Chainability and Hemmingsenʹs theorem

On the surface, the definitions of chainability and Lebesgue covering dimension ⩽1 are quite similar as covering properties. Using the ultracoproduct construction for compact Hausdorff spaces, we explore the assertion that the similarity is only skin deep. In the case of dimension, there is a theorem of E. Hemmingsen that gives us a first-order lattice-theoretic characterization. We show that no such characterization is possible for chainability, by proving that if κ is any infinite cardinal and A is a lattice base for a nondegenerate continuum, then A is elementarily equivalent to a lattice base for a continuum Y, of weight κ, such that Y has a 3-set open cover admitting no chain open refinement.