Hyperspaces \(C(p,X)\) of finite graphs (Q1790229)

In the present paper the authors mostly study hyperspaces of finite graphs, but some results are also given for arbitrary continua. For a given continuum \(X\), a point \(p \in X\) and \(A \in C(X) = \{A \subseteq X \;: \;A \text{ is nonempty, connected and closed}\}\) they consider the following hyperspaces \[ \begin{aligned} C(A, X) & = \{B \in C(X) \;: \;A \subset B \} \\ C(p, X) & = \{A \in C(X) \;: \;p \in A \} \\ K(X) & = \{ C(x, X) \;: \;x \in X \}. \end{aligned} \] Let \(n\) be a positive integer and let \(X\) be a continuum. The hyperspace \(K(X)\) has size \(n\) if \(K(X)/\sim\) has cardinality \(n\), where \(C(p,X) \sim C(q,X)\) if and only if \(C(p,X)\) is homeomorphic to \(C(q,X)\). The authors study this relation in the class of finite graphs as well as the size of \(K(X)\). More precisely, they prove that, if \(X\) is a \(\frac{1}{n}\)-homogeneous continuum, then \(K(X)\) has size smaller than or equal to \(n\) (a space \(X\) is \(\frac{1}{n}\)-homogeneous if the natural action of the group of homeomorphisms of \(X\) has precisely \(n\) orbits). Note that, from this result it follows that \(K(X)\) having size \(n\) is not equivalent to \(X\) being \(\frac{1}{n}\)-homogeneous. The authors also give a sequence of finite graphs \(\{X_n\}\) with the property that \(K(X_n)\) has size \(n\). More results concentrated on finite graphs are to be found in the third chapter. The paper presents some questions and open problems. Let me point out the following ones: (Question 4.2.) Does there exist a continuum \(X\) such that the cardinality of \(K(X) / \sim\) is equal to \texttt{c}, the cardinality of the continuum? (Problem 5.4.) Characterize the class of finite graphs \(X\), such that \(X\) is \(\frac{1}{n}\)-homogeneous and \(K(X)\) has size \(n\), where \(n\) is a positive integer. The paper is well-written and contains some open problems, which could be a good starting point for further research.