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I think singleton sets $\{x\}$ where $x$ is a member of $\mathbb{R}$ are both open and closed.

Singleton sets are open because $\{x\}$ is a subset of itself. There are no points in the neighborhood of $x$.

I want to know singleton sets are closed or not.

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  • $\begingroup$ My question was with the usual metric.Sorry for not mentioning that. $\endgroup$
    – Vinod
    Commented Jan 16, 2011 at 6:48
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    $\begingroup$ You will find this funny: youtube.com/watch?v=SyD4p8_y8Kw $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 1:19
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    $\begingroup$ Umm...every set is a subset of itself, isn't it? $\endgroup$
    – TonyK
    Commented Aug 2, 2016 at 19:47
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    $\begingroup$ "Singleton sets are open because {x} is a subset of itself. " um... so? All sets are subsets of themselves. What does that have to do with being open? "There are no points in the neighborhood of x". Um, yes there are $(x - \epsilon, x + \epsilon)$ have points. But $(x - \epsilon, x + \epsilon)$ doesn't have any points of ${x}$ other than $x$ itself so $(x- \epsilon, x + \epsilon)$ that should tell you that ${x}$ can !!!!NOT!!! be open. $\endgroup$
    – fleablood
    Commented Aug 2, 2016 at 20:26
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    $\begingroup$ @JackD'Aurizio This video gives me comfort that I am not the only one struggling to understand advanced mathematics... But if this is so difficult, I wonder what makes mathematicians so interested in this subject. I also like that feeling achievement of finally solving a problem that seemed to be impossible to solve, but there's got to be more than that for which I must be missing out. Honestly, I chose math major without appreciating what it is but just a degree that will make me more employable in the future. I am afraid I am not smart enough to have chosen this major. $\endgroup$ Commented May 10, 2017 at 18:27

7 Answers 7

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As has been noted, the notion of "open" and "closed" is not absolute, but depends on a topology. So in order to answer your question one must first ask what topology you are considering.

A topological space is a pair, $(X,\tau)$, where $X$ is a nonempty set, and $\tau$ is a collection of subsets of $X$ such that:

  • $\emptyset$ and $X$ are both elements of $\tau$;
  • If $A$ and $B$ are elements of $\tau$, then $A\cap B$ is an element of $\tau$;
  • If $\{A_i\}_{i\in I}$ is an arbitrary family of elements of $\tau$, then $\bigcup_{i\in I}A_i$ is an element of $\tau$.

The elements of $\tau$ are said to be "open" (in $X$, in the topology $\tau$), and a set $C\subseteq X$ is said to be "closed" if and only if $X-C\in\tau$ (that is, if the complement is open).

In $\mathbb{R}$, we can let $\tau$ be the collection of all subsets that are unions of open intervals; equivalently, a set $\mathcal{O}\subseteq\mathbb{R}$ is open if and only if for every $x\in\mathcal{O}$ there exists $\epsilon\gt 0$ such that $(x-\epsilon,x+\epsilon)\subseteq\mathcal{O}$. You may want to convince yourself that the collection of all such sets satisfies the three conditions above, and hence makes $\mathbb{R}$ a topological space. This topology is what is called the "usual" (or "metric") topology on $\mathbb{R}$.

If you are working inside of $\mathbb{R}$ with this topology, then singletons $\{x\}$ are certainly closed, because their complements are open: given any $a\in \mathbb{R}-\{x\}$, let $\epsilon=|a-x|$. Then $x\notin (a-\epsilon,a+\epsilon)$, so $(a-\epsilon,a+\epsilon)\subseteq \mathbb{R}-\{x\}$; hence $\mathbb{R}-\{x\}$ is open, so $\{x\}$ is closed.

The reason you give for $\{x\}$ to be open does not really make sense. Every set is a subset of itself, so if that argument were valid, every set would always be "open"; but we know this is not the case in every topological space (certainly not in $\mathbb{R}$ with the "usual topology"). So that argument certainly does not work.

