In mathematics, a
topological space is said to be limit point compact[1][2] or weakly countably compact[3] if every infinite subset of has a
limit point in This property generalizes a property of
compact spaces. In a
metric space, limit point compactness, compactness, and
sequential compactness are all equivalent. For general topological spaces, however, these three notions of compactness are not equivalent.
Properties and examples
In a topological space, subsets without limit point are exactly those that are closed and discrete in the subspace topology. So a space is limit point compact if and only if all its closed discrete subsets are finite.
A space is not limit point compact if and only if it has an infinite closed discrete subspace. Since any subset of a closed discrete subset of is itself closed in and discrete, this is equivalent to require that has a countably infinite closed discrete subspace.
Some examples of spaces that are not limit point compact: (1) The set of all real numbers with its usual topology, since the integers are an infinite set but do not have a limit point in ; (2) an infinite set with the discrete topology; (3) the
countable complement topology on an uncountable set.
For
T1 spaces, limit point compactness is equivalent to countable compactness.
An example of limit point compact space that is not countably compact is obtained by "doubling the integers", namely, taking the product where is the set of all integers with the
discrete topology and has the
indiscrete topology. The space is homeomorphic to the
odd-even topology.[4] This space is not
T0. It is limit point compact because every nonempty subset has a limit point.
An example of T0 space that is limit point compact and not countably compact is the set of all real numbers, with the
right order topology, i.e., the topology generated by all intervals [5] The space is limit point compact because given any point every is a limit point of
For metrizable spaces, compactness, countable compactness, limit point compactness, and
sequential compactness are all equivalent.
Closed subspaces of a limit point compact space are limit point compact.
The continuous image of a limit point compact space need not be limit point compact. For example, if with discrete and indiscrete as in the example above, the map given by projection onto the first coordinate is continuous, but is not limit point compact.
A limit point compact space need not be
pseudocompact. An example is given by the same with indiscrete two-point space and the map whose image is not bounded in
A pseudocompact space need not be limit point compact. An example is given by an uncountable set with the
cocountable topology.
Every normal pseudocompact space is limit point compact.[6] Proof: Suppose is a normal space that is not limit point compact. There exists a countably infinite closed discrete subset of By the
Tietze extension theorem the continuous function on defined by can be extended to an (unbounded) real-valued continuous function on all of So is not pseudocompact.
Countably compact space – topological space in which from every countable open cover of the space, a finite cover can be extractedPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
^The terminology "limit point compact" appears in a topology textbook by
James Munkres where he says that historically such spaces had been called just "compact" and what we now call compact spaces were called "bicompact". There was then a shift in terminology with bicompact spaces being called just "compact" and no generally accepted name for the first concept, some calling it "
Fréchet compactness", others the "Bolzano-Weierstrass property". He says he invented the term "limit point compact" to have something at least descriptive of the property. Munkres, p. 178-179.