Autohomeomorphisms of pre-images of \(\mathbb{N}^\ast\) (Q6986677)

In the study of \(\beta\mathbb{R}\), the Čech-Stone compactification of the real line, the space \(\mathbb{N}\times[0,1]\), abbreviated~\(\mathbb{M}\), plays an important role. The map \(\pi:\mathbb{M}\to\mathbb{N}\), defined by \(\pi(n,x)=n\), its extension \(\beta\pi:\beta\mathbb{M}\to\beta\mathbb{N}\), and the latter's restriction \(\pi^*:\mathbb{M}^*\to\mathbb{N}^*\) to the Čech-Stone remainder are very useful tools in the study of~\(\mathbb{M}^*\). It is readily seen that an autohomeomorphism~\(f\) of~\(\mathbb{M}^*\) induces an autohomeomorphism~\(f'\) of~\(\mathbb{N}^*\) such that \(f'\circ\pi^*=\pi^*\circ f\): the preimages \((\pi^*)^\gets(u)\) for \(u\in\mathbb{N}^*\) are the connected components of~\(\mathbb{M}^*\), the map~\(f\) permutes these, and the map~\(f'\) is simply the induced permutation of~\(\mathbb{N}^*\). In [\textit{A. Dow} and \textit{K. P. Hart}, Acta Univ. Carol., Math. Phys. 34, No. 2, 31--39 (1993; Zbl 0837.54018)] the authors asked whether one can obtain every autohomeomorphism of~\(\mathbb{N}^*\) in this way, that is, given an autohomeomorphism~\(g\) of~\(\mathbb{N}^*\) is there an autohomeomorphism~\(f\) of~\(\mathbb{M}^*\) such that \(g=f'\); one calls \(f\) a lifting of~\(g\). One can obtain all trivial autohomeomorphisms of~\(\mathbb{N}^*\) in this way, where \(g\)~is trivial if it is of the form \(b^*\) where \(b\)~is a bijection between cofinite subsets of~\(\mathbb{N}\).\par The author proves that in a model from [\textit{B. Velickovic}, Topology Appl. 49, No. 1, 1--13 (1993; Zbl 0785.03033)], which contains a non-trivial autohomeomorphism of~\(\mathbb{N}^*\), all autohomeomorphisms of~\(\mathbb{N}^*\) that are of the form~\(f'\) are trivial, thus providing a consistent negative answer to the question above. The author announces that the Continuum Hypothesis implies a positive answer and that this will appear in another paper. That paper has appeared as~[\textit{W. Brian} et al., Topology Appl. 373, Article ID 109539, 14 p. (2025; Zbl 1573.54034)].