Comparison of topologies
An order relation on the set of all topologies on one and the same set $ X $.
A topology $ {\mathcal T} _ {1} $
majorizes a topology $ {\mathcal T} _ {2} $(
or $ {\mathcal T} _ {1} $
is not weaker than $ {\mathcal T} _ {2} $),
if the identity mapping $ X _ {1} \rightarrow X _ {2} $,
where $ X _ {i} $
is the set $ X $
with the topology $ {\mathcal T} _ {i} $,
$ i = 1, 2 $,
is continuous. Moreover, if $ {\mathcal T} _ {1} \neq {\mathcal T} _ {2} $,
then $ {\mathcal T} _ {1} $
is stronger than $ {\mathcal T} _ {2} $(
or $ {\mathcal T} _ {2} $
is weaker than $ {\mathcal T} _ {1} $).
The following statements are equivalent:
1) $ {\mathcal T} _ {1} $ majorizes $ {\mathcal T} _ {2} $.
2) For any $ x \in X $, every neighbourhood of $ x $ in the topology $ {\mathcal T} _ {2} $ is a neighbourhood of $ x $ in the topology $ {\mathcal T} _ {1} $.
3) For any $ A \subset X $, the closure of $ A $ in $ {\mathcal T} _ {2} $ contains the closure of $ A $ in $ {\mathcal T} _ {1} $.
4) Every set from $ X $, closed in $ {\mathcal T} _ {2} $, is also closed in $ {\mathcal T} _ {1} $.
5) Every set that is open in $ {\mathcal T} _ {2} $ is open in $ {\mathcal T} _ {1} $.
In the ordered set of topologies on $ X $, the discrete topology is the strongest, while the topology whose only closed sets are $ \emptyset $ and $ X $ is the weakest. Figuratively speaking, the stronger the topology, the more open sets, closed sets and neighbourhoods there are in $ X $; the stronger the topology, the smaller the closure of a set (and the larger its interior) and the smaller the number of everywhere-dense sets.
Comparison of topologies. Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Comparison_of_topologies&oldid=11528