Suppose that X is a topological space with preorder , and that −g, f are bounded upper semicontinuous functions on X such that g(x) f (y) whenever x y. We consider the question whether there exists a bounded increasing continuous function h on X such that g h f , and obtain an existence theorem that gives necessary and sufficient conditions. This result leads to an extension theorem giving conditions that allow a bounded increasing continuous function defined on an open subset of X to be extended to a function of the same type on X. The application of these results to extremally disconnected locally compact spaces is studied.
Introduction.Before explaining the purpose of this paper it will be convenient to make a number of definitions. By a preorder for a set X we shall mean a reflexive, transitive relation in X, and by an order for X we shall mean an antisymmetric preorder. We shall use the symbol to denote a preorder in X, but also to denote the usual order relation for real numbers or real-valued functions. Suppose we are given a preorder for X. We say that a real-valued function f on X is increasing if f (x) f (y) whenever x, y ∈ X and x y. A subset S of X is said to be increasing if its indicator function 1 S is increasing. Decreasing functions and sets are defined analogously. Note that the complement of an increasing set is decreasing and vice versa. Given a bounded real function f on X, we denote by f ↑ the least increasing real function on X that majorizes f (see §2). Given a subset T of X we denote by i(T ) the smallest increasing subset of X that contains T and by d(T ) the smallest decreasing subset of X that contains T . If X is also a topological space, we denote by C b (X, ) the set of bounded increasing real-valued continuous functions on X, and for a bounded real function f on X we denote by f and f respectively the lower and the upper semicontinuous regularizations of f (see, for example, [4]). Finally, by a clopen set in a topological space we shall mean any subset that is open and closed, and we shall denote by E(X, ) the set of all increasing clopen subsets of X.