We continue to investigate various diagonalization properties for sequences of open covers of separable metrizable spaces introduced in Part I. These properties generalize classical ones of Rothberger, Menger, Hurewicz, and Gerlits-Nagy. In particular, we show that most of the properties introduced in Part I are indeed distinct. We characterize two of the new properties by showing that they are equivalent to saying all finite powers have one of the classical properties above (Hurewicz property in one case and in the Menger property in other). We consider for each property the smallest cardinality of metric space which fails to have that property. In each case this cardinal turns out to equal another well-known cardinal less than the continuum. We also disprove (in ZFC) a conjecture of Hurewicz which is analogous to the Borel conjecture. Finally, we answer several questions from Part I concerning partition properties of covers.
We prove that under certain set-theoretic assumptions every productively Lindelöf space has the Hurewicz covering property, thus improving upon some earlier results of Aurichi and Tall.
According to a result of Kocinac and Scheepers, the Hurewicz covering property is equivalent to a somewhat simpler selection property: For each sequence of large open covers of the space one can choose finitely many elements from each cover to obtain a groupable cover of the space. We simplify the characterization further by omitting the need to consider sequences of covers: A set of reals $X$ satisfies the Hurewicz property if, and only if, each large open cover of $X$ contains a groupable subcover. This solves in the affirmative a problem of Scheepers. The proof uses a rigorously justified a…
This article is devoted to the interplay between forcing with fusion and combinatorial covering properties. We illustrate this interplay by proving that in the Laver model for the consistency of the Borel's conjecture, the product of any two metrizable spaces with the Hurewicz property has the Menger property.
We show that even for subsets X of the real line which do not contain perfect sets, the Hurewicz property does not imply the property S1(Gamma,Gamma), asserting that for each countable family of open gamma-covers of X, there is a choice function whose image is a gamma-cover of X. This settles a problem of Just, Miller, Scheepers, and Szeptycki. Our main result also answers a question of Bartoszynski and Tsaban, and implies that for C_p(X), the conjunction of Sakai's strong countable fan tightness and the Reznichenko property does not imply Arhangelskii's property alpha_2.
By classical results of Hurewicz, Kechris and Saint-Raymond, an analytic subset of a Polish space $X$ is covered by a $K_σ$ subset of $X$ if and only if it does not contain a closed-in-$X$ subset homeomorphic to the Baire space ${}^ωω$. We consider the analogous statement (which we call Hurewicz dichotomy) for $Σ^1_1$ subsets of the generalized Baire space ${}^κκ$ for a given uncountable cardinal $κ$ with $κ=κ^{<κ}$, and show how to force it to be true in a cardinal and cofinality preserving extension of the ground model. Moreover, we show that if the Generalized Continuum Hypothesis (GCH) hol…
In classical works, Hurewicz and Menger introduced two diagonalization properties for sequences of open covers. Hurewicz found a combinatorial characterization of these notions in terms of continuous images. Recently, Scheepers has shown that these notions are particular cases in a large family of diagonalization schemas. One of the members of this family is weaker than the Hurewicz property and stronger than the Menger property, and it was left open whether it can be characterized combinatorially in terms of continuous images. We give a positive answer. This paper can serve as an exposition o…
We consider ``meager analogues'' of classical covering properties of Menger, Hurewicz and Rothberger. We show that Borel images of sets having ``our'' covering properties have these classical covering properties.
Combinatorial covering properties in an uncountable setting: canonical examples
Bar-Ilan University（巴伊兰大学）；Ariel University（阿里埃勒大学）；Lodz University of Technology（罗兹理工大学）；University of Warsaw（华沙大学）；Technische Universität Wien（维也纳工业大学）
We provide simplified solutions of Menger's and Hurewicz's problems and conjectures, concerning generalizations of sigma-compactness. The reader who is new to this field will find a self-contained treatment in Sections 1, 2, and 5. Sections 3 and 4 contain new results, based on the mentioned simplified solutions. The main new result is that there is a set of reals X of cardinality equal to the unbounding number b, and which has the following property: "Given point-cofinite covers U_1,U_2,... of X, there are for each n sets u_n,v_n in U_n, such that each member of X is contained in all but fini…
A classical theorem of Hurewicz characterizes spaces with the Hurewicz covering property as those having bounded continuous images in the Baire space. We give a similar characterization for spaces X which have the Hurewicz property hereditarily. We proceed to consider the class of Arhangel'skii alpha_1 spaces, for which every sheaf at a point can be amalgamated in a natural way. Let C_p(X) denote the space of continuous real-valued functions on X with the topology of pointwise convergence. Our main result is that C_p(X) is an alpha_1 space if, and only if, each Borel image of X in the Baire sp…
We study the preservation of selective covering properties, including classic ones introduced by Menger, Hurewicz, Rothberger, Gerlits and Nagy, and others, under products with some major families of concentrated sets of reals. Our methods include the projection method introduced by the authors in an earlier work, as well as several new methods. Some special consequences of our main results are (definitions provided in the paper): \be \item Every product of a concentrated space with a Hurewicz $\sone(\Ga,\Op)$ space satisfies $\sone(\Ga,\Op)$. On the other hand, assuming \CH{}, for each Sierpi…
Which Isbell--Mrówka spaces ($Ψ$-spaces) satisfy the star version of Menger's and Hurewicz's covering properties? Following Bonanzinga and Matveev, this question is considered here from a combinatorial point of view. An example of a $Ψ$-space that is (strongly) star-Menger but not star-Hurewicz is obtained. The PCF-theory function $κ\mapsto\cof([κ]^\alephes)$ is a key tool. Using the method of forcing, a complete answer to a question of Bonanzinga and Matveev is provided. The results also apply to the mentioned covering properties in the realm of Pixley--Roy spaces, to the extent of spaces wit…
Denote the integers by Z and the positive integers by N. The groups Z^k (k a natural number) are discrete, and the classification up to isomorphism of their (topological) subgroups is trivial. But already for the countably infinite power Z^N of Z, the situation is different. Here the product topology is nontrivial, and the subgroups of Z^N make a rich source of examples of non-isomorphic topological groups. Z^N is the Baer-Specker group. We study subgroups of the Baer-Specker group which possess group theoretic properties analogous to properties introduced by Menger (1924), Hurewicz (1925), Ro…
We prove that the Hurewicz property is not preserved by finite products in the Miller model. This is a consequence of the fact that Miller forcing preserves ground model $γ$-spaces.
