SUBJECT: ANALYSIS IV

LESSON: CONNECTEDNESS IN METRIC SPACES

By

Dr. SATYA GOEL

Retd Associate Professor of Mathematics

Zakir Hussain Delhi College

University of Delhi
 CONNECTEDNESS

Table of Contents
1. Learning outcomes
2. Introduction
3. Connectedness
4. Connected subsets
5. Continuous functions and connectedness
6. Unions, intersections of connected spaces
7. Connected components in metric spaces
8. Connected subsets of ( , )
9. Product of connected spaces
10. Totally disconnected spaces
11. Path wise connected metric spaces
12. Some solved problems
13. Summary
14. Problems for practice
15. Multichoice questions
16. References

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1. Learning outcomes

In this lesson, we have introduced the notion of connectedness and proved some of
its equivalent forms. We will discuss the behavior of connectedness under continuous
functions and show that connectedness is a topological property. We shall also see the
behavior of connected subspaces with respect to union and intersection. Then we discuss
the concept of connected components and work out their properties. After that we study
connectedness with respect to the metric space ( , ). We will show that ( , ) is connected
and a subset of is connected if and only if it is interval. In this lesson, we also study the
behavior of connectedness with respect to product metric spaces. Lastly, we shall study two
variants of connectedness, namely, the total connectedness and path wise connectedness.

2. Introduction

Continuous functions play a central role in defining and characterizing many concepts
in metric spaces. Connectedness is one of such important concepts. The philosophy of
connectedness is to keep the whole space intact into a single piece. It does not let the space
divide into pieces which lie apart from each other. This is in fact the intrinsic property of a
connected space. Thus the idea of connectedness is very simple and intuitive. In physical
sense, a space is called connected if it cannot be split in two or more pieces that never
touch or two pieces not having a common boundary. Another way to look at connectedness
is through boundary. Clearly, boundary of any object links it to outside world. Thus if there
is any object in the space not having any boundary, then it gets disconnected from rest of
the space. We will see that the concept of connectedness in mathematics corresponds with
this intuitive idea.

We will see in this chapter that a singleton subset of any metric space is always
connected. So a natural question arises, in a disconnected metric space, do there exist
other connected subspaces too. The answer is yes in some special cases. We will also
discuss the maximal connected subspaces of a given metric space, which we term as the
connected components. We then study the properties enjoyed by these connected
components. Further, we will discuss ( , ) and show that ( , ) is connected and a
subset of is connected if and only if it is an interval. Later, we study the behavior of
connectedness with respect to product metric spaces. We culminate this by introducing two
variants of connectedness, namely, the total connectedness and path-wise connectedness.

2. Connectedness

NOTATIONS

Notations Meaning
boundary of the set
0 Interior of
closure of
(, ) metric space of real numbers equipped with the usual metric
( , ) {(, ) }
~ Complement of

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Definition 2.1: Let ( , ) be a metric space and let be a subset of . Then an element
is said to be a boundary point of if and only if
( , ) = 0 = ( , ).
The set of all boundary points of denoted by is called the boundary of .

Definition 2.2: A subset of a metric space ( , ) is said to be open if = i.e., it

does not intersect it's interior.

Definition 2.3: A subset of a metric space ( , ) is said to be closed if it contains it's

interior i.e., .

Definition 2.4: A metric space ( , ) is said to be connected if cannot be expressed as a

union of two disjoint non empty open subsets of i.e., if = where and are
disjoint open subsets of , then either = or = . A metric space which is not
connected is said to be disconnected.

Example 2.1 If ( , ) is a discrete metric space containing more than one element, then it
is disconnected. Since in a discrete metric space every subset of is open, therefore for any
, the sets {} and {} are non-empty disjoint open subsets of X. Now as = {}
( {}), thus X is expressed as a union of two disjoint open subsets of X. Hence (, ) is
disconnected.

Criteria for Connectedness

Theorem 2.1: For a metric space ( , ) the following are equivalent:

(i). Every proper subset of has non empty boundary in . ( )
(ii). No proper subset of is both open and closed. ( )
(iii). is not the union of two disjoint non empty open subsets of .
( )
(iv). is not the union of two disjoint non empty closed subsets of .
( )
(v). Either = or the only continuous functions from X to the discrete metric space
{0 ,1} is constant. ( )

Proof: We prove that (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (i)

(i) (ii) Let for each proper subset A of X, , Let if possible, there exists a proper
subset A of which is both open and closed. Since is closed, therefore i.e.,
= . Also, as is open, = which implies that = , a contradiction.

(ii) (iii) Suppose there does not exist any proper subset of which is both open and
closed. Let if possible be expressible as the union of two proper disjoint open subsets
and of , i.e., = , = . Now since = and is open, therefore is
closed. Thus is a proper subset of which is both open and closed. This contradicts the
hypothesis.

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(iii) (iv) Let be not expressible as the union of two proper disjoint open subsets of
. We show that cannot be expressed as union of two proper disjoint closed subsets of .
Suppose the contrary, 1 and 2 be two proper closed subsets of such that = 1 2
and 1 2 = . Then 2 = 1 and 1 = 2 . Now since 1 and 2 are closed subsets of ,
therefore both 1 and 2 are open subsets of (being complements of closed subsets). Thus
is expressible as the union of two proper disjoint open subsets 1 and 2 of ,
contradicting the hypothesis.

(iv) (v) Let us suppose that be not the union of two disjoint non empty closed
subsets of . If = , then we have nothing to prove. Thus let and there exists a non
constant continuous function from onto the two element {0 , 1} discrete metric space.
Since is non constant, 1 ({0}) and 1 ({1}) are non-empty subsets of . Further since
{0} and {1} are closed subsets of discrete metric space and since is continuous 1 ({0})
and 1 ({1}) are closed subsets of . Then clearly, = 1 ({0}) 1 ({1})and 1 ({1})
1 ({1}) = . Hence is expressed as the union of two disjoint non-empty closed subsets of
, which contradicts the given hypothesis.

