Lecture 17: Continuous Functions

1 Continuous Functions
Let (X, TX ) and (Y, TY ) be topological spaces.

Definition 1.1 (Continuous Function). A function f : X → Y is said to be

continuous if the inverse image of every open subset of Y is open in X. In other
words, if V ∈ TY , then its inverse image f −1 (V ) ∈ TX .

Proposition 1.2. A function f : X → Y is continuous iff for each x ∈ X and

each neighborhood N of f (x) in Y , the set f −1 (N ) is a neighborhood of x in X.

Proof. Let x be an arbitrary element of X and N an arbitrary neighborhood of

f (x) in Y . Then, f −1 (N ) and contains x and by definition, is open in X. Hence,
for each x ∈ X and each neighborhood N of f (x) in Y , the set f −1 (N ) is a
neighborhood of x in X. Conversely, let for each x ∈ X and each neighborhood N
of f (x) in Y , the set f −1 (N ) is a neighborhood of x in X. Let V be an arbitrary
open subset of Y .

i) If V ∩ f (X) = ∅, where f (X) is the range of f , then f −1 (V ) = ∅ and hence is

open in X.

ii) If V ∩ f (X) 6= ∅, then V is a neighborhood of each of its points (let f (x)

be one such point for some x ∈ X). By assumption, f −1 (V ) (⊆ X) must be
a neighborhood of each of its points (including the said x) in X and hence,
f −1 (V ) is open in X.

Note 1. Continuity of a function depends not only on f but also on its domain
and co-domain topologies X and Y .

Example 1.3. Let (X, TX ) and (Y, TY ) be topological spaces and f : X → Y be

a function.

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 i) If f is a constant map, i.e., f (x) = y for all x ∈ X and some y ∈ Y , then f
is continuous for all topologies on X and Y because for any open subset V of
Y , f −1 (V ) = ∅ (if y ∈
/ V ) or X (if y ∈ V ), both of which are always open in
any topology on X.

ii) If TX = P(X), i.e., (X, TX ) is the discrete topology, then f is continuous for
any topology on Y because for any open subset V of Y , f −1 (V ) is in P(X)
and hence is open in X.

iii) If TY = {∅, Y }, i.e., (Y, TY ) is the trivial topology, then f is continuous for
any topology on X because f −1 (∅) = ∅ and f −1 (Y ) = X, both of which are
always open in any topology on X.

iv) The identity mapping from (X, TX ) to (X, TX ) is continuous because for any
U ∈ TX (co-domain topology), f −1 (U ) = U ∈ TX (domain topology).

Example 1.4.
Let (X, TX ) and (Y, TY ) be topological spaces defined as follows:

X = {R, G, B} TX = {∅, {R}, {B}, {R, G}, {R, B}, X}

Y = {1, 2, 3} TY = {∅, {1}, {1, 2}, Y }

Let f and g be bijective mapping defined as f (R) = 1, f (G) = 2 and f (B) = 3.
Then, f is continuous since

f −1 (∅) = ∅, f −1 ({1}) = {R}, f −1 ({1, 2}) = {R, G}, f −1 (Y ) = X

all of which are open in X. However, its inverse map g, with g(1) = R, g(2) = G
and g(3) = B, is not continuous since

/ TY and g −1 ({R, B}) = {1, 3} ∈

g −1 ({B}) = {3} ∈ / TY .

Example 1.5. The unit step function u : R → {0, 1} is given by

( f (x)
0 if x < 0 1
u(x) =
1 if x > 0. 0
x

Let R be equipped with the standard topology, i.e., all open intervals are open,
and the set {0, 1} be equipped with the discrete topology. Then, u−1 (0) = (−∞, 0)
is open in the standard topology on R, but u−1 (1) = [0, ∞) is not. Hence, the unit
step function is discontinuous.

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Example 1.6. Let R and Rl denote the set of real numbers equipped with the
standard and lower limit topology respectively, and f : R → Rl and g : Rl → R
be identity functions, i.e., f (x) = g(x) = x, for every real number x. Then, f
is not continuous because the inverse image of the open set [a, b) in Rl is [a, b)
which is not open in the standard topology. But g is continuous because the
inverse image of open interval (a, b) in the standard topology on R is open in Rl
(g −1 ((a, b)) = (a, b) = ∪n∈N [a + 1 /n , b) and countable union of open sets is open).
Example 1.7. A function f : R → R is said to be continuous at x0 ∈ R if

