Math 2.0

General topology Exotic spaces and counterexamples Counterexample

Arens–Fort space

Builds on First-countable spaceSequential spaceConvergent sequenceHausdorff spaceNormal spaceClosure

Counterexample

Let X=ℕ×ℕX = \N \times \N, where ℕ={0,1,2,… }\N = \set{0, 1, 2, \dots}, and call {m}×ℕ\set{m} \times \N the mm-th column. Declare a set U⊆XU \subseteq X open if either (0,0)∉U(0, 0) \notin U, or (0,0)∈U(0, 0) \in U and for all but finitely many mm the set {m}×ℕ∖U\set{m} \times \N \setminus U is finite. This is the Arens–Fort space. It is a countable Hausdorff and normal space. The point (0,0)(0, 0) lies in the closure of X∖{(0,0)}X \setminus \set{(0, 0)}. But no sequence of points different from (0,0)(0, 0) converges to (0,0)(0, 0). So it is not a sequential space and not first-countable.

Remarks

Every point other than (0,0)(0, 0) is isolated, and every open set containing (0,0)(0, 0) meets X∖{(0,0)}X \setminus \set{(0, 0)}, so (0,0)(0, 0) is in the closure. Let (pk)(p_k) be a sequence in X∖{(0,0)}X \setminus \set{(0, 0)} with infinitely many distinct terms, and let SS be the set of its terms. Suppose some column contains infinitely many points of SS, and remove these points from XX. The rest of XX misses infinitely many points of only one column, so it is an open set containing (0,0)(0, 0). Otherwise every column meets SS in a finite set, so X∖SX \setminus S is an open set containing (0,0)(0, 0). In both cases an open set around (0,0)(0, 0) misses infinitely many terms, so the sequence does not converge to (0,0)(0, 0). A sequence with only finitely many distinct terms, all different from (0,0)(0, 0), stays outside the open set XX minus these terms. Thus X∖{(0,0)}X \setminus \set{(0, 0)} is sequentially closed but not closed. An open set containing (0,0)(0, 0) is also closed, since its complement misses (0,0)(0, 0), and each {x}\set{x} with x≠(0,0)x \ne (0, 0) is open and closed, so the space is regular. A countable regular space is Lindelöf, and a regular Lindelöf space is normal; this gives normality.

Reading path

To understand this page from the ground up, read these 7 pages in order. The foundations come first.

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Each page uses the pages above it. The colour of the bar on a box shows how strong the evidence is, and the box also gives it as text. The list has the same pages.
  • no evidence level
  1. Closure concept
  2. Convergent sequence concept
  3. First-countable space concept
  4. Hausdorff space concept
  5. Normal space concept
  6. Sequential space concept
  7. Arens–Fort space counterexample

Further reading

  1. Web https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arens%E2%80%93Fort_space
About this page
TagFJ965C4QWA
URIm2://FJ965C4QWA
Kindcounterexample
WritingW0 stub
MSC54G20, 54D55
UsesFirst-countable space, Sequential space, Convergent sequence, Hausdorff space, Normal space, Closure
Changed2 November 2026

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