Does a topology on a countable set always have a countable base?

Solution 1:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arens%E2%80%93Fort_space

this can be found in "counterexamples in topology" as referenced on the wikipedia page (a book i sometimes wish i had)

Solution 2:

Good question! I suspect the answer is no. Here is my suggestion for a counterexample. Let $U$ be a nonprincipal ultrafilter on $\mathbb N$. Then I claim $U\cup\{\emptyset\}$ is a topology on $\mathbb N$, which follows from the axioms of an ultrafilter. Now I suspect that this topology does not have a countable basis, mainly because there are $2^{2^{|\mathbb N|}}$ many ultrafilters, implying you need to make uncountably many choices to specify it. If you could get away with specifying a countable basis, that would only be countably many choices.

Edit: Yoyo just posted a definitive answer.

Solution 3:

The Hewitt-Marczewski-Pondiczery theorem implies that $[0,1]^{\mathbb{R}}$ in the product topology has a countable dense subset $D$. This $D$, as a space in its own right (in the subspace topology) has a local base of minimal size $\mathfrak{c}$ at every point, i.e. its character at every point is $\mathfrak{c}$. I show this and more in this answer, where you can find other countable examples based on ultrafilters as well.