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26 votes
2 answers
2k views

On the global structure of the Gromov-Hausdorff metric space

This is a purely idle question, which emerged during a conversation with a friend about what is (not) known about the space of compact metric spaces. I originally asked this question at math....
Noah Schweber's user avatar
26 votes
3 answers
7k views

Dual of bounded uniformly continuous functions

Let $(X,d)$ be a metric space, and let $C_u(X)$ be the Banach space of bounded uniformly continuous functions on $X$ (with the uniform norm). How can I characterize its dual space $C_u(X)^*$? I ...
Nate Eldredge's user avatar
26 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is there an infinite topological space with only countably many continuous functions to itself?

Cross-posted from MSE. Is there an infinite countable topological space $X$ with only countably many continuous functions to itself? It cannot be a metrizable space. Another large class of examples ...
Tourbon Kitsch's user avatar
26 votes
2 answers
3k views

Corollaries of the Yoneda Lemma in Analysis?

This is a cross-post of my ~2 weeks (canonically) unanswered question on Math.SE: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1830287/corollaries-of-the-yoneda-lemma-in-analysis. I am looking for some ...
Chill2Macht's user avatar
  • 2,680
26 votes
2 answers
1k views

Origin and first uses of $\ell_p$ norms?

When exactly were $\ell_p$ norms first defined and used? (Here is what I know, or think I know: Lebesgue and/or Riesz had something to do with them, but in some sense they go back to Minkowski, since ...
H A Helfgott's user avatar
  • 20.2k
26 votes
3 answers
2k views

Universality of zeta- and L-functions

Voronin´s Universality Theorem (for the Riemann zeta-Function) according to Wikipedia: Let $U$ be a compact subset of the "critical half-strip" $\{s\in\mathbb{C}:\frac{1}{2}<Re(s)<1\}$ with ...
M.G.'s user avatar
  • 7,127
26 votes
1 answer
820 views

The maximal "nearly convex" function

The following problem is only tangentially related to my present work, and I do not have any applications. However, I am curious to know the solution -- or even to see a lack thereof, indicating that ...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
26 votes
2 answers
1k views

Symmetric strengthening of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality

In this great question by Nathaniel Johnston, and in its answers, we can learn the following remarkable inequality: For all $v,w \in \mathbb{R}^n$ we have \begin{align*} \|v^2\| \, \|w^2\| - \langle ...
Jochen Glueck's user avatar
26 votes
2 answers
2k views

When is a locally convex topological vector space normal or paracompact?

All locally convex topological vector spaces (LCTVS) are completely regular, since their topology is given by a family of semi-norms. I'm interested in conditions that imply that a LCTVS is ...
Andrew Stacey's user avatar
26 votes
1 answer
846 views

Disc bounded by a plane curve

Let $\Sigma$ be a sphere topologically embedded into $\mathbb{R}^3$. Is it always possible to find a disc $\Delta\subset\Sigma$ which is bounded by a plane curve? It is easy to find an open disc ...
Anton Petrunin's user avatar
26 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why are quasitopological spaces needed in sheaf theoretic approaches to the h-principle?

Recently I have been learning more about the h-principle and in particular the methods of "continuous sheaves". In many treatments of this I see people using "quasi-topological spaces" and I am trying ...
Chris Schommer-Pries's user avatar
26 votes
3 answers
11k views

L1 distance between gaussian measures

L1 distance between gaussian measures: Definition Let $P_1$ and $P_0$ be two gaussian measures on $\mathbb{R}^p$ with respective "mean,Variance" $m_1,C_1$ and $m_0,C_0$ (I assume matrices have full ...
robin girard's user avatar
26 votes
0 answers
359 views

Can 4-space be partitioned into Klein bottles?

It is known that $\mathbb{R}^3$ can be partitioned into disjoint circles, or into disjoint unit circles, or into congruent copies of a real-analytic curve (Is it possible to partition $\mathbb R^3$ ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
25 votes
7 answers
4k views

A topological concept dual to compactness

We say that a subset A in a topological space X is anti-compact if every covering of A by closed sets has a finite subcover. Clearly if X is Hausdorff then all anti-compact subsets of X are finite. ...
p modabberi's user avatar
25 votes
10 answers
5k views

Pair of curves joining opposite corners of a square must intersect---proof?

Reposting something I posted a while back to Google Groups. In his 'Ordinary Differential Equations' (sec. 1.2) V.I. Arnold says "... every pair of curves in the square joining different pairs of ...
Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya's user avatar
25 votes
16 answers
4k views

functions satisfying "one-one iff onto"

Hello Everybody. I need some more examples for the following really interesting phenomenon: A function from the class ... is one-one iff it is onto. Some ...
25 votes
3 answers
2k views

A rare property of Hausdorff spaces

Is there a Hausdorff topological space $X$ such that for any continuous map $f: X\longrightarrow \mathbb{R}$ and any $x\in \mathbb{R}$, the set $f^{-1}(x)$ is either empty or infinite?
Mark 's user avatar
  • 271
25 votes
6 answers
15k views

Does every distribution define a Radon measure?

