The Classification of 1-Manifolds: A Take-Home Exam

Author(s): David Gale

Source: The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 94, No. 2 (Feb., 1987), pp. 170-175
Published by: Mathematical Association of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2322421 .
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170

[February

DAVID GALE

By hypothesis,
of p in thesequencea, a ap < bp.Thatis, thefirstmultiple
1,..., 1 will occurnot laterthanthefirstmultipleof p in the sequenceb, b 1..., b-a + 1. Thusa(p) > ,8(p). Butif p > a, thena(p) =0. So, 8(p) = 0
A norB is divisible
also,and neither
byp.
We have

B
- = 1-1

p<a

E (pk)-

E(pk)
k=1

pk=l

ofthehighest
Denotingby K(p) theexponent
powerofp forwhich/3(pk) > O we
get
E

_ a(pk))

(/3(pk)

1(p)

a(p)

?+

()pk))
(#(pk)
k=2

k=l
00
-

(K(p)

k =tc( p) +1l

F 1=K(p)-1.

a(p")

Therefore

k=2

|l
A p a

or putin anotherway
(b- a+ 1) ... (b- 1)b
[l P(P)
p a

12 ...(a

- 1)a

p<a

thereremainin theright-hand
sideexactlya - r(a) factors
Here,afterfactoring,
each at mosta, and in theleft-hand
sideat leasta - 'r(a) suchfactors
whichare
> b - a + 1. Since b > 2a, b - a + 1 > a + 1 > a, so we have a contradiction.
REFERENCE
1. P. Erdos,A Theorem
ofSylvester
andSchur,J.LondonMath.Soc.,9 (1934)282-288.

THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS

EDITED BY JOANP. HUTCHINSON AND STAN WAGON

of 1-Manifolds:
A Take-HomeExam
The Classification
DAVID GALE

University
ofCalifornia,
CA 94720
Department
ofMathematics,
Berkeley,

students
to
1. Introduction.
andmuchusedmethodforintroducing
An effective
is
to
some
important
subtopic
a newmathematical
algebra)
pick
topic(e.g.,modern
or mostfamiliar
a discussion
of thesimplest
special
(say,groups)and thenpresent

1987]

THE TEACHING

OF MATHEMATICS

171

case (forexample,theintegers).
thisdoctrine
Applying
to topology,
it is clearthat
is a verycentralsubtopicaindthesimplest
thestudyof manifolds
specialcase is
surelythatof 1-dimensional
manifolds.
The "classification
theorem"
of our title
saysin effect
that1-manifolds
arenotonlysimplebuttheyarealso familiar,
being'
in factnothingmorethancirclesor intervals.
The theorem
itselfis probablyno
greatsurprise.It is howeverimportant
and usefulin at least one approachto
in obtaining
topology
someofthedeeperresults
withfixedpointtheory.
connected
Further,the proofof the theorem
is bothinstructive
and nontrivial.
It seemed
worthwhile,
therefore,
forpedagogicalreasonsto presentthe detailedtreatment
whichfollows.
Thisexposition
was motivated
byrecentexperience
in trying
to teachcoursesin
algebraicand differential
topologyat the advancedundergraduate
level.These
subjects,it seemsto me, presentsome specialdifficulties
not presentin other
courses.Consider,forexample,
coursesin modernalgebraor integration
theory
or
point-set
In theseareasthesubjectmatter
topology.
hasbecomequitestandardized,
thereare numerous
textsthattreatthematerial,
and it is possibleto getdownto
businessquiterapidlyand startpresenting
someoftheimportant
results.
In the topologycourses,on the otherhand,it seemsthatno matterwhat
approachone takesitis necessary
to do a fairamountofhardworkbeforeonecan
getto themeatofthesubject,
and I foundmanyofmystudents
werenotprepared
forthisfromtheirexperiences
in othercourses.The problembecomesparticularly
acuteifone demandsthesamedegreeofrigorand precision
as in,say,a point-set
topologycourse.On theotherhand,if in orderto "get somewhere"
one takesa
more relaxed,informal
approach,manystudentsbecomeunsureas to whena
carefulargument
is neededandwhena waveofthehandsis enough.
I certainly
haveno readysolution
forthisdilemma
whichmaywellbe inherent
in
thenatureofthesubjectitself,
butI do wanttoproposea wayofat leastgetting
off
to a good start.My thesisis thatthe problemof classifying
all 1-dimensional
manifolds
providesan excellent
bridgebetweenthepurepoint-set
ideaswhichthe
studentsare presumably
alreadyfamiliar
withand thenewcombinatorial
material
to whichtheyare beingintroduced.
Further,
theresultcan be derivedcompletely
rigorously
without
takingan inordinate
amountoftime.
Hereare someotherreasonsforworking
the1-manifold
through
theorem:
1. A numberofundergraduate
textspresent
theclassifications
of2-manifolds
at
an earlystage.It seemsrather
naturalto do theeasier1-manifold
theorem
first
as a
sortofwarm-up.
2. The classification
theorem
a typicalexampleof a theorem
represents
which
adducesa globalconclusion
fromlocalhypotheses,
i.e.,knowing
whata spacelooks
likein theneighborhood
ofeachofitspointsenablesone to concludeexactly
what
it is "in the large."Such theorems,
of course,are centralin manybranchesof
and analysis.
geometry
3. The 1-manifold
theorem
is perhapsnotso important
in thedevelopment
of
algebraictopology,
butitplaysan absolutely
pivotalrolein differential
as
topology

