On the space of \(B\)-convex compacta (Q409497)

For a subset \(A\) of a metric space \(X\) its \(B\)-\textit{convex hull} \(Bconv(A)\) is the intersection of all balls containing \(A\). A subset \(A\) of a metric space \(X\) is called \(B\)-\textit{convex} if the \(B\)-convex hull of each finite subset of \(A\) is contained in \(A\). The paper contains two main results. The first one resolves a question of van de Vel (Problem 2.26.3 in [\textit{M. van de Vel}, Theory of Convex Structures. North-Holland Mathematical Library. 50. Amsterdam: North-Holland. (1993; Zbl 0785.52001)]) and concerns the continuity of the map \(\beta_B: \exp(X)\to Bcc(X)\) assigning to each non-empty compact subset \(K\) of a finite-dimensional Banach space \(X\) its \(B\)-convex hull \(\beta_B(K)=Bconv(K)\) in \(X\). Here \(\exp(X)\) stands for the space of non-empty compact subsets of \(X\), endowed with the Vietoris topology, and \(Bcc(X)\) denotes the subspace of \(\exp(X)\) consisting of \(B\)-convex compacta. In Theorem 1 it is proved that the map \(\beta_B\) is continuous if and only if the subspace \(Bss(X)\) consisting of the intersections of \(B\)-convex linear subspaces of \(X\) with the closed unit ball of \(X\) is closed in \(Bcc(X)\). Another principal result is Theorem 2 saying that for a finite-dimensional Banach space \(X\) containing infinitely many \(B\)-convex linear subspaces of codimension 1 the following conditions are equivalent: (1) the map \(\beta_B\) of \(B\)-convex hull is continuous, (2) the space \(Bcc(X)\) is a Hilbert cube manifold; (3) \(Bcc(X)\) is homeomorphic to the Hilbert cube with removed point; (4) the space \(Bcc(X)\) is topologically homogeneous.