(v) (i) Suppose that for any metric space ( , ) either = or the only continuous
functions from to the discrete metric space {0 ,1} is constant. If = , then (i) holds
vacuously. Thus let . We show that every proper subset of has non-empty boundary.
Suppose on the contrary, there exists a proper subset of such that = . Now since
= ( ) = , therefore both and are open subsets of .
Define a function {0 , 1} where {0 , 1} is endowed with discrete metric as
0
() =
1
Since {0 , 1} is a discrete metric space, its open sets are , {0} , {1} , and {0 , 1}. It is easy to
see that 1 () = , 1 ({0}) = , 1 ({1}) = and 1 ({0, 1}) = . Now since each of ,
, , and are open in , therefore we see that the inverse image of each open subset of
the discrete metric space is open in . Thus is a continuous function. Then by the
hypothesis, is a constant function.
Therefore either = 1 ({0}) = or = 1 ({1}) = . Thus either = or = ,
contradiction to the fact that is a proper subset of .

Remark 2.1: From the above theorem it is clear that all the above statements are
equivalent to connectedness of a metric space. So, any of these statements can be taken as
a definition of connectedness.

However, since boundary condition is close to the intuitive idea of the connectedness
it is worth mentioning it separately.

Definition 2.5: A metric space ( , ) is said to be connected if the boundary of every

proper subset of is non-empty. Equivalently, a metric space ( , ) is disconnected if there
exists a proper subset of such that = .

Example 2.2: Consider the space (, ), where = (0 , 1) (7 , 8) and is the usual

distance metric on . Then both subsets (0 , 1) and (7 , 8) of have empty boundary since all

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the points of the set (7 , 8) are at a distance at least 6 from its complement (0 , 1) and vice
versa. Hence the space ( , ) is disconnected.

Theorem 2.2: A metric space ( , ) is disconnected if and only if there exist two non
empty subsets and of such that = , B = = A .

Proof: Since and since = , we have = . Now, let = and

= . Then and are non-empty open subsets of .
Consider,
=
=
Thus it follows that
=
( ) ( )
= .
Hence = . Further,
) ( )
= (
= ( )
( ) = .
Thus, is expressible as a disjoint union of two non-empty open subsets of and hence it
follows that ( , ) is disconnected.

Conversely, Suppose ( , ) is disconnected. Then there exists a pair of disjoint non

empty open subsets and of such that = , and = . We claim that
= and = . Let be a limit point of . Then each open neighborhood of in
particular (since is open) is such that {} . But it contradicts the fact that
= . Hence, no point of can be a limit point of . Similarly, we can show that no
point of can be a limit of . Therefore = = proving the assertion.

Definition 2.6: Two non-empty subsets and of a metric space ( , ) are said to be
separated if = = . We say that subsets and is a separation of .

Remark 2.2: From Definition 2.6 and Theorem 2.2, it is clear that a metric space ( , ) is
disconnected if and only if can be expressed as a union of two separated sets.

Theorem 2.3: Let ( , ) be a disconnected metric space and let and be a separation of
, i.e., X = A B , A B = = A B. If is any connected subset of , then
or .

Proof: Suppose if possible, and . Let = and = . We

claim that and forms the separation of . Consider,
=
= ( )
= ( ) ( )
=
Now,

= ( ) ( )

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= ( ) ( )
= ( ) ( )
= =
Similarly, we can show that = . Thus it follows that and forms the separation of
. But this shows that E is disconnected which contradicts the given hypothesis. Hence our
assumption is wrong. Thus either = and = which in turn implies that either
or .

3. Connected subsets

Definition 3.1: A subset of a metric space ( , ) is called a connected subset of if

the subspace (, ) of ( , ) is connected metric space.

Example 3.1: Let ( , ) be a metric space. Then empty set and singleton subsets of are
connected subset of .

Example 3.2: Let ( , ) be the metric space of real numbers equipped with usual metric.
Then and all interval subsets of (including ) are connected subsets of .

Example 3.3: Consider = {0} with the metric obtained by restricting the usual metric
of . Consider the set = (0 , ). This is clearly a non-empty open subset of . In fact, we
claim that it is both open and closed inside . To see that is closed in , observe that
= (, 0) is an open subset of . Thus is both open and closed subset of . Hence,
in view of Theorem 2.1 (ii) is disconnected.

Remark 3.1: From Example 3.3, we observe that connectedness is not a hereditary
property i.e., a subset of a connected metric space need not always be connected. Further,
a subset of a metric space may be connected without the space being connected. To see
that a subset of a disconnected space is connected, observe that singleton subsets of any
metric space is connected and hence in particular of disconnected metric space.

Theorem 3.1: A metric space ( , ) is connected if and only if each pair of distinct points of
is contained in a connected subset of .
Proof: First let us suppose that ( , ) is connected and let , be such that . Then
{ , } is contained in a connected set namely which is contained in itself.

Conversely, let us assume that for each pair of distinct elements of there exists a
connected subset of containing both and . We show that ( , ) is connected. Let us
suppose the contrary, that is, ( , ) be disconnected. Then there exist separated subsets
and of such that X = A B . Since = , let , , then .
Then by the given hypothesis, there exists a connected set such that { , } .
Further, since is a connected subset of = , by Theorem 2.3, we have or
which implies that { , } or { , } , a contradiction. This contradiction shows
that ( , ) is connected.

Alternate Proof:

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Let us first suppose that for each pair of distinct elements x and y of X there exists a
connected subset E of X containing both x and y. We show that (X , d) is connected. We
prove this by contra positive argument. Let (X , d) be disconnected. Then there exists a
non-constant continuous function f from (X , d) onto (Y , d*), where = {0,1}. Since, f is non
constant, there exists a pair of elements and in such that () (). Since and
are distinct elements of , by hypothesis, there exists a connected subset of such that
both , . Now since restriction of a continuous function defined on is continuous,
therefore, | is a continuous function from to (, ). But since , and is
connected, therefore | is constant. Therefore, | () = | () which implies that () = ()
which contradicts the fact that () ().

