On some problems of descriptive set theory in topological spaces

Problems concerning the structure of Borel sets, their classification, and invariance of certain properties of sets under maps of given types arose in the first half of the previous century in the works of A. Lebesgue, R. Baire, N. N. Luzin, P. S. Alexandroff, P. S. Urysohn, P. S. Novikov, L. V. Keldysh, and A. A. Lyapunov and gave rise to many investigations. In this paper some results related to questions of F. Hausdorff, Luzin, Alexandroff, Urysohn, M. Katětov, and A. H. Stone are obtained. In 1934 Hausdorff posed the problem of invariance of the property of being an absolute $B$-set (that is, a Borel set in some complete separable metric space) under open continuous maps. By a theorem of Keldysh, the answer to this question is negative in general. The present paper gives additional conditions under which the answer to Hausdorff's question is positive. Some general problems of the theory of operations on sets are also treated.