New topological models for Banach-Mazur compacta (Q950761)

The original definition of Banach-Mazur compacta \(\text{BM}(n)\), \(n\geq 2\), was given by Banach [Théorie des Opérations Linéaires, Monog. Mat., Warszawa (1932; Zbl 0005.20901)]: \(\text{BM}(n)\) is the space of isometry classes \([E]\) of \(n\)-dimensional Banach space \(E\) equipped with the well-known Banach-Mazur metric \(d([E],[F])=\ln \inf \{\|T\|\|T^{-1}\|\mid T:E\rightarrow F\text{ is linear isomorphism}\}\). The topology of Banach-Mazur compacta continues to be of interest, and the following questions of Pelczyński were included in \textit{J. E. West}'s list of problems in [``Open problems in infinite-dimensional topology'', in J. van Mill and G. Reed (eds.), Open problems in topology. Amsterdam etc.: North-Holland (1990; Zbl 0718.54001), pp. 524--586]: (1) Are the Banach-Mazur compacta \(\text{BM}(n)\) absolute retracts? (2) Are they Hilbert cubes? A positive answer to the AR part of Pelczyński's question was obtained by the author [the author, Bull. Pol. Acad. Sci., Math. 46, No. 2, 113--119 (1998; Zbl 0906.54012)]. While Pelczyński's question of whether the Banach-Mazur \(\text{BM}(n)\) are homeomorphic to the Hilbert cube remains open for all \(n\geq 3\), it was answered negatively for \(n=2\) by the same author [Fundam. Math. 166, No. 3, 209--232 (2000; Zbl 0968.57022)]. In this solution, progress was achieved owing to the representation of the Banach-Mazur compactum \(\text{BM}(n)\) as the orbit of suitable action of the orthogonal group \(O(n)\) on the Hilbert cube. This new model of \(\text{BM}(n)\) was published by the author in [Fundam. Math. 166, No. 3, 209--232 (2000; Zbl 0968.57022)]. In the present paper, sufficient conditions are given for an action of the orthogonal group \(O(n)\) on the Hilbert cube \(Q\) in order that the corresponding orbit space \(Q/O(n)\) be homeomorphic to the Banach-Mazur compactum \(\text{BM}(n)\). This result is applied to obtain simple topological models for \(\text{BM}(2)\); the simplest model is the orbit space \(\Delta(2)/O(2)\).