Fences, their endpoints, and projective Fra\"iss\'e theory

Abstract

We introduce a new class of compact metrizable spaces, which we call fences, and its subclass of smooth fences. We isolate two families $\mathcal F, \mathcal F_0$ of Hasse diagrams of finite partial orders and show that smooth fences are exactly the spaces which are approximated by projective sequences from $\mathcal F_0$. We investigate the combinatorial properties of Hasse diagrams of finite partial orders and show that $\mathcal F, \mathcal F_0$ are projective Fra\"iss\'e families with a common projective Fra\"iss\'e limit. We study this limit and characterize the smooth fence obtained as its quotient, which we call a Fra\"iss\'e fence. We show that the Fra\"iss\'e fence is a highly homogeneous space which shares several features with the Lelek fan, and we examine the structure of its spaces of endpoints. Along the way we establish some new facts in projective Fra\"iss\'e theory.