Conversely, let ( , ) be connected then obviously every pair of distinct elements , of

belongs to a connected subset of , namely itself.

Theorem 3.2: Suppose ( , ) is a metric space and let is a connected subset of . Let
be any subset of such that . Then is connected
Proof: If = then the result is trivially true as in this case = which is a connected
subset of . So let us assume that . In order to show that is connected we show that
each continuous function from onto (, ) where is the discrete metric on = {0 , 1}, is
constant. Let : ( , ) be any continuous function. Since restriction of a continuous
function to a subspace is continuous, therefore , | ( , ) is continuous where |
denotes the restriction of to the subspace . Further, since is given to be connected |
is constant. Now for each , we have S and so there exists a sequence { } in that
converges to . Since is continuous, the sequence {( )} converges to (). But since is
constant on , we have that {( )} is a constant sequence, so that has the same value at
as it has on . As is arbitrary element of , we see that is constant on . This proves
the assertion.

Alternate Proof: Consider any subset of such that and is disconnected.

Then there exist two disjoint non-empty open subsets and in (, ) such that = .
Since and are open in (, ), there exist open subsets and of such that
= = .
Thus = ( ) ( ) and since , therefore = ( ) ( ). Now as ,


We claim that P* S . Since P* , let x P* . This implies x , i.e., x is a
limit point of S and so every neighbourhood of x intersects S, in particular P* being open is
a neighbourhood of x, therefore . . Hence we have expressed
as a disjoint union of non-empty open subsets and in ( ). It follows that is
disconnected, a contradiction. Hence our assumption is wrong and is connected.
Corollary 3.2: If is a connected subset of a metric space, then is connected.
Proof: The result follows from Theorem 3.6, since S S .

Problem 3.1: Is it true that if the closure of a set in a metric space ( , ) is connected,
then itself is connected.

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Solution: The answer is no. Let ( , ) be a metric space of real numbers equipped with the
usual metric. Let = (0 , 2) (2 , 3). Then Since (0 , 2) and (2 , 3) form a separation of and so
is disconnected. On the other hand, we have = (0,
2) (2,3) = [0, 2] [2, 3]. Since [0 , 2]
and [2 , 3] are connected subsets of and since [0 , 2] [2 , 3] = {2} , therefore = [0, 2]
[2, 3] is connected.

4. Continuous functions and Connectedness

Connectedness is well behaved with respect to continuous functions.

Theorem 4.1: Let ( , ) ( , ) be a continuous function from a connected metric
space ( , ) onto a metric space ( , ). Then ( , ) is connected.

(In other words, continuous image of a connected metric space is connected.)

Proof: Since is onto, we have () = . In order to show that () is connected, we

show that every continuous function from () onto a two elementic discrete metric space
( , ) is constant. Let ()= ( , ) ( , ) be a continuous function. Since
composition of two continuous functions is a continuous function, therefore,
( , ) ( , ) is a continuous function. Since ( , ) is connected, is constant which
implies that is constant on (). Hence ( , ) is connected.

Let us recall that a function ( , ) ( , ) is said to be a Homeomorphism if

(i). is bijective
(ii). is continuous and
(iii). 1 is continuous.

A property of a metric space ( , ) is said to be topological property if it is preserved

by a homeomorphism.

Theorem 4.2: Connectedness of a metric space is a topological property.

Proof: Since connectedness is preserved under a continuous function and a

homeomorphism is a continuous function, therefore, connectedness is preserved under
homeomorphism and hence is a topological property.

Theorem 4.3: Let ( , ) and ( , ) be homeomorphic metric spaces. Then ( , ) is

connected if and only if ( , ) is connected.

Proof: Let ( , ) ( , ) be a homeomorphism from ( , ) onto ( , ). Let ( , ) be

connected. Since is continuous and onto and since continuous image of a connected
metric space is connected, therefore () = is connected. Again since is
homeomorphism, is one to one and 1 is continuous, therefore by the same argument,
= 1 () = 1 () is connected.

5. Unions, Intersections of Connected Subsets

In this Section we study the behavior of connectedness with respect to the union and
intersection of a family of connected sets. Later, we shall study their behavior with respect
to product also. We observe that union of two connected subspaces in general may not be

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connected. However, if they have non empty intersection, then their union is connected.
But intersection of two connected subspaces may not be connected even if they have non
empty intersection.

Definition 5.1: Let be any non-empty set. A family of non - empty subsets of is
called a chained collection if, and only if for each , there exists an ordered -tuple
(1 , 2 , , ) of members of with = 1 , = and 1 , 1 < such an -
tuple (1 , 2 , , ) is called a chain from to in .

Theorem 5.1: Suppose (, ) is a metric space and suppose is a chained collection of

connected subsets of X. Then is also connected.
Proof: Let = . We show that S is connected. Let : ( , ) be any continuous
function where = {0 , 1} and is a discrete metric on . Since every member of is
connected, we have that | is constant for each . Now let , and let , be
such that and . If A = , then, since | is constant, we have | () = | () = ,
where is a constant. But this gives () = () = i.e. is constant since and are
arbitrary elements of .
Next, if A B, {1} and a chain (U1 , U2 , , Un ) of elements of satisfying A = U1 , B =
Un and Ui1 Ui for all i = 2,3, , n.
Choose ui Ui1 Ui for all i = 2, ,3, , n (1)
Since each Ui is connected and f|U i is continuous and therefore constant for all i = 2, ,3, , n.
From (1), 2 U1 U2 u2 U1 = A .
Therefore , 2 () = (2 ) . Now 1 and 1 2 1 and so both 1
and 1 which implies (1 ) = ( ) = 3, , .
Again from (1), we have un Un1 Un un Un = B and both , Hence,
( ) = () . Whence, we get
() = (2 ) = (3 ) = = ( ) = () () = ().

