MATH 461, Fall 2024
HW10
1. If X and Y are connected, prove that the product space X × Y is connected.
If either X or Y is empty then the product is empty, so there’s nothing to prove. So we
assume that X and Y are nonempty. Suppose U and V are disjoint open sets whose union is
X × Y ; we will prove that one of them is empty.
For each x ∈ X, the slice {x} × Y is homeomorphic to Y , therefore connected, so it must be
entirely in U or in V . For some fixed y ∈ Y , the slice X × {y} is also connected, so it is also
in U or in V . Without loss of generality, let us say that X × {y} ⊆ U . But then for every
x ∈ X, (x, y) ∈ U , and so the slice X × {y} is contained in U . This proves that all of X × Y
is contained in U , and V is empty.
2. Prove that the connected components of X partition X; that is, each x ∈ X is in a connected
component, and any two components are either equal or disjoint. You can use the result from
class that a union of connected spaces that all contain the same point, is connected.
We first prove that each point x ∈ X is in some connected component. Let {Aα } be the set
of all connected subspaces containing x, and let A be their union. Then A is connected, by a
result in class. Also, x ∈ A, since the singleton {x} is connected. To see that A is maximal,
take any connected B such that A ⊆ B. Then B is connected and contains x, so it is one of
the Aα , so B ⊆ A, so A = B. This proves that A is maximal.
Next we prove that any two components A and B are either equal or disjoint. Assume they are
not disjoint. Then they have a point in common, and so A ∪ B is connected. By maximality,
this means that A = A ∪ B = B. So if A and B are not disjoint, they must be equal.
3. Prove that for any n ≥ 1, the n-sphere S n is path-connected, and therefore connected.
The disc Dn is path-connected because each x ∈ Dn is connected to 0 by the path γ(t) = tx.
The upper hemisphere {x ∈ S n : xn+1 ≥ 0} is path-connected because it is the continuous
image of Dn under the map
q
(x1 , . . . , xn ) 7→ (x1 , . . . , xn , 1 − x21 − · · · − x2n ).
Similarly, the lower hemisphere is path-connected. The two hemispheres have a point in
common, e.g. (1, 0, . . . , 0), so their union S n is also path-connected.
4. Let X be obtained from R2 by removing countably many points. Prove that X is path-
connected, and therefore connected.
In particular, R2 \ {0} is path-connected.
Let C be the countable set that is removed. Fix two points x, y ∈ R2 \ C. Consider the
set of all straight lines through x, parametrized by angles θ ∈ (−π/2, π/2]. There are only
countably many such lines that intersect a point of C, and uncountably many such lines in
total. Therefore there exists a line Lx through x that does not pass through any point of C.
1
By the same argument, there exists a line Ly through y that does not pass through any point
of C, nor is parallel to the line Lx . Therefore Lx ∩ Ly contains a point z ∈ Rn \ C. We now
apply two straight-line paths
γ1 (t) = (1 − t)x + tz, γ2 (t) = (1 − t)z + ty
to connect x to z, and then z to y. These paths lie in Lx , respectively Ly , and therefore are
contained in R2 \ C as required. Composing these paths, we get a single path from x to y,
proving that R2 \ C is path-connected.
