if $(X,\tau)$ is an $T_1$- space, then every subset of $X$ is a saturated set

48 Views Asked by At

In an general topology exercise I have to prove that if $(X,\tau)$ is an $T_1$- space, then every subset of $X$ is a saturated set (i.e. it is an intersection of open sets).


My approach:

Because $(X,\tau)$ is a $T_1$- space, then every singleton is closed.

Let $A \in \tau$, then we can write: $A=\bigcup \limits_{x\in A} \{x\}$. Therefore: $X \setminus A= X \setminus \bigcup \limits_{x\in A} \{x\}= \bigcap \limits_{x \in A} X\setminus \{x\}$.

If we define a set $P\in\tau, P:= X \setminus A$, then we end up with:

$$P=\bigcap \limits_{x\in X\setminus P} X\setminus\{x\}$$

And because because every singleton is closed, every $X\setminus\{x\}$ is opened, this $P$ is the intersection of open intervals.


After writing the proof I realized that I assumed that $\forall P \in \tau,\exists A \in \tau: P=X\setminus A$. Is this true in this specific case? If so how can I prove it? In : $P=\bigcap \limits_{x\in X\setminus P} X\setminus\{x\}$, the intersection of those sets can either be finite or infinite. Is this a problem? Because for a set to be a topology it has to be closed under only a finite number of intersections. In the definition of a saturated set is it specified if the number of intersections is finite or if it can be an infinite number of intersections?

1

There are 1 best solutions below

0
On BEST ANSWER

You want to show every set is saturated, so you can't restrict to $P \in \tau.$ In fact, in what you have shown, is not restricted to $P \in \tau.$

Let $P \subseteq X.$ Then

$$P=X \setminus (X\setminus P)=X\setminus\left( \bigcup_{x \in X\setminus P}\{x\}\right)=\bigcap_{x \in X\setminus P}(X \setminus \{x\}).$$

Since $X$ is $T_1,$ therefore, $P$ is an intersection of open sets and hence saturated. This is essentially what you did but there is no need to first start with $A \in \tau$ or in fact, take $P \in \tau.$