Uniqueness of spaces pretangent to metric spaces at infinity (Q2284347)

The present paper has four main results. I) For each metric space \((X,d)\) and each scaling sequence \(\widetilde r\), let \(\Omega(X;\infty;\widetilde r)\) denote the pretangent space for \(X\) at infinity associated to these. Then, let \(\mathcal{U}\) stand for the class of all unbounded metric spaces \((X,d)\) for which there exists a unique pretangent space \(\Omega(X;\infty;\widetilde r)\), for each scaling sequence \(\widetilde r\). The first main result (Theorem 1) gives a characterization of unbounded metric spaces \((X,d)\) having a unique pretangent space at infinity \(\Omega(X;\infty;\widetilde r)\) for every scaling sequence \(\widetilde r\). The second main result (Theorem 2) gives a characterization of subsets \(X\) of \(R\) having a unique pretangent space at infinity \(\Omega(X;\infty;\widetilde r)\) via symmetric properties of \(X\). II) Let \(S^*(b)\) denote the set of all complex numbers belonging to the spiral \(\rho=kb^\varphi\); and let \(S=S^*(b)\cup\{0\}\) stand for its closure in \(C\). The next main results in the paper are as below. Theorem 3. Every pretangent space to \((S,d)\) at infinity is unique, tangent, and isometric to \(S\). Theorem 4. Let \(\Gamma^*\) be an unbounded subgroup of the multiplicative group \(C^*\). Then, the following are equivalent: i) \(\Gamma^*\subseteq R_+^*\) or there is \(b\in (0,1)\cup (1,\infty)\) with \(\Gamma^*\subseteq S^*(b)\) ii) \(\Gamma^*\in\mathcal{U}\). Further aspects occasioned by these developments are also discussed.