Topology and its Applications 228 (2017) 318–326

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Topology and its Applications

www.elsevier.com/locate/topol

Strong domination by countable and second countable spaces

V.V. Tkachuk 1
Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Av. San Rafael Atlixco, 186,
Col. Vicentina, Iztapalapa, C.P. 09340, Mexico D.F., Mexico

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: We show that, for a Lindelöf Σ-space X, if Cp (X, [0, 1]) is strongly dominated by a
Received 9 April 2017 second countable space, then X is countable. Under Martin’s Axiom we prove that
Received in revised form 10 June there exists a countable space Z that strongly dominates the complement of the
2017
diagonal of any first countable compact space. In particular, strong domination by
Accepted 12 June 2017
Available online 19 June 2017 a countable space of the complement of the diagonal of a compact space X need
not imply metrizability of X. It turns out that the same countable space Z strongly
MSC: dominates Cp (X) for an uncountable space X. Our results solve several published
primary 54C35, 54C05 open problems.
secondary 46A50 © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Strong domination by a space
Function space
Countable space
Lindelöf Σ-space
Complement of the diagonal
Martin’s Axiom

1. Introduction

If X and Y are topological spaces and f : Y → X is a continuous onto map, then letting FK = f (K)
for every compact set K ⊂ Y , we obtain a compact cover F = {FK : K is a compact subset of Y } of the
space X ordered by the family K(Y ) of all compact subsets of Y in the sense that K ⊂ L implies FK ⊂ FL .
Now, if X is not necessarily a continuous image of Y but there exists a compact cover of X ordered by
K(Y ), then it is said that the space X is dominated by Y . We already saw that domination by a space Y is
a weaker concept than being a continuous image of Y .
A space X is strongly dominated by a space Y if there exists a compact cover F of X ordered by K(Y )
that swallows all compact subsets of X, i.e., for any compact set E ⊂ X, there exists K ∈ K(Y ) such that
E ⊂ FK . It is easy to see that strong domination by Y is a generalization of being a perfect continuous image

E-mail address: [email protected].

1
Research supported by CONACYT grant CB-2012-01-178103 (Mexico).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.topol.2017.06.011
0166-8641/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 V.V. Tkachuk / Topology and its Applications 228 (2017) 318–326 319

of Y . The importance of the notion of domination can be seen from the fact that every K-analytic space is
dominated by the space P of the irrationals and Lindelöf Σ-spaces are dominated by second countable ones.
The first important bulk of results on domination and strong domination comes from Functional Analysis.
Valdivia studied linear topological spaces dominated by P and Talagrand proved in [12] that Cp (X) must be
K-analytic if X is compact and Cp (X) is dominated by P. Tkachuk showed in [13] that compactness of X
can be omitted in Talagrand’s result. In [3] Cascales and Orihuela obtained some metrization theorems for
compact subsets of function spaces in terms of strong domination by P. Christensen’s work in Descriptive
Set Theory [1] had, as a purely topological byproduct, a theorem that states that a second countable space
is strongly dominated by P if and only if it is Polish.
Tkachuk established in [13] that Cp (X) is strongly dominated by P if and only if X is countable and
discrete. Cascales, Orihuela and Tkachuk showed that Cp (X) is dominated by a second countable space
if and only if it has the Lindelöf Σ-property and asked whether strong domination of Cp(X) by a second
countable space implies countability of X. This question was answered positively by Guerrero Sánchez and
Tkachuk in [7] who asked in the same paper what happens if Cp (X, [0, 1]) is strongly dominated by a second
countable space. In this case the space X need not be countable because Cp (X, [0, 1]) = [0, 1]X is even
compact for any discrete space X. So far there is no conjecture on how to characterize strong domination
of Cp (X, [0, 1]) by a second countable space but it was asked in [7] whether X must be countable if it has
the Lindelöf Σ-property.
In this paper we prove that a Lindelöf Σ-space X is, indeed, countable if Cp (X, [0, 1]) is strongly dominated
by a second countable space; this solves Question 4.9 from the paper [7]. The fact that a compact space
X is metrizable if (X × X)\ΔX is strongly dominated by a second countable space (see Theorem 3.11 of
[3]) was the motivation for Guerrero Sánchez and Tkachuk to ask in [6] whether the same conclusion is
true if (X × X)\ΔX is strongly dominated by a space with a countable network. In this paper we establish
that, under Martin’s Axiom, even strong domination of (X × X)\ΔX by a countable space does not imply
metrizability of a compact space X. This gives a consistent solution of Questions 4.4–4.13 from the paper [6].

