Ultrametrics on Čech homology groups (Q1738971)

In this paper the authors construct ultrametrics for Čech homology groups of compacta. The natural extension for arbitrary topological spaces and the treatment of the Čech cohomology groups using Pontryagin duality was the main focus of the PhD thesis of the third author. Firstly defined is the concept of approximative sequences of cycles for representing Čech homology classes; the style mirrors Borsuk's approach for defining shape groups introduced using approximative maps. Using this starting point, the authors construct complete ultrametrics on Čech homology groups. The uniform type (the group topology) generated by the ultrametrics leads to a shape invariant. Also presented is a collection of properties of the topological groups obtained via this construction. The paper concludes with several topological properties of the considered compact metrizable spaces. In the last section, the authors prove the corresponding uniform topological version of the classical Hurewicz homomorphism.