On the one hand, Wikipedia suggests that every distribution defines a Radon measure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_(mathematics)#Functions_as_distributions (revision from February 2010, ...
Tom Ellis's user avatar
  • 2,895
25 votes
6 answers
5k views

Is there a classification of open subsets of euclidean space up to homeomorphism?

I hope this question is reasonable enough to have a well known answer. i.e either there is a simple invariant (like the homotopy groups) that characterizes the homeomorphism type of such set among ...
KotelKanim's user avatar
  • 2,027
25 votes
2 answers
4k views

Understanding of rough path

A rough path is defined as an ordered pair $ (X, \mathbb X)$, where $X$ is a path mapping from $[0,T]$ to some Banach space $V$ and $\mathbb X:[0,T]^2 \mapsto V^2$ is another mapping for additional ...
kenneth's user avatar
  • 1,399
25 votes
2 answers
2k views

Which sets occur as boundaries of other sets in topological spaces?

This question was originally asked on MathStackExchange and is migrated here with opinion from MO meta. I am integrating the inputs from users Daniel Fischer and Emil Jerabek there into this post. ...
N Unnikrishnan's user avatar
25 votes
2 answers
4k views

Dual of the space of Hölder continuous functions?

Let $X=C^{\alpha}(\Omega,\mathbb{R})$ be the space of Hölder continuous functions. What is its dual?
warsaga's user avatar
  • 1,256
25 votes
3 answers
1k views

What spaces $X$ do have $\text{End}(X) \cong \text{End}(\mathbb{R})$?

This is a follow-up on the following question. Let $\text{End}(X)$ denote the endomorphism monoid of a topological space $X$ (that is, the collection of all continuous maps $f:X\to X$ with composition)...
Dominic van der Zypen's user avatar
25 votes
1 answer
3k views

Does there exist a measurable function which is not a.e. "strongly" measurable?

More specifically, letting $I=[0,1]$, do there exist $f,E$ with $E$ a (necessarily nonseparable) Banach space and $f$ a bounded Lebesgue measurable function $I\to E$ such that $f$ is not equal almost ...
TaQ's user avatar
  • 3,584
25 votes
1 answer
1k views

Which powers of the closed unit interval are homeomorphic?

It is known that no two distinct finite powers of the closed unit interval are homeomorphic: $I^m$ is homeomorphic to $I^n$ iff $m=n$. (Brouwer, Lebesgue, 1911) Is the analogous result for infinite ...
N Unnikrishnan's user avatar
25 votes
2 answers
2k views

$f^3,f^2$ are the cube and quadratic of f respectively and both infinite differentiable on $R$,how to show so is $f$

Let $f$ be a real function with domain R. If $f^2$ and $f^3$ are both infinitely differentiable on R, how to prove $f$ is infinitely differentiable on R? I have been thinking about this problem for a ...
bo.gu's user avatar
  • 295
25 votes
2 answers
1k views

Can nuclearity be determined by tensoring with a single C*-algebra?

A C*-algebra is nuclear if the algebraic tensor product $A\odot B$ ($B$ is any other C*-algebra) admits a unique C*-norm. This definition requires testing the condition for nuclearity with `all' C*-...
Lech Roch's user avatar
  • 505
25 votes
6 answers
3k views

Quantum fields and infinite tensor products

As I understand it, a naive interpretation of the state space of a quantum field theory is an infinite tensor product $$\otimes_{x\in M} H_x,$$ where $x$ runs over the points of space. This ...
Minhyong Kim's user avatar
  • 13.6k
25 votes
2 answers
2k views

Functional approach vs jet approach to Lagrangian field theory

Context: I am a PhD student in theoretical physics with higher-than-average education on differential geometry. I am trying to understand Lagrangian and Hamiltonian field theories and related concepts ...
Bence Racskó's user avatar
25 votes
6 answers
2k views

Are there infinitely many "generalized triangle vertices"?

Briefly, I'd like to know whether there are infinitely many "generalized triangle centers" which - like the orthocenter - are indistinguishable from a vertex of the original triangle. This ...
Noah Schweber's user avatar
25 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is there a $4$-manifold which Immerses in $\mathbb{R}^6$ but doesn't Embed in $\mathbb{R}^7$?