2. Notation and terminology

All spaces are assumed to be Tychonoff. Given a space X, the family τ (X) is its topology and τ ∗ (X) =
τ (X)\{∅}. Let τ (A, X) = {U ∈ τ (X) : A ⊂ U } for any A ⊂ X; if x ∈ X, then we write τ (x, X) instead of
τ ({x}, X). As usual, R is the set of reals; the set ω\{0} is denoted by N and I = [0, 1] ⊂ R; we will also
need the two-point discrete space D = {0, 1} ⊂ R.
If X is a space, then ΔX = {(x, x) : x ∈ X} is its diagonal and K(X) is the family of all compact subsets
of X. Say that a family F of subsets of a space X is a network with respect to a cover C if for any C ∈ C
and U ∈ τ (C, X) there exists F ∈ F such that C ⊂ F ⊂ U . A space X is Lindelöf Σ (or has the Lindelöf
Σ-property) if there exists a countable family F of subsets of X such that F is a network with respect to
a compact cover C of the space X. If there exists a countable family F of subsets of X such that F is a
network with respect to K(X), then X is called an ℵ0 -space. The space X has the Banakh property, if there
is a countable family F of nowhere dense subsets of X such that for any K ∈ K(X) there exists F ∈ F with
K ⊂ F.
A family N is a network in a space X if for every U ∈ τ (X), there exists a family N  ⊂ N such that

U = N  . The spaces with a countable network are also called cosmic. A continuous map f : X → Y is
R-quotient if for any map g : Y → I, it follows from continuity of g ◦ f that g is continuous. A space X is
called stable if for any continuous image Y of the space X and any continuous injection of Y into a space Z,
we have nw(Y ) ≤ w(Z).
Given a set X, let exp(X) = {Y : Y ⊂ X}. If X is a space and f : X → Y is a continuous map, then
a family N ⊂ exp(X) is a network of f if for any x ∈ X and U ∈ τ (f (x), Y ) there exists N ∈ N such
320 V.V. Tkachuk / Topology and its Applications 228 (2017) 318–326

that x ∈ N and f (N ) ⊂ U . Suppose that a family A ⊂ exp(X) is closed under countable increasing unions,
B ⊂ exp(Y ) and we have a map ϕ : A → B. We say that ϕ is ω-monotone if
(1) ϕ(A) is countable whenever A ∈ A is countable;
(2) if A ⊂ B and A, B ∈ A, then ϕ(A) ⊂ ϕ(B);
 
(3) if {An : n ∈ ω} ⊂ A and An ⊂ An+1 for any n ∈ ω then we have the equality ϕ( n∈ω An ) = n∈ω ϕ(An ).
If X is a space and F ⊂ X, a continuous map r : X → F is called a retraction if r(x) = x for any x ∈ F .
Say that a space X is monotonically retractable if we can assign to any countable A ⊂ X a set K(A) ⊂ X,
a retraction rA : X → K(A) and a countable network N (A) of rA such that A ⊂ K(A) and the assignment
N is ω-monotone.
Given spaces X and Y , we denote by C(X, Y ) the set of all continuous functions from X to Y ; we write
C(X) instead of C(X, R). The space Cp (X, Y ) is the set C(X, Y ) endowed with the pointwise convergence
topology; the standard base in Cp (X, Y ) consists of the sets [x1 , . . . , xn ; O1 , . . . , On ] = {f ∈ Cp (X, Y ) :
f (xi ) ∈ Oi for all i ≤ n}; here x1 , . . . , xn ∈ X and O1 , . . . , On ∈ τ (Y ). Analogously, Cp (X) is the set C(X)
with the topology inherited from RX .
The rest of our notation is standard and follows the book [4]; the definitions of cardinal invariants can be
consulted in the survey of Hodel [8]. All necessary facts and notions of Cp -theory can be found in [14–16].

