Pseudocompact group topologies with no infinite compact subsets (Q616343)

The authors deal with the following two related questions: {\parindent6.5mm \begin{itemize}\item[(a)] Is every Pontryagin reflexive totally bounded abelian group a compact group? \item[(b)] Does every pseudocompact abelian group admit a pseudocompact group topology with no infinite compact subsets? \end{itemize}} Let \(G\) be an abelian topological group. The dual of \(G\) equipped with the compact-open topology is denoted by \(G^{\wedge}\). If the evaluation map \(\alpha_{G}: G\to G^{\wedge\wedge}\) is a topological isomorphism, then we say that \(G\) is Pontryagin reflexive. We say that \(G\) has property \(\sharp\) if for every countable subgroup \(H\) of \(G\), every homomorphism of \(H\) into the unit circle \(\mathbb{T}\) can be extended to a continuous homomorphism of \(G\) into \(\mathbb{T}\). In this paper the authors prove the following theorems and results: {\parindent7.5mm \begin{itemize}\item[(i)] If a pseudocompact abelian group contains no infinite compact subsets, then it is Pontryagin reflexive. \item[(ii)] If the SCH (Singular Cardinal Hypothesis) is assumed, then every pseudocompact abelian group admits a pseudocompact group topology with property \(\sharp\) and thus with no infinite compact subsets. \item[(iii)] Every infinite pseudocompact abelian group \(G\) with \(|G|\leq 2^{2^{c}}\) supports a noncompact, pseudocompact group topology \(\tau_{H}\) such that \((G,\tau_{H})\) is Pontryagin reflexive. \end{itemize}} The result (i) constructs a wide range of new examples answering a question that appeared in [\textit{M. J. Chasco} and \textit{E. Martín-Peinador}, J. Group Theory 11, No.~5, 635--643 (2008; Zbl 1203.22002)]. The result (ii) gives a positive answer to question (b). Other results are also interesting.