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$\DeclareMathOperator\b{b}\newcommand\B{{\operatorname B}}$I wish to get help understanding the content of two theorems of [Iva] that seem mutually contradictory. First some context. Let $\b(\mathbb{R})$ be the Bohr compactification of $\mathbb{R}$, and $\iota:\mathbb{R}\to\b(\mathbb{R})$ its canonical map. $\b(\mathbb{R})$ is a compact Hausdorff group, and $\iota$ is an injective group homomorphism. $\left(\b(\mathbb{R}),\iota\right)$ is not a topological compactification of $\mathbb{R}$, in the following sense: $\iota$, while having dense image, is not an embedding; it is injective and continuous, but does not have a continuous inverse.

Now the problem. As I understand, Theorem 2 of [Iva] (statement below) provides a different, now topological compactification of $\mathbb{R}$, denoted $\B\mathbb{R}$, such that $\B\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$ is homeomorphic to $\b(\mathbb{R}) \setminus\iota(\mathbb{R})$. On the other hand, Theorem 4 states that $\B\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$ is homeomorphic to a torus of dimension the continuum ($\mathfrak{c}$), that is, $\prod_{\mathfrak{c}}\mathbb{S}^1$. This would imply, by Tychonoff's theorem, that $\B\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$, and in consequence $\b(\mathbb{R}) \setminus\iota(\mathbb{R})$, is compact. In particular, $\b(\mathbb{R}) \setminus\iota(\mathbb{R})$ must be closed in $\b(\mathbb{R})$, so $\iota(\mathbb{R})$ must be open. Since every open subgroup is also closed, this implies that $\iota(\mathbb{R})$ is closed in $\b(\mathbb{R})$, but by density this would imply that $\iota(\mathbb{R}) = \b(\mathbb{R})$, which is known to be false, and thus, a contradiction.

If anyone can confirm there is a mistake in this article, or finds one in my reasoning, please let me know!


Here are the statements of the Theorems as in [Iva] (save for a small change in notation).

Let $\rho_s:\mathbb{R}\times\mathbb{R}\to[0,\infty)$ denote the spherical distance in $\mathbb{R}$.

Theorem 2 [Iva]: The completion $\B\mathbb{R}$ of the uniform structure $U_B$ generated by the family of metrics of the form $$\rho_\lambda(x,y) = \rho_s(x,y) + \left|e^{i \,2\pi\lambda x}-e^{i \,2\pi\lambda y}\right| \,, \qquad \lambda\in\mathbb{R}\setminus\!\{0\}$$ is a compactification of $\mathbb{R}$. Moreover, the boundary $\B\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$ is homeomorphic to $\b(\mathbb{R})\setminus\mathbb{R}$.

Theorem 4 [Iva]: The boundary $\B\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$ is homeomorphic to a torus of continuum dimension (the cartesian product of continuum copies of the circle).

WARNING: For those interested in reading the article itself. The Bohr compactification $\b(\mathbb{R})$ is denoted there by $\mathfrak{M}(AP)$ and called Bohr compact set, while the space $\B\mathbb{R}$ is what they call the Bohr compactification.


References:

[Iva] Ivanov, O.V.: Some remarks on the Bohr compactification of the number line. Ukr. Math. J. 38, 136–139 (1986).

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  • $\begingroup$ How do you know that $\operatorname b(\mathbb R)$ is Hausdorff? $\endgroup$
    – LSpice
    Commented Dec 8 at 23:24
  • $\begingroup$ @LSpice I don't follow; ${\rm b}(G)$ is compact and Hausdorff by construction/definition. $\endgroup$
    – Yemon Choi
    Commented Dec 8 at 23:37
  • $\begingroup$ @YemonChoi, re, I don't know the general theory, so had a quick look in the paper. From an algebraic-geometry perspective, I am certainly suspicious of the Hausdorff-ness of a space of maximal ideals, so I looked for a theorem in the paper saying that it was Hausdorff, and didn't find one. But "the author's construction is a special case of a general construction that always produces Hausdorff groups," which is what I take you to be saying, is certainly a reasonable answer. $\endgroup$
    – LSpice
    Commented Dec 8 at 23:40
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    $\begingroup$ @LSpice that is indeed the case! The Bohr compactification of a topological group is always a compact Hausdorff topological group. In the case $G$ is a locally compact abelian group, this is quite explicit: let $D$ denote the Pontryagin dual of $G$, and let $D_d$ be $D$ equipped with the discrete topology. Then, it can be shown that ${\rm b}(G)$, the Bohr compactification of $G$, corresponds to the Pontryagin dual of $D_d$. In particular, ${\rm b}(\mathbb{R})$ corresponds to the space of all possible characters of $\mathbb{R}$ equipped with the topology of pointwise net convergence. $\endgroup$
    – stgo
    Commented Dec 8 at 23:56