3. Strong domination in function spaces

If Cp (X) is strongly dominated by a second countable space, then X is countable. Since Cp (X, I) is
compact for any discrete space X, the same conclusion cannot be obtained if the above-mentioned strong
domination only holds for Cp (X, I). The purpose of this section is to establish that a Lindelöf Σ-space X
must be countable if Cp (X, I) is strongly dominated by a second countable space.

3.1. Definition. Given a space X, say that a sequence {Un : n ∈ ω} ⊂ τ ∗ (X) has a closed discrete selection
if, for every n ∈ ω, we can pick a point xn ∈ Un in such a way that the set {xn : n ∈ ω} is closed and
discrete in X.

3.2. Proposition. Suppose that X is a space of countable tightness and for any countable set A ⊂ X, the
subspace X\A has a non-isolated point. Then every sequence of non-empty open subsets of Cp (X, I) has a
closed discrete selection.

Proof. Take a sequence {Gn : n ∈ ω} of non-empty open subsets of Cp (X, I). There is no loss of generality to
assume that every set Gn is standard, i.e., Gn = [xn1 , . . . , xnkn ; O1n , . . . , Oknn ] for some points xn1 , . . . , xnkn ∈ X

and sets O1n , . . . , Oknn ∈ τ ∗ (I). Let An = {xn1 , . . . , xnkn } for each n ∈ ω; since the set A = n∈ω An is
countable, it follows from t(X) ≤ ω that we can find a faithfully indexed set D = {dn : n ∈ ω} ⊂ X\A and
a point z ∈ X\A such that z ∈ D\D.
Pick a number rin ∈ Oin for all n ∈ ω and i ∈ {1, . . . , kn }. For every n ∈ ω take a function fn ∈ Cp (X, I)
such that fn (xni ) = rin for all i ≤ kn while fn (z) = 0 and fn (di ) = 1 for all i = 0, . . . , n. Then fn ∈ Gn for
each n ∈ ω; to see that the selection E = {fn : n ∈ ω} is closed and discrete in Cp (X, I) take any function
f ∈ Cp (X, I). If f (z) = 0, then the set Uf = {g ∈ Cp (X, I) : g(z) = 0} is open in Cp (X, I) and Uf ∩ E = ∅. If
f (z) = 0, then it follows from z ∈ D that f (dn ) < 12 for some n ∈ ω. The set Uf = {g ∈ Cp (X, I) : g(dn ) < 12 }
is open in Cp (X, I) and Uf ∩ {fi : i ≥ n} = ∅. Therefore every f ∈ Cp (X, I) has an open neighborhood Uf
whose intersection with E is finite; this shows that E is closed and discrete. 2

3.3. Proposition. Suppose that X is an uncountable Lindelöf space with a unique non-isolated point p. If
t(X) = ω, then every sequence of non-empty open subsets of the space I = {f ∈ Cp (X, I) : f (p) = 0} has a
closed discrete selection.
 V.V. Tkachuk / Topology and its Applications 228 (2017) 318–326 321

Proof. Take a sequence {Gn : n ∈ ω} of non-empty open subsets of I. We can assume, without loss
of generality, that Gn = [xn1 , . . . , xnkn ; O1n , . . . , Oknn ] ∩ I for some points xn1 , . . . , xnkn ∈ X\{p} and sets

