Minimal size of basic families (Q549129)

Let \(C(X)\) be the set of all continuous real-valued functions on a topological space \(X\). A family \(\Phi \subset C(X)\) is said to be basic if every \(f\in C(X)\) can be represented as \(f=\sum_{i=1}^n g_i\circ \varphi _i\) for some \(\varphi _i\in\Phi \) and \(g_i\in C({\mathbb{R}})\), \(i=1,...,n\). The authors introduce a new cardinal invariant of topological spaces: basic(\(X\))=\(\min\{ | \Phi | : \Phi \; \text{is}\; \text{a}\; \text{basic}\; \text{family}\; \text{for}\; X\}\). They study possible values of basic(\(X\)) for separable metrizable spaces and compact spaces. The paper is concluded with some open questions.