A symmetric, idempotent, continuous binary operation on a space is called a mean. In this paper, we provide a criterion for the non-existence of mean on a certain class of continua which includes tree-like continua. This generalizes a result of Bell and Watson. We also prove that any hereditarily indecomposable circle-like continuum admits no mean.
We prove the following theorem: Let G be a compact connected graph and let f: G → G be a piecewise linear surjection which satisfies the following condition: for each nondegenerate subcontinuum A of G, there is a positive integer n such that fⁿ(A) = G. Then, for each ε > 0, there is a map which is ε-close to f such that the inverse limit is hereditarily indecomposable.
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