Math 2.0

General topology Ordered spaces and set-theoretic topology Counterexample

Long line

Builds on Ordinal numberLexicographic orderSequential compactnessCompact spaceConnected spaceMetrizable space

Counterexample

Let ω1\omega_1 be the first uncountable ordinal. The closed long ray is the set L=ω1×[0,1)L = \omega_1 \times [0, 1) with the lexicographic order and the order topology. The long line is obtained by gluing two copies of LL along their least point (0,0)(0, 0), one of them with the reversed order. The closed long ray LL is Hausdorff, connected and sequentially compact, but it is not compact and not metrizable.

Remarks

For each countable ordinal β≥1\beta \ge 1, the initial segment of LL below (β,0)(\beta, 0) is a countable stack of half-open intervals, and it is homeomorphic to [0,1)[0, 1). So every point of LL other than (0,0)(0, 0) has a neighbourhood homeomorphic to an open interval of ℝ\R. A sequence (αn,tn)(\alpha_n, t_n) in LL has a countable supremum γ\gamma of the αn\alpha_n, because a countable union of countable sets is countable. So the sequence lies in the set of points up to (γ+1,0)(\gamma + 1, 0), which is homeomorphic to [0,1][0, 1], and it has a convergent subsequence. The open sets {p∈L:p<(α,0)}\set{p \in L : p < (\alpha, 0)} for α<ω1\alpha < \omega_1 cover LL, but no finitely many of them do, because ω1\omega_1 has no largest element. A sequentially compact metrizable space is compact, so LL is not metrizable. For the same reason the long line is a connected Hausdorff space, locally homeomorphic to ℝ\R, that is not second-countable and not metrizable. So being Hausdorff and locally Euclidean does not make a space a topological manifold in the usual sense, which also asks for second countability.

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.
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  1. Compact space concept
  2. Connected space concept
  3. Lexicographic order concept
  4. Metrizable space concept
  5. Ordinal number concept
  6. Sequential compactness concept
  7. Long line counterexample

Further reading

  1. Web https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_line_(topology)
About this page
Tag1DKCNS63DH
URIm2://1DKCNS63DH
Kindcounterexample
WritingW0 stub
MSC54G20, 54F05, 57N99
UsesOrdinal number, Lexicographic order, Sequential compactness, Compact space, Connected space, Metrizable space
Changed2 November 2026

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