Preimage cardinalities of continuous functions (Q2029622)

Given a continuous function \(f:[0,1]\to\mathbb{R}\), let \[\Omega_f=\{ n\in\mathbb{N}\cup\{\infty\}: \exists {y\in\mathbb{R}}\; |f^{-1}(y)|=n\}\] Let \(\mathcal{F}\) be the family of all continuous functions such that \(\Omega_f\subset\mathbb{N}\), i.e., \(f^{-1}(y)\) is finite for all \(y\in\mathbb{R}\). The paper under review contains two theorems. Theorem 1 characterizes sets \(S\subset\mathbb{N}\) such that \(S=\Omega_f\) for some \(f\in\mathcal{F}\). An analogous problem for real analytic functions is solved in Theorem 2. Reviewer's remark. For a continuous function \(f:[0,1]\to\mathbb{R}\), the function \(j_f: y \mapsto |f^{-1}(y)|\) is called a \textit{Banach indicatrix} of \(f\). A characterization of Banach indicatrices for continuous functions is given by \textit{A. Kwiatkowska} [Acta Math. Hung. 121, No. 3, 229--242 (2008; Zbl 1199.03032)], see also [\textit{K. Ciesielski} et al., Real Anal. Exch. 23, No. 2, 671--687 (1998; Zbl 0943.26012)].