Comparison of topologies
A topology on a set may be defined as the collection of subsets which are considered to be "open". An alternative definition is that it is the collection of subsets which are considered "closed". These two ways of defining the topology are essentially equivalent because the complement of an open set is closed and vice versa. In the following, it doesn't matter which definition is used.
Let τ1 and τ2 be two topologies on a set X such that τ1 is contained in τ2:
That is, every element of τ1 is also an element of τ2. Then the topology τ1 is said to be a coarser (weaker or smaller) topology than τ2, and τ2 is said to be a finer (stronger or larger) topology than τ1.
The finest topology on X is the discrete topology; this topology makes all subsets open. The coarsest topology on X is the trivial topology; this topology only admits the empty set and the whole space as open sets.
In function spaces and spaces of measures there are often a number of possible topologies. See topologies on the set of operators on a Hilbert space for some intricate relationships.
Let τ1 and τ2 be two topologies on a set X. Then the following statements are equivalent:
- τ1 ⊆ τ2
- the identity map idX : (X, τ2) → (X, τ1) is a continuous map.
- the identity map idX : (X, τ1) → (X, τ2) is an open map
Two immediate corollaries of this statement are
- A continuous map f : X → Y remains continuous if the topology on Y becomes coarser or the topology on X finer.
- An open (resp. closed) map f : X → Y remains open (resp. closed) if the topology on Y becomes finer or the topology on X coarser.
One can also compare topologies using neighborhood bases. Let τ1 and τ2 be two topologies on a set X and let Bi(x) be a local base for the topology τi at x ∈ X for i = 1,2. Then τ1 ⊆ τ2 if and only if for all x ∈ X, each open set U1 in B1(x) contains some open set U2 in B2(x). Intuitively, this makes sense: a finer topology should have smaller neighborhoods.
Lattice of topologies
The set of all topologies on a set X together with the partial ordering relation ⊆ forms a complete lattice that is also closed under arbitrary intersections. That is, any collection of topologies on X have a meet (or infimum) and a join (or supremum). The meet of a collection of topologies is the intersection of those topologies. The join, however, is not generally the union of those topologies (the union of two topologies need not be a topology) but rather the topology generated by the union.
Every complete lattice is also a bounded lattice, which is to say that it has a greatest and least element. In the case of topologies, the greatest element is the discrete topology and the least element is the trivial topology.
- There are some authors, especially analysts, who use the terms weak and strong with opposite meaning (Munkres, p. 78).