Ambitable topological groups (Q837628)

A topological group \(G\) is said to be ambitable if every uniformly bounded, uniformly equicontinuous set of functions from \(G\) to \(\mathbb R\) is contained in an ambit. The principal thrust of this paper is to uncover conditions on a topological group that it be ambitable. It is noted that no precompact group is ambitable, but it is unknown whether every topological group is either precompact or ambitable. The author says for \(\kappa\geq\omega\) that \(G\) is \(\kappa\)-\textit{bounded} [resp., locally \(\kappa\)-bounded] if for each nonempty open \(U\subseteq G\) there is \(P\subseteq G\) such that \(|P|\leq\kappa\) and \(G=UP\) [resp., for some nonempty open \(U\subseteq G\) there is, for every continuous right-invariant pseudometric \(\Delta\) on \(G\), a \(\Delta\)-dense set \(H\subseteq U\) such that \(|H|\leq\kappa\)]. Among other results it is shown that if for some \(\kappa\) a group \(G\) is locally \(\kappa^+\)-bounded but not \(\kappa\)-bounded, then \(G\) is ambitable. It follows that if the least cardinal \(\lambda\) such that \(G\) is \(\lambda\)-bounded is a successor cardinal, then \(G\) is ambitable; hence every locally \(\aleph_n\)-bounded group, in particular every locally compact group, is either precompact or ambitable. It is unknown whether every \(\aleph_\omega\)-bounded group is either precompact or ambitable. A final section of the paper justifies and gives content to this sentence from the author's abstract: ``In the familiar semigroups constructed over ambitable groups, topological centres have an effective characterization.''