On a theorem of Shchepin and Repovš concerning the smoothness of compacta (Q2643054)

Let \(S\) denote the unit sphere in the Euclidean space \(\mathbb{R}^ n\) and let \(A\subset \mathbb{R}^ n\) be closed. A point \(s\) in \(S\) is called a tangent direction for \(A\) at \(x\in A\) if there exist sequences \(\{y_ i\}\) and \(\{x_ i\}\) in \(A\) converging to \(x\), with \(y_ i\neq x_ i\) for all \(i\), such that \(s=\lim\{(y_ i-x_ i)/\| y_ i-x_ i\| \}\). A tangent direction \(s\) is said to be proper if the sequence \(\{x_ i\}\) is constant. Let \(D_ xA\) denote the set of tangent directions for \(A\) at \(x\) and \(d_ xA\) the subset of proper tangent directions. The generalized tangent space \(T_ xA\) is the smallest linear space containing \(D_ xA\). A point \(x\in A\) is tangent regular if \(d_ xA = D_ xA\). If \(d_ xA\) is a proper subset of \(D_ xA\), then \(x\) is singular. \textit{E. V. Shchepin} and \textit{D. Repovš} [J. Math. Sci., New York 100, No. 6, 2716--2726 (2000); translation from Itogi Nauki Tekh., Ser. Sovrem. Mat. Prilozh., Temat. Obz. 61, 190--207 (1999; Zbl 0977.53003)] proved that for every closed subset \(A\) of \(\mathbb{R}^ n\), the set of tangent regular points is a residual subset of \(A\), that is, it contains a \(G_\delta\) subset which is dense in \(A\). By intersecting a closed set \(A\) with large closed balls, the case when \(A\) is closed may be reduced to the case when \(A\) is compact. For compact metric spaces \(X\) and \(Y\), let \(R\subset X\times Y\) be a relation between \(X\) and \(Y\). For \(A\subset X\), \(R(A)=\bigcup_{x\in A} R(x)\), where \(R(x)=\{y;\;(x,y)\in R\}\). A relation \(R\) is a closed relation when it is a closed subset of \(X\times Y\). It is called a pointwise closed relation when \(R(x)\) is a closed subset of \(Y\) for every \(x\in X\). Clearly, a closed relation is pointwise closed. A pointwise closed relation \(R\) is called upper semicontinuous at \(x\in X\) if for every open subset \(O\subset Y\), \(R(x)\subset O\) implies that \(\{\overline x\in X;\;R(\overline x)\subset O\}\) is a neighborhood of \(x\). \(R\) is an upper semicontinuous relation when it is upper semicontinuous at every point of \(X\). A relation \(R\) is called lower semicontinuous at \(x\in X\) if for every open subset \(O\subset Y\), \(R(x)\cap O\neq\emptyset\) implies that \(\{\overline x\in X;\;R(\overline x)\cap O\neq \emptyset\}\) is a neighborhood of \(x\). \(R\) is an lower semicontinuous relation when it is lower semicontinuous at every point of \(X\). The relation \(R\) is called continuous at \(x\in X\) if \(R\) is both upper and lower semicontinuous at \(x\). \(R\) is a continuous relation when it is continuous at every point of \(x\) or, equivalently, when it is both an upper and a lower semicontinuous relation. In this paper, the authors show that the result of Shchepin and Repovs follows directly from the theory of semicontinuous relations by proving that if \(R\) is a pointwise closed relation between compact metric spaces \(X\) and \(Y\), then if \(R\) is either a lower semicontinuous or an upper semicontinuous relation, then the set of continuity points of \(R\) is a dense \(G_ \delta\) subset of \(X\). Moreover, they show that if \(A\subset \mathbb{R}^ n\) is compact, then for every \(d\in\{0,1,2,\dots,n\}\) the following statements are equivalent: (i) The set \(A\) is a smooth submanifold of \(\mathbb{R}^ n\) of class \(C^ 1\) and dimension \(d\); (ii) Every point in \(A\) is tangent regular and \(\dim\,(T_ xA)=d\) for all \(x\in A\).