I am trying to understand the distinction between continuous maps between varieties and morphisms between varieties, and I believe a concrete example illustrating the distinction will help. What is an example of a continuous map $\pi:A\rightarrow B$ where $A,B$ are varieties and $\pi$ is not a morphism?
2026-04-07 16:09:45.1775578185
On
Continuous map example
69 Views Asked by Bumbble Comm https://math.techqa.club/user/bumbble-comm/detail At
2
There are 2 best solutions below
1
On
One easy source of examples is $\Bbb A^1_k$. Mapping the generic point to the generic point and permuting the closed points will produce a continuous map, and most examples of this fail to be morphisms. For instance, you can swap $0$ and $1$ and leave all other points invariant, which cannot be the result of a morphism.
How about $A=B$ being the affine line over $\Bbb C$, and $\pi:z\mapsto\overline z$?