A note on \(D\)-spaces and \(L\)-special trees (Q2451996)

Let \(L\) be a linearly ordered set. A (set-theoretic) tree \(T\) is said to be \(L\)-special if there exists a mapping \(f: T\to L\) such that \(f(s)<_L f(t)\) whenever \(s<_Tt\). The authors prove that if \(L\) has a countable subset \(C\) such that \((a,b)\cap C\neq\emptyset\) whenever \(a,b\in L\) and \((a,b)\neq\emptyset\), then every \(L\)-special tree (with its natural tree topology) is a hereditarily \(D\)-space in the sense of \textit{E. van Douwen} and \textit{W. F. Pfeffer} [Pac. J. Math. 81, 371--377 (1979; Zbl 0409.54011)]. In particular, if \(L\) (with its natural order topology) is separable, then every \(L\)-special tree is a hereditarily \(D\)-space. Therefore every \([0,1]\)-special tree is a hereditarily \(D\)-space, a fact that was already proved by \textit{Heather Gamel} in her PhD-thesis (University of South Carolina, 2011). Now suppose that \(L_1\) and \(L_2\) are Dedekind complete linearly ordered sets and consider \(L_1\times L_2\) with the lexicographic order. As their second main result, the authors prove that, if all \(L_1\)-special trees and all \(L_2\)-special trees are hereditarily \(D\)-spaces, then every \(L_1\times L_2\)-special tree is a hereditarily \(D\)-space. It immediately follows that, for every \(n <\omega\), if \([0,1]^n\) has the lexicographic order, then every \([0,1]^n\)-special tree is a hereditarily \(D\)-space, a special case that was also proved in Gamel's thesis. By combining other results of Gamel with their theorem, the authors show that, more generally, for every \(\alpha< \omega^2\), if \([0,1]^\alpha\) has the lexicographic order, then every \([0,1]^\alpha\)-special tree is a hereditarily \(D\)-space. With respect to the lexicographic order on \([0,1]^{\omega^2}\), it was posed as an open problem in Gamel's thesis whether every \([0,1]^{\omega^2}\)-special tree is a hereditarily \(D\)-space. If it were the case, then the height of every branch of every \([0,1]^{\omega^2}\)-special tree would necessarily be countable. The authors prove that their (somewhat technical) third main result implies that the height of every branch of every \([0,1]^{\omega^2}\)-special tree is in fact countable.