1 Answer 1

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The problem is in the proof of Theorem 2. We have two maps to begin with: the map $b:\mathbb{R}\to b\mathbb{R}$ of the Bohr compactification (called $\tau$ in the paper), and an embedding $e$ of $\mathbb{R}$ into $S^1$, say given by $x\mapsto\exp(i\pi\frac{x}{1+|x|})$ (this makes $-1$ the point at infinity). The compactification $B\mathbb{R}$ is obtained via the diagonal map $f:\mathbb{R}\to S^1\times b\mathbb{R}$ of $e$ and $b$: to get $B\mathbb{R}$ just take the closure of $f[\mathbb{R}]$ in $S^1\times b\mathbb{R}$.

The first half of the proof basically maps every $x\in b\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$ to the point $\langle -1,x\rangle$ in the product. However, this map is not bijective. This is essentially shown in the proof of Lemma 1. If $x<a$ then $b(x)$ is in the closure of $b\bigl[[a,\infty)\bigr]$; this implies that $\langle-1,x\rangle$ is in the closure of $f\bigl[[a,\infty)\bigr]$, that is: $B\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$ contains $\{-1\}\times\mathbb{R}$, and this set is disjoint from the image of the remainder $b\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$.

The last sentence of the proof of Theorem 2 is in error.

Addendum: in fact, Theorem 2 provides a compactification of $\mathbb{R}$ whose remainder is (homeomorphic to) $b\mathbb{R}$.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you for your answer! So, the map it mentions is continuous but fails to have a continuous inverse (or even an inverse at all)? And in regards to the Addendum, are you saying that the result proves ${\rm B}\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}\simeq b\mathbb{R}$, or that it would prove that if it were correct? Because if this homeomorphism held true, there would still be a contradiction I believe: Theorem 4 implies that ${\rm B}\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$ is path-connected, as a product of path-connected spaces, but $b\mathbb{R}$ cannot be path-connected (see link in comment below). $\endgroup$
    – stgo
    Commented Dec 9 at 14:01
  • $\begingroup$ $b\mathbb{R}$ is not path-connected: mathoverflow.net/questions/483682/… $\endgroup$
    – stgo
    Commented Dec 9 at 14:02
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    $\begingroup$ Second question first: It appears that Theorem 4 is based (implicitly) on Theorem 2: the space $B\mathbb{R}$ has weight $\mathfrak{c}$ and hence is indeed embeddable into that torus, but the references to [4] indicate that the embedding Ivanov had in mind derives from the natural embedding of $b\mathbb{R}$ into that torus plus the homeomorphism from Theorem 2. So that proof is invalid as well, and your reference supports this. $\endgroup$
    – KP Hart
    Commented Dec 9 at 14:36
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    $\begingroup$ First question: the map in the first half of the proof is continuous and injective on the remainder $b\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$, it maps that set onto $\{-1\}\times(b\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R})$. On the other hand: the closure of $f[\mathbb{R}]$ in the product is obtained by taking its union with the set $\{-1\}\times b\mathbb{R}$, so that map is not onto the remainder $B\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$. $\endgroup$
    – KP Hart
    Commented Dec 9 at 14:44
  • $\begingroup$ Great! Thanks for clarifying. What you say about my second question makes a lot of sense, although I can't properly see it myself as I don't have access to [4]. Despite this, if it is as you say, then that solves all of my problems, as I only needed the homeomorphism of $b\mathbb{R}\setminus\mathbb{R}$ with that torus from this paper. I'll see if I can prove it. $\endgroup$
    – stgo
    Commented Dec 9 at 16:16

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