In the mathematical discipline of general topology, a Polish space is a separable completely metrizable topological space; that is, a space homeomorphic to a complete metric space that has a countable dense subset. Polish spaces are so named because they were first extensively studied by Polish topologists and logicians — Sierpiński, Kuratowski, Tarski and others. However, Polish spaces are primarily studied today because they are the primary setting for descriptive set theory, including the study of Borel equivalence relations.
Common examples of Polish spaces are the real line, any separable Banach space, the Cantor space, and Baire space. Additionally, some spaces that are not complete metric spaces in the usual metric may be Polish; e.g., the open interval (0, 1) is Polish.
Between any two uncountable Polish spaces, there is a Borel isomorphism; that is, a bijection that preserves the Borel structure. In particular, every uncountable Polish space has the cardinality of the continuum.
Lusin spaces, Suslin spaces, and Radon spaces are generalizations of Polish spaces.
Read more about Polish Space: Properties, Characterization, Polish Metric Spaces
Famous quotes containing the words polish and/or space:
“The total and universal want of manners, both in males and females, is ... remarkable ... that polish which removes the coarser and rougher parts of our nature is unknown and undreamed of.”
—Frances Trollope (1780–1863)
“What a phenomenon it has been—science fiction, space fiction—exploding out of nowhere, unexpectedly of course, as always happens when the human mind is being forced to expand; this time starwards, galaxy-wise, and who knows where next.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)