Note on countable closed discrete sets in products of natural numbers (Q401453)

\textit{A. H. Stone} [Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 54, 977--982 (1948; Zbl 0032.31403)] showed that \(\mathbb N ^ { \omega _1}\), the product of uncountably many copies of the natural numbers with the discrete topology, is not normal. The authors present a strong counterexample to the normality of \(\mathbb N ^ { \omega _1}\) by exhibiting a countable closed discrete subset \(A\) not \(C^*\)-embedded in \(\mathbb N ^ { \omega _1}\) and with additional very special features. Namely, there is an uncountable almost disjoint family \(\mathcal A\) of infinite subsets of \(A\) such that: {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize}\item[(i)] for every countable subfamily \(\mathcal C\) of \(\mathcal A\), there is a subset of \(A\) which is \(C\)-embedded in \(\mathbb N ^ { \omega _1}\) and which almost contains every member of \(\mathcal C\); and \item[(ii)] there is no subset of \(A\) which is \(C^*\)-embedded in \(\mathbb N ^ { \omega _1}\) and which almost contains uncountably many members of \(\mathcal A\). \end{itemize}} Very loosely, and working mod-finite in some appropriate way, \(C\)-embeddedness is preserved under all countable unions and under no uncountable union of members of \(\mathcal A\). In particular, the structure of the family of the countable closed discrete subsets of \(\mathbb N ^ { \omega _1}\) is nontrivial in a significant way. Conclusion (ii) above is improved under the assumption \( \omega _1 < \mathfrak r\). The authors also present an example dealing with \(\mathbb N ^ { 2^\omega}\), together with some further observations.