Homogeneity and \(h\)-homogeneity (Q386882)

A topological space \(X\) is \textit{homogeneous} if each of its points can be carried to any other via a homeomorphism of the space; \(X\) is \textit{\(h\)-homogeneous} if it is homeomorphic to each of its nonempty clopen subspaces. The author investigates conditions under which these two notions are related for zero-dimensional spaces. The first main result, which immediately implies the known fact that \(h\)-homogeneous zero-dimensional spaces are homogeneous if they are also first countable, says that: in a Hausdorff space \(X\), if \(\{U_n:n\in\omega\}\) and \(\{V_n:n\in\omega\}\) are decreasing clopen bases at points \(a\) and \(b\) respectively, and if each \(U_n\) is homeomorphic to its corresponding \(V_n\), then there is a homeomorphism \(f:X\to X\) such that \(f(a)=b\) and \(f\circ f=\text{id}_X\). The second result concerns when homogeneous spaces are \(h\)-homogeneous. As a preliminary, we have the \textit{index \(h(X)\) of \(h\)-homogeneity}, defined as the largest -- if it exists -- cardinal \(\kappa\) such that each clopen \(U\subseteq X\) contains a clopen \(V\) and a discrete family \(\{V_{\alpha}:\alpha\in\kappa\}\) of clopen sets, such that each \(V_{\alpha}\) is contained in \(U\) and is homeomorphic to \(V\). The theorem then says that if \(X\) is homogeneous, zero-dimensional, paracompact, and such that \(h(X)\) equals the Lindelöf degree of \(X\), then \(X\) is \(h\)-homogeneous. Another result gives an equivalence: if \(X\) is metrizable, of small-inductive dimension zero, and with weight of uncountable cofinality, then \(X\) is \(h\)-homogeneous iff it is homogeneous and each two of its nonempty open subsets have the same weight. There are also some theorems regarding the presence of \(h\)-homogeneity in the product of two spaces, as well as in topological groups.