Some decomposable continua and Whitney levels of their hyperspaces (Q2683749)

A continuum is a nonempty compact connected metric space. A subcontinuum is a continuum contained in a space. A continuum \(X\) is called a \(D\)-continuum if for every disjoint and nondegenerate subcontinua \(A\) and \(B\) of \(X\), there exists a subcontinuum \(C\) of \(X\) such that \(A \cap C \neq \emptyset\), \(B\cap C\neq \emptyset\) and \((A\cup B)\setminus C \neq\emptyset\). When in addition it is required that \(A\setminus C \neq\emptyset\) and \(B \setminus C \neq\emptyset\), it is said that the continuum \(X\) is a \(D^\ast\)-continuum. On the other hand, a continuum \(X\) is a Wilder continuum if for every three distinct points \(x,y,z\in X\), there exists a subcontinuum \(C\) of \(X\) such that \(x \in C\) and \(C\) contains exactly one of \(y\) and \(z\). Clearly each \(D^\ast\)-continuum is a \(D\)-continuum. In [\textit{I. Lončar}, Mat. Vesn. 67, No. 4, 233--245 (2015; Zbl 1461.54061)] it was proven that each Wilder continuum is a \(D\)-continuum. In the paper under review, the authors introduce a new class of continuum. Namely, it is said that a continuum \(X\) is a \(D^{\ast\ast}\)-continuum if for each disjoint and nondegenerate subcontinua \(A\) and \(B\) of \(X\), there exists a subcontinuum \(C\) of \(X\) such that \(A\cap C \neq\emptyset\), \(B \cap C \neq\emptyset\) and \(B \setminus C \neq\emptyset\). The authors prove that the classes of Wilder continua and \(D^\ast\)-continua are strictly contained in the class of \(D^{\ast\ast}\)-continua, and the class of \(D\)-continua properly contains the class of \(D^{\ast\ast}\)-continua. One of the main results of this paper is the following: If \(X\) is an irreducible \(D^{\ast\ast}\)-continuum, then \(X\) is an arc. In this way, a negative answer to the question, is there an arc-like \(D^{\ast}\)-continuum which is not an arc?, posed in [\textit{B. Espinoza} and \textit{E. Matsuhashi}, Topology Appl. 285, Article ID 107393, 25 p. (2020; Zbl 1459.54022)], is given. On the other hand, given a continuum \(X\), by \(C(X)\) is denoted the hyperspace of subcontinua of \(X\), endowed with the Hausdorff metric. A topological property \(P\) is called a Whitney property if the continuum \(X\) has property \(P\), so does \(\mu^{-1}(t)\) for each Whitney map \(\mu\colon C(X)\to [0,\mu(X)]\) for \(C(X)\) and each \(t \in [0,\mu(X))\). The second part of this paper, is devoted to proving that being a Wilder continuum, being a \(D\)-continuum, being a \(D^\ast\)-continuum and being a \(D^{\ast\ast}\)-continuum are Whitney properties. The paper closes with the question: Is being a Wilder continuum (being a \(D\)-continuum, being a \(D^\ast\)-continuum, being a \(D^{\ast\ast}\)-continuum) a Whitney reversible (strong Whitney reversible, sequential strong Whitney reversible) property?