∀  > 0, ∃ δ > 0 such that |x − x0 | < δ → |f (x) − f (x0 )| < ,

where both the domain and co-domain topologies are the standard topology on
R. The equivalence of this definition of continuity to the open-set definition of
continuity at x0 is shown below.
Let f be continuous at x0 by the open set definition, i.e., inverse image of
every open set containing x0 is open. Given any  > 0, the interval V = (f (x0 ) −
, f (x0 ) + ) is open in the co-domain topology and hence, f −1 (V ) is open in the
domain topology. Since f −1 (V ) contains x0 , it contains a basis (a, b) about x0
(since for every open set S and every s ∈ S, there exists a basis Bs such that
s ∈ Bs ⊆ S). Let δ be minimum of x0 − a and b − x0 . Then if |x − x0 | < δ,
x must be in (a, b) and f −1 (V ) (since (a, b) ⊆ f −1 (V )). Hence f (x) ∈ V and
|f (x) − f (x0 )| <  as required.
Now, let f be −δ−continuous at x ∈ R and V be an open set in the co-domain
topology containing f (x). Since V is open and f (x) ∈ V , there exists some  > 0,
such that (f (x) − , f (x) + ) ⊆ V . By continuity at x, there exists some δ > 0
such that (x − δ, x + δ) ⊆ f −1 (V ). Since (x − δ, x + δ) is open in the domain
topology and the choices of  and V were arbitrary, inverse image of every open
set containing x is open as required by the open set definition of continuity at x.
Note that if an open set V in co-domain topology does not intersect the range of
f , then f −1 (V ) = ∅, which is open in the domain topology.
Following are some properties of continuity.
1. For two topologies TX and TX 0
on X, the identity map 1X from (X, TX ) to
(X, TX
0
) is continuous iff TX is finer than TX
0
.

Proof. Let f = 1X . Since the map is identity, f −1 (S) = S for any subset S
of X. Let the identity map be continuous. Then, for any V in TX 0
, f −1 (V ) is
in TX . Since f (V ) = V , this means that V is also in TX . Thus, TX
−1 0
⊆ TX ,
i.e., (X, TX ) is finer than (X, TX ). Conversely, let TX is finer than TX . Then,
0 0

any set S in TX 0
is also in TX . For any V in TX 0
, f −1 (V ) is in TX because
f −1 (V ) = V and V is in TX . Thus, the identity map is continuous.

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 2. A continuous map remains continuous if the domain topology becomes finer
or the co-domain topology becomes coarser.

Proof. Let (X, T1 ), (X, T2 ), (Y, S1 ) and (Y, S2 ) be topologies with T1 and S1
finer than T2 and S2 respectively. Let f be a continuous map from (X, T2 )
to (Y, S1 ).

i) Let V be in S1 . Then, f −1 (V ) is in T2 , since f is continuous, and in T1 ,

since it is finer than T2 . Thus, f is also a continuous map from (X, T1 )
to (Y, S1 ).
ii) Let V be in S2 . Since, S1 is finer than S2 , it contains V . Also T2 contains
f −1 (V ) since f is a continuous. Thus, f is also a continuous map from
(X, T2 ) to (Y, S2 ).

Note 2. i) From Property 1, it can be inferred that, continuity of a bijective

function f : X → Y does not guarantees continuity of its inverse (cf. Exam-
ples 1.4 and 1.6).

ii) In Example 1.6, had f been the identity map from R to itself then it would
have been continuous but replacing the co-domain topology with a finer topol-
ogy (Rl ) renders it discontinuous.
To test the continuity of a map from a topological space on X to that on Y ,
checking whether inverse image of each open set in Y is open in X is not necessary.

Theorem 1.8. Let (X, TX ) and (Y, TY ) be topological spaces and f : X → Y be a

function. Then, the following statements are equivalent:

1. f is continuous.

2. Inverse image of every basis element of TY is open.

3. Inverse image of every subbasis element of TY is open.

Thus, to test the continuity of a function it suffices to check openness of inverse

images of elements of only a subset of TY , viz., its subbasis.

Proof. (1)→(2) Let f be continuous. Since every basis element of TY is open, its
inverse image will be open.

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(2)→(1) Let BY be a basis for TY and let the inverse image of every basis element
B ∈ BY be open in X, i.e., f −1 (B) ∈ TX . Note that any open set V
in Y can be written as a union of the basis elements, i.e., V = ∪j∈J Bj ,
f −1 (V ) = ∪j∈J f −1 (Bj ), for some {B1 , . . . , B|J| } ⊆ BY . Since union of opens
sets is open, f −1 (V ) is open.

(2)→(3) Since every subbasis element is in the basis it generates, inverse image
of every subbasis element of Y is open in X.