So: is $\{x\}$ open in $\mathbb{R}$ in the usual topology? Well, $x\in\{x\}$. Does there exist an $\epsilon\gt 0$ such that $(x-\epsilon,x+\epsilon)\subseteq \{x\}$? If so, then congratulations, you have shown the set is open. If there is no such $\epsilon$, and you prove that, then congratulations, you have shown that $\{x\}$ is not open.

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    $\begingroup$ :Excellent explanation! $\endgroup$
    – Styles
    Commented Aug 2, 2016 at 20:23
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    $\begingroup$ Arturo.Wonderful!! $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 21, 2019 at 15:42
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If you are giving $\{x\}$ the subspace topology and asking whether $\{x\}$ is open in $\{x\}$ in this topology, the answer is yes. There is only one possible topology on a one-point set, and it is discrete (and indiscrete). However, if you are considering singletons as subsets of a larger topological space, this will depend on the properties of that space. As Trevor indicates, the condition that points are closed is (equivalent to) the $T_1$ condition, and in particular is true in every metric space, including $\mathbb{R}$. When $\{x\}$ is open in a space $X$, then $x$ is called an isolated point of $X$. If all points are isolated points, then the topology is discrete. In the real numbers, for example, there are no isolated points; every open set is a union of open intervals.

In summary, if you are talking about the usual topology on the real line, then singleton sets are closed but not open.

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Every singleton set is closed. It is enough to prove that the complement is open. Consider $\{x\}$ in $\mathbb{R}$. Then $X\setminus \{x\} = (-\infty, x)\cup(x,\infty)$ which is the union of two open sets, hence open. Since the complement of $\{x\}$ is open, $\{x\}$ is closed.

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    $\begingroup$ This does not fully address the question, since in principle a set can be both open and closed. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 8, 2015 at 6:12
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    $\begingroup$ @NoahSchweber:What's wrong with chitra's answer?I think her response completely satisfied the Original post. $\endgroup$
    – Styles
    Commented Aug 2, 2016 at 18:56
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It depends on what topology you are looking at. For $T_1$ spaces, singleton sets are always closed. So for the standard topology on $\mathbb{R}$, singleton sets are always closed.

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    $\begingroup$ They are also never open in the standard topology. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 16, 2011 at 7:29
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Assume for a Topological space $(X,\mathcal{T})$ that the singleton sets $\{x\} \subset X$ are closed. Then every punctured set $X/\{x\}$ is open in this topology. If these sets form a base for the topology $\mathcal{T}$ then $\mathcal{T}$ must be the cofinite topology with $U \in \mathcal{T}$ if and only if $|X/U|$ is finite. This is because finite intersections of the open sets will generate every set with a finite complement. Equivalently, finite unions of the closed sets will generate every finite set.

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome! See math notation guide. You can edit your post to improve its appearance. $\endgroup$
    – user147263
    Commented Aug 15, 2014 at 1:06
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In the space $\mathbb R$,each one-point {$x_0$} set is closed,because every one-point set different from $x_0$ has a neighbourhood not intersecting {$x_0$},so that {$x_0$} is its own closure.

NOTE:This fact is not true for arbitrary topological spaces.

Consider the topology $\mathfrak F$ on the three-point set X={$a,b,c$},where $\mathfrak F=${$\phi$,{$a,b$},{$b,c$},{$b$},{$a,b,c$}}.

Since X\ {$b$}={a,c}$\notin \mathfrak F$ $\implies $ In the topological space (X,$\mathfrak F$),the one-point set {$b$} is not closed,for its complement is not open.

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You may just try definition to confirm. Definition of closed set : Let E be a subset of metric space (x,d). E is said to be closed if E contains all its limit points.

Now cheking for limit points of singalton set E={p}, for r>0 , N(p,r) intersection with (E-{p}) is empty equal to phi i.e. set of limit points of {p}= phi so, set {p} has no limit points so clearly {p} contains all its limit points (because phi is subset of {p})

therefor {p} is closed.

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