HOMEWORK SHEET 1

ALGEBRAIC TOPOLOGY
INSTRUCTOR: HAMILTON

(1) Let X be a topological space and x0 X be a basepoint in X. Consider the path

connected component X0 that contains the basepoint x0 . Show that the inclusion
i : X0 X
induces an isomorphism between the fundamental groups (X0 , x0 ) and (X, x0 ).
(2) Compute the fundamental groups of the following spaces:
(a) R2 {0}.
(b) {(x, y) R2 : xy = 0}.
(c) {(x, y) R2 : q Q : y = qx}.
(3) Show that in a path connected space X, any two paths in X are homotopic if we
do not insist that such a homotopy fix the endpoints of the path.