Weakly separated spaces and Pixley-Roy hyperspaces (Q6071316)

This paper studies various chain conditions on \(\mathscr F[X]\), the Pixley-Roy hyperspace of \(X\), as they relate to properties of \(X\). One of the first results is a characterization of the set of calibers on \(\mathscr F[X]\): \(\kappa\) is a caliber of \(\mathscr F[X]\) if and only if \(\mathrm{cf}(\kappa) > |X|\). To characterize the set of (weak) precalibers on \(\mathscr F[X]\), a new property \(C(\kappa)\), which is stronger than having \(\kappa\)-calibers hereditarily, is introduced: \(X\) satisfies \(C(\kappa)\) if, for any \(A = \{ x_\alpha : \alpha < \kappa \}\) and any open neighborhood assignment \(\{ U_\alpha : \alpha < \kappa \}\) of \(A\), there exists \(J \in [\kappa]^{\kappa}\) such that \[ \{ x_\alpha : \alpha \in J \} \subseteq \bigcap \{ U_\alpha : \alpha \in J \}. \] It is shown that a cardinal \(\kappa\) of uncountable cofinality is a (weak) precaliber of \(\mathscr F[X]\) if and only if \(X\) satisfies \(C(\kappa)\). After these characterizations, some sufficient criteria for checking when \(C(\kappa)\) is satisfied are established. In particular, if \(nw(X) < \mathrm{cf}(\kappa)\), where \(nw(\cdot)\) is the net weight, then \(X\) satisfies \(C(\kappa)\). It follows that, if \(nw(X) < |X|\), then \(nw(X)^+\) is a precaliber, but not a caliber, of \(\mathscr F[X]\). On the other hand, if \(\mathrm{cf}(\kappa) < hd(X)\), where \(hd(\cdot)\) is the hereditary density, then \(X\) does not satisfy \(C(\kappa)\). The paper then moves on to consider how the property of being weakly separated is affected by various topological constructions. Recall that a space \(X\) is weakly separated if there exists a set \(\{ U_x : x \in X \}\) of open subsets of \(X\) with \(x \in U_x\) for each \(x \in X\) and, for distinct \(x,y \in X\), either \(x \not\in U_y\) or \(y \not\in U_x\). Then the weak separation number of \(X\) is \[ R(X) = \sup \{ |Y| : Y \text{ is a weakly separated subspace of } X \} + \omega. \] Taking the supremum over finite powers, we have \[ R^\ast(X) = \sup \{ R(X^n) : n \in \mathbb N\} \] and \[ c^\ast(X) = \sup \{c(X^n) : n \in \mathbb N\}, \] where \(c(\cdot)\) is the cellularity. It is shown that \[ R^\ast(X) = c^\ast(\mathscr F[X]) = \sup\{ c(\mathscr F[X^n]) : n \in \mathbb N \}. \] In this vein, there are some more comments on the relationship between \(\mathscr F[X^\lambda]\) and \(\mathscr F[X]^\lambda\). As a step towards showing that \(hd(X) \leq wL(\mathscr F[X])\), where \(wL(\cdot)\) is the weak Lindelöf degree, for spaces \(X\) that are either Hausdorff \(k\)-spaces or spaces with countable tightness, it is shown that \(d(A) \leq wL(\mathscr F[X])\) for any closed subspace \(A\) of any topological space \(X\). From this, it follows that, if \(X\) is a Hausdorff \(k\)-space or a \(T_1\)-space with countable tightness, \[ L^\ast(X) \cdot hL(X) \cdot hd(X) \leq wL(\mathscr F[X]), \] where \(L^\ast(\cdot)\) is the supremum over the Lindelöf degrees of all finite powers and \(hL(\cdot)\) is the hereditary Lindelöf degree. Hence, for a space \(X\) which is either a Hausdorff \(k\)-space or a \(T_1\)-space with countable tightness, if \(\mathscr F[X]\) is weakly Lindelöf, \(X\) is hereditarily separable. Under the assumption that \(X\) is weakly separated, it is shown that \[ R(X) = dc(\mathscr F[X]) = wL(\mathscr F[X]) = |X|. \] Hence, for weakly separated \(X\), if \(\mathscr F[X]\) is weakly Lindelöf, \(X\) is countable (thus, hereditarily separable).