O1n , . . . , Oknn ∈ τ ∗ (I). Consider the set An = {xn1 , . . . , xnkn } for each n ∈ ω; since A = n∈ω An is countable,
it follows from l(X) = t(X) = ω that there exists a faithfully indexed set D = {dn : n ∈ ω} ⊂ X\(A ∪ {p})
such that p ∈ D\D.
Pick a number rin ∈ Oin for all n ∈ ω and i ∈ {1, . . . , kn }. For each n ∈ ω take a function fn ∈ I such
that fn (xni ) = rin for all i ≤ kn and fn (di ) = 1 for all i = 0, . . . , n. Then fn ∈ Gn for each n ∈ ω; to see that
the selection E = {fn : n ∈ ω} is closed and discrete in I take any function f ∈ I. It follows from p ∈ D
that f (dn ) < 12 for some n ∈ ω. The set Uf = {g ∈ I : g(dn ) < 12 } is open in I and Uf ∩ {fi : i ≥ n} = ∅.
Therefore every f ∈ I has an open neighborhood Uf whose intersection with E is finite; this shows that E
is closed and discrete in I. 2

The following property was introduced by Banakh and studied in the papers [9] and [17].

3.4. Definition. Say that a space X has the Banakh property, if there exists a countable family E of nowhere
dense subsets of X that swallows all compact subsets of X, i.e., for any K ∈ K(X), there exists E ∈ E such
that K ⊂ E. It is trivial that spaces with the Banakh property have no isolated points.

3.5. Proposition. Suppose that X is a space with the following properties:

(a) every compact subspace of X is nowhere dense in X;

(b) every countably compact subspace of X is compact;
(c) every sequence {Un : n ∈ ω} ⊂ τ ∗ (X) has a closed discrete selection.

If additionally, X is strongly dominated by a second countable space, then X has the Banakh property.

Proof. Suppose that X is strongly dominated by a second countable space M and fix the respective family
{FK : K ∈ K(M )}.
By [3, Proposition 2.6] for every K ∈ K(M ) we can choose a countably compact subset GK ⊃ FK of the
space X such that there exists a countable network N with respect to the family G = {GK : K ∈ K(M )}.
Every GK is compact and hence closed by (b) so we can assume, without loss of generality, that all elements
of N are closed in X. Observe also that all elements of G are closed and nowhere dense in X by (a). Given
an arbitrary compact set E ⊂ X, there exists K ∈ K(M ) such that E ⊂ FK ⊂ GK .
The family N  = {N ∈ N : Int(N ) = ∅} is countable so we can apply (c) to see that we can pick a point
yN ∈ Int(N )\GK for every N ∈ N  in such a way that the set D = {yN : N ∈ N  } is closed and discrete.
There exists H ∈ N such that GK ⊂ H ⊂ X\D; since D meets every element of N  , the set H ⊃ E belongs
to N \N  . Therefore the countable family N \N  witnesses the Banakh property of X. 2

The following fact belongs to the folklore. Its proof is standard and can be left to the reader.

3.6. Proposition. (a) If X is a non-discrete infinite space, then all compact subspaces of Cp (X, I) have empty
interior in Cp (X, I).
(b) If X is an infinite space with a unique non-isolated point p, then all compact subspaces of the set
I = {f ∈ Cp (X, I) : f (p) = 0} have empty interior in I.

The following theorem answers Question 4.9 from the paper [7].

