The intermediate value theorem: Preimages of compact sets under uniformly continuous functions (Q1124589)

The authors prove a strong version of the Intermediate Value Theorem within the confines of constructive mathematics. Theorem. Let X be a compact, connected, locally connected metric space and f: \(X\to T\) (T is the unit circle) be uniformly continuous. Then there is a countable subset S of T so that if t is S-admissible (i.e. for each \(s\in S\), there is \(\delta (s)>0\) such that \(d(s,t)>\delta (s))\) then \(f^{-1}(t)\) is compact. Furthermore, the restriction of \(f^{-1}\) to the S-admissible points of T is pointwise continuous. Finally, if t is f-admissible (long definition!) and \(f^{-1}(t)\) is empty, then there is \(\delta >0\) such that \(f^{-1}N_{\delta}(t)\) is empty. Corollary. Let X be a connected, locally connected, compact metric space and let f: \(X\to {\mathbb{R}}\) be uniformly continuous. Suppose that \(\alpha <\beta\) are in fX. Then, for all but countably many t with \(\alpha <t<\beta\), the set \(f^{-1}(t)\) is non-empty and compact. These results lead to a constructive proof of the Schoenflies Theorem that the interior of a Jordan curve in the plane is homeomorphic to a disk.