subset E ⊂ R is connected iff
x, y ∈ E ∧ x < z < y ⇒ z ∈ E.
Theorem 25. A subset E ⊂ X is dense in X iff E = X.
Theorem 26. Every topologically large set in a complete space is dense.
Theorem 27. The set of continuous functions which are not differentiable at any point is residual and
dense.
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2 Sequences
Theorem 28. Let {pn } be a sequence in a metric space X. Then
a) {pn } converges to a point p in X iff for any > 0, N (p) contains {pn } for all but finitely many
n.
b) If p and p0 are in X, and if pn → p and pn → p0 , then p = p0 .
c) If {pn } converges, then it is bounded.
d) If E ⊂ X and if p is a limit point of E, then there is a sequence {pn } in E such that p = limn→∞ pn .
Theorem 29. Suppose {sn } and {tn } are complex sequences, and sn → s and tn → t. Then
a) (sn + tn ) → s + t;
b) csn → cs for any number c;
c) sn tn → st;
1
d) sn
→ 1s , provided sn and s are never 0.
Theorem 30. The following holds for sequences in Rk :
a) Let xn = (α1,n , · · · , αk,n ). Then {xn } converges to x = (α1 , · · · αk ) iff limn→∞ αj,n = αj for all j.
b) Suppose {xn } , {yn } ∈ Rk , {βn } ∈ R, and xn → x, yn → y, and βn → β. Then
i) (xn + yn ) → x + y
ii) xn yn → xy
iii) βn xn → βx
Theorem 31. The subsequential limits of a sequence {pn } in a metric space X form a closed subset of
X.
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Theorem 32. If {pn } is a sequence in a compact metric space X, then some subsequence of {pn }
converges to a point of X.
Theorem 33. Every bounded sequence in Rk contains a convergent subsequence.
Theorem 34. The following are true of diameters:
a) Let E ⊂ X. Then diamE = diamE.
b) If Kn is a sequence of compact sets in X such that Kn ⊃ Kn+1 , and if limn→∞ diamKn = 0, then
T∞
n=1 Kn consists of exactly one point.
Theorem 35. The following are true of Cauchy sequences
a) In any metric space X, every convergent sequence is a Cauchy sequence.
b) If X is a compact metric space and if {pn } is a Cauchy sequence in X, then {pn } converges to
some point of X.
c) In Rk , every Cauchy sequence converges.
Theorem 36. Suppose all sequences {pn } in E have a convergent subsequence with limit in E. Then
E is totally bounded.
Theorem 37. Any open cover of a set E with the property that all sequences {pn } in E have a convergent
subsequence with limit in E has a Lebesgue number.
Theorem 38. If all sequences {pn } in E have a convergent subsequence with limit in E, then E is
compact.
Theorem 39. Suppose {sn } is monotonic. Then it converges iff it is bounded.
Theorem 40. Let {sn } be a sequence of real numbers. Let E be the set of all (extended) numbers x such
that snk → x for some subsequence {snk }, and s∗ the upper limit of {sn }. Then s∗ is the only number
that has the following two properties simultaneously:
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a) s∗ ∈ E
b) If x > s∗ , ∃N ∈ N : n ≥ N ⇒ sn < x.
Theorem 41. If sn ≤ tn for n ≥ N , where N is fixed, then
lim inf sn ≤ lim inf tn
n→∞ n→∞
and
lim sup sn ≤ lim sup tn
n→∞ n→∞