3.7. Theorem. If X is a Lindelöf Σ-space and Cp (X, I) is strongly dominated by a second countable space,
then X is countable.
322 V.V. Tkachuk / Topology and its Applications 228 (2017) 318–326

Proof. Assume that Cp (X, I) is strongly dominated by a second countable space M and fix the respective
family {FK : K ∈ K(M )}.
By [3, Proposition 2.6] for every K ∈ K(M ) we can choose a countably compact subset GK ⊃ FK of the
space Cp (X, I) such that there exists a countable network N with respect to the family G = {GK : K ∈
K(M )} in Cp (X, I). Since the space X is Lindelöf Σ, every countably compact subspace of Cp (X) is compact
by [16, Problem 220] so the families G and N witness that Cp (X, I) is Lindelöf Σ. By [16, Problem 217], the
space Cp (X) also has the Lindelöf Σ-property.
If nw(Z) ≤ ω and Cp (Z, I) is strongly dominated by a second countable space, then Cp (Z, I) has to be
an ℵ0 -space because it cosmic (see [3, Theorem 3.6]). Since the space Cp (Z) embeds in Cp (Z, I) it must also
be an ℵ0 -space so Z is countable by [10, Proposition 10.7]. This proves that

(1) If nw(Z) ≤ ω and Cp (Z, I) is strongly dominated by a second countable space, then Z is countable.

Furthermore, if ϕ : X → Y is a continuous onto map such that nw(Y ) ≤ ω, then apply [15, Fact 2 of
T.139] to find an R-quotient map ξ : X → Z for which there exists a condensation j : Z → Y such that
j ◦ ξ = ϕ. The space X being stable (see Problem 266 of the book [15]), we can conclude that nw(Z) = ω.
Since Cp (Z, I) embeds in Cp (X, I) as a closed subspace, it is strongly dominated by a second countable space
so we can apply (1) to see that Z is countable. Therefore Y is countable too and hence we established that

(2) any cosmic continuous image of X is countable.

Now take any set A ⊂ Cp (X) and f ∈ A. Since t(Cp (X)) = ω (see [14, Problem 149]), there exists a
countable set B ⊂ A such that f ∈ B. Let e : X → Cp (B) be the reflection map defined by e(x)(g) = g(x)
for every g ∈ B. The map e is continuous and hence the set Y = e(X) ⊂ RB is countable by (2). Apply
[15, Fact 2 of T.139] to find an R-quotient map ξ : X → Z for which there exists a condensation j : Z → Y
such that j ◦ ξ = e. The space Z is also countable so w(Cp (Z)) ≤ ω. The dual map ξ ∗ : Cp (Z) → Cp (X)
embeds Cp (Z) into Cp (X) and the set H = ξ ∗ (Cp (Z)) is closed in Cp (X) by [14, Problem 163]. Recall that
ξ ∗ (g) = g ◦ ξ for any g ∈ Cp (Z).
It is standard that B ⊂ H and hence the set B ⊂ H is second countable. Thus there exists a sequence
{gn : n ∈ ω} ⊂ B that converges to f . This shows that for every A ⊂ Cp (X), if f ∈ A, then gn → f for
some sequence {gn : n ∈ ω} ⊂ A, i.e.,

(3) the space Cp (X) has the Fréchet–Urysohn property.

Recall that both X and Cp (X) have the Lindelöf Σ-property so the space X must be monotonically
retractable by [11, Theorem 5.4]. In particular, for any countable set A ⊂ X, there exists a retraction
r : X → F such that F is cosmic and A ⊂ F . The closed set F must be countable by (2) and hence we
established that

(4) the closure of every countable subset of X is countable.

If X is countable, then there is nothing to prove so we assume, from this moment on, that X is uncount-
able.

Case 1. For any countable A ⊂ X, the subspace X\A has a non-isolated point.

Every compact subspace of Cp (X, I) is nowhere dense in Cp (X, I) by Proposition 3.6 and hence the condition
(a) of Proposition 3.5 is satisfied. The condition (b) holds for Cp (X, I) by [16, Problem 220] and we have
(c) by Proposition 3.2. Therefore Proposition 3.5 can be applied to convince ourselves that Cp (X, I) has the
Banakh property. However, Cp (X, I) is Fréchet–Urysohn by (3) and Fréchet–Urysohn space cannot have the
Banakh property by [9, Theorem 5.3]. This contradiction shows that X must be countable.

