In mathematics, a limit point, accumulation point, or cluster point of a set ${\displaystyle S}$ in a topological space ${\displaystyle X}$ is a point ${\displaystyle x}$ that can be "approximated" by points of ${\displaystyle S}$ in the sense that every neighbourhood of ${\displaystyle x}$ with respect to the topology on ${\displaystyle X}$ also contains a point of ${\displaystyle S}$ other than ${\displaystyle x}$ itself. A limit point of a set ${\displaystyle S}$ does not itself have to be an element of ${\displaystyle S.}$ There is also a closely related concept for sequences. A cluster point or accumulation point of a sequence ${\displaystyle (x_{n})_{n\in \mathbb {N} }}$ in a topological space ${\displaystyle X}$ is a point ${\displaystyle x}$ such that, for every neighbourhood ${\displaystyle V}$ of ${\displaystyle x,}$ there are infinitely many natural numbers ${\displaystyle n}$ such that ${\displaystyle x_{n}\in V.}$ This definition of a cluster or accumulation point of a sequence generalizes to nets and filters.

The similarly named notion of a limit point of a sequence^[1] (respectively, a limit point of a filter,^[2] a limit point of a net) by definition refers to a point that the sequence converges to (respectively, the filter converges to, the net converges to). Importantly, although "limit point of a set" is synonymous with "cluster/accumulation point of a set", this is not true for sequences (nor nets or filters). That is, the term "limit point of a sequence" is not synonymous with "cluster/accumulation point of a sequence".

The limit points of a set should not be confused with adherent points (also called points of closure) for which every neighbourhood of ${\displaystyle x}$ contains some point of ${\displaystyle S}$. Unlike for limit points, an adherent point ${\displaystyle x}$ of ${\displaystyle S}$ may have a neighbourhood not containing points other than ${\displaystyle x}$ itself. A limit point can be characterized as an adherent point that is not an isolated point.

Limit points of a set should also not be confused with boundary points. For example, ${\displaystyle 0}$ is a boundary point (but not a limit point) of the set ${\displaystyle \{0\}}$ in ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} }$ with standard topology. However, ${\displaystyle 0.5}$ is a limit point (though not a boundary point) of interval ${\displaystyle [0,1]}$ in ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} }$ with standard topology (for a less trivial example of a limit point, see the first caption).^[3][4][5]

This concept profitably generalizes the notion of a limit and is the underpinning of concepts such as closed set and topological closure. Indeed, a set is closed if and only if it contains all of its limit points, and the topological closure operation can be thought of as an operation that enriches a set by uniting it with its limit points.

With respect to the usual Euclidean topology, the sequence of rational numbers ${\displaystyle x_{n}=(-1)^{n}{\frac {n}{n+1}}}$ has no limit (i.e. does not converge), but has two accumulation points (which are considered limit points here), viz. -1 and +1. Thus, thinking of sets, these points are limit points of the set ${\displaystyle S=\{x_{n}\}.}$

Definition

Accumulation points of a set

A sequence enumerating all positive rational numbers. Each positive real number is a cluster point.

Let ${\displaystyle S}$ be a subset of a topological space ${\displaystyle X.}$ A point ${\displaystyle x}$ in ${\displaystyle X}$ is a limit point or cluster point or accumulation point of the set ${\displaystyle S}$ if every neighbourhood of ${\displaystyle x}$ contains at least one point of ${\displaystyle S}$ different from ${\displaystyle x}$ itself.

It does not make a difference if we restrict the condition to open neighbourhoods only. It is often convenient to use the "open neighbourhood" form of the definition to show that a point is a limit point and to use the "general neighbourhood" form of the definition to derive facts from a known limit point.

If ${\displaystyle X}$ is a ${\displaystyle T_{1}}$ space (such as a metric space), then ${\displaystyle x\in X}$ is a limit point of ${\displaystyle S}$ if and only if every neighbourhood of ${\displaystyle x}$ contains infinitely many points of ${\displaystyle S.}$^[6] In fact, ${\displaystyle T_{1}}$ spaces are characterized by this property.

If ${\displaystyle X}$ is a Fréchet–Urysohn space (which all metric spaces and first-countable spaces are), then ${\displaystyle x\in X}$ is a limit point of ${\displaystyle S}$ if and only if there is a sequence of points in ${\displaystyle S\setminus \{x\}}$ whose limit is ${\displaystyle x.}$ In fact, Fréchet–Urysohn spaces are characterized by this property.

The set of limit points of ${\displaystyle S}$ is called the derived set of ${\displaystyle S.}$

Special types of accumulation point of a set

If every neighbourhood of ${\displaystyle x}$ contains infinitely many points of ${\displaystyle S,}$ then ${\displaystyle x}$ is a specific type of limit point called an ω-accumulation point of ${\displaystyle S.}$

If every neighbourhood of ${\displaystyle x}$ contains uncountably many points of ${\displaystyle S,}$ then ${\displaystyle x}$ is a specific type of limit point called a condensation point of ${\displaystyle S.}$

If every neighbourhood ${\displaystyle U}$ of ${\displaystyle x}$ is such that the cardinality of ${\displaystyle U\cap S}$ equals the cardinality of ${\displaystyle S,}$ then ${\displaystyle x}$ is a specific type of limit point called a complete accumulation point of ${\displaystyle S.}$

Relation between accumulation point of a sequence and accumulation point of a set

Every sequence ${\displaystyle x_{\bullet }=\left(x_{n}\right)_{n=1}^{\infty }}$ in ${\displaystyle X}$ is by definition just a map ${\displaystyle x_{\bullet }:\mathbb {N} \to X}$ so that its image ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Im} x_{\bullet }:=\left\{x_{n}:n\in \mathbb {N} \right\}}$ can be defined in the usual way.

