Constructible topology

In commutative algebra, the constructible topology on the spectrum ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Spec} (A)}$ of a commutative ring ${\displaystyle A}$ is a topology where each closed set is the image of ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Spec} (B)}$ in ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Spec} (A)}$ for some algebra B over A. An important feature of this construction is that the map ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Spec} (B)\to \operatorname {Spec} (A)}$ is a closed map with respect to the constructible topology.

With respect to this topology, ${\displaystyle \operatorname {Spec} (A)}$ is a compact,[1] Hausdorff, and totally disconnected topological space (i.e., a Stone space). In general, the constructible topology is a finer topology than the Zariski topology, and the two topologies coincide if and only if ${\displaystyle A/\operatorname {nil} (A)}$ is a von Neumann regular ring, where ${\displaystyle \operatorname {nil} (A)}$ is the nilradical of A.[2]

Despite the terminology being similar, the constructible topology is not the same as the set of all constructible sets.[3]