(3)→(2) Let SY be subbasis of Y which generates the basis BY . Let the inverse
image of every subbasis element S ∈ SY be open in X, i.e., f −1 (S) ∈ TX .
Since any basis element can be written as a finite intersection of subbasis
elements, i.e., B = ∩ni=1 Si , f −1 (B) = ∩ni=1 f −1 (Si ). Since finite intersection
of open sets is open, f −1 (B) is open in X.

Theorem 1.9. Let f be a map from a topological space on X to a topological space

on Y . Then, the following statements are equivalent:
1. f is continuous.

2. Inverse image of every closed set of Y is closed in X.

3. For each x ∈ X and every neighborhood V of f (x), there is a neighborhood

U of x such that f (U ) ⊆ V .

4. For every subset A of X, f (A) ⊆ f (A).

5. For every subset B of Y , f −1 (B) ⊆ f −1 (B).

Proof. (1)→(2) Let a subset C of Y be closed. Then, its complement Y \C is open
and the inverse image of the complement f −1 (Y \C) = f −1 (Y )\f −1 (C) =
X\f −1 (C) is open in X. Hence, f −1 (C) is closed in X.

(2)→(1) Let V be open in Y . Then, its complement Y \V is closed and the

inverse image of the complement f −1 (Y \V ) = f −1 (Y )\f −1 (V ) = X\f −1 (V )
is closed in X. Hence, f −1 (V ) is open in X.

(1)→(3) Since f −1 (V ) is an open neighborhood of x, choose U = f −1 (V ).

(3)→(4) Let A ⊆ X and x ∈ A. Let V be a neighborhood f (x) and U be a

neighborhood of x such that f (U ) ⊆ V . Since x ∈ A, U ∩ A 6= ∅ and
hence ∅ = 6 f (U ∩ A) ⊆ f (U ) ∩ f (A) ⊆ V ∩ f (A) (cf. Lecture 5, Theorem
2.3(vii)). Since the choice of V neighborhood of f (x) was arbitrary, every
neighborhood of f (x) intersects f (A). Hence, f (x) ∈ f (A) and f (A) ⊆ f (A).

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(4)→(5) Let A = f −1 (B). Then, by (4), f (A) ⊆ f (A) = f (f −1 (B)) = B. Hence,
f −1 (B) ⊆ f −1 (B).

(5)→(2) Let B ⊆ Y be closed; then, B = B since a set is closed iff it is equal to

its closure. Then, by (5), f −1 (B) ⊆ f −1 (B) and since f −1 (B) ⊆ f −1 (B) is
always true, f −1 (B) = f −1 (B). Hence, f −1 (B) is closed (being equal to its
closure).

2 Homeomorphism
Definition 2.1 (Homeomorphism). Let (X, TX ) and (Y, TY ) be topological
spaces and f : X → Y be a bijection. If both f and its inverse f −1 : Y → X are
continuous, then f is called a homeomorphism.

The two spaces are said to be homeomorphic and each is a homeomorph of the
other. If a map is a homeomorphism, then so is its inverse. Composition of any
two homeomorphisms is again a homeomorphism.
The requirement the f −1 be continuous means that for any U open in X, its
inverse image under f −1 be open in Y . But since the inverse image of U under f −1
is same as the image of U under f (cf. Lecture 5, Remark 2(vi)), another way to
define a homeomorphism is to say that it is a bijective map f : X → Y such that
f (U ) is open iff U is open. Thus, a homeomorphism is a bijection between TX
and TY . Consequently, any property of X expressed in terms of TX (or the open
sets), yields, via f , the corresponding property for Y . Such a property is called a
topological property of X.
Let f : X → Y be an injective continuous map and Z = f (X) ⊂ Y be its
range, considered as a subspace of Y . Then, the map obtained by restricting Y to
Z, f 0 : X → Z is a bijection. If f 0 happens to be a homeomorphism, then we say
that f : X → Y is a topological imbedding, or simply an imbedding, of X in Y .

Example 2.2. Let R be equipped with the trivial, standard or discrete topology.
For every pair of real numbers m and c, the function fm,c : R → R defined by
fm,c (x) = mx + c, ∀x ∈ R is a homeomorphism.

Example 2.3. i) The identity map from a topological space to itself is a home-
omorphism (Example 1.3(iv)).

ii) The map f in Examples 1.4 and the map g in1.6 are both continuous and
bijective but not homeomorphic because their inverse maps are not continuous.

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Example 2.4. i) Two discrete spaces are homeomorphic iff there is a bijection
between them, i.e., iff they have the same cardinality. This is true because
every function on a discrete space is continuous, no matter the co-domain
topology (Example 1.3(ii)).

ii) Two trivial topologies are homeomorphic iff there is a bijection between them.
This holds because every function to a trivial topology is continuous regardless
of the domain topology (Example 1.3(iii)).

