Lindelöf space

In mathematics, a Lindelöf space is a topological space in which every open cover has a countable subcover. The Lindelöf property is a weakening of the more commonly used notion of compactness, which requires the existence of a finite subcover.

A hereditarily Lindelöf space is a topological space such that every subspace of it is Lindelöf. Such a space is sometimes called strongly Lindelöf, but confusingly that terminology is sometimes used with an altogether different meaning. The term hereditarily Lindelöf is more common and unambiguous.

Lindelöf spaces are named after the Finnish mathematician Ernst Leonard Lindelöf.