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Locally compact space

topological space such that every point has a neighbourhood with compact closure

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ583034
Source-derived summary

In topology and related branches of mathematics, a topological space is called locally compact if, roughly speaking, each small portion of the space looks like a small portion of a compact space. More precisely, it is a topological space in which every point has a compact neighborhood.

When locally compact spaces are Hausdorff they are called locally compact Hausdorff, which are of particular interest in mathematical analysis.

Formal definition

Let X be a topological space. Most commonly X is called locally compact if every point x of X has a compact neighbourhood, i.e., there exists an open set U and a compact set K, such that

x

U

K

{\displaystyle x\in U\subseteq K}

.

There are other common definitions, which are all equivalent if X is a Hausdorff space (or preregular), but are not equivalent in general:

1. every point of X has a compact neighbourhood.

2. every point of X has a closed compact neighbourhood.

2′.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Locally compact space” is topological space such that every point has a neighbourhood with compact closure. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Locally, compact and space, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current 159-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Locally, compact and space is the immediate research focus.
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The phrase “topological space such that every point has a neighbourhood with compact closure” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q583034. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Locally compact space” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.