The right homotopy shift in the fundamental groups of inverse limits (Q290613)

A function \(F:X\to 2^Y\) from a compact Hausdorff space to the set of compact subsets of \(Y\) is upper semi-continuous if for every \(x\in X\) and open set \(V\) with \(F(x)\subset V\), there is an open set \(U\subset X\) such that \(x\in U\) and \(\bigcup_{u\in U}F(u)\subset V\). In this paper, the authors study fundamental groups of the inverse limit \(\displaystyle \lim_{\longleftarrow} K=\{(x_1,x_2,\dots)\in\prod_{n\in\mathbb{N}}[0,1]|x_n\in F(x_{n+1})\}\) of a single upper semi-continuous function \(F:[0,1]\to 2^{[0,1]}\), where \(K=\{(x,y)\in[0,1]^2|y\in f(x)\}\) denotes the graph of \(F\). The topological properties of inverse limits are well-studied in continuum theory, however, these spaces may not be locally path-connected and may admit arbitrarily small non-nullhomotopic loops. Such complications mean that a more delicate approach is necessary to study the structure and size of the fundamental group. In their earlier paper [Bull. Malays. Math. Sci. Soc. (2) 40, No. 2, 941--957 (2017; Zbl 1367.54014)], the authors initiated the study of fundamental groups of inverse limit spaces. In the current paper, the authors continue this program, generalizing their earlier results.\newlineNEWLINENEWLINEIf \(f:Y\to\displaystyle \lim_{\longleftarrow} K\) is a map, then a right homotopy shift of \(f\) (relative to a closed subspace \(A\subseteq Y\)) is a map \(h:Y\to\displaystyle \lim_{\longleftarrow} K\) such that \(\sigma h\simeq f\) (rel. \(A\)) where \(\sigma(x_1,x_2,\dots)=(x_2,x_3,\dots)\) is the shift map. The main technical achievement of this paper is to show that under fairly natural conditions a loop \(f:S^1\to\displaystyle \lim_{\longleftarrow} K\) admits a basepoint-preserving right homotopy shift. In the case that \(\displaystyle \lim_{\longleftarrow} K\) is one-dimensional, the authors are able to distinguish between the homotopy classes of a loop and its right homotopy shifts. Under these conditions, they conclude that the fundamental group \(\displaystyle \lim_{\longleftarrow} K\) is not finitely generated and is uncountable if \(\displaystyle \lim_{\longleftarrow} K\) is path connected and locally path-connected. These results provide a significant restriction on the spaces which may be represented as inverse limits of ``reasonable'' upper semi-continuous functions. The authors conclude the paper with some interesting open questions on fundamental groups of inverse limit spaces.