An Asplund space with norming Markuševič basis that is not weakly compactly generated (Q2237414)

A Markushevich basis (in short, an \(M\)-basis) of a Banach space \(X\) is a fundamental and total biorthogonal system. An \(M\)-basis provides a useful substitute to the coordinate systems provided by Schauder bases, which are in general not available in separable Banach spaces by Enflo's theorem while \(M\)-bases always exist. The non-separable theory is more delicate, and for instance all reflexive spaces, and more generally weakly compactly generated (\(WCG\)) spaces, have \(M\)-bases, but \(l_\infty\) fails to have one. An \(M\)-basis of a space \(X\) is said to be norming if the linear subspace of \(X^*\) spanned by the coordinate functionals equivalently norms the space \(X\). The properties of being \(WCG\) and having a norming \(M\)-basis appear close to each other at first sight. However, the first author [Adv. Math. 351, 702--717 (2019; Zbl 1445.46017)] recently answered a classical question due to \textit{K. John} and \textit{V. Zizler} [Commentat. Math. Univ. Carol. 15, 679--691 (1974; Zbl 0291.46010)] by showing the existence of \(WCG\) spaces with no norming \(M\)-basis. The converse direction is interesting for Asplund spaces, since for instance non-separable \(l_1\)-spaces have norming \(M\)-bases but are not \(WCG\). It is therefore natural to ask whether an Asplund space which admits a norming \(M\)-basis is \(WCG\). The existence of Jayne-Rogers selectors, and the interesting result due to \textit{G. Alexandrov} and \textit{A. Plichko} [Mathematika 53, No. 2, 321--328 (2006; Zbl 1139.46022)] showing that the space of continuous functions on the space \(\omega_1\) of countable ordinals has no norming \(M\)-basis, somehow suggested a positive result. However, the present article shows the existence of an Asplund space \(X\) with a norming basis which is not \(WCG\), and provides a satisfactory final answer to the original problem. The nice proof relies on the combinatorics of the set of countable ordinals. An appropriate collection \(\mathcal{F_\rho}\) of finite subsets of \(\omega_1\) provides a scattered compact space \(K_\rho\) and the space \(X\) is a subspace of \(\mathcal{C}(K_\rho)\). The compact space \(K_\rho\) is also a semi-Eberlein space which contains a weak \(P\)-point, which answers a problem due to \textit{W. Kubis} and \textit{A. Leiderman} [Topol. Proc. 28, No. 2, 603--616 (2004; Zbl 1090.54021)]. The family \(K_\rho\) originates in Stevo Todorčević's deep works on the limits of Ramsey theory applied to finding monochromatic pairs of countable ordinals.