MATH 4530 Topology.

HW 7 solutions
Please declare any collaborations with classmates; if you find solutions in books or online,
acknowledge your sources in either case, write your answers in your own words.
Please attempt all questions and justify your answers.

Write the proofs in complete sentences.

(1) Show that if h, h0 : X Y are homotopic and k, k0 : Y Z are homotopic, then k h and k0 h0
are homotopic.
Solution 1: Let H : X I Y be the homotopy from h to h0 and K : Y I Z be
the homotopy from k to k0 . Define L : X I Z by L(x, t) = K(H(x, t), t). It is clearly
continuous since it is a composition of two continuous functions. We have L(x, 0) = k h(x)
and L(x, 1) = (k0 h0 )(x), hence L is a homotopy from k h to k0 h0 .
Homotopy between maps are not unique at all. It is just that we have so many ways to deform
a map to another continuously. So here is another homotopy for this problem
Solution 2: Let H : X I Y be the homotopy from h to h0 and K : Y I Z be the
homotopy from k to k0 . Define a map F : X [0, 1] Z as follows:

t [0, 1/2]
k(H(x, 2t))
F(x, t) :=
K(h0 (x), 2t 1) t [1/2, 1]

Check that maps on RHS are continuous maps from X [0, 1/2] and X [1/2, 1] to Z and
they agree on X {1/2} so that by the pasting lemma, F is a well-defined continuous map.
Now this F is a homotopy from k h and k0 h0 because
F(x, 0) = k(H(x, 0)) = k(h(x)),

F(x, 1) = K(h0 (x), 1) = k0 (h0 (x)).

(2) Let Homot(X; Y) be the set of homotopy classes of continuous maps from X to Y.
(a) Let I := [0, 1]. Show that Homot(X; I) has a single element.
(b) Show that if Y is path-connected, then Homot(I; Y) has a single point.
Solution:
(a) Let f, g Homot(X; I) and consider a straight-line homotopy between them defined by
H(x, t) = tg(x) + (1 t) f (x). Since any two elements are homotopic, Homot(X; I) has
just a single element.
(b) Let f, g : I Y be continuous maps. We need to show that f  g. For f , consider the
following map:
F : I [0, 1] Y, F(s, t) = f ((1 t)s).
It is a continuous since F is a composition of obvious continuous maps (Ill leave this
to you). Because F(s, 0) = f (s) and F(s, 1) = f (0), F is a homotopy from f to a
constant map e f (0) : I { f (0)} Y. Similarly we have a homotopy from g to eg(0) .
Now since Y is path-connected, we have a path k : [0, 1] Y from f (0) to g(0). k
induces a homotopy from e f (0) to eg(0) :
K : I [0, 1] Y, K(s, t) = k(t).
Thus f  e f (0)  eg(0)  g.
(3) A space X is said to be contractible if the identity map iX : X X is homotopic to a constant
map.
1

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Show that a disk Dn is contractible.

Show that a contractible space is path-connected.
Show that if Y is contractible, then Homot(X; Y) has a single element.
Show that if X is contractible and Y is path-connected, then Homot(X; Y) has a single element.

Solution:
(a) Consider a straight-line homotopy from the points of the disk to the origin.
(b) Let x, y X be any two points. Since X is contractible, H : X I X, that is the
homotopy from the identity map to a constant map in X. Consider the map f : I X,
defined by f (s) = H(x, 2s) for 0 s 1/2 and f (s) = H(y, 2 2s) for 1/2 s 1.
(c) Let f, g Homot(X; Y). Since Y is contractible, H : Y I Y, that is the homotopy
from the identity map to a constant map in Y. Consider the homotopy K : X I Y,
defined by K(x, t) = H( f (x), 2t) for 0 t 1/2 and K(x, t) = H(g(x), 2 2t) for
1/2 t 1.
(d) Since X is contractible, idX is homotopic to a constant map c : X {x0 } X. By
Lemma 8.9 [L], if f : X Y, f idX = f is homotopic to c = f c where f c : X
{y0 := f (x0 )} Y is a constant map.
To prove the claim, we need to show that f  f 0 for any two maps f, f 0 : X Y.
From the first paragraph, f and f 0 are homotopic to constant maps c and c 0 . By the
same argument in the last part of the proof of Problem (2,b), we can show that c  c 0
since Y is path-connected. Thus f  c  c 0  f 0 .
(4) Spaces X and Y is said to have the same homotopy type if there are maps f : X Y and
g : Y X such that f g is homotopic to 1Y and g f is homotopic to 1X .
(a) Show that if X is contractible, then X and a single point have the same homotopy type.
(b) Show that if X and Y are homeomorphic, then X and Y have the same homotopy type.
Solution:
(a) Since X is contractible, H : XI X, that is the homotopy from the identity map, 1X
to a constant map 1c for some point c X. Let f : X c be a constant map f (x) = c
and g : c X be the inclusion map g(c) = c. Then clearly we have f g sends c to c.
By assumption, since X is contractible, we also have g f = 1c is homotopic to 1X .
(b) Take f to be the homeomorphism from X to Y and g = f 1 .
References
[M]
[S]
[L]

Munkres, Topology.
Basic Set Theory, http://www.math.cornell.edu/matsumura/math4530/basic set theory.pdf
Lecture notes, available at http://www.math.cornell.edu/matsumura/math4530/math4530web.html