In mathematics, specifically in
order theory
Order theory is a branch of mathematics that investigates the intuitive notion of order using binary relations. It provides a formal framework for describing statements such as "this is less than that" or "this precedes that". This article intr ...
and
functional analysis
Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. inner product, norm, topology, etc.) and the linear functions defined ...
, the order topology of an
ordered vector space
In mathematics, an ordered vector space or partially ordered vector space is a vector space equipped with a partial order that is compatible with the vector space operations.
Definition
Given a vector space ''X'' over the real numbers R and a p ...
is the finest
locally convex
In functional analysis and related areas of mathematics, locally convex topological vector spaces (LCTVS) or locally convex spaces are examples of topological vector spaces (TVS) that generalize normed spaces. They can be defined as topological ...
topological vector space
In mathematics, a topological vector space (also called a linear topological space and commonly abbreviated TVS or t.v.s.) is one of the basic structures investigated in functional analysis.
A topological vector space is a vector space that is al ...
(TVS)
topology
In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ho ...
on
for which every order interval is bounded, where an order interval in
is a set of the form
where
and
belong to
The order topology is an important topology that is used frequently in the theory of
ordered topological vector space In mathematics, specifically in functional analysis and order theory, an ordered topological vector space, also called an ordered TVS, is a topological vector space (TVS) ''X'' that has a partial order ≤ making it into an ordered vector space ...
s because the topology stems directly from the algebraic and order theoretic properties of
rather than from some topology that
starts out having.
This allows for establishing intimate connections between this topology and the algebraic and order theoretic properties of
For many
ordered topological vector space In mathematics, specifically in functional analysis and order theory, an ordered topological vector space, also called an ordered TVS, is a topological vector space (TVS) ''X'' that has a partial order ≤ making it into an ordered vector space ...
s that occur in analysis, their topologies are identical to the order topology.
Definitions
The family of all locally convex topologies on
for which every order interval is bounded is non-empty (since it contains the coarsest possible topology on
) and the order topology is the upper bound of this family.
A subset of
is a neighborhood of the origin in the order topology if and only if it is convex and absorbs every order interval in
A neighborhood of the origin in the order topology is necessarily an
absorbing set
In functional analysis and related areas of mathematics an absorbing set in a vector space is a set S which can be "inflated" or "scaled up" to eventually always include any given point of the vector space.
Alternative terms are radial or absorben ...
because
for all
For every
let