J. van Mill - Böcker

In this book we study function spaces of low Borel complexity.Techniques from general topology, infinite-dimensional topology, functional analysis and descriptive set theoryare primarily used for the study of these spaces. The mix ofmethods from several disciplines makes the subjectparticularly interesting. Among other things, a complete and self-contained proof of the Dobrowolski-Marciszewski-Mogilski Theorem that all function spaces of low Borel complexity are topologically homeomorphic, is presented.In order to understand what is going on, a solid background ininfinite-dimensional topology is needed. And for that a fair amount of knowledge of dimension theory as well as ANR theory is needed. The necessary material was partially covered in our previous book `Infinite-dimensional topology, prerequisites and introduction'. A selection of what was done there can be found here as well, but completely revised and at many places expanded with recent results. A `scenic' route has been chosen towards theDobrowolski-Marciszewski-Mogilski Theorem, linking theresults needed for its proof to interesting recent research developments in dimension theory and infinite-dimensional topology.The first five chapters of this book are intended as a text forgraduate courses in topology. For a course in dimension theory, Chapters 2 and 3 and part of Chapter 1 should be covered. For a course in infinite-dimensional topology, Chapters 1, 4 and 5. In Chapter 6, which deals with function spaces, recent research results are discussed. It could also be used for a graduate course in topology but its flavor is more that of a research monograph than of a textbook; it is thereforemore suitable as a text for a research seminar. The bookconsequently has the character of both textbook and a research monograph. In Chapters 1 through 5, unless statedotherwise, all spaces under discussion are separable andmetrizable. In Chapter 6 results for more general classes of spaces are presented.In Appendix A for easy reference and some basic facts that are important in the book have been collected. The book is not intended as a basis for a course in topology; its purpose is to collect knowledge about general topology.The exercises in the book serve three purposes: 1) to test the reader's understanding of the material 2) to supply proofs of statements that are used in the text, but are not proven there3) to provide additional information not covered by the text.Solutions to selected exercises have been included in Appendix B.These exercises are important or difficult.

The book presents surveys describing recent developments in most of the primary subfields ofGeneral Topology and its applications to Algebra and Analysis during the last decade. It follows freelythe previous edition (North Holland, 1992), Open Problems in Topology (North Holland, 1990) and Handbook of Set-Theoretic Topology (North Holland, 1984). The book was prepared inconnection with the Prague Topological Symposium, held in 2001. During the last 10 years the focusin General Topology changed and therefore the selection of topics differs slightly from thosechosen in 1992. The following areas experienced significant developments: Topological Groups, Function Spaces, Dimension Theory, Hyperspaces, Selections, Geometric Topology (includingInfinite-Dimensional Topology and the Geometry of Banach Spaces). Of course, not every important topic could be included in this book.

Except surveys, the book contains several historical essays written by such eminent topologists as:R.D. Anderson, W.W. Comfort, M. Henriksen, S. Mardeŝić, J. Nagata, M.E. Rudin, J.M. Smirnov (several reminiscences of L. Vietoris are added). In addition to extensive author and subject indexes, a list of all problems and questions posed in this book are added.

List of all authors of surveys: A. Arhangel'skii, J. Baker and K. Kunen, H. Bennett and D. Lutzer, J. Dijkstra and J. van Mill, A. Dow, E. Glasner, G. Godefroy, G. Gruenhage, N. Hindman and D. Strauss, L. Hola and J. Pelant, K. Kawamura, H.-P. Kuenzi, W. Marciszewski, K. Martin and M. Mislove and M. Reed, R. Pol and H. Torunczyk, D. Repovs and P. Semenov, D. Shakhmatov, S. Solecki, M. Tkachenko.

These papers survey the developments in General Topology and the applications of it which have taken place since the mid 1980s. The book may be regarded as an update of some of the papers in the Handbook of Set-Theoretic Topology (eds. Kunen/Vaughan, North-Holland, 1984), which gives an almost complete picture of the state of the art of Set Theoretic Topology before 1984. In the present volume several important developments are surveyed that surfaced in the period 1984-1991.

This volume may also be regarded as a partial update of Open Problems in Topology (eds. van Mill/Reed, North-Holland, 1990). Solutions to some of the original 1100 open problems are discussed and new problems are posed.