On decomposition of continuity (Q858058)

Let \(X\) be a topological space; the following notions of generalized open sets and continuous mappings are used, among others, throughout the paper under review. A subset \(A\) of \(X\) is called: (1) pre-open if \(A\subset \text{Int}\,\overline A\) and pre-closed if \(\overline{\text{Int}\,A}\subset A\), (2) \(\alpha\)-open if \(A\subset \text{Int}\,\overline{\text{Int}\,A}\) and \(\alpha\)-closed if \(\overline{\text{Int}\,\overline A}\subset A\). A function \(f:X\longrightarrow Y\) is said to be \(\alpha\)-continuous (resp. pre-continuous) if \(f^{-1}(V)\) is an \(\alpha\)-open set (resp. pre-open set) for each open subset \(V\) of \(Y\). Along this line, the main purpose of this paper is to introduce the concepts of \(\eta\)-sets, \(\eta\zeta\)-sets, \(\eta\)-continuity and \(\eta\zeta\)-continuity and to obtain a decomposition of continuity using these notions. A subset \(A\) of a topological space \(X\) is called an \(\eta\)-set (resp. \(\eta\zeta\)-set) if \(A=U\cap N\), where \(U\) is open and \(N\) is \(\alpha\)-closed (resp. clopen) in \(X\). A function \(f:X\longrightarrow Y\) is said to be \(\eta\)-continuous (resp. \(\eta\zeta\)-continuous) if the preimage of every open subset of \(Y\) is an \(\eta\)-set (resp. \(\eta\zeta\)-set) in \(X\). The authors study these definitions and obtain a decomposition of continuity which includes the following characterization: for a function \(f:X\longrightarrow Y\), the following conditions are equivalent: (1) \(f\) is continuous; (2) \(f\) is \(\eta\zeta\)-continuous; (3) \(f\) is \(\alpha\)-continuous and \(\eta\)-continuous; and (4) \(f\) is pre-continuous and \(\eta\)-continuous. Many examples are also given which help to place properly all the notions introduced in the paper.