Let be a topological space, and let be an equivalence relation on. The quotient set, is the set of equivalence classes of elements of. As usual, the equivalence class of is denoted. The quotient space under is the quotient set equipped with the quotient topology, that is the topology whose open sets are the subsets such that is open in. That is, Equivalently, the open sets of the quotient topology are the subsets of that have an open preimage under the surjective map. The quotient topology is the final topology on the quotient set, with respect to the map.
Quotient map
A map is a quotient map if it is surjective, and a subset U of Y is open if and only if is open. Equivalently, is a quotient map if it is onto and is equipped with the final topology with respect to . Given an equivalence relation on, the canonical map is a quotient map.
Examples
Gluing. Topologists talk of gluing points together. If X is a topological space, gluing the points x and y in X means considering the quotient space obtained from the equivalence relation if and only if or .
Consider the unit square and the equivalence relation ~ generated by the requirement that all boundary points be equivalent, thus identifying all boundary points to a single equivalence class. Then is homeomorphic to the sphere.
Adjunction space. More generally, suppose X is a space and A is a subspace of X. One can identify all points in A to a single equivalence class and leave points outside of A equivalent only to themselves. The resulting quotient space is denoted X/A. The 2-sphere is then homeomorphic to a closed disc with its boundary identified to a single point:.
Consider the set R of real numbers with the ordinary topology, and write if and only if is an integer. Then the quotient space X/~ is homeomorphic to the unit circleS1 via the homeomorphism which sends the equivalence class of x to exp.
A generalization of the previous example is the following: Suppose a topological groupGacts continuously on a space X. One can form an equivalence relation on X by saying points are equivalent if and only if they lie in the same orbit. The quotient space under this relation is called the orbit space, denoted X/G. In the previous example acts on R by translation. The orbit space R/Z is homeomorphic to S1.
Note: The notation R/Z is somewhat ambiguous. If Z is understood to be a group acting on R via addition, then the quotient is the circle. However, if Z is thought of as a subspace of R, then the quotient is a countably infinitebouquet of circles joined at a single point.
Properties
Quotient maps are characterized among surjective maps by the following property: if Z is any topological space and is any function, then f is continuous if and only if is continuous. The quotient space X/~ together with the quotient map is characterized by the following universal property: if is a continuous map such that implies for all a and b in X, then there exists a unique continuous map such that. We say that gdescends to the quotient. The continuous maps defined on X/~ are therefore precisely those maps which arise from continuous maps defined on X that respect the equivalence relation. This criterion is copiously used when studying quotient spaces. Given a continuous surjection it is useful to have criteria by which one can determine if q is a quotient map. Two sufficient criteria are that q be open or closed. Note that these conditions are only sufficient, not necessary. It is easy to construct examples of quotient maps that are neither open nor closed. For topological groups, the quotient map is open.
* In general, quotient spaces are ill-behaved with respect to separation axioms. The separation properties of X need not be inherited by X/~, and X/~ may have separation properties not shared by X.
* X/~ is a T1 space if and only if every equivalence class of ~ is closed in X.