172

DAVID GALE

[February

presented
in thefamousexposition
ofMilnor[3]basedon theworkofHirsch[2]on
theBrouwer
fixed-ipolnttheorem.
4. One mightsay that1-manifolds
themselves
are notveryexciting.
Thereare
onlyfourconnectedones(manifolds
in thispaperwillalwaysincludemanifolds
withboundary)and theyaretheobviousones.I claim,however,
thattheproofof
thisfactis interesting
theuseoftheHausdorff
becauseitrequires
axiom
separation
and it is preciselyat thepointwherethisaxiomis used thatthecombinatorial
aspectof theproblembecomesapparent.I am referring
1 of the
to Proposition
presentation
to follow,
anditscorollary.
I shouldremarkthatproofsof the1-manifold
theorem
in thesmoothcase are
givenbothbyMilnor[3]andbyGuillemin
and Pollack[1]butbothoftheseproofs
makeuse of differentiability.
The proofforthetopological
case whichis presented
hereis notto myknowledge
in anytext.In fact,I havenotbeenable to
presented
findanyonewhowas able to tellwhenthetheorem
was first
provedor by whom,
in anyinformation
and I wouldbe mostinterested
on thismatter.
In anycase I
don'timagineanyproofoftheresultcan be verydifferent
fromtheone presented
here.
I haveorganized
in theformofa take-home
thematerial
exambecausethetopic
seemsideallysuitedforthis.In fact,I havetriedto arrange
so thata person
things
teachingan undergraduate
coursecoulduse thisexposition
as it
topology
directly
stands.I eventhinkthematerial
wouldbe suitableforusefollowing
thewell-known
R. L. Mooremethodin whichall proofsarepresented
in classbythestudents.
The
instructor
maywishtoconducta somewhat
shorter
exercise
byconsidering
onlythe
case of manifolds
I haveorganized
without
theproofsintoa seriesof
boundary.
lemmasand propositions
andhaveprovided
hintswiththepurposeofbringing
the
workto whatI considertheappropriate
levelforupperdivisionundergraduate
mathmajors.I havenotincludedproofsbutwouldbe glad,uponrequest,
to send
myownsetof answersto anyoneinterested.
2. The Theorem.It willbe assumedin whatfollowsthatthereaderis familiar
withstandardpointsettopology
and theelementary
of the
topological
properties
real numbers,specifically,
thatconnectedsubsetsare intervals,
thathomeomorphismsbetweenintervals
are monotonic,
and thatopen subsetsof therealsare
unionsofdisjointopenintervals.
DEFINITION.A 1-manifold
is a secondcountable
Hausdorff
topological
space X

suchthat

(M)

