Weakly almost periodic functions, model-theoretic stability, and minimality of topological groups (Q2821689)

A topological group \(G\) is said to be \textit{Roelcke precompact} if for every neighbourhood \(U\) of the identity element \(1_G\) there is some finite set \(F \subseteq G\) such that \(UFU = G\). In the paper under review, the authors characterize the Polish groups that occur as automorphism groups of \(\aleph_0\)-categorical structures as, precisely, the Roelcke precompact Polish groups. Recall that a metric structure \(M\) is said to be \textit{\(\aleph_0\)-categorical} if it is the unique (up to isomorphism) separable model of its first order theory. The authors also show that, if \(G\) is the automorphism group of a given \(\aleph_0\)-categorical structure \(M\), then the theory of \(M\) is stable if, and only if, all of the Roelcke uniformly continuous functions on \(G\) (that is, functions which are uniformly continuous with respect to both the left and right uniformities of \(G\)) are weakly almost periodic. A number of results on the weakly almost periodic compactifications (the so-called WAP compactifications) of Polish Roelcke precompact groups are also presented.