Let X be a zero-dimensional compact space such that all non-empty clopen subsets of X are homeomorphic to each other, and let H(X) be the group of all self-homeomorphisms of X with the compact-open topology. We prove that the Roelcke compactification of H(X) can be identified with the semigroup of all closed relations on X whose domain and range are equal to X. We use this to prove that the group H(X) is topologically simple and minimal, in the sense that it does not admit a strictly coarser Hausdorff group topology.
We prove that no subgroup of the group of boundary-fixing homeomorphisms of a compact surface whose action on the interior of the surface is sufficiently transitive can be Roelcke precompact with the topology inherited from the compact-open topology.
Every topological group $G$ has some natural compactifications which can be a useful tool of studying $G$. We discuss the following constructions: (1) the greatest ambit $S(G)$ is the compactification corresponding to the algebra of all right uniformly continuous bounded functions on $G$; (2) the Roelcke compactification $R(G)$ corresponds to the algebra of functions which are both left and right uniformly continuous; (3) the weakly almost periodic compactification $W(G)$ is the envelopping compact semitopological semigroup of $G$ (`semitopological' means that the multiplication is separately …
We study the topological structure and the topological dynamics of groups of homeomorphisms of scattered spaces. For a large class of them (including the homeomorphism group of any ordinal space or of any locally compact scattered space), we establish Roelcke-precompactness and amenability, classify all closed normal subgroups and compute the universal minimal flow. As a by-product, we classify up to isomorphism the homeomorphism groups of compact ordinal spaces.
Following a similar result of Uspenskij on the unitary group of a separable Hilbert space we show that with respect to the lower (or Roelcke) uniform structure the Polish group $G= \Aut(μ)$, of automorphisms of an atomless standard Borel probability space $(X,μ)$, is precompact. We identify the corresponding compactification as the space of Markov operators on $L_2(μ)$ and deduce that the algebra of right and left uniformly continuous functions, the algebra of weakly almost periodic functions, and the algebra of Hilbert functions on $G$, all coincide. Again following Uspenskij we also conclude…
A topological group is minimal if it does not admit a strictly coarser Hausdorff group topology. The Roelcke uniformity (or lower uniformity) on a topological group is the greatest lower bound of the left and right uniformities. A group is Roelcke-precompact if it is precompact with respect to the Roelcke uniformity. Many naturally arising non-Abelian topological groups are Roelcke-precompact and hence have a natural compactification. We use such compactifications to prove that some groups of isometries are minimal. In particular, if U_1 is the Urysohn universal metric space of diameter 1, the…
We show that the topology of pointwise convergence on scattered spaces is compatible with the group structure of their homeomorphism group. We then establish a few topological properties of the homeomorphism group of the first uncountable ordinal, such as amenability and Roelcke-precompactness.
In this note we shall prove that the Stone-Čech compactification of $\mathcal{L}^n$ is the space $\bar{\mathcal{L}}^n$ where $\bar{\mathcal{L}}$ is the extended long line, namely, $\mathcal{L}$ together with its ends $\pm Ω$. We give a similar description for the Stone-Čech compactification of the cartesian power of the semi-closed half-long line $\mathcal{L}_+$. As an application we show that any torsion subgroup of the group of all homeomorphisms of $\cj^n$ (resp. $\cl^n$) is isomorphic to a subgroup of the symmetric group $S_n$ (resp. the semidirect product $(\bz/2\bz)^n\ltimes S_n$).
The group of compactly supported homeomorphisms on a Tychonoff space can be topologized in a number of ways, including as a colimit of homeomorphism groups with a given compact support, or as a subgroup of the homeomorphism group of its Stone-Čech compactification. A space is said to have the Compactly Supported Homeomorphism Property (CSHP) if these two topologies coincide. The authors provide necessary and sufficient conditions for finite products of ordinals equipped with the order topology to have CSHP. In addition, necessary conditions are presented for finite products and coproducts of s…
We study isometric $G$-spaces and the question of when their maximal equivariant compactification is the Gromov compactification (meaning that it coincides with the compactification generated by the distance functions to points). Answering questions of Pestov, we show that this is the case for the Urysohn sphere and related spaces, but not for the unit sphere of the Gurarij space. We show that the maximal equivariant compactification of a separably categorical metric structure $M$ under the action of its automorphism group can be identified with the space $S_1(M)$ of 1-types over $M$, and is i…
The group of compactly supported homeomorphisms on a Tychonoff space can be topologized in a number of ways, including as a colimit of homeomorphism groups with a given compact support, or as a subgroup of the homeomorphism group of its Stone-Čech compactification. A space is said to have the Compactly Supported Homeomorphism Property (CSHP) if these two topologies coincide. The authors develop techniques for showing that products of certain spaces with CSHP, such as the Closed Long Ray and the Long Line, have CSHP again.