Case 2. There exists a countable set A ⊂ X such that the subspace X\A is discrete.
 V.V. Tkachuk / Topology and its Applications 228 (2017) 318–326 323

The set B = A is also countable by (4) so P = X\B is an uncountable subset of X and all points of P are
isolated in X. Let Z be the space obtained from X by collapsing the set B to a point p. Then p is the unique
non-isolated point of Z. Since Z is a closed continuous image of X, the set Cp (Z, I) embeds in Cp (X, I) as
a closed subspace by [14, Problem 163]. Therefore Cp (Z, I) is strongly dominated by a second countable
space. Observe that I = {f ∈ Cp (Z, I) : f (p) = 0} is closed in Cp (Z, I) so it is also strongly dominated by a
second countable space.
The condition (a) of Proposition 3.5 holds for I by Proposition 3.6 and the property (b) takes place by
[16, Problem 220]. Applying Proposition 3.3 we can see that the property (c) holds as well so Proposition 3.5
guarantees that I has the Banakh property. However, I is Fréchet–Urysohn by (3) and Fréchet–Urysohn
space cannot have the Banakh property by [9, Theorem 5.3]. This final contradiction shows that X must
be countable in this case as well. 2

4. Domination by countable spaces

An impressive number of results about nice properties of spaces dominated by second countable ones raises
some natural questions about domination by more general spaces. In the papers [5] and [2] domination and
strong domination by metric spaces of given weight was studied. In the paper [6] it was asked what happens
if the complement of the diagonal of a compact space is dominated by a cosmic space. The purpose of this
section is to show that, at least consistently, domination by a countable space has much weaker implications
than domination by a second countable space.
Observe first that any space is a continuous image of a discrete one; therefore being dominated by a
metric space does not give any new information about a space. The following fact is not so evident but also
easy.

4.1. Proposition. Any space is strongly dominated by a discrete one.

Proof. Take any space X and let M be the set K(X) with the discrete topology. If K is a compact subset

of M , then it is finite so FK = K is a compact subset of X. It is clear that the family {FK : K ∈ K(M )}
witnesses strong domination of X by the discrete space M . 2

Recall that, for a compact space X, strong domination of (X × X)\ΔX by a second countable space
implies metrizability of X by [3, Theorem 3.11]. Under the Continuum Hypothesis the same conclusion is
true if (X × X)\ΔX is dominated by a second countable space (see Corollary 3.3 of [6]). That’s why in [6]
it was asked whether domination of (X × X)\ΔX by a cosmic space X implies metrizability of X. We will
show that, under Martin’s Axiom, most of questions of [6] have a negative answer.

4.2. Theorem. Under Martin’s Axiom MA, there exists an almost disjoint family A on the set ω such that

|A| = c and for any infinite B ⊂ A, there is an infinite set D ⊂ B such that D ∩ A is finite for any A ∈ A.

Proof. Denote by I the family of all infinite subsets of ω and consider an enumeration {Nα : ω ≤ α < c}
of [I]ω in which every N ∈ [I]ω occurs c-many times. We will construct families A = {Aα : α < c} ⊂ I and
H = {Hα : ω ≤ α < c} ⊂ I with the following properties:

(5) The family A ∪ H is almost disjoint;


(6) if ω ≤ α < c and Nα ⊂ {Aβ : β < α}, then Hα ⊂ Nα .

To begin the construction, choose a disjoint family {An : n ∈ ω} ⊂ I such that n∈ω An = ω. Proceeding
by induction, assume that ω ≤ β < c and we have families {Aα : α < β} and {Hα : ω ≤ α < β} such that
the property (6) holds for all α ∈ [ω, β) and Mβ = {Aα : α < β} ∪ {Hα : ω ≤ α < β} is almost disjoint.
324 V.V. Tkachuk / Topology and its Applications 228 (2017) 318–326

If Nβ is not contained in {Aα : α < β}, then observe that the family Mβ cannot be maximal because
Martin’s Axiom holds and |Mβ | < c so we can choose disjoint sets Aβ , Hβ ∈ I such that the family
Mβ ∪ {Aβ , Hβ } is almost disjoint.

