Generalized Debreu's open gap lemma and continuous representability of biorders (Q304177)

In this paper, the author proves a generalization of the key open gap lemma by \textit{G. Debreu}, issued in [Int. Econ. Rev. 5, 285--293 (1964; Zbl 0138.16301)]. In the original result, Debreu proved that given a subset \(S\) of the real line we can find a strictly increasing real-valued function \(f\) such that all the gaps of \(f(S)\) are open. This is a crucial fact in utility theory because, using it, it is possible to prove that given a total ordered set \(X\), if there exists a real-valued utility function defined on it, it is also possible to find another utility function with the additional property of being continuous as regards the order topology on \(X\) and the usual Euclidean topology on the real line. In the present manuscript, the author introduces a generalization of Debreu's open gap lemma to the case of \(n\) subsets of the real line, proving in some special suitable situations the existence of a strictly increasing real function such that the gaps on the image of all of each of those original sets is open. It is shown that this generalization is not equivalent to Debreu's lemma working on the union of the given sets, neither on its intersection. The new generalization is then used to find continuous representations of biorders, in utility theory and conjoint measurement. Finally, some cases of order structures where Debreu's open gap lemma does not look helpful are also considered and analyzed, mentioning that a good combination of the (generalized) open gap lemma and Abel's functional equation could be successful at this stage.