Various slicing indices on Banach spaces (Q2460795)

One can consider two ordinal indices defined for closed bounded subsets of the dual \(X^*\) of a separable Banach space \(X\): A weak\(^*\)--dentability index \(D_Z(X)\) given in terms of weak\(^*\)--slices, and a Szlenk index \(S_Z(X)\) given in terms of weak*-neighbourhoods. The Szlenk index provides a transfinite measure of the separability of the dual space. \textit{W. Szlenk} [Stud. Math. 30, 53--61 (1968; Zbl 0169.15303)] introduced the Szlenk index in order to prove that there is no reflexive separable Banach space \(Y\) that is universal in the sense that each reflexive separable Banach space \(Z\) is isomorphic to a subspace of \(Y\). In the paper under review the authors give a direct computation of the Szlenk index of the \(C(K)\) spaces, when \(K\) is a countable compact topological space and determine their Lavrientiev indices (see \textit{C. Samuel} [Sémin. de géométrie des espaces de Banach, Paris 1983, Tome I, Publ. Math. Univ. Paris VII 18, 81--91 (1984; Zbl 0563.46021)]. They also prove that if \(S_Z(X) \leq \omega\), then \(D_Z(X) \leq \omega^2\), where \(\omega\) is the first infinite ordinal.