The β-space property in monotonically normal spaces and GO-spaces

In this paper we examine the role of the β-space property (equivalently of the MCM-property) in generalized ordered (GO-)spaces and, more generally, in monotonically normal spaces. We show that a GO-space is metrizable iff it is a β-space with a Gδ-diagonal and iff it is a quasi-developable β-space. That last assertion is a corollary of a general theorem that any β-space with a σ-point-finite base must be developable. We use a theorem of Balogh and Rudin to show that any monotonically normal space that is hereditarily monotonically countably metacompact (equivalently, hereditarily a β-space) must be hereditarily paracompact, and that any generalized ordered space that is perfect and hereditarily a β-space must be metrizable. We include an appendix on non-Archimedean spaces in which we prove various results announced without proof by Nyikos.