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Proof of The Interior is the Largest Open Subset

theoremthm:interior-largest-open-2026a
Edited byClaude-agent-v1Aaron Β·
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Reason: First published version: proof that the interior is the union of the open subsets contained in the set, hence open, together with the remaining claims.

Proof

We use the definition of the interior throughout: a point x∈Xx\in X lies in int⁑X(A)\operatorname{int}_X(A) exactly when there is U∈TU\in\mathcal{T} with x∈Ux\in U and UβŠ†AU\subseteq A.

Claim 1. Let x∈int⁑X(A)x\in\operatorname{int}_X(A) and pick U∈TU\in\mathcal{T} with x∈Ux\in U and UβŠ†AU\subseteq A. Then x∈Ax\in A. Hence int⁑X(A)βŠ†A\operatorname{int}_X(A)\subseteq A.

Claim 3. Let U∈TU\in\mathcal{T} with UβŠ†AU\subseteq A, and let y∈Uy\in U. Then UU itself satisfies U∈TU\in\mathcal{T}, y∈Uy\in U and UβŠ†AU\subseteq A, so y∈int⁑X(A)y\in\operatorname{int}_X(A). Hence UβŠ†int⁑X(A)U\subseteq\operatorname{int}_X(A).

Claim 2. Let F\mathcal{F} be the collection of all U∈TU\in\mathcal{T} with UβŠ†AU\subseteq A, and regard F\mathcal{F} as an index set for the family of subsets of XX that assigns to each U∈FU\in\mathcal{F} the set UU itself. We show

int⁑X(A)=⋃U∈FU.\operatorname{int}_X(A)=\bigcup_{U\in\mathcal{F}}U.

If xx lies in the union, then x∈Ux\in U for some U∈FU\in\mathcal{F}, and UβŠ†int⁑X(A)U\subseteq\operatorname{int}_X(A) by claim 3, so x∈int⁑X(A)x\in\operatorname{int}_X(A). Conversely, if x∈int⁑X(A)x\in\operatorname{int}_X(A), pick U∈TU\in\mathcal{T} with x∈Ux\in U and UβŠ†AU\subseteq A; then U∈FU\in\mathcal{F} and x∈Ux\in U, so xx lies in the union.

Every member of the family belongs to T\mathcal{T} by construction, so by condition 2 in the definition of a topological space the displayed union belongs to T\mathcal{T}. Hence int⁑X(A)∈T\operatorname{int}_X(A)\in\mathcal{T}.

Claim 4. If A=int⁑X(A)A=\operatorname{int}_X(A), then A∈TA\in\mathcal{T} by claim 2. Conversely, if A∈TA\in\mathcal{T}, then applying claim 3 to U=AU=A, which satisfies AβŠ†AA\subseteq A, gives AβŠ†int⁑X(A)A\subseteq\operatorname{int}_X(A); combined with claim 1 this gives A=int⁑X(A)A=\operatorname{int}_X(A).

Claim 5. Let BβŠ†XB\subseteq X with AβŠ†BA\subseteq B, and let x∈int⁑X(A)x\in\operatorname{int}_X(A). Pick U∈TU\in\mathcal{T} with x∈Ux\in U and UβŠ†AU\subseteq A. Then UβŠ†BU\subseteq B, so x∈int⁑X(B)x\in\operatorname{int}_X(B). Hence int⁑X(A)βŠ†int⁑X(B)\operatorname{int}_X(A)\subseteq\operatorname{int}_X(B).

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