No label defined (Q4675907)

A family \({\mathcal A}\) of a topological space \(X\) is called a \textit{null family} if for each open cover \({\mathcal U}\) of \(X\) the collection of all \(B\in{\mathcal A}\) such that \(B\) is contained in no single \(V\in{\mathcal U}\) is finite [see \textit{V. V. Fedorchuk}, Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 182, 275--277 (1968; Zbl 0186.27003)]. In this paper the authors define \({\mathcal A}\) to be an \textit{almost null family} if for each open cover \({\mathcal U}\) of \(X\) the collection of all \(B\in{\mathcal A}\) such that \(B\) is contained in no single \(V\in{\mathcal U}\) is countable. Many constructions of compact spaces yield a space which contains a large null-family of pairwise disjoint non-degenerate closed sets. The authors prove that under the Souslin Hypothesis, each compact space \(X\) of weight \(\omega_1\) contains an uncountable, upper-semicontinuous, almost null family of non-degenerate, pairwise disjoint closed sets. Moreover, if \(X\) is a locally connected continuum, the members of the family can be chosen to be continua. Some applications of this result to perfectly normal compact spaces and some open problems are given.