Since and are arbitrary elements of , this shows that is constant on and therefore
is connected.

Corollary 5.1: In a metric space ( , ) if is a collection of non empty connected

subsets of for which , then is connected.

Proof: Given that . Hence for any , , we have and so is a

chained collection consisting of connected subsets of and so by theorem 5.1, is
connected.

Remark 5.1: The condition of non-empty intersection in the Corollary 5.1 cannot be
dropped as can be seen from the following example :

Example 5.1: Let ( , ) be a metric space equipped with the standard product metric d. Let
= { < 0 } and let = { > 0 } be subsets of R. Then and being
respectively left ray ( , 0) and right ray (0 , ) are connected subsets of . Now the set
= is expressible as a union of two disjoint open subsets namely, and (since
= ). Hence is disconnected. Thus union of two connected sets need not be
connected if the two connected sets do not intersect.

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Remark 5.2: As we have seen in corollary 5.1, union of two or more connected spaces
having non empty intersection is connected. However, the same is not true for intersection
of connected spaces even if they intersect. This is illustrated in the following examples:

Example 5.2: Let = {( , 0) 1 1 } be the segment on the axis and

= { ( , ) 2 + 2 = 1} be the circle in the plane, then each of and is connected.
Now, = {( 1 , 0) , (1 , 0) }, which is obviously disconnected.

Example 5.3: Let = {( , ) 2 + 2 = 4} be a circle in 2 and = {( , ) = 1} be a

straight line in 2 . Then both and are connected. The intersection
= {(3, 1) , (3 , 1) } is disconnected.

Example 5.4: Let = {( , ) 2 2 + 2 = 1} denotes the circle of unit radius in 2 and

B = {(x , y) 2 4x 2 + y 2 = 1} be the ellipse in 2 . Both A and B are connected,
however A B = {(0 , 1), (0 , 1)} is disconnected.

Let us now, give an alternative proof of Theorem 3.1 using Corollary 5.1 of Theorem 5.1

Alternative Proof of Theorem 3.1

Let us first assume that is connected. Now let , be any pair of points in . Then
obviously there exist a connected subset namely itself which contains both and .
Conversely, suppose for each pair of points , , there exists a connected
set containing both and and is such that . Now let us fix a point . Then
by hypothesis, for each , there exists a connected set of such that { , } .
Let = { } is a collection of connected subsets of such that
. . , . Hence, by Corollary 5.3, is connected subset of .
Further, since , we have . But this gives = which
shows that is connected.

6. Connected Components in Metric Spaces

Definition 6.1: Suppose ( , ) is a metric space. A subset is called a connected

component of X if is connected and there is no connected subset in such that is
properly contained in . In other words, if is any connected subset of such that
, then = .

If ( , ) is a connected metric space, then there is only one connected component namely,
the set itself. However, if (, ) is disconnected, it may have several connected
components. For example, if ( , ) is a discrete metric space then its only connected
components are the singleton subsets of .

Example 6.1: Let = [0 , 1] [2 , 3] [4 , 5] be any subset of . Then it has only 3 connected

components namely, [0 , 1] , [2 , 3] , and [4 , 5].

Example 6.2: Consider the subset

1
= {0}

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of and let be the induced metric on from ( , ). Then {0} is a connected subset of
(, ). We claim that {0} is a connected component in ( , ). Let 0 be any connected subset
in such that 0 0 . We claim that 0 = {0}. Suppose on the contrary, there exists
1 1
such that 0 . Then for any irrational number such that 0 < < , the sets (, )

0 , ( , ) 0 are nonempty, disjoint and open subsets of whose union is 0 This implies
that 0 is disconnected contradicting the fact that 0 is connected. Hence 0 = {0}.

Example 6.3: Let be the subset of rational numbers in ( , ). For each , the
connected component containing is the set {} itself. Equivalently, any subset of
containing more than one element is disconnected. This can be seen as follows:
Let , and let < . Let be an irrational number such that < < then
(, ) and (, ) provide a disconnection of . This shows that is disconnected.

Theorem 6.1: Suppose ( , ) is a metric space. And let denote the collection of all
connected components of . Then
(i) , , =
(ii) , is closed
(iii) is the union of elements of .

Proof: (i). Suppose there exist , such that and . Then is

connected and is such that and . But since and are connected
components, we have = = , a contradiction to .

(ii). Let . Then is a connected component of . Since the closure of a connected

set is connected, therefore is connected. Therefore have = , i.e. is closed.

(iii). We show that = { }. Let . Let

= { }.
Then as {} . Now , and so we have . ., .
Therefore is connected.
Let = . Then is connected and . We claim that is a connected component
in . Let be any connected subset of such that and . But since and is a
connected subset of , therefore and so . Hence = . Therefore, is a
connected component in containing . Whence, . Thus we see that for each ,
there exists such that . Thus { } . Thus = { }.

Consider the metric space (, ), where = (0,1) (2,3) (4,5) and is the metric induced on
by the usual metric of . Then clearly, has 3 connected components namely, (0,1), (2,3)
and (4,5) which are open as well closed.

Now to see that connected components need not be open, consider subset
1
= {0}

of and the induced metric on from ( , ). Then we have already seen that {0} is a
connected component in ( , ). However, it is easily seen that {0} is not open in (, ).

7. CONNECTED SUBSETS OF ( , )

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Let ( , ) be a metric space where denotes the set of real numbers and denotes the
usual metric defined on . In this section we shall study what subsets of are connected
under . It is obvious that all singleton subsets of are connected. However, a finite subset
containing more than one point may not be connected, since if is a finite subset of , then
( , ) would be a discrete metric which is disconnected. Similarly, the subspace ( , ) of
integers being a discrete subspace is also disconnected . Even, we have the following:

Example 7.1: The subspace ( , ) of ( , ) is disconnected.

