Properties related to star countability and star finiteness (Q2400881)

For any topological property \(\mathcal P\), a topological space \(X\) is said to be a \textit{star \(\mathcal{P}\) space} if for every open cover \(\mathcal U\) of \(X\) there is a subspace \(A \subseteq X\) such that \(A\) satisfies \(\mathcal P\) and \(\text{St}(A, \mathcal U) := \bigcup\{U \in \mathcal U: U \cap A \neq \emptyset\} = X\). The set \(A\) is then called a \textit{star kernel} of the cover \(\mathcal{U}\). In the paper under review, the authors introduce and investigate variations of the above defined notions. Given a topological property \(\mathcal P\), a space \(X\) is said to be a \textit{weakly star \(\mathcal{P}\) space} (respectively, \textit{almost star \(\mathcal P\)}) if for every open cover \(\mathcal U\) of \(X\) there is a subspace \(A \subseteq X\) such that \(A\) satisfies \(\mathcal P\) and \(\text{St}(A, \mathcal U)\) is dense in \(X\) (respectively, \(\bigcup \{\overline{\text{St}(\{x\}, \mathcal U)}: x \in A\} = X\)). The set \(A\) is then called a \textit{weak star kernel} (respectively, \textit{almost star kernel}) of the cover \(\mathcal{U}\). The main results of the paper relate weakly star countable and weakly star finite spaces to, respectively, feebly Lindelöf and feebly compact spaces. A topological space is said to be \textit{feebly compact} (respectively, \textit{feebly Lindelöf}) if every locally finite family of non-empty open sets is finite (respectively, countable). It is well-known that, in the class of Tychonoff spaces, feeble compactness is equivalent to pseudocompactness. The authors establish, among many other results, the following theorems: \((i)\) If a space \(X\) has a dense subspace \(D\) such that every uncountable (respectively, infinite) subset of \(D\) has an accumulation point in \(X\), then \(X\) is weakly star countable (respectively, weakly star finite). \((ii)\) A space with a dense set of isolated points is weakly star finite (respectively, weakly star countable) if, and only if, it is feebly compact (respectively, feebly Lindelöf). Several questions are posed. For instance: is there a normal example of a space with a dense Lindelöf subspace which is not almost star countable? Is a feebly compact (Tychonoff, regular, Hausdorff) space which is weakly star countable space necessarily weakly star finite? Is a Hausdorff weakly star countable (respectively, weakly star finite) space necessarily feebly Lindelöf (respectively, feebly compact)?