X can be coveredbyopensetseachofwhichis homeomorphic

eitherto the
openinterval
interval
[0,1). Setsofthefirst
typewill
(0, 1) or thehalf-open
be called 0-sets,of thesecondtypeH-sets,of eithertypeI-sets,and the
to theseintervals
corresponding
willbe called 0-charts,
homeomorphisms
and I-charts,
If X can be coveredby 0-setsit is a
H-charts,
respectively.

manifoldwithout
otherwiseit is a manifoldwithboundary.
boundary,

1987]

THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS

173

CLASSIFICATION THEOREM. Thereare exactlyfourconnected1-manifolds

(up to
and theyare givenbythefollowing
table:
homeomorphism)

Compact
Non-compact

Without
boundary
a circle
an openinterval

Withboundary
a closedinterval
a half-open
interval

PROPOSITION 0. Each of thefourspaces ofthetableabove is a 1-manifold.

oftheHausdorff
Axiom.
We nextwantto showthenecessity
EXAMPLE1. Let X = (0,1) U

{ p} wherep is a singleton.A basis fortheopen

setsof X are all opensetsof (0, 1) plusall setsof theform(U - {1/2}) u { p}

whereU is openin (0,1) and 1/2 E U. ProvethatX is a Tl-spacewhichsatisfies
condition(M) butis notHausdorff.
Fromhereon U and V willstandforI-setsin a 1-manifold
and 0 and 4 willbe
associatedI-charts.
LEMMA. Suppose U n V and U - V are nonempty
and let (xn) be a sequencein
U n V converging
to x in U - V. Then thesequence 42(xn) has no limitpoint in
+(V).

Hint: Use theHausdorff

property.
We say that U and V overlapif U n V, U - V and V - U are nonempty.
of (0, 1) is lowerifit is of theform(0, b) and
DEFINITION.An open subinterval

whichis eitherupperor loweris

upperif it is of theform(a, 1). A subinterval
in (0, 1) is outerifandonlyifit
calledouter.It is easyto see thatan openinterval
in [0,1), a subinterval
is
containsa sequencewithno limitpointin (0, 1). Similarly,
no lower
calledupperand outerifitis oftheform(a, 1). (Thereare,bydefinition,
of [0,1).) An opensubinterval
of [0,1) is outerif and onlyifit
open subintervals
containsa sequencewithno limitpointin [0,1).
of U fl V, then+(W)
PROPOSITION 1. If U and V overlapand W is a component

and 42(W) are outerintervals.

Hint: Note that+(W) is a propersubinterval

of 4(U). Usingthelemmashow
that?(W) is an openinterval.
Thenconstruct
an appropriate
sequencein 4(W)
and use thelemmaagain.
COROLLARY. If U and V are I-sets, thenU n V has at mosttwocomponents.
If
eitherU or V is an H-set, thenU n V is connected.
PROPOSITION

circle.

thenX is a
2. If X is connectedand U n V has twocomponents,

174

[February

DAVID GALE

4,and 4 so
be Z and W andchoose0-mappings
Hints:(a) Let thecomponents
that+ (W) and { (W) arelowerand + (Z) and + (Z) areupper.
(b) Let a = sup + (W), a' = inf? (Z), and b = sup + (W), b' inf+ (Z). Let f
linearmapping
with
map [0,1] to theunitsquarebya piecewise
f(0) = (0,0),

f(a) = (1,0),

f(a') = (1,1),

f(1)

(0,1).

Let g map [b, b'] linearlywithg(b)

(0,0), g(b') = (0,1). Define iq on U U V by
,q(x) = f o O(x) forx e U and 7(x)= g o (x) forx e V - U.

of X ontotheunitsquareusingcompact(c) Provethat- is a homeomorphism

of X.
nessof U U V and connectedness
PROPOSITION 3. Hypotheses:U and V overlapand U n V is connected.Conclusion: (i) If U and V are 0-sets, so is U U V.
(ii) If U is an H-setand V an 0-set, thenU U V is an H-set.
(iii) If U and V are H-sets,thenU U V = X and X is a closedinterval.

Hint: LettingW = U nrV choose 4, and 4 so that + (W) and +(W) are upper
and let b = inf+ (W); defineX on U U V by q(x) = +(x) forx E U and -(X) =
1 +b-4,(x)forxe
V- U.