Let be such that is an irrational number. Then ( , ) and ( , ) are open subsets in
. Therefore, ( , ) and ( , ) are open subsets in satisfying

= (( , ) ) (( , ) ) and (( , ) ) (( , ) ) = implying that ( , )

is disconnected.

Example 7.2: The subspace (~ , ~ ) of ( , ) is disconnected. (Prove yourself)

Theorem 7.1: A subset S of ( , ) is connected if and only S is an interval.

Proof: Let be a connected subset of ( , ). We show that is an interval. If = , then

the result is obvious. So let us assume that . Suppose that is not an interval. Then
there exist real numbers , , and such that < < where , and . Define
= ( , ) and = ( , ) . Then and are open subsets of and are such
that = and = implying that is disconnected, a contradiction.

, let be a subset of such that is an interval. We show that is connected. We

show that each continuous function {0 , 1} is constant. Let {0 , 1} be continuous
and let be not constant. Then there exist at least one pair of points 1 and 1 in such that
(1 ) = 0 and (1 ) = 1. Since 1 and 1 are real numbers, without any loss of generality,
1 +1
we may assume that 1 < 1 . Let = be the midpoint of 1 and 1 . Then either ( ) = 0
2
or () = 1. If () = 0, let us put = 2 and 2 = 1 . Now,

1 + 1 1 1
2 2 = 1 = .
2 2

On the other hand If () = 1, we put 2 = 1 and = 2 . Also,

1 + 1 1 1
2 1 = 1 = 1 = .
2 2

By the above construction, we have 1 2 2 1 .

Continuing this process indefinitely, we get monotonic increasing sequence { } and

monotonic decreasing sequence { } with such that:
(i). ,
1
(ii). = (1 1 )
2 1
(iii). ( ) = 0 and ( ) = 1 .

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The sequences { } and { } are bounded above and bounded below, respectively
and hence are convergent. Let { } and let { } \ . Since is continuous, we
have () = 0 and () = 1. Further, we have that
1
lim ( ) = lim 1 (1 1 ) = 0
2
lim = lim

= .
If we denote by this common value, i.e. if = = , we see that () = () = 0 and
() = () = 1 contradicting that is a function. This contradiction proves that is
constant and so is connected.

Corollary 7.1: The range of a continuous real valued function defined on a connected
metric space is an interval.

Proof: Let ( , ) be a connected metric space and let be a continuous real valued
function on . Then () is a connected subset of R and so by Theorem 3.1 is an interval.

Example 7.3: All intervals of the form ( , ), ( , ), [ , ) , ( , ] , [ , ] , ( , ] , [ , ) , ( , )

are connected.

The following theorem is also a consequence of theorem 3.1 called the Intermediate Value
Theorem:

Theorem 7.2: Let ( , ) ( , ) be a continuous function from a connected metric

space ( , ) into the metric space ( , ). Then for any , and such that () <
< () there exists such that () = .

Proof: Since ( , ) is a connected metric space and since is a continuous function,

therefore () is a connected subset of . Hence () is an interval. Now since
() , () () and such that () < < (), therefore, there exists an element
such that () = which proves the theorem.

Before we proceed further, let us discuss two important results concerning connected
metric spaces.

Theorem 7.3: Every line segment in 2 is connected

Proof: Let be a line segment in 2 . Let us take point to origin and the line segment
produced as the axis. Let it be denoted by . Now draw a perpendicular from on
. Let the coordinates of the point be ( , 0). Now define a function

[0 , ] 2 () = ( , 0).

We claim that is continuous.

Let 0 be any arbitrary element of [0 , ] and let { } be a sequence in [0 , ] such that

{ } 0 . We show that {( )} (0 ). Now ( ) = ( , 0) (0 , 0) = (0 ). Hence
({ }) (0 ) implying that is continuous. Now since [0 , ] is connected and a continuous

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image of a connected space is connected. Therefore, ([0 , ]) is a connected subset of 2 .

But since ([0 , ]) = , therefore is connected.

Theorem 7.4: Every circle is a connected subset of 2 .

Proof: Let be a circle of radius having centre at the origin. Then the parametric equation
of is given by = , = where 0 2. Now define a function 2
by setting () = ( , ). We show that is continuous. Let 0 be any element of .
Let denote the product metric on 2 which is nothing but the Euclidean metric. Hence for
any , we have
(), (0 ) = ( , ), ( 0 , 0 )
= ( cos cos 0 )2 + ( sin sin 0 )2
1
= 2 sin ( 0 )
2
Since the sine function is a continuous function, therefore given > 0 we can find a > 0
1 1 1
such that whenever, ( 0 ) < we have sin ( 0 ) <
2 2 2 2
i.e., | 0 | < we have (), (0 ) < .
This shows that is continuous at 0 . But 0 is an arbitrary point of , therefore is
continuous on . Since continuous image of a connected space is connected and since
[0 , 2[ is a connected subset of , therefore its image the circle is connected, proving the
theorem.

8. Product of Connected Metric Spaces

In this section we study the behavior of connectedness with respect to the product of metric
spaces. We have the following:

Theorem 8.1: Let (1 , 1 ) and (2 , 2 ) be two metric spaces. Let ( , ) denote the product
metric space where = 1 2 and = 1 2 . Then ( , ) is connected if and only if each
coordinate space is connected.

Proof: Let first assume that ( , ) is connected. Since the projection functions 1 and
2 from ( , ) onto coordinate spaces, i.e.,

1 ( , ) (1 , 1 ) defined by 1 ( , ) = 1 , 2

And 2 ( , ) (2 , 2 ) defined by 2 ( , ) = 1 , 2

are continuous and since a continuous image of a connected space is connected and
therefore both (1 , 1 ) and (2 , 2 ) are connected spaces.

