Order-compactifications of totally ordered spaces: Revisited (Q651415)

Let \(X\) be an ordered topological space. A pair \((Y,f)\) is an order-compactification of \(X\) if \(Y\) is compact order-Hausdorff and \(f: X \to Y\) is an order-homeomorphism onto a dense subspace of \(Y\). The poset \(\mathfrak{OC}(X)\) of (inequivalent) order-compactifications of a completely order-regular space has a rather complicated structure which becomes tractable in the case of totally ordered spaces, as \textit{J. Blatter} [J. Approximation Theory 13, 56--65 (1975; Zbl 0299.54026)] and \textit{D. C. Kent} and \textit{T. A. Richmond} [Int. J. Math. Math. Sci. 11, No. 4, 683--694 (1988; Zbl 0678.54024)] showed. This description generalizes a similar characterization of all order-compactifications of a linearly ordered space by \textit{V. V. Fedorchuk} [Sov. Math., Dokl. 7, 1011--1014 (1966); translation from Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 169, 777--780 (1966; Zbl 0163.17302); Sib. Math. J. 10, 124--132 (1969); translation from Sib. Mat. Zh. 10, 172--187 (1969; Zbl 0185.50404)] and \textit{R. Kaufman} [Colloq. Math. 17, 35--39 (1967; Zbl 0161.19702)]. The Dedekind-MacNeille completion \(\mathfrak{DM}(X)\) of a totally ordered set \(X\) can be viewed as an order-com\-pacti\-fication of \(X\). Actually, \(\mathfrak{DM}(X)\) is the smallest order-compactification of \(X\). On the other hand, if \(X\) is a totally ordered space, then the Dedekind-MacNeille completion of \(X\) may not be an order-compactification of \(X\). Thus, in the present paper, in order to produce order-compactifications of \(X\), the authors introduce an order-topological modification of the Dedekind-MacNeille completion. Using it, they give a much simplified description of all order-compactifications of a totally ordered space \(X\). Then they present a simplified proof of the result of Blatter and Kent \& Richmond that the poset \(\mathfrak{OC}(X)\) is order-isomorphic to the powerset of \(\mathcal{CD}_2(X)\) (the set of nonempty closed non-principal downsets of \(X\) whose complement is a nonempty closed non-principal upset). At the end of the paper the authors describe the structure of Priestley order-compactifications of a zero-dimensional totally ordered space.