Almost meshed locally connected continua have unique second symmetric product (Q2630432)

For a metric continuum \(X\), let \(F_n(X)\) denote the hyperspace of nonempty subsets of \(X\) with at most \(n\) points, equipped with the Hausdorff metric. Let \(G(X)\) be the set of points in \(X\) having a neighborhood in \(X\) which is a finite graph. The continuum \(X\) is almost meshed provided that \(G(X)\) is dense in \(X\) The class of almost meshed continua includes finite graphs and dendrites with closed set of end points. In some papers, almost meshed (respectively, meshed) continua are called almost framed (respectively, framed). The continuum \(X\) has unique hyperspace \(F_n(X)\) provided the following implication holds: if \(Y\) is a continuum and \(F_n(X)\) is homeomorphic to \(F_n(Y)\), then \(X\) is homeomorphic to \(Y\). Uniqueness of hyperspaces has been widely studied. An account on this topic is in [\textit{A. Illanes}, Quest. Answers Gen. Topology 30, No. 1, 21--44 (2012; Zbl 1275.54006)]. By their simplicity, meshed and almost meshed continua have played an important role in this area. In [\textit{R. Hernández-Gutiérrez} and \textit{V. Martínez-de-la-Vega}, Topology Appl. 160, No. 13, 1577--1587 (2013; Zbl 1286.54009)], a result was shown that has as a consequence that if \(X\) is an almost meshed continuum, then for each \(n>3\), \(X\) has unique hyperspace \(F_n(X)\). In [\textit{L. A. Guerrero-Méndez} et al., ibid. 191, 16--27 (2015; Zbl 1323.54017)], it was proved that if \(X\) is a meshed continuum, then \(X\) has unique hyperspaces \(F_2(X)\) and \(F_3(X)\). In the paper under review the authors extend the former result for \(n=2\) by proving that if \(X\) is a locally connected almost meshed continuum, then \(X\) has unique hyperspace \(F_2(X)\). It is an open problem if this result also holds for \(n=3\).