I am reading General topology, Volume 1 By Nicolas Bourbaki. I refer to the proof of Proposition 13. Could someone kindly explain the G/H Hausdorff $\implies$ H closed part of the proof? I understand that $H$ is an equiv class for the relation $x^{-1}y \in H$ bit, but I am failing to see how the Hausdorffness relates to $H$ being closed. I am also trying to understand the converse part of the proof which I think I'd be more successful in doing so if I understand the first part first. I am trying to self-learn topology, and I apologize for the stupidness of my questions on this site. Thanks in advance.
2026-04-02 19:14:52.1775157292
G/H is Hausdorff implies H is closed (General topology, Volume 1 by N. Bourbaki)
1.5k Views Asked by Bumbble Comm https://math.techqa.club/user/bumbble-comm/detail At
3
Let's start with the definitions. If $G/H$ is Hausdorff, then given any two distinct points, I can put open balls around them that don't intersect. Let one such point be the orbit of 1, i.e. $1\cdot H=H$, and let $gH$ be any other point. Then, I can put an open ball around $gH$ that doesn't contain $1\cdot H$. Now, you need to use the definition of quotient topology: a ball in $G/H$ is open if its preimage in $G$ is open. So I can put an open ball around $g$ that does not intersect $H$. That is one characterisation of $G\backslash H$ being open.