• If there exists an element ${\displaystyle x\in X}$ that occurs infinitely many times in the sequence, ${\displaystyle x}$ is an accumulation point of the sequence. But ${\displaystyle x}$ need not be an accumulation point of the corresponding set ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Im} x_{\bullet }.}$ For example, if the sequence is the constant sequence with value ${\displaystyle x,}$ we have ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Im} x_{\bullet }=\{x\}}$ and ${\displaystyle x}$ is an isolated point of ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Im} x_{\bullet }}$ and not an accumulation point of ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Im} x_{\bullet }.}$

• If no element occurs infinitely many times in the sequence, for example if all the elements are distinct, any accumulation point of the sequence is an ${\displaystyle \omega }$-accumulation point of the associated set ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Im} x_{\bullet }.}$

Conversely, given a countable infinite set ${\displaystyle A\subseteq X}$ in ${\displaystyle X,}$ we can enumerate all the elements of ${\displaystyle A}$ in many ways, even with repeats, and thus associate with it many sequences ${\displaystyle x_{\bullet }}$ that will satisfy ${\displaystyle A=\operatorname {Im} x_{\bullet }.}$

• Any ${\displaystyle \omega }$-accumulation point of ${\displaystyle A}$ is an accumulation point of any of the corresponding sequences (because any neighborhood of the point will contain infinitely many elements of ${\displaystyle A}$ and hence also infinitely many terms in any associated sequence).

• A point ${\displaystyle x\in X}$ that is not an ${\displaystyle \omega }$-accumulation point of ${\displaystyle A}$ cannot be an accumulation point of any of the associated sequences without infinite repeats (because ${\displaystyle x}$ has a neighborhood that contains only finitely many (possibly even none) points of ${\displaystyle A}$ and that neighborhood can only contain finitely many terms of such sequences).

Properties

Every limit of a non-constant sequence is an accumulation point of the sequence. And by definition, every limit point is an adherent point.

The closure ${\displaystyle \operatorname {cl} (S)}$ of a set ${\displaystyle S}$ is a disjoint union of its limit points ${\displaystyle L(S)}$ and isolated points ${\displaystyle I(S)}$; that is,

$${\displaystyle \operatorname {cl} (S)=L(S)\cup I(S)\quad {\text{and}}\quad L(S)\cap I(S)=\emptyset .}$$

A point ${\displaystyle x\in X}$ is a limit point of ${\displaystyle S\subseteq X}$ if and only if it is in the closure of ${\displaystyle S\setminus \{x\}.}$

If we use ${\displaystyle L(S)}$ to denote the set of limit points of ${\displaystyle S,}$ then we have the following characterization of the closure of ${\displaystyle S}$: The closure of ${\displaystyle S}$ is equal to the union of ${\displaystyle S}$ and ${\displaystyle L(S).}$ This fact is sometimes taken as the definition of closure.

A corollary of this result gives us a characterisation of closed sets: A set ${\displaystyle S}$ is closed if and only if it contains all of its limit points.

No isolated point is a limit point of any set.

A space ${\displaystyle X}$ is discrete if and only if no subset of ${\displaystyle X}$ has a limit point.

If a space ${\displaystyle X}$ has the trivial topology and ${\displaystyle S}$ is a subset of ${\displaystyle X}$ with more than one element, then all elements of ${\displaystyle X}$ are limit points of ${\displaystyle S.}$ If ${\displaystyle S}$ is a singleton, then every point of ${\displaystyle X\setminus S}$ is a limit point of ${\displaystyle S.}$

See also

• Adherent point – Point that belongs to the closure of some given subset of a topological space
• Condensation point – a stronger analog of limit pointPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• Convergent filter – Use of filters to describe and characterize all basic topological notions and results.Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Derived set (mathematics) – set of all limit points of a setPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• Filters in topology – Use of filters to describe and characterize all basic topological notions and results.
• Isolated point – Point of a subset S around which there are no other points of S
• Limit of a function – Point to which functions converge in analysis
• Limit of a sequence – Value to which tends an infinite sequence
• Subsequential limit – The limit of some subsequence

Citations

References

• Bourbaki, Nicolas (1989) [1966]. General Topology: Chapters 1–4 [Topologie Générale]. Éléments de mathématique. Berlin New York: Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-3-540-64241-1. OCLC 18588129.
• Dugundji, James (1966). Topology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. ISBN 978-0-697-06889-7. OCLC 395340485.
• Munkres, James R. (2000). Topology (Second ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc. ISBN 978-0-13-181629-9. OCLC 42683260.
• "Limit point of a set", Encyclopedia of Mathematics, EMS Press, 2001 [1994]