Conversely, let us assume that both (1 , 1 ) and (2 , 2 ) are connected metric spaces. We
show that ( , ) is a connected metric space. Let ( , ) and (1 , 1 ) be any pair of points in
1 2 . We show that there is a connected subset of 1 2 that contains both the points

Since {} 2 is a copy of the connected metric space (2 , 2 ) and therefore is a connected

subset of 1 2 containing the points ( , ) and ( , 1 ). Similarly, 1 {1 } is a copy of the
connected metric space (1 , 1 ) and hence is a connected subset of 1 2 containing points
( , 1 ) and (1 , 1 ). We thus have two connected subsets {} 2 and 1 {1 } such that

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({} 2 ) (1 {1 }) . Hence ({} 2 ) (1 {1 }) is a connected subset of ( , )

containing both the points ( , ) and ( , 1 ) proving that ( , ) is connected by Theorem
2.11.

9. TOTALLY DISCONNECTED METRIC SPACES

In a discrete metric space ( , ), we have seen that the singleton subsets are the only
connected subsets of and so are also the connected components. This observation has
lead us to introduce an important class of spaces known as the totally disconnected spaces.

Definition 9.1: A metric space ( , ) is said to be totally disconnected if its connected

components are all singleton sets .

As mentioned above, all discrete metric spaces are totally disconnected. However a totally
disconnected metric space may fail to be discrete as shown in the following example:

Example 9.2: Consider ( , ) the metric space of rational numbers equipped with the
metric from the usual metric. Then the open subsets of are of the form , where
is open in . None of these is a singleton set, and so is not discrete.
But is totally disconnected because every connected component of is a
connected subset of and is therefore an interval. However, the only intervals that are
subsets of are of the form [ , ] = {} for all . Thus the only component of are
singletons only. This shows that ( , ) is totally disconnected.

Theorem 9.1: The Cantor set is totally disconnected under induced metric defined on
[0 , 1].
Proof: Let us recall the construction of the Cantors set. As a first step, We divide the
1 2
interval [0 , 1] in three equal parts and exclude the interval , . The number of the closed
3 3
subintervals left is 2 and the length of each of these intervals is 31 . Moreover, they are
disjoint. Let the union of these two intervals be denoted by 1 . In the second step we divide
1 2
each of the remaining two closed intervals [0 , ] and [ , 1] into three equal parts and again
3 3
we remove the middle third open intervals from them. Now the number of remaining closed
intervals is 22 and the length of each of these closed intervals is32 . Also, the remaining
closed intervals are pairwise disjoint. Let the union of these four intervals be denoted by 2 .
We continue this process indefinitely. After step, we see that is the union of 2
pairwise disjoint closed subintervals each of which is of length 3 . The cantor set is
defined as the intersection of all s for uncountably many k.
We claim that the only connected subsets of are singletons. Let be a non - empty
connected subset of . Then for each . Since is the union of 2 Pairwise disjoint
closed subintervals each of length3 , therefore, is contained in exactly one of these
subintervals for otherwise would be disconnected. Hence 3 for all 0. Hence
for sufficiently large , = 0 this implies that is singleton.

10. PATH WISE CONNECTED METRIC SPACES

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Definition 10.1: Let ( , ) be a metric space. Then a continuous function : [0 ,1] ( , )

from the closed interval [0 , 1] into ( , ) is called a path in from the point (0) to the point
(1). The points (0) and (1) of are called the endpoints of the path.

Definition 10.2: A metric space is said to be path wise connected if for each pair of points
, there exists a continuous function [0 , 1] ( , ) such that (0) = and (1) = .
In other words, there exists a path in with end points and .

THEOREM 10.3: Every path is uniformly continuous and its image is connected and
compact.

Proof: Let ( , ) be a metric space and let be a continuous function from [0 , 1] onto
( , ). Since every continuous function defined on a compact space is uniformly continuous
therefore, [0 , 1] being compact, is uniformly continuous. Further, since continuous image
of a compact and connected space respectively is compact and connected, therefore, [0 , 1]
being both compact and connected, image of the path is both compact And connected.

A useful reformulation of path wise connectedness is given in the following proposition.

Theorem 10.4: Let (, ) be a metric space and 0 be any element. ( , ) is Path wise
connected if and only if each can be joined to 0 by a path.
Proof: If ( , ) is path wise connected, then the condition of the theorem trivially holds.
Conversely, let assume that the condition of the theorem is satisfied and let , be any
elements of . By hypothesis, let [0 , 1] ( , ) be a path from to 0 and let
: [0 , 1]( , ) be a path from 0 to . Now define a function [0 , 1] ( , ) as follows :
f (2 x) 0 x 12
() = .
g(2 x 1) <
1
2
x 1
Now since lim1 () = (1) = 0 , lim1+ () = (0) = 0 thus we see that h is a
2 2
continuous function satisfying (0) = and (1) = . Since and are arbitrary elements
of , we conclude that ( , ) is path wise connected.

The general relation between connectedness and path wise connectedness is given by the
following theorem.

Theorem 10.5: Let (, ) be a metric space. If (, ) is path wise connected, then it is

connected.

Proof: Suppose (, ) is path wise connected . If ( , ) is empty, then the result is obvious
so let us assume that . Let ; then for each , there exists a continuous function
: [0, 1] ( , ) such that (0) = and (1) = . Since [0, 1] is connected and fb is
continuous, ([0, 1]) is connected. Moreover, ([0, 1]) and, hence, by Corollary 5.1
of Lesson I, = ([0, 1]) is connected in .

Theorem 10.6: Every continuous image of a path wise connected metric space (, ) is path
wise connected.

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 CONNECTEDNESS

Proof: Let (, ) ( , ) be a continuous function defined on a path wise metric space

(, ) onto a metric space ( , ). We show that () = is path wise connected. Let
, () then there exist such that () = and () = . Now since (, ) is path
wise connected, there exists a continuous function [0 , 1] (, ) such that (0) = and
(1) = . Consider the composition function [0 , 1] ( , ). being a composition of
two continuous functions is a continuous function and satisfies (0) = and (1) =
. Since and are arbitrary elements of () = , therefore ( , ) is path wise connected.

