The lexicographically ordered square is not monotonically star-finite (Q2401747)

The main result of the authors states that the lexicographically ordered square \([0,1]\times [0,1]\) is not monotonically star-finite. This result answers several questions asked by \textit{S. G. Popvassilev} and \textit{J. E. Porter} [Topology Appl. 169, 87--98 (2014; Zbl 1376.54025)]. Recall that a topological space \(X\) is monotonically star-finite if for any open cover \({\mathcal U}\) of \(X\) there exists a finite subset \(F({\mathcal U})\) of \(X\) such that \(X=\text{st}(F({\mathcal U}),{\mathcal U}),\) and if \({\mathcal V}\) and \({\mathcal U}\) are open covers of \(X\) with \({\mathcal V}\) refining \({\mathcal U},\) then \(F({\mathcal U})\subseteq F({\mathcal V})\), where \(\text{st}(F({\mathcal U}),{\mathcal U})= \bigcup\{U\in {\mathcal U}:U\cap F({\mathcal U})\not =\emptyset\}.\) Monotone star-finiteness is a condition stronger than countable compactness in Hausdorff spaces.