Notes on star Lindelöf space (Q272845)

Given a set \(X\), a subset \(A \subseteq X\) and a family \(\mathcal{F}\) of subsets of \(X\), the \textit{iterated stars} \(\mathrm{St}^k\) of \(A\) with respect to \(\mathcal{F}\), for \(k \geqslant 0\), are defined as follows: \(\mathrm{St}^0(A,\mathcal{F}) = A\), \(\mathrm{St}^1(A,\mathcal{F}) = \mathrm{St}(A,\mathcal{F}) := \bigcup\{F \in \mathcal{F}: F \cap A \neq \emptyset\}\) and \(\mathrm{St}^{k + 1}(A,\mathcal{F}) := \mathrm{St}(\mathrm{St}^k(A, \mathcal{F}))\) for all \(k \geqslant 0\). For any \(x \in X\) and \(k \geqslant 0\), \(\mathrm{St}^k(x,\mathcal{F})\) is short for \(\mathrm{St}^k(\{x\},\mathcal{F})\). For every topological property \(\mathcal{P}\), a topological space \(X\) is said to be \textit{star \(\mathcal{P}\)} if for any open cover \(\mathcal{U}\) of \(X\) there is a subspace \(A \subseteq X\) which has property \(\mathcal{P}\) and is a \textit{star kernel of \(\mathcal{U}\)}, meaning that \(\mathrm{St}(A,\mathcal{U}) = X\). A \textit{diagonal sequence of rank \(k\)} on a topological space \(X\), for \(k \geqslant 1\), is a countable family \(\{\mathcal{U}_n: n<\omega\}\) of open coverings of \(X\) such that \(\{x\} = \bigcap\{\mathrm{St}^k(x,\mathcal{U}_n): n<\omega\}\) for each \(x \in X\). A topological space \(X\) is said to have a \textit{rank \(k\)-diagonal}, if there is a diagonal sequence of rank \(k\) on \(X\). It is known that a topological space has a \textit{\(G_\delta\)-diagonal} (meaning, there is a sequence \(\{G_n: n<\omega\}\) of open sets in \(X^2\) such that \(\bigcap\{G_n: n<\omega\} = \Delta_x := \{(x,x): x \in X\}\)) if, and only if, \(X\) has a rank \(1\)-diagonal. In the paper under review, the authors prove a number of results concerning the cardinality of star-Lindelöf spaces which satisfy additional properties such as the ones listed in the previous paragraph. More specifically, it is shown that the cardinality of a star Lindelöf space \(X\) does not exceed \(2^{\aleph_0}\) if \(X\) satisfies one of the following conditions: (1) \(X\) has a rank-\(3\) diagonal; (2) \(X\) is normal and has a rank-\(2\) diagonal; or (3) \(X\) is first countable, normal and has a \(G_\delta\)-diagonal. Addendum: In the reviewer's opinion, the authors should have been more careful regarding the previous literature and, consequently, they should have given credit to several previous workers on the development of this subject. A number of questions posed in the paper have been already posed in the literature -- e.g., Question 2.8 of the paper is the second part of Question 5(2) of [\textit{O. T. Alas} et al., Topology Appl. 158, No. 4, 620--626 (2011; Zbl 1226.54023)], and it also appeared (with the due credit) as the second part of 6(2) of [\textit{L. P. Aiken}, Topology Appl. 158, No. 13, 1732--1737 (2011; Zbl 1223.54029)]. Some partial results presented in the paper have been also previously established, or they even got superseded by such previous results -- e.g., Remark 3.5 of the paper (``Under \(\mathbf{V = L}\), star Lindelöf normal spaces with character \(\leqslant 2^{\aleph_0}\) have countable extent, and thus are star countable'') is, in fact, superseded by Theorem 3.6 of Alas et al., [loc. cit.] -- where, after having proved that star Lindelöf spaces are feebly Lindelöf (meaning that locally finite families of non-empty open sets are countable), they have also proved that normal, feebly Lindelöf spaces with character \(\leqslant 2^{\aleph_0}\) have countable extent under a much weaker set-theoretic hypothesis, which is \(2^{\aleph_0}<2^{\aleph_1}\). Some results of the paper strengthen non-mentioned, previous results in the literature -- e.g., Proposition 3.12 of the paper strengthen Corollary 1.5 of [\textit{O. T. Alas} et al., Cent. Eur. J. Math. 9, No. 3, 603--615 (2011; Zbl 1246.54017)]. All the papers referred to in this addendum (authored by Alas, Junqueira, van Mill, Wilson and Aiken) were neither mentioned, nor referred to, in the paper under review. It is also quite strange that the proof of Proposition 3.12 appears, almost with exactly the same words, in an answer given by Brian M. Scott at MathStackExchange in December 06, 2013 -- more than two years before the publication of the paper (see \url{http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/594015/is-every-regular-star-compact-metalindelof-space-compact}).