Compactifications and universal spaces in extension theory (Q4955812)

Extension theory was introduced by A. Dranishnikov as a generalization of dimension theory, but also as a tool, useful in itself, for studying extensions of maps. One may consult [\textit{A. Dranishnikov} and \textit{J. Dydak}, Proc. Steklov Inst. Math. 212, 55-88 (1996); translation from Tr. Mat. Inst. Steklova 212, 61-94 (1996; Zbl 0874.54033)] for background and, of course, many other references to the subject. The main idea of extension theory comes from the notion \(P\in AE(X)\). This is taken to mean that for every closed subset \(A\) of \(X\) and map \(f:A\rightarrow P\), there is a map \(F:X\rightarrow P\) which is an extension of \(f\). Normally \(P\) is a CW-complex or the polyhedron of a simplicial complex, and \(X\) is taken from some reasonable class of spaces. The author chooses here the class of Tykhonov spaces. The theme of this research is to compare the extension property of a space \(X\) with that of \(\beta X\), its Stone-Čech compactification. The main theorem of the paper lists 5 statements which are proved to be equivalent. A corollary follows, and we state it next. Corollary. Let \(P\) be a finitely dominated connected locally compact complex. Then the following conditions are equivalent for any space \(X\): (1) \(P\in AE(X)\). (2) \(P\in AE(\beta X)\). A subsequent result with somewhat different conditions on \(P\) has a similar outcome, but with \(P\vee S^n\) replacing \(P\).