Spaces \(\ell\)-dominated by \(I\) or \(\mathbb{R}\) (Q511043)

For a Tychonoff space \(X\), let \(C_p(X)\) denote the linear space of all continuous real-valued functions on \(X\) endowed with the topology of pointwise convergence. Recall that two spaces \(X\) and \(Y\) are said to be \(\ell\)-equivalent if there exists a linear homeomorphism between \(C_p(X)\) and \(C_p(Y)\). Many different problems have been studied in this context. For instance, which topological properties are preserved by \(\ell\)-equivalence, and which spaces are \(\ell\)-equivalent to standard spaces. On the other hand, a space \(X\) is said to \(\ell\)-dominate \(Y\), when there is a linear continuous map from \(C_p(X)\) onto \(C_p(Y)\). It is natural to extend results on \(\ell\)-equivalence to \(\ell\)-dominance. In this respect, the paper under review is mainly devoted to studying which spaces are \(\ell\)-dominated by the closed unit interval \(I\). In [J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 56, No. 3, 529--538 (1997; Zbl 0907.22002)], \textit{A. Leiderman} et al. proved that if \(X\) is \(\ell\)-dominated by \(I\) then \(X\) is countably dimensional, compact and metrizable; the authors also obtained a kind of converse saying that if \(X\) is a compact metrizable space with finite dimension then it is \(\ell\)-dominated by \(I\). The main result in this paper (Theorem 1) is an extension of this last result for the class of compact metrizable spaces with strongly countable dimension and finite fd-height (this notion is too technical to be stated in this review). The paper also contains an interesting study about spaces \(\ell\)-dominated by the real line \(\mathbb R\).