We study productive properties of gamma spaces, and their relation to other, classic and modern, selective covering properties. Among other things, we prove the following results: 1. Solving a problem of F. Jordan, we show that for every unbounded tower set of reals X of cardinality aleph_1, the space Cp(X) is productively FU. In particular, the set X is productively gamma. 2. Solving problems of Scheepers and Weiss, and proving a conjecture of Babinkostova-Scheepers, we prove that, assuming CH, there are gamma spaces whose product is not even Menger. 3. Solving a problem of Scheepers-Tall, we…
Hurewicz' characterized the dimension of separable metrizable spaces by means of finite-to-one maps. We investigate whether this characterization also holds in the class of compact F-spaces of weight c. Our main result is that, assuming the Continuum Hypothesis, an n-dimensional compact F-space of weight c is the continuous image of a zero-dimensional compact Hausdorff space by an at most 2n-to-1 map.
In a previous work with Mildenberger and Shelah, we showed that the combinatorics of the selection hypotheses involving tau-covers is sensitive to the selection operator used. We introduce a natural generalization of Scheepers' selection operators, and show that: (1) A slight change in the selection operator, which in classical cases makes no difference, leads to different properties when tau-covers are involved. (2) One of the newly introduced properties sheds some light on a problem of Scheepers concerning tau-covers. Improving an earlier result, we also show that no generalized Luzin set sa…
We solve four out of the six open problems concerning critical cardinalities of topological diagonalization properties involving tau-covers, show that the remaining two cardinals are equal, and give a consistency result concerning this remaining cardinal. Consequently, 21 open problems concerning potential implications between these properties are settled. We also give structural results based on the combinatorial techniques.
In this paper we extend previous studies of selection principles for families of open covers of sets of real numbers to also include families of countable Borel covers. The main results of the paper could be summarized as follows: 1. Some of the classes which were different for open covers are equal for Borel covers -- Section 1; 2. Some Borel classes coincide with classes that have been studied under a different guise by other authors -- Section 4.
Marion Scheepers, in his studies of the combinatorics of open covers, introduced the property Split(U,V) asserting that a cover of type U can be split into two covers of type V. In the first part of this paper we give an almost complete classification of all properties of this form where U and V are significant families of covers which appear in the literature (namely, large covers, omega-covers, tau-covers, and gamma-covers), using combinatorial characterizations of these properties in terms related to ultrafilters on N. In the second part of the paper we consider the questions whether, given…
The_additivity_number_ of a topological property (relative to a given space) is the minimal number of subspaces with this property whose union does not have the property. The most well-known case is where this number is greater than Aleph_0, i.e. the property is sigma-additive. We give a rather complete survey of the known results about the additivity numbers of a variety of topological covering properties, including those appearing in the Scheepers diagram (which contains, among others, the classical properties of Menger, Hurewicz, Rothberger, and Gerlits-Nagy). Some of the results proved her…
Using a dictionary translating a variety of classical and modern covering properties into combinatorial properties of continuous images, we get a simple way to understand the interrelations between these properties in ZFC and in the realm of the trichotomy axiom for upward closed families of sets of natural numbers. While it is now known that the answer to the Hurewicz 1927 problem is positive, it is shown here that semifilter trichotomy implies a negative answer to a slightly weaker form of this problem.
We construct several topological groups with very strong combinatorial properties. In particular, we give simple examples of subgroups of the real line R (thus strictly o-bounded) which have the Hurewicz property but are not sigma-compact, and show that the product of two o-bounded subgroups of R^N may fail to be o-bounded, even when they satisfy the stronger property S1(Borel_Omega,Borel_Omega). This solves a problem of Tkacenko and Hernandez, and extends independent solutions of Krawczyk and Michalewski and of Banakh, Nickolas, and Sanchis. We also construct separable metrizable groups G of …
