connectedness

connectedness, in mathematics, fundamental topological property of sets that corresponds with the usual intuitive idea of having no breaks. It is of fundamental importance because it is one of the few properties of geometric figures that remains unchanged after a homeomorphism—that is, a transformation in which the figure is deformed without tearing or folding. A point is called a limit point of a set in the Euclidean plane if there is no minimum distance from that point to members of the set; for example, the set of all numbers less than 1 has 1 as a limit point. A set is not connected if it can be divided into two parts such that a point of one part is never a limit point of the other part. The set is connected if it cannot be so divided. For example, if a point is removed from an arc, any remaining points on either side of the break will not be limit points of the other side, so the resulting set is disconnected. If a single point is removed from a simple closed curve such as a circle or polygon, on the other hand, it remains connected; if any two points are removed, it becomes disconnected. A figure-eight curve does not have this property because one point can be removed from each loop and the figure will remain connected. Whether or not a set remains connected after some of its points are removed is one of the principal ways of classifying figures in topology.