Homeomorphism
A homeomorphism is an isomorphism in Category of topological spaces, i.e. a continuous map with a continuous inverse. topology Therefore both images of open sets in the domain are open in the codomain, and preïmages of open sets in the codomain are open in the domain. Homeomorphisms preserve every Topological property.
Unlike with categories of algebras, a bijective continuous map is not necessarily a homeomorphism, there exist continuous bijections with non-continuous inverses. However, A continuous bijection from compact to Hausdorff is a homeomorphism.
Example
Consider two topologies
and on , where (see Coarseness and fineness of topologies). Then the identity map is continuous and bijective, but its inverse is not. Therefore, is not a homeomorphism.
Properties
See also
- Local homeomorphism which preserves local properties