The uniqueness of cones over locally connected curves (Q2676980)

The paper under review builds upon the previous work of one of the authors who proved that two locally connected curves, $X$ and $Y$, which are not local dendrites, are homeomorphic if and only if Cone$(X)$ and Cone$(Y)$ are homemomorphic, and that any two locally connected curves, $X$ and $Y$, are homeomorphic, provided $X\times [0,1]$ is homeomorphic to $Y\times [0,1]$ [\textit{D. Michalik}, Topol. Proc. 52, 35--43 (2018; Zbl 1409.54011)]. A continuum $X$ has a unique cone if, given a continuum $Y$, a homeomorphism between Cone$(X)$ and Cone$(Y)$ implies that $X$ and $Y$ are homeomorphic. Let $n$ be a natural number. The authors prove that a finite graph, different from an interval, a simple closed curve, an $n$-od and $n$-theta curve, for $n>2$, has a unique cone. Next, assuming that $X$ is a local dendrite, and $Y$ is a locally connected curve, they prove that a homeomorphism between Cone$(X)$ and Cone$(Y)$ implies that $Y$ must also be a local dendrite. This lemma, combined with the work of \textit{P. Pellicer-Covarrubias} and \textit{A. Santiago-Santos} [Topology Appl. 175, 49--64 (2014; Zbl 1300.54045)], as well as the above mentioned theorem of \textit{D. Michalik} [loc. cit.], leads to the main result of the paper under review: Let $X$ and $Y$ be locally connected curves, different from an interval, a simple closed curve, an $n$-od and an $n$-theta curve, for $n >2$. Cone$(X)$ and Cone$(Y)$ are homeomorphic if and only if $X$ and $Y$ are homeomorphic. This extends the class of spaces possessing a unique cone.