Next, we show that path wise connectedness of a metric space is stronger condition than its
being connected. In support of this statement it is sufficient to give an example of a
connected metric space that is not path wise connected.

Example 10.7: Let

1 1
= , 2 0 <

and let = {(0, 0)}.
Since the set (0,1/) being an interval is a connected set, and since the function (0 , 1)
defined by () = (, (1/)) is continuous that maps this interval onto the set , it follows
that A is connected . Now if we can show that (0, 0) is a closure point of , then from A B
A , it will immediately follow that B is connected.
Now to show that (0, 0) is a closure point of , it suffices to find a sequence { } of points
in such that lim = (0 , 0). But if = 1/(), where n N, then (1/) = () = 0,
and so the point = (1/(), 0) is in the set . Moreover, it is clear that (0, 0) as ,
as required. B is thus connected. However, it is not path wise connected.

11. SOME SOLVED PROBLEMS

Problem 11.1: State with justification as to which of the following sets in R2 equipped with
the standard metric are connected:
(i) = {( , ): 1}
(ii) = {( , ): = 0 2; = 1 };
(iii) = {( , ): = };
(iv) = {( , ): 1 < 2 + 2 2};
(v) = {( , ): 0 < < 1 }.

Solution: (i) The set is connected since any two points in can be joined by a straight
line segment.

(ii) The set is not connected because of the following argument:

Let = {(, ) < 1/2} and = {(, ) > 1/2}. Then and are open subsets in 2 .
Therefore and are non empty subsets of satisfying = ( ) ( ) with
( ) ( ) = . Thus ( ) and ( ) form a separation of .
(iii) The set is connected. Looking at the graph of the function it is clear that any
two points in the set can be joined by the continuous curve () = sin .

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 CONNECTEDNESS

(iv) The set is connected, since any two points on the curve can be joined by a
continuous curve.

(v) The set is not connected for the following reason:

Let = {(, ) < 2} and = {(, ) > 2}. Then and are disjoint open subsets of
2 . Therefore and are disjoint open subsets of such that = ( ) ( ).
This shows that and form a separation of .

Problem 11.2: Let ( , ) be a metric space and let be an open subset of and be such
that is expressible as a union of two separated sets and . Then each of and is
open.
Solution: Let be any open subset of . Further, let us assume that . It is given that
= with = = . Now if , then we have that and B . Since
is an open set and , there exists 1 > 0 such that ( , 1 ) . Also, since B ,
there exists 2 > 0 such that ( , 2 ) and ( , 2 ) = .
Now, let = {1 , 2 } . Then ( , ) implying that is a neighborhood of . Since
is any arbitrary element of , we conclude that is a neighbourhood of each of its points.
Therefore is open. Proceeding exactly on the same line as above, we can show that B is
also open.

Problem 11.3: Let ( , ) be a metric space and let have a finite number of components
1 , 2 , , . Then each component in X is open.
Solution: We know that components of a metric space ( , ) are closed and connected
subset of whose union is . Hence 1 , 2 , , are closed connected subsets of and are
such that = =1 = . Hence for each , 1 , we have

= .
=1

Now since a finite union of closed sets is closed and complement of a closed set is open,
therefore is open.

Problem 11.4: Let be any function defined as

()
() = ,
()
then cannot be continuous.
Solution: Let if possible be continuous. Then since is connected and the continuous
image of a connected space is connected, therefore, () is connected. Since () is
connected subset of , therefore () is either a singleton set or is an interval. However,
the way the function is defined, () is not a singleton, i.e., is not constant and so ()
is an interval. Now () being an interval is uncountable. But we are given that ()
and ( ) . This implies that () = ( ) = () ( ) is countable
which contradicts the fact that () is uncountable. This contradiction proves that cannot
be continuous.

Problem 11.5: Let and be connected subsets of a metric space ( , ) and let contain
a point of , then is connected.

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 CONNECTEDNESS

Solution: Suppose that B . Since {} B , and since is connected, it

follows that {} is connected. Furthermore, since = {}, we have that
= ( {}) = ({} ) .

This shows that is expressed as the union of connected sets and {} , which have
nonempty intersection (since both sets contain ). Hence, is connected.

12. Summary
In this lesson, we have defined the notion of connectedness and proved several criteria for
connectedness of metric spaces. We showed that it is a topological property. Later, we
discussed subspaces of connected metric spaces. We showed that the union of a collection
of connected spaces having non empty intersection is connected. However, the intersection
of two connected subsets may fail to be connected even if they intersect.

We have seen in the previous lesson, that in any metric space ( , ), singletons are always
connected irrespective of whether the metric space is connected or disconnected. However,
the problem is whether in a disconnected metric space there exist connected subsets
containing more than one element. In this lesson, we considered this problem and
introduced the notion of connected components, that is the maximal connected subsets of a
metric space. We proved that they are always closed. However, if the number of
components in a metric space is finite, then they are open as well.

We further showed that the collection of components form a partition of any metric space.
Later, we discussed the metric space ( , ) and showed that it is always connected. Also,
we proved that a subspace of R is connected if and only if it is an interval.

We close this lesson by discussing two variants of connectedness, namely, Totally

disconnectedness and path wise connectedness. We showed that path wise connectedness
is stronger than connectedness and it is also preserved under homeomorphism. As far as
total disconnectedness is concerned, we have proved that its components are only
singletons, however its converse is not true.

