Embedding function spaces into \(\ell_\infty/c_0\) (Q719552)

Let \(K\) be a compact metric space and \(C(K)\) denote the space of continuous mappings from \(K\) into the real numbers \(\mathbb{R}\). A result of \textit{I. I. Parovichenko} [Sov. Math., Dokl. 4, 592--595 (1963); translation from Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 150, 36--39 (1963; Zbl 0171.21301)] says that if \(K\) has weight \(\leq\aleph_1\), then \(C(K)\) is isometric to a subset of \(\ell_\infty/c_0\). In the present paper the author studies other conditions on \(K\) which give the same result but where the logical implication lies beyond the reach of the usual axioms of set theory. A classical problem of set theory is to show that every subset of \(\mathbb{R}^2\) belongs to the \(\sigma\)-field generated by rectangles of the form \(\{A\times B: A,B\subset \mathbb{R}\}\). The author shows, among other things, that if \(\ell_\infty/c_0\) contains an isometric copy of \(C(K)\) whenever \(K\) is first countable, then every subset of \(\mathbb{R}^2\) belongs to the \(\sigma\)-field generated by rectangles.