On the Borel Complexity of Characterized Subgroups

Abstract

In a compact abelian group $X$, a characterized subgroup is a subgroup $H$ such that there exists a sequence of characters $\vs=(v_n)$ of $X$ such that $H=\{x\in X:v_n(x)\to 0 \text{ in } \T\}$. Gabriyelyan proved for $X=\T$, that $\{x\in\T:n!x\to 0 \text{ in }\T\}$ is not an $F_\sigma$-set. In this paper, we give a complete description of the $F_\sigma$-subgroups of $\T$ characterized by sequences of integers $\vs=(v_n)$ such that $v_n|v_{n+1}$ for all $n\in\N$ (we show that these are exactly the countable characterized subgroups). Moreover in the general setting of compact metrizable abelian groups, we give a new point of view to study the Borel complexity of characterized subgroups in terms of appropriate test-topologies in the whole group.