If Nβ ⊂ {Aα : α < β}, then let Q = Nβ and observe that the family E = {E ∩ Q : E ∈ Mβ and E ∩ Q
is infinite} is almost disjoint and |E| < c so it follows from MA that E is not maximal on Q; choose disjoint
infinite sets Aβ , Hβ ⊂ Q such that the family E ∪ {Aβ , Hβ } is almost disjoint.
It is immediate that in both cases the property and (6) holds for all α ≤ β so our inductive procedure
can be continued to construct families A and H such that A ∪ H is almost disjoint and (6) holds for all
α ∈ [ω, c).
Finally, take any infinite family B ⊂ A; there is no loss of generality to assume that B is countable and
hence there exists an ordinal α ∈ [ω, c) such that B ⊂ {Aβ : β < α} and B = Nα . The family A ∪ {Hα } is
 
almost disjoint and it follows from (6) that D = Hα ⊂ Nα = B, i.e., the set D is as promised. 2

Given a space X and an infinite cardinal κ, say that cof(K(X)) ≤ κ if there exists a family E ⊂ K(X)
such that |E| ≤ κ and for any K ∈ K(X), there is E ∈ E with K ⊂ E. Such a family E will be called cofinal
in K(X).

4.3. Proposition. Suppose that Z is a space (which will be called a generic dominator) such that, for some

family A = {Kα : α < c} ⊂ K(Z), the set {Kα : α ∈ E} does not have compact closure for any infinite
E ⊂ c. Then Z strongly dominates any space X such that cof(K(X)) ≤ c.

Proof. Let ϕ : A → E be a surjection for some cofinal family E ⊂ K(X). Given a compact set K ⊂ Z let

FK = {ϕ(Kα ) : Kα ⊂ K}. Since the family {Kα : Kα ⊂ K} is finite by our choice of A, the set FK is
compact for any K ∈ K(Z) and it is immediate that K ⊂ L implies FK ⊂ FL . If P ⊂ X is compact, then
there exists α < c such that P ⊂ ϕ(Kα ) and hence P ⊂ FKα . This shows that X is strongly dominated
by Z. 2

4.4. Theorem. Under Martin’s Axiom there exists a countable generic dominator with a unique non-isolated
point.

Proof. Apply Theorem 4.2 to find an almost disjoint family A = {Aα : α < c} of infinite subsets of ω such

that for any infinite B ⊂ A, there is an infinite set D ⊂ B such that D ∩ A is finite for any A ∈ A.
Consider the Mrowka space Y = ω ∪ {ξA : A ∈ A}. All points of ω are isolated in Y and the basic
neighborhoods of every ξA are the sets {{ξA } ∪ A\F : F ∈ [ω]<ω } for any A ∈ A. Let Z be the space
obtained from Y by collapsing the set Y \ω to a point p. To see that Z = {p} ∪ ω is as promised observe
that {{p} ∪ Aα : α < c} is a family of compact subsets of Z. If E ⊂ c is infinite, then there exists an infinite

set D ⊂ {Aα : α ∈ E} such that D ∩ Aα is finite for any α < c and hence the set D is closed and discrete

in Z. Therefore, the closure of the set {{p} ∪ Aα : α ∈ E} cannot be compact, i.e., Z is, indeed, a generic
dominator. 2

4.5. Theorem. Under Martin’s Axiom, if X is a compact first countable space, then (X × X)\ΔX is strongly
dominated by a countable space with a unique non-isolated point.

