The quotient/codimension problems (Q2314673)

This article is concerned with the following two problems for classes of topological vector spaces: \begin{itemize} \item[1.] The separable quotient problem: Given a class of topological vector spaces \(\mathfrak{C}\), does every space \(E\) in this class admit a separable quotient? As a variant, the question of whether every space in \(\mathfrak{C}\) has a properly separable quotient is also considered. A properly separable space (in the sense of Robertson) is a space containing a proper dense \(\aleph_0\)-dimensional subspace. \item[2.] The finite and countable codimension problem: Given a class \(\mathfrak{C}\) of topological vector spaces and a property \(P_0\), this problem asks whether for every space \(E\) in \(\mathfrak{C}\), having \(P_0\) passes on to all finite/countable codimensional subspaces. As a variant, the same question is asked for closed or dense hyperplanes instead of finite or countably codimensional subspaces. \end{itemize} These two questions can be linked by considering as property \(P_0\) the property of having a separable quotient. The famous separable quotient problem of Banach is the first problem in the case where \(\mathfrak{C}\) is the class of all Banach spaces. The authors investigate these problems for a number of interesting classes of topological vector spaces, including the class of all locally convex spaces, the class of Fréchet spaces, the class of \((LF)\)-spaces and the classes of \(L_p(X)\), \(C_p(X)\) and of \(C_c(X)\) spaces. Answers to these problems for many of the considered classes are provided. At the end of the article, the available answers for the classes under consideration are collected into a table. In addition, the cases where the question remains open are pointed out.