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Let $X = [0,1] \times [0,1) \subset \mathbb{R}^2$. I've already proven that this space is locally compact and found its one-point compactification but now I am stuck on the following; Let $Y = X \cup \{(1,1)\} \subset \mathbb R^2$, what is the one point compactification of $Y$? Now, I know that a space $X'$ allows a one-point compactification iff $X'$ is locally compact, Hausdorff and non-compact. The space $Y$ meets all these requirements (I think) so it should allow a one-point compactification, but I am hopelessly lost as to how to find it.

Hints would be greatly appreciated.

Cameron Buie
  • 102,994

1 Answers1

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Edit: Now that your post has been fixed, let me respond appropriately. First, let me clarify a few points.

In fact, every non-compact set admits a one-point compactification, in the following sense:

Proposition: Suppose $X$ a set, $\mathcal T$ a topology on $X$ such that $\langle X,\mathcal T\rangle$ is not a compact space. Then there is a set $Y\supseteq X$ and a topology $\mathcal T'$ on $Y$ such that:

(i) $Y\smallsetminus X$ consists of a single point,

<p>(ii) $\langle Y,\mathcal T'\rangle$ is a compact topological space,</p>

<p>(iii) $\mathcal T$ is the subspace topology on $X$ induced by $\mathcal T'$, and</p>

<p>(iv) $X$ is not a closed subspace of $Y$ under $\mathcal T'$ (so $Y$ is the closure of $X$ under $\mathcal T'$).</p>

In particular, taking some object not in $X$--call it $\infty$--letting $Y=X\cup\{\infty\},$ and letting

$\mathcal T':=\mathcal T\cup\{Y\smallsetminus K:K\subseteq X\text{ is compact }\textit{and closed}\text{ in }X\text{ under }\mathcal T\},$

we have that $Y,\mathcal T'$ thus constructed satisfy the given conditions. We call such a space $\langle Y,\mathcal T'\rangle$ a one-point compactification of $\langle X,\mathcal T\rangle.$ If $\langle X,\mathcal T\rangle$ has the property that compact sets are closed (for example, if it is Hausdorff), we don't need the "and closed" requirement in the definition of $\mathcal T'$.

Moreover, if $\langle Y,\mathcal T'\rangle$ and $\langle Z,\mathcal T''\rangle$ are both one-point compactifications of a locally compact Hausdorff space $\langle X,\mathcal T\rangle$, then they are homeomorphic (so in such a circumstance, it makes sense to talk about the one-point compactification of a topological space, rather than a one-point compactification). [To see why the original space must be locally compact Hausdorff for uniqueness, see Brian's answer here.]

We also have the following:

Corollary: Suppose $X$ a set and $\mathcal T$ a topology on $X$ such that $X$ is not compact under $\mathcal T$. $\langle X,\mathcal T\rangle$ is locally compact Hausdorff if and only if it has a (unique) one-point compactification that is Hausdorff.

The above are good exercises to prove.


Now, the rest depends on what you mean by $X\cup\{(1,1)\}$.

If you intend that $X\cup\{(1,1)\}$ be simply considered as a subspace of $\Bbb R^2$ (which it seems that you do), then we can construct the one-point compactification of $X\cup\{(1,1)\}$ by the Proposition. However, it will not be a Hausdorff space. Note that for any neighborhood $U$ of $(1,1)$ in $X\cup\{(1,1)\}$, and for any $K$ such that $U\subseteq K\subseteq X\cup\{(1,1)\},$ we have that $K$ has as part of its boundary (in $\Bbb R^2$) the open segment from $(1,1)$ to $(\alpha,1)$ for some $0<\alpha<1$, and this open segment is disjoint from $K$, so in particular, $K$ is not compact. (Why not?) Thus, $X\cup\{(1,1)\}$ is not locally compact (though it is Hausdorff), so by the Corollary, its one-point compactification is not Hausdorff (though the compactification does exist by the Proposition, and is $T_1$). Now, the one-point compactification of $X$ is homeomorphic to the closed triangular figure with vertices $(0,0),(1,0),(1,1)$. The one-point compactification of $X\cup\{(1,1)\}$ is the quotient space $$[0,1]^2/\bigl\{(x,1)\in[0,1]^2:x\ne 1\bigr\}.$$ I can't see any "nice" spaces homeomorphic to that. In particular (as kahen points out in his comment below), it isn't a pseudometrizable space. It does have some nice properties, though, such as uniqueness of sequence limits (as I lay out in the comments below), which not all $T_1$ spaces satisfy.

If, on the other hand, you intend that $X\cup\{(1,1)\}$ be topologized as a disjoint union--which in particular means that $(1,1)$ is an isolated point--then the one-point compactification of $X\cup\{(1,1)\}$ is simply the one-point compactification of $X$, together with another point that is isolated.

Cameron Buie
  • 102,994
  • Part of the problem is that the final space won't even be pseudometrisable. Every sequence converging to $(1,1)$ also converges to the point at infinity (to do that you only need that the $y$-coordinates converge to $1$—as far as I can tell at least). But you can easily find a sequence that converges to the point at infinity and not to $(1,1)$. – kahen May 07 '13 at 13:13
  • @kahen: Actually, if $Y=X\cup{(1,1)}$ is topologized as a subspace of $\Bbb R^2$ and $Z$ is the one-point compactification of $Y$ (say with $\infty$ the unique element of $Z\smallsetminus Y$), then we have uniqueness of sequence limits in $Z$. Suppose $z_n$ converges to a point $p\in Z$,$p\ne\infty.$ If there are infinitely-many $z_n=\infty$, then for any $Y$-neighborhood $U$ of $p$, we will have that $U$ is a $Z$-neighborhood of $p$ not containing $\infty$, so that there are infinitely-many sequence terms not in $U$, which is impossible, since $z_n\to p$ in $Z$.... – Cameron Buie May 07 '13 at 20:43
  • ...Thus, there are only finitely-many $z_n=\infty$, and so without loss of generality, we may suppose that all $z_n\in Y$. Letting $A={p}\cup{z_n:n\in\Bbb N}$, we have that $A\subseteq Y$. Since $z_n\to p$ in $Z$ and $Y$ is a subspace of $Z$, and since $Y$ is Hausdorff, then $A$ has at most one limit point in $Y$--namely, either $p$ or no limit points at all--so is closed in $Y$. Hence, $A$ has no limit points on the top boundary of the unit square, except possibly $(1,1)$, so $A$ is also closed in the unit square, so compact in $\Bbb R^2$, so compact in $Y$.... – Cameron Buie May 07 '13 at 20:55
  • ...But then by definition of $Z$, we have that $Z\smallsetminus A$ is a $Z$-neighborhood of $\infty$ containing none of the $z_n$. Therefore, a sequence in $Z$ converging to a point of $Y$ does not converge to $\infty$. By contrapositive, we see that a sequence in $Z$ converging to $\infty$ converges only to $\infty$. It is readily seen that a sequence of points of $Z$ can converge to at most one point of $Y$. Thus, we have uniqueness of sequence limits. – Cameron Buie May 07 '13 at 21:20
  • You are correct, though, that it is not pseudometrizable. If it were, then it would in fact be metrizable (since it's $T_1$), and so Hausdorff (which it's not). – Cameron Buie May 07 '13 at 21:30