Cantor-Bendixson degrees and convexity in \(\mathbb{R}^2\) (Q5937670)

The authors present an ordinal rank, \(\delta ^3\), which refines the standard classification of non-convexity among closed planar sets. The class of closed planar sets falls into a hierarchy of order type \(\omega _1 +1\) when ordered by \(\delta\)-rank. The rank \(\delta ^3 ({\mathcal S})\) of a set \(\mathcal S\) is defined by means of topological complexity of \(3\)-cliques in the set. A \(3\)-clique in a set \(\mathcal S\) is a subset of \(\mathcal S\) all of whose unordered \(3\)-tuples fail to have their convex hull in \(\mathcal S\). Similarly, \(\delta ^n ({\mathcal S})\) is defined for all \(n>1\). The classification cannot be done using \(\delta ^2\) which considers only \(2\)-cliques, and in dimension \(3\) or higher the analogous classification is not valid.