All right;nowgivetheproofoftheClassification
Theorem
forthecompactcase.
on thenumber
ofsetsin a finite
(Hint: Use induction
opencovering.)
For thenoncompact
casewemustuse separability
ofthespaceC, forthereexist
nonseparableHausdorff1-manifolds,
the so-calledLong Lines,whichwill be
discussedin theAppendix.
Assumingsecondcountability,
provetheClassification
Theoremforthenoncompactcase. Hint:Consider
first
thecasewithout
boundary.
Let(UL),i = 1 2 ...
be a countablecovering
of X by0-setsanddefinea nestedsequence(V/)of 0-sets
inductivelyas follows. V1= U1 and VJ+1= VnU Uk where k is the smallest
0000

suchthatUk meetsV".ProvethatV = U Vn= U Un= X (thisis the

subscript
n=1

n=1

crucialstep).Finally,definemappings
as follows:41 is
An from
VntoR inductively
on
an 0-mappingof V1.Now supposeOn(Vn) = (a, b). Let On be an 0-mapping
V,+, such that An o An 1(a, b) = (a,/)
a mapping An+1 of Vn+l'

to
and use thisto definean extensionof 4O'n

of theaboveconstruction
and
For thecase withboundary
a slightmodification
is needed.
argument

is necessary
The LongLine. In orderto showthatsecondcountability
Appendix:
we presentherean exampleof a Hausdorff
forthe classification
theorem
space
whichsatisfies
property
(M) butis notsecondcountable.
Consider
withtransfinite
ordinalsis required.
For thissectionsomefamiliarity
theset L ofall pairs(a, x) wherea is a countable
ordinaland x E [0,1) andorder

1987]

THE TEACHINGOF MATHEMATICS

175

thesepairs lexicographically,
thatis, (a, x) > (fl,y) if a > ,B or if a = 1l and
x > y. It is easyto see thatL is a Hausdorff
spacein theordertopology.
For eachcountableordinala defineHa = {(,8,x) E L113<a}.
PROPOSITION 4. Ha is an H-set.

GrantingProposition4, it followsat once that(M) is satisfiedby thesets H

so

it is notsecondcountablebecausethe
L is a manifoldwithboundary.
However,
{ Hj cannotbe reducedto a countablecovering.
Namely,if { Ha },
1,2,...,
weresucha covering,
thenanycountableordinalwouldbe in someHa, butthere
are onlya countablenumber
ofordinalsin each Ha.. HenceU??iHa is a countable
ordinals.
thefactthatthereareuncountably
set,contradicting
manycountable
To proveProposition
4 one mustshowthat(i) Ha has theleastupperbound
densesubset.Bothareeasilyproved.Finally
property,
and (ii) Ha has a countable
toa real
one usesthefactthatanysetwithproperties
(i) and(ii) is order-isomorphic
interval,
in thiscase a half-open
interval.
This is not hardeither.Firstmap the
rationalpointsof [0,1) order-isomorphically
ontothecountabledensesubsetand
thenextend[0,1) usingtheleastupperboundproperty.
REFERENCES
1. VictorGuillemin
andAlanPollack,Differential
Topology,
Prentice-Hall,
1974.
2. M. W. Hirsch,
A ProofoftheNonretractability
ofa CellOntoItsBoundary,
Proc.Amer.Math.Soc.,
14 (1963)494-487.
3. J.Milnor,TopologyfromtheDifferential
ofVirginia
Viewpoint,
University
Press,1965.

Variables
Approach
TheError
forQuadrature
Methods:
A Complex
E. B. SAFF* AND JONC. SNADER
Mathematics,
ofSouthFlorida,
Department
ofMathematics,
Institute
forConstructive
University
Tampa,FL 33620

[a, b],we meana setof

By a quadrature
method
forintegration
overan interval
distinct
pointsxo < xl <
< xn, a setofconstants
a0,..., an,and a formula
n

(1)

(f)
E off(Xi)
~~~~~~Qn(
j=0

thatservesas an estimate
oftheintegral
a

f(x) dx.

*Theresearch
ofthisauthor
wassupported,
inpart,bya NationalScienceFoundation
research
grant.