We show sufficient criteria for a group of homeomorphisms acting on a metric space X to extend to one acting on a given compactification of X. We give examples for when this can fail when one of the criteria is not met.
We show that the topology of uniform convergence on bounded sets is compatible with the group law of the automorphism group of a large class of spaces that are endowed with both a uniform structure and a bornology, thus yielding numerous examples of topological groups. This encompasses many of previously known cases, such as homeomorphism groups of locally compact spaces, automorphism groups of first-order structures, general linear groups of normed spaces, automorphism groups of uniform spaces, etc. We also study the automorphism group of a topological group within this framework (generalizin…
This paper investigates topological reconstruction, related to the reconstruction conjecture in graph theory. We ask whether the homeomorphism types of subspaces of a space $X$ which are obtained by deleting singletons determine $X$ uniquely up to homeomorphism. If the question can be answered affirmatively, such a space is called reconstructible. We prove that in various cases topological properties can be reconstructed. As main result we find that familiar spaces such as the reals $\mathbb{R}$, the rationals $\mathbb{Q}$ and the irrationals $P$ are reconstructible, as well as spaces occurrin…
Let $X$ be a space. A space $Y$ is called an extension of $X$ if $Y$ contains $X$ as a dense subspace. For an extension $Y$ of $X$ the subspace $Y\backslash X$ of $Y$ is called the remainder of $Y$. Two extensions of $X$ are said to be equivalent if there is a homeomorphism between them which fixes $X$ pointwise. For two (equivalence classes of) extensions $Y$ and $Y'$ of $X$ let $Y\leq Y'$ if there is a continuous mapping of $Y'$ into $Y$ which fixes $X$ pointwise. Let $P$ be a topological property. An extension $Y$ of $X$ is called a $P$-extension of $X$ if it has $P$. If $P$ is compactness …
Let $\mathcal{C}(G)$ denote the Chabauty space of closed subgroups of the locally compact group $G$. In this paper, we first prove that $\mathcal{C} (\mathbb{Q}_p^\times)$ is a proper compactification of $\mathbb{N}$, identified with the set $N$ of open subgroups with finite index. Then we identify the space $\mathcal{C}(\mathbb{Q}_p^\times) \smallsetminus N$ up to homeomorphism: e.g. for $p=2$, it is the Cantor space on which 2 copies of $\overline{\mathbb{N}}$ (the 1-point compactification of $\mathbb{N}$) are glued.
A topological space $G$ is said to be a {\it rectifiable space} provided that there are a surjective homeomorphism $ϕ:G\times G\rightarrow G\times G$ and an element $e\in G$ such that $π_{1}\circ ϕ=π_{1}$ and for every $x\in G$ we have $ϕ(x, x)=(x, e)$, where $π_{1}: G\times G\rightarrow G$ is the projection to the first coordinate. In this paper, we mainly discuss the rectifiable spaces which are suborderable, and show that if a rectifiable space is suborderable then it is metrizable or a totally disconnected P-space, which improves a theorem of A.V. Arhangel'ski\vı in \cite{A20092}. As an ap…
We present an idea of unifying small scale (topology, proximity spaces, uniform spaces) and large scale (coarse spaces, large scale spaces). It relies on an analog of multilinear forms from Linear Algebra. Each form has a large scale compactification and those include all well-known compactifications: Higson corona, Gromov boundary of hyperbolic spaces, the visual boundary of CAT(0)-spaces, \v Cech-Stone compactification, Samuel-Smirnov compactification, and Freudenthal compactification. As an application we get simple proofs of results generalizing well-known theorems from coarse topology. A …
We prove a commutative Gelfand--Naimark type theorem, by showing that the set $C_s(X)$ of continuous bounded (real or complex valued) functions with separable support on a locally separable metrizable space $X$ (provided with the supremum norm) is a Banach algebra, isometrically isomorphic to $C_0(Y)$, for some unique (up to homeomorphism) locally compact Hausdorff space $Y$. The space $Y$, which we explicitly construct as a subspace of the Stone--Čech compactification of $X$, is countably compact, and if $X$ is non-separable, is moreover non-normal; in addition $C_0(Y)=C_{00}(Y)$. When the un…
