 |
| Separation axioms in topological spaces | |
|---|---|
| Kolmogorov classification | |
| T0 | (Kolmogorov) |
| T1 | (Fréchet) |
| T2 | (Hausdorff) |
| T2½ | (Urysohn) |
| completely T2 | (completely Hausdorff) |
| T3 | (regular Hausdorff) |
| T3½ | (Tychonoff) |
| T4 | (normal Hausdorff) |
| T5 | (completely normal Hausdorff) |
| T6 | (perfectly normal Hausdorff) |
In topology, two points of a topological space X are topologically indistinguishable if they have exactly the same neighborhoods. That is, if x and y are points in X, and Nx is the set of all neighborhoods that contain x, and Ny is the set of all neighborhoods that contain y, then x and y are "topologically indistinguishable" if and only if Nx = Ny. (See Hausdorff's axiomatic neighborhood systems.)
Intuitively, two points are topologically indistinguishable if the topology of X is unable to discern between the points.
Two points of X are topologically distinguishable if they are not topologically indistinguishable. This means there is an open set containing precisely one of the two points (equivalently, there is a closed set containing precisely one of the two points). This open set can then be used to distinguish between the two points. A T0 space is a topological space in which every pair of distinct points is topologically distinguishable. This is the weakest of the separation axioms.
Topological indistinguishability defines an equivalence relation on any topological space X. If x and y are points of X we write x ≡ y for "x and y are topologically indistinguishable". The equivalence class of x will be denoted by [x].