On regular open semi-algebraic sets (Q4037348)

[For the entire collection see Zbl 0756.00007.] A regular open subset of topological space is a set that coincides with the interior of its closure. Clearly, the interior of the closure of any set is regular open. If we work in the semialgebraic category, the interior of the closure of a semialgebraic set is regular open and semialgebraic. On the other hand, any open semialgebraic set is a finite union of basic open sets, that is, of sets which are finite intersections of strict polynomial inequalities (finiteness theorem). Of course, a basic open set \(S\) need not be regular open, but as mentioned above, so is the interior \(T\) of its closure; now we call such a \(T\) a basic regular open set. The author proves in this paper a regular finiteness theorem, namely: any open semialgebraic set is a finite union of basic regular open sets. This holds in any semialgebraic set as ambient space, provided its boundary has codimension at least 2 (a fairly mild assumption). The proof is a nice mixture of topology (triangulations) and real algebra (real spectra).