Strongly rigid metrics in spaces of metrics

Abstract

A metric space is said to be strongly rigid if no positive distance is taken twice by the metric. In 1972, Janos proved that a separable metrizable space has a strongly rigid metric if and only if it is zero-dimensional. In this paper, we shall develop this result for the theory of space of metrics. For a strongly zero-dimensional metrizable space, we prove that the set of all strongly rigid metrics is dense in the space of metics. Moreover, if the space is the union of countable compact subspaces, then that set is comeager. As its consequence, we show that for a strongly zero-dimensional metrizable space, the set of all metrics possessing no nontrivial (bijective) self-isometry is comeager in the space of metrics.

22 pages. I have fixed some gaps, and added some explanations. I have added Theorem 1.4. This paper was published in Topology Proceedings