A note on separating function sets (Q1646273)

Let \(X\) be a topological space and \(m\) be a natural number. A family \(\mathcal{F}\subset C_p^m(X)\) is \textit{point-separating} if for any distinct \(x,x'\in X\) there exists \(\langle f_1,\ldots,f_m\rangle\in\mathcal{F}\) such that \(f_i(x)\neq f_i(x')\) for some \(i\leq m\). In the paper under review the authors characterize infinite Tychonoff spaces \(X\) for which the space \(C_p(X)\) (or the product \(C_p^2(X)\)) has a point-separating discrete subspace. The main results: 1. Assume the GCH. Then \(C_p^2(X)\) has a point-separating discrete subspace iff \(s(X^n)\geq iw(X)\) for some \(n\). 2. \(C_p^2(X)\) has a point-separating discrete subspace iff \(s(\sigma_X)\geq iw(X)\). 3. Let \(X\) be a zero-dimensional space. Then \(C_p(X)\) has a a point-separating discrete subspace iff \(C_p^2(X)\) has the same property. Here \(s(X)\) denotes the supremum of cardinalities of discrete subspaces of \(X\), \(iw(X)\) denotes the smallest weight of a Tychonoff subtopology of \(X\), and \(\sigma_X\) denotes the \(\sigma\)-product of \(X^\omega\). A few open problems are formulated in the last part of the paper.