Spaces determined by selections (Q972541)

For a topological space \(X\), let \(2^X\) denote the space of all non-empty closed subsets of \(X\) with the Vietoris topology, and \([X]^2\) the subspace of \(2^X\) consisting of subsets of \(X\) with exactly two elements. A mapping \(\psi : [X]^2 \to X\) is called a weak selection on \(X\) if \(\psi (\{x,y\} ) \in \{x,y\}\) for every \(\{x,y\} \in [X]^2\). For a weak selection \(\psi\) on \(X\), the topology \(\tau_\psi\) on \(X\) generated by the sets of the form \((\leftarrow , x)_\psi=\{ y \in X : x\neq y ~ \text{and } ~ \psi (\{x,y\})=y\}\) and \((x,\rightarrow )_\psi =\{ y \in X : x\neq y ~\text{and }~ \psi (\{x,y\})=x\}\), \(x \in X\), is called the topology generated by the weak selection \(\psi\). \textit{V. Gutev} and \textit{T. Nogura} [Topology Appl.\ 153, No.~5--6, 900--911 (2005; Zbl 1089.54005)] proved that \(\tau_\psi\) is always regular and asked whether it is normal or collectionwise Hausdorff. Answering the question, \textit{S. Garcia-Ferreira} and \textit{A. H. Tomita} [Topology Appl.\ 155, No.~10, 1105--1110 (2008; Zbl 1144.54006)] constructed a weak selection \(\psi\) on the space of irrational numbers such that \(\tau_\psi\) is neither normal nor collectionwise Hausdorff and asked whether there are a set \(X\) and a weak selection \(\psi\) on \(X\) such that \(\tau_\psi\) is not completely regular. In this paper, the authors prove that \(\tau_\psi\) is always completely regular. The authors also investigate spaces determined by selections. In particular, they prove (1) if \(\psi\) is a weak selection on a set \(X\), then \(\tau _\psi\) is the intersection of all Hausdorff topologies \(\tau\) on \(X\) such that \(\psi\) is \(\tau\)-continuous; (2) there is a space \((X,\tau)\) which is neither compact nor locally compact nor connected nor locally connected such that there is a continuous weak selection on \(X\) and \(\tau = \tau_\psi\) for every continuous weak selection \(\psi\) on \(X\). These results give answers of two questions posed by \textit{V. Gutev} and \textit{T. Nogura} in [E. Pearl (ed.), Open Problems in Topology II. Amsterdam: Elsevier (2007; Zbl 1158.54300), pp. 161--170]. Some questions on spaces determined by selections and their relation to orderability properties are posed.