A characterization of Erdős space factors (Q2130553)

Erdős space, denoted \(\mathfrak{E}\), is the subset of~\(\ell^2\) consisting of the elements with all terms rational; it is a natural example of a totally disconnected space that is not zero-dimensional [\textit{P. Erdős}, Ann. Math. (2) 41, 734--736 (1940; Zbl 0025.18701)]. The author addresses Question~9.7 from [\textit{J. J. Dijkstra} and \textit{J. van Mill}, Erdős space and homeomorphism groups of manifolds. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS) (2010; Zbl 1204.57041)] whether every almost zero-dimensional \(F_{\sigma\delta}\)-space~\(X\) is a factor of Erdős space, that is, whether \(X\times\mathfrak{E}\) is homeomorphic to~\(\mathfrak{E}\).\par First he shows that the answer to the question is negative and second he provides a characterization of Erdős space factors as the almost zero-dimensional spaces that admit a Sierpiński stratification by \(C\)-sets. A Sierpiński stratification of a space~\(X\) is a family of closed sets \(\{X_t:t\in T\}\) indexed by a subtree of~\(A^{<\omega}\) for some countable set~\(A\) such that \(X_\emptyset=X\), \(X_t\)~is equal to the union of the family indexed by the direct successors of~\(t\), if \(\langle t_n:n\in\omega\rangle\) is a branch of~\(T\) then \(\langle X_{t_n}:n\in\omega\rangle\) converges to a point of~\(X\). A \(C\)-set is one that can be obtained as the intersection of a family of clopen sets.