In
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, the Suslin operation 𝓐 is an operation that constructs a set from a collection of sets indexed by finite
sequence
In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...
s of
positive integer
In mathematics, the natural numbers are those numbers used for counting (as in "there are ''six'' coins on the table") and ordering (as in "this is the ''third'' largest city in the country").
Numbers used for counting are called ''cardinal n ...
s.
The Suslin operation was introduced by and . In Russia it is sometimes called the A-operation after Alexandrov. It is usually denoted by the symbol 𝓐 (a calligraphic capital letter A).
Definitions
A Suslin scheme is a family
of subsets of a set
indexed by finite sequences of non-negative integers. The Suslin operation applied to this scheme produces the set
:
Alternatively, suppose we have a Suslin scheme, in other words a function
from finite sequences of positive integers
to sets
. The result of the Suslin operation is the set
:
where the union is taken over all infinite sequences
If
is a family of subsets of a set
, then
is the family of subsets of
obtained by applying the Suslin operation
to all collections as above where all the sets
are in
.
The Suslin operation on collections of subsets of
has the property that
. The family
is closed under taking countable unions or intersections, but is not in general closed under taking complements.
If
is the family of
closed subset
In geometry, topology, and related branches of mathematics, a closed set is a set whose complement is an open set. In a topological space, a closed set can be defined as a set which contains all its limit points. In a complete metric space, a clo ...
s of a
topological space
In mathematics, a topological space is, roughly speaking, a geometrical space in which closeness is defined but cannot necessarily be measured by a numeric distance. More specifically, a topological space is a set whose elements are called points ...
, then the elements of
are called
Suslin set In mathematics, a Suslin representation of a set of reals (more precisely, elements of Baire space) is a tree whose projection is that set of reals. More generally, a subset ''A'' of ''κ''ω is ''λ''-Suslin if there is a tree ''T'' on ''κ'' × ' ...
s, or
analytic sets if the space is a
Polish space.
Example
For each finite sequence
, let
be the infinite sequences that extend
.
This is a
clopen subset of
.
If
is a Polish space and
is a
continuous function
In mathematics, a continuous function is a function such that a continuous variation (that is a change without jump) of the argument induces a continuous variation of the value of the function. This means that there are no abrupt changes in value ...
, let
.
Then
is a Suslin scheme consisting of closed subsets of
and