On topological groups with a first-countable remainder. II. (Q890066)

All spaces in the paper are assumed to be Tychonoff. If \(X\) is a space, then a remainder of \(X\) is the subspace \(bX \setminus X\) of a Hausdorff compactification \(bX\) of the space \(X\). The authors prove that if a non-locally compact topological group \(G\) has a first countable remainder \(Y\), then the weight of \(G\) and the cardinality of \(Y\) do not exceed \(2^\omega\). They also establish that every precompact topological group with a first countable remainder is separable and metrizable and construct, under the Continuum Hypothesis, an example of a countable non-metrizable group that has a first countable remainder. This, together with a previous result of Arhangel'skii, shows that it is independent of ZFC whether existence of a first countable remainder for a countable group \(G\) implies that \(G\) is metrizable.