Proof. Apply Theorem 4.4 to find a countable generic dominator Z with a unique non-isolated point. It is
well known that first countability of X implies that w(X) ≤ c and hence w((X × X)\ΔX ) ≤ c. Fix a base
B in the space Y = (X × X)\ΔX such that |B| ≤ c and B is compact for any B ∈ B. It is straightforward
that the family of the closures of finite unions of B is cofinal in K(Y ) so cof(K(Y )) ≤ c and hence the space
Y is strongly dominated by Z by Proposition 4.3. 2
 V.V. Tkachuk / Topology and its Applications 228 (2017) 318–326 325

The following example consistently solves Questions 4.4–4.13 from [6].

4.6. Example. Let X be a non-metrizable first countable compact space, for example, the double arrow
space. Then, under MA, we can apply Theorem 4.5 to conclude that the space (X × X)\ΔX is strongly
dominated by a countable space with a unique non-isolated point. Therefore under MA, strong domination
by a countable space of the complement of the diagonal of a compact space X does not necessarily imply
metrizability of X.

Strong domination of Cp (X) by a second countable space implies that X is countable by [7, Theorem 3.4].
The example that follows shows that under MA we cannot have the same conclusion if Cp (X) is strongly
dominated by a countable space.

4.7. Example. Let X be a separable non-metrizable compact space; for example, the space Dω1 will do.
The space Cp (X) has a weaker second countable topology by [14, Problem 173] and hence |K(Cp (X))| ≤ c.
Consequently, Proposition 4.3 is applicable to conclude that, under Martin’s Axiom, Cp (X) is strongly
dominated by a countable space. Therefore under MA, strong domination of Cp (X) by a countable space
does not necessarily imply that X is countable.

5. Open problems

It turned out that a set-theoretic property of almost disjoint families on ω helps to solve a problem about
metrizability of some compact spaces so the most interesting question is whether this property holds in
ZFC.

5.1. Question. Does there exist a ZFC example of an almost disjoint family A on the set ω such that |A| = c

and for any infinite B ⊂ A, there is an infinite set D ⊂ B such that D ∩ A is finite for any A ∈ A?

5.2. Question. Does there exist a ZFC example of a countable generic dominator? In other words, does there

exist a countable space X such that, for some family A = {Kα : α < c} ⊂ K(X), the set {Kα : α ∈ E}
does not have compact closure for any infinite E ⊂ c?

5.3. Question. Does there exist a ZFC example of a countable generic dominator with a unique non-isolated
point? In other words, does there exist a countable space X with a unique non-isolated point such that, for

some family A = {Kα : α < c} ⊂ K(X), the set {Kα : α ∈ E} does not have compact closure for any
infinite E ⊂ c?

5.4. Question. Does there exist a ZFC example of a cosmic generic dominator? In other words, does there

exist a cosmic space X such that, for some family A = {Kα : α < c} ⊂ K(X), the set {Kα : α ∈ E} does
not have compact closure for any infinite E ⊂ c?

5.5. Question. Is Cp (R) a generic dominator? In other words, does there exist a family A = {Kα : α < c} ⊂

K(Cp (R)), such that the set {Kα : α ∈ E} does not have compact closure for any infinite E ⊂ c?

5.6. Question. Is it true in ZFC that for any compact first countable space X, there exists a countable space
that strongly dominates (X × X)\ΔX ?

5.7. Question. Does Cp (R) strongly dominate (X × X)\ΔX for any first countable compact space X?

5.8. Question. Does Cp (R) strongly dominate all cosmic spaces?

326 V.V. Tkachuk / Topology and its Applications 228 (2017) 318–326

5.9. Question. Does Cp (P) strongly dominate all cosmic spaces?

5.10. Question. Assume that X is a Lindelöf space and Cp (X, I) is strongly dominated by a second countable
space. Must X be countable?

5.11. Question. Assume that X is a metrizable space and Cp (X, I) is strongly dominated by a second countable
space. Must X be locally second countable?

5.12. Question. Assume that X is a metrizable space and Cp (X, I) is strongly dominated by a second countable
space. Must Cp (X, I) be Lindelöf Σ?

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