2025-06-01

1136: Covering Map Is Proper iff Cardinality of Sheets Is Finite

<The previous article in this series | The table of contents of this series | The next article in this series>

description/proof of that covering map is proper iff cardinality of sheets is finite

Topics


About: topological space

The table of contents of this article


Starting Context



Target Context


  • The reader will have a description and a proof of the proposition that any covering map is proper if and only if the cardinality of sheets is finite.

Orientation


There is a list of definitions discussed so far in this site.

There is a list of propositions discussed so far in this site.


Main Body


1: Structured Description


Here is the rules of Structured Description.

Entities:
T1: { the topological spaces }
T2: { the topological spaces }
π: :T1T2, { the covering maps }
//

Statements:
π{ the proper maps }

 the cardinality of sheets N{0}
//


2: Proof


Whole Strategy: Step 1: see that 'the cardinality of sheets' is a valid concept; Step 2: suppose that π is proper; Step 3: see that the cardinality of sheets is finite; Step 4: suppose that the cardinality of sheets is finite, n; Step 5: take any compact subset of T2, K, and any open cover of π1(K), {Uj}, and for each kK, take any evenly-covered Vk such that π1(Vk)={π1(Vk)1,...,π1(Vk)n}, shrink Vk if necessary such that π1(Vk)1Uj(k,1), ..., shrink Vk if necessary such that π1(Vk)nUj(k,n); Step 6: take a finite subcover of K, {Vk1,...,Vkm}, and see that {Uj(k1,1),...,Uj(k1,n),...,Uj(km,1),...,Uj(km,n)} is a finite subcover of π1(K).

Step 1:

Talked about "the cardinality of sheets", do some evenly-covered open neighborhoods not have some different cardinalities?

No, all the evenly-covered open neighborhoods have the same cardinality, by the proposition that for any covering map, the cardinalities of the sheets are the same, so, 'the cardinality of sheets' is a valid concept.

Step 2:

Let us suppose that π is proper.

Step 3:

Let t2T2 be any.

{t2}T2 is a compact subset.

Let us take any evenly-covered open neighborhood of t2, Vt2T2.

π1({t2})={π1({t2})j|jJ}π1(Vt2)=jJπ1(Vt2)j, which means that {π1(Vt2)j|jJ} is an open cover of π1({t2}).

If J was an infinite set, there would be no finite subcover, because each π1(Vt2)j would not be able to be removed, because that would make π1({t2})j uncovered.

So, J is finite.

Step 4:

Let us suppose that the cardinality of sheets is a finite n.

Step 5:

Let KT2 be any compact subset.

Let {Uj|jJ} be any open cover of π1(K).

Let kK be any.

There is an evenly-covered open neighborhood of k, VkT2.

π1(Vk)={π1(Vk)1,...,π1(Vk)n}.

π1({k})={π1({k})1,...,π1({k})n} where π1({k})jπ1(Vk)j.

1st, let us think of π1(Vk)1.

As π1({k})1π1(K), π1({k})1Uj(k,1), where j(k,1) means that j(k,1)J is chosen depending on (k,1).

There is an open neighborhood of π1({k})1, Wπ1({k})1T1, such that Wπ1({k})1π1(Vk)1Uj(k,1).

Then, π|Wπ1({k})1:Wπ1({k})1π(Wπ1({k})1)Vk is a homeomorphism, and π(Wπ1({k})1) is an evenly covered open neighborhood of k, which will be denoted Vk again.

Now we have π1(Vk)1Uj(k,1).

Next, let us think of π1(Vk)2.

As π1({k})2π1(K), π1({k})2Uj(k,2).

There is an open neighborhood of π1({k})2, Wπ1({k})2T1, such that Wπ1({k})2π1(Vk)2Uj(k,2).

Then, π|Wπ1({k})2:Wπ1({k})2π(Wπ1({k})2)Vk is a homeomorphism, and π(Wπ1({k})2) is an evenly covered open neighborhood of k, which will be denoted Vk again.

Now we have π1(Vk)2Uj(k,2), while π1(Vk)1Uj(k,1) still holds, because shrinking Vk preserves the relation.

And so on, and after all, we have Vk such that π1(Vk)jUj(k,j) for each j{1,...,n}, which means that π1(Vk)=π1(Vk)1...π1(Vk)nUj(k,1)...Uj(k,n).

Step 6:

Such {Vk|kK} is an open cover of K, and has a finite subcover, {Vk1,...Vkm}, which means that KVk1...Vkm.

π1(K)π1(Vk1...Vkm)=π1(Vk1)...π1(Vkm), by the proposition that for any map, the map preimage of any union of sets is the union of the map preimages of the sets.

But π1(Vk1)...π1(Vkm)Uj(k1,1)...Uj(k1,n)...Uj(km,1)...Uj(km,n).

So, {Uj(k1,1),...Uj(k1,n),...,Uj(km,1),...Uj(km,n)} is a finite subcover of π1(K).

So, π1(K) is compact.

So, π is proper.


References


<The previous article in this series | The table of contents of this series | The next article in this series>