1 - Introduction

Summary

Purpose This book is an introduction to some of the basic concepts of topology, especially of non-Hausdorff topology. I will of course explain what it means (Definition 4.1.12). The important point is that traditional topology textbooks assume the Hausdorff separation condition from the very start, and contain very little information on non-Hausdorff spaces. But the latter are important already in algebraic geometry, and crucial in fields such as domain theory.

Conversely, domain theory (Abramsky and Jung, 1994; Gierz et al., 2003), which arose from logic and computer science, started as an outgrowth of theories of order. Progress in this domain rapidly required a lot of material on (non-Hausdorff) topologies.

After about 40 years of domain theory, one is forced to recognize that topology and domain theory have been beneficial to each other. I've already mentioned what domain theory owes to topology. Conversely, in several respects, domain theory, in a broad sense, is topology done right.

This book is an introduction to both fields, dealt with as one. This seems to fill a gap in the literature, while bringing them forth in a refreshing perspective.

Secondary purpose This book is self-contained. My main interest, though, as an author, was to produce a unique reference for the kind of results in topology and domain theory that I needed in research I started in 2004, on semantic models of mixed non-deterministic and probabilistic choice.