Weak orderability of topological spaces (Q972521)

This paper is a survey, with proofs, of weak orderability and the existence of continuous weak selections for topological spaces. For a \(T_1\)-space \(X\), let \({\mathcal F}(X)\) denote the space of all nonempty closed subsets of \(X\) with the Vietoris topology and let \({\mathcal F}_{2}(X) = \{ S \subset X : 1 \leq |S| \leq 2\}\) be the subspace of \({\mathcal F}(X)\) of all sets of cardinality at most 2. A mapping \(f : {\mathcal F} _2(X) \to X\) is called a weak selection for \(X\) if \(f (S) \in S\) for every \(S \in {\mathcal F}_2(X)\). A space \(X\) is said to be weakly orderable if \(X\) admits a coarser open interval topology for some linear order on \(X\). In \textit{E. Michael}'s paper [Trans.\ Am.\ Math.\ Soc.\ 71, 152-182 (1951; Zbl 0043.37902)], it was shown that every weakly orderable space admits a continuous weak selection. Concerning its converse, \textit{J. van Mill} and \textit{E. Wattel} [Proc.\ Am.\ Math.\ Soc.\ 83, 601--605 (1981; Zbl 0473.54010)] proved that every compact Hausdorff space which admits a continuous weak selection is orderable (and hence, weakly orderable), and asked the following problem: Is a space \(X\) weakly orderable if \(X\) admits a continuous weak selection? \textit{M. Hrušák} and \textit{I. Martínez-Ruiz} [Fundam.\ Math.\ 203, 1--20 (2009; Zbl 1170.54008)] answered this problem negatively by constructing a separable, first countable, locally compact space which admits a continuous weak selection but is not weakly orderable. In this paper, the authors reconstruct the example of {M. Hrušák} and {I. Martínez-Ruiz}, and give a detailed discussion on the problem: When is a space \(X\) weakly orderable provided \(X\) admits a continuous weak selection? Most of the results are presented with complete proofs. Several related open questions are also raised.