Infinitesimal topological generators and quasi non-Archimedean topological groups (Q505385)

The authors prove that for a connected separable locally compact group there is an integer \(n\) such that every neighborhood of the identity contains \(n\) elements generating a dense subgroup using the terms \textit{infinitesimally finitely generated} for such a property; and then they generalize a result of [\textit{J. Schreier} and \textit{S. Ulam}, Fundam. Math. 24, 302--304 (1935; Zbl 0011.01102)] by proving that any separable connected compact group is infinitesimally 2-generated. They call a topological group \(G\) \textit{quasi non-Archimedean} if for every neighborhood \(U\) of the identity and every \(n\in \mathbb{N}\) there exists a neighborhood \(V\) of the identity such that for every \(g_1,\dots, g_n\in V\), the group generated by \(g_1,\dots, g_n\) is contained in \(U\); and prove that every continuous homomorphism from an infinitesimally finitely generated group into a quasi non-Archimedean group is trivial. They also prove that a locally compact group is quasi non-Archimedean if and only if it is totally disconnected, and provide various examples which show that the picture is much richer for Polish groups.