Proposition 2.5. Let (X, TX ) and (Y, TY ) be topological spaces and f : X → Y

be a function. Then, the following statements are equivalent:

i) f is a homeomorphism.

ii) U is open in X iff f (U ) is open in Y .

iii) C is closed in X iff f (C) is closed in Y .

iv) V is open in Y iff f −1 (V ) is open in X.

v) D is closed in Y iff f −1 (D) is closed in X.

3 Constructing Continuous Functions

Some rules for constructing continuous functions are given below.

Theorem 3.1. Let X, Y and Z be topological spaces.

1. (Constant function) If f : X → Y defined as f (x) = y for all x ∈ X and

some y ∈ Y , then f is continuous.

2. (Inclusion) If A is a subspace of X, then the inclusion function j : A → X

is continuous. (j(a) = a, ∀ a ∈ A)

3. (Composites) If f : X → Y and g : Y → Z are continuous, then so is their

composition g ◦ f : X → Z.

4. (Restricting the domain) If f : X → Y is continuous and A is a subspace of

X, then the restriction of f to A, f |A : A → Y is also continuous.

5. (Restricting or expanding the range) Let f : X → Y be continuous.

a) If Z is subspace of Y containing the range f (X), then the function g :

X → Z obtained by restricting the co-domain topology is continuous.

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 b) If Z is space containing Y as a subspace, then the function h : X → Z
obtained by expanding the co-domain topology is continuous.

6. (Local formulation of continuity)The map f : X → Y is continuous if X cna

be written as the union of open sets Uα such that f |Uα is continuous for each
α.

Proof. i) See Example 1.3(i).

ii) If U is open in X, then j −1 (U ) = U ∩ A is open in A by definition of subspace

topology.

iii) If W is open in Z, then g −1 (W ) is open in Y since g is continuous. Since

f is continuous, f −1 (g −1 (W )) is open in X. Thus, g ◦ f is continuous (since
f −1 (g −1 (W )) = (g ◦ f )−1 (W )).

iv) f |A = j ◦f , both of which are continuous and composition of continuous maps

is continuous.

v) (a) Let W be open in Z. Then, B = Z ∩ U for some U open in Y . Since

f (Z) ⊆ Z, f −1 (B) = f −1 (U ) and is open in X because f −1 (U ) is open in X.
(b) Let j : Y → Z be the inclusion map. Then, h = f ◦ j.

vi) Let V be open in Y . Then,

f −1 (V ) ∩ Uα = (f |Uα )−1 (V )

and is open in Uα and hence open in X. But

[
f −1 (V ) = f −1 (V ) ∩ Uα ,


α

so that V is also open in X.

Theorem 3.2 (The Pasting Lemma). Let X = A ∪ B, where A and B are

closed in X. Let f : A → Y and g : B → Y e continuous maps. If f (x) = g(x)
for every x ∈ A ∩ B, the f and g combine to give a continuous map h : X → Y ,
defined as (
f (x) if x ∈ A
h(x) =
g(x) if x ∈ B.

Proof. Let C be a closed subset of Y . Then, h−1(C) = f −1 (C) ∪ g −1 (C) and is

closed in X since each of f −1 (C) and g −1 (C) are closed in X.

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 The pasting lemma hold even if A and B are open in X and is a special case
of Theorem 3.1(vi).

Theorem 3.3 (Maps into Products). Let f : A → X × Y be defined as f (a) =

(f1 (a), f2 (a)). Then f is continuous iff both the co-ordinate functions f1 : A → X
and f2 : A → Y are continuous.

Proof. The projection maps π1 : X × Y → X and π2 : X × Y → Y onto the first

and second factor space are continuous since π1−1 (U ) = U ×Y and π2−1 (V ) = X ×V
are open if U and V are open in X and Y respectively. Note that f1 = π1 ◦ f and
f2 = π2 ◦ f . If f is continuous, then so are f1 and f2 (composites of continuous
functions). Conversely, let f1 and f2 are continuous. Let U × V be a basis element
of X × Y . A point a is in f −1 (U × V ) iff f (a) ∈ U × V , i.e., iff f1 (a) ∈ U and
f2 (a) ∈ V . Hence, f −1 (U × V ) = f −1 (U ) ∩ f −1 (V ) and is open in A since both
f −1 (U ) and f −1 (V ) are open. Thus, since inverse image of every basis element is
open, f is continuous (by Theorem 1.8(2))