A note on \(D\)-spaces (Q5894376)

A \(D\)-space is a space \(X\) so that if \(\{U_x: x \in X\}\) is an open cover of \(X\) and each \(x \in U_x\) then there is a closed discrete \(D\) with \(\bigcup_{x \in D}U_x = X\). This paper adds to the extensive literature on the question of which spaces are \(D\)-spaces. In particular, under MA + \(\neg\)CH, every regular \(T_1\) submeta-Lindelöf space of size \(\omega_1\) is a \(D\)-space. As part of the proof, the authors introduce a property \(D^*\) -- if \(\{U_x: x \in X\}\) is an open cover of \(X\) and each \(x \in U_x\) then there is a countable union of closed discrete sets \(D\) with \(\bigcup_{x \in D}U_x = X\) -- and show that under MA + \(\neg\)CH every \(D^*\) space of size \(< \mathfrak c\) is \(D\). They also study the following property (**): if \(A\) is an infinite subset of \(X\) then there is a closed discrete set \(D \subseteq \overline A\) so that if \(D \subseteq U\) open then \(|U \cap A| = |A|\). (This property is a generalization of the following characterization of compactness: ``Every infinite subset has a complete accumulation point.'') They go on to prove that: (1) Weakly collectionwise Hausdorff spaces satisfy (**). (2) Paracompact Hausdorff spaces satisfy (**). (3) In monotonically normal spaces, (**) is equivalent to paracompactness. This last is related to the question of whether every monotonically normal paracompact space is a \(D\)-space, which remains open.