13. Problems for Practice

1. Which of the following subsets of ( , ) are Connected?
(i). The set of integers
(ii). The set of rational numbers
(iii). [ , ]
(iv). [ , ]
2. Show that a metric space ( , ) is totally disconnected if for each pair of points
, , there exist and , , , = , , such that
and .
3. Show that the set of all irrational numbers under the induced metric from the usual
metric on is totally disconnected.
4. Suppose ( , )is a metric space and let S be a connected subset of such that
where A and B are separated subsets of . Show that or .
5. Which of the following sets are path wise connected

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 CONNECTEDNESS

(a). [0 , 1]
(b). [4 , 5] [6 , 7]
(c). { [0 , 1] }
(d). { ( , ) 2 . 1 , > 1} { ( , ) 2 . 1 , 1} .
6. Find two subsets and of 2 and a point 2 such that is disconnected but
{} is connected.
7. Give an example of a disconnected subspace of a topological space R for which
there are no nonempty sets , such that = and = .

8. Show that there is no continuous injective map 2 .

9. Consider the following Problem. The first space is considered as a subspace of R, the
three latter spaces as subspaces of 2 ; in all cases and 2 have the Euclidean
metric. Decide whether these spaces are connected:
1
(a). :

(b). ( ) ( )
(c). {(, ): ( + 1)2 + 2 < 1} {(, ): ( 1)2 + 2 1}
(d). {(, ): 1}

10. Give an example of a connected space but whose interior is not connected.

11. Suppose is a connected subset of a metric space ( , ). Must the boundary of

be connected?

12. Let = (0 , 1) (1 , 2] be a subset of . Show that is disconnected but is

connected.
13. Give example of two disconnected spaces and of a metric space ( , ) such that
is connected.
14. Give an example of two connected spaces and such that but is
disconnected.
15. If and are connected subsets of a metric space and contains a
point of then is connected.

16. Suppose ( , ) is a metric space and let be a connected subset of such that
where and are separated subsets of . Show that or .
17. Suppose ( , ) is a metric space and let and subsets of both and are closed
in . If both and are connected then both and are connected.
18. Let and be two connected subsets such that and . Show that
is connected.
19. Prove or disprove that the interior and the boundary of a connected set in a metric
space ( , ) are connected.
20. Let = { , 1x ) 0 < 1 2 where 2 is equipped with the standard

metric and if = A then show that is connected.

14. Multiple Choice Questions:

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1. Let ( , ) be a metric space where as usual is the set of real numbers and d is the
usual metric on . Put a tick () on the correct statement.
(a). Every singleton subset of is connected
(b). Every finite subset of containing more than one element is connected
(c). Every countable subset of is connected
(d). Every uncountable subset of is Connected.

2. Let ( , ) be a metric space where as usual is the set of real numbers and d is the
usual metric on . Put a tick () on the correct statement.
(a). The set ( 2 , 3) {0} is connected
(b). The set (2 , 5) {0} is connected
(c). The set (2 , 5) (5, 8) is connected
(d). The set (2 , 5) {5} is connected.

3. Let ( , ) be a metric space where as usual is the set of real numbers aand d is the
discrete metric on . Put a tick () on the correct statement.
(a). The set is connected
(b). The set is connected in
(c). every finite subset of is connected in
(d). is connected in .

4. Let ( , ) be a connected metric space and let ( = {0 , 1}, ) where is the

discrete metric on . Put a tick () on the correct statement.
(a). Each function ( , ) ( , ) is continuous but non- constant.
(b). Each function ( , ) ( , ) is non - constant
(c). Each continuous function ( , ) ( , ) is constant.
(d). Each function ( , ) ( , ) is a homeomorphism.

5. Let ( , ) be a connected metric space. Put a tick () on the correct statement.

(a). has a non - empty closed and open subset of .
(b). There exist a pair of non empty disjoint open subsets 1 and 2 of such
that = 1 2 .
(c). There exist a pair of non-empty disjoint closed subsets 1 and 2 of such
that = 1 2 .
(d). For any subset of , A .

6. Let ( , ) be metric space endowed with the usual metric. Let denote the set of
integers. Put a tick () on the correct statement.
(a). The collection of positive integers + is connected
(b). The set {0} is connected.
(c). The set is connected.
(d). The set is disconnected

7. Let ( , ) be a metric space where as usual is the set of real numbers and d is the
usual metric on . Put a tick () on the correct statement.

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 CONNECTEDNESS

(a). Each singleton set is a component in

(b). The set (2 , 5) {0} is a component in
(c). The set is a component in
(d). The set itself is a component of .

8. Let ( , ) be a totally disconnected metric space where as usual is the set of real
numbers and d is a metric on . Put a tick () on the correct statement.
(a). (, ) is path wise connected
(b). Every proper subset of is connected
(c). Every proper subset of is disconnected
(d). Each singleton subset of is connected.

9. Let ( , ) be a metric space and let be any proper non empty subset of such
that = . Put a tick () on the correct statement.
(a). ( , ) is path wise connected
(b). ( , ) is connected
(c). ( , ) is disconnected
(d). None of the above is true.

10. Let ( , ) be a metric space. Put a tick () on the correct statement.

(a). Every closed subset of is a component in .
(b). Every component in is a closed subset of
(c). Every component in is an open subset of
(d). There exists a component in which is neither open nor closed subset of .

11. Let ( , ) be a metric space and let denote the family of all components in . Put
a tick () on the correct statement.
(a). If , then .
(b). If , then
(c). { } =
(d). { }

15. References
[1]. GEORGE F. SIMMONS, INTRODUCTION TO TOPOLOGY AND MODERN
ANALYSIS, McGRAW HILL BOOK Co., NEW YORK, 1963
[2]. E.T.COPSON, METRIC SPACES, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS,
CAMBRIDGE, 1968.
[3]. MICHEAL O SEARCOID, METRIC SPACES, SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL
EDITION, NEW DELHI, 2008.
[4]. W.A. SUTHERLAND, INTRODUCTION TO METRIC AND TOPOLOGICAL SPACES,
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD, 1975.
[5]. SATISH SHIRALI AND H L VASUDEVA, METRIC SPACES, SPRINGER
VERLAGE LONDON, LIMITED, 2006.

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