I'm interested in both version of the question in the title, i.e. in the topological category and in the smooth category. By a topological immersion I mean a local embedding. I was asking in ...
John Samples's user avatar
25 votes
3 answers
13k views

Fourier transform of the unit sphere

The Fourier transform of the volume form of the (n-1)-sphere in $\mathbf R^n$ is given by the well-known formula $$ \int_{S^{n-1}}e^{i\langle\mathbf a,\mathbf u\rangle}d\sigma(\mathbf u) = (2\pi)^{\nu ...
Francois Ziegler's user avatar
25 votes
1 answer
5k views

Example of fiber bundle that is not a fibration

It is well-known that a fiber bundle under some mild hypothesis is a fibration, but I don't know any examples of fiber bundles which aren't (Hurewicz) fibrations (they should be weird examples, I ...
Xxxx's user avatar
  • 253
25 votes
2 answers
2k views

CW complexes and paracompactness

It seems like when we assume "niceness" in homotopy theory we assume that $X$ has the homotopy type of a CW complex, and in fiber bundle theory we assume that $X$ is paracompact. How do these two ...
Cary's user avatar
  • 1,207
25 votes
1 answer
8k views

Convergence of Fourier Series of $L^1$ Functions

I recently learned of the result by Carleson and Hunt (1968) which states that if $f \in L^p$ for $p > 1$, then the Fourier series of $f$ converges to $f$ pointwise-a.e. Also, Wikipedia informs me ...
Jesse Madnick's user avatar
25 votes
2 answers
808 views

"All retracts are closed" and "all compacts are closed"

I want to follow the discussion from here concerning about the strength of the separation "all retract subspaces are closed". (A retract subspace of a topological space $X$ is a subspace $A$ ...
Jianing Song's user avatar
24 votes
15 answers
5k views

Applications of connectedness

In an «advanced calculus» course, I am talking tomorrow about connectedness (in the context of metric spaces, including notably the real line). What are nice examples of applications of the idea of ...
24 votes
4 answers
7k views

Compact open topology

What is the intuition behind using compact open topology for eg. in the case of Pontryagin dual ?
Suman's user avatar
  • 1,209
24 votes
4 answers
3k views

Why the sequence of Bernstein polynomials of $\sqrt x$ is increasing?

Bernstein polynomials preserves nicely several global properties of the function to be approximated: if e.g. $f:[0,1]\to\mathbb R$ is non-negative, or monotone, or convex; or if it has, say, non-...
Pietro Majer's user avatar
  • 60.5k
24 votes
6 answers
5k views

A good place to read about uniform spaces

I'd like to learn a bit about uniform spaces, why are they useful, how do they arise, what do they generalize, etc., without getting away from the context of general topology. I have to prepare an ...
Bruno Stonek's user avatar
  • 3,004
24 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is the Invariant Subspace Problem arithmetic?

Invariant Subspace Conjecture: A bounded operator on a separable Hilbert space has a non-trivial closed invariant subspace. Can this conjecture be reformulated as an arithmetic statement, that is, $\...
Alex Gavrilov's user avatar
24 votes
5 answers
8k views

totally disconnected and zero-dimensional spaces

When do the notions of totally disconnected space and zero-dimensional space coincide? From what I gather, there are at least three common notions of topological dimension: covering dimension, small ...
Justin Campbell's user avatar
24 votes
3 answers
4k views

Self-dual normed spaces which are not Hilbert spaces

Are there any examples of non-Hilbert normed spaces which are isomorphic (in the norm sense) to their dual spaces? Or, is there any result in Functional Analysis which says that if a space is self-...
Uday's user avatar
  • 2,239
24 votes
2 answers
4k views

complement of a totally disconnected closed set in the plane

While preparing a course in complex analysis, I stumbled over a remark in Dudziak's book on removable sets, namely that any totally disconnected $K \subset\subset {\mathbb C}$ must have a connected ...
Folkmar Bornemann's user avatar
24 votes
2 answers
1k views

Which are the rigid suborders of the real line?

Which are the rigid suborders of the real line? If A is any set of reals, then it can be viewed as an order structure itself under the induced order (A,<). The question is, when is this structure ...
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
24 votes
4 answers
3k views

Can you write $\mathbb R^2$ as a disjoint union of two totally disconnected sets?

Can you write $\mathbb R^2$ as a disjoint union of two totally disconnected sets?
Nima's user avatar
  • 241
24 votes
3 answers
3k views

The closure-complement-intersection problem

Background $\DeclareMathOperator\Cl{Cl}$ Let $A$ be a subset of a topological space $X$. An old problem asks, by applying various combinations of closure and complement operations, how many distinct ...
Greg Muller's user avatar
24 votes
2 answers
2k views

Unique predual of a Banach space

Suppose $E$ is a dual Banach space whose predual is unique, and $E_0$ is a codimension 1 weak* closed subspace of $E$. Is the predual of $E_0$ necessarily unique? Okay, I will reveal the motivation. ...
Nik Weaver's user avatar
  • 42.8k
24 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why are extremally disconnected spaces so hard to give examples of?

Recall that an extremally disconnected space is a Hausdorff topological space in which the closure of any open set is still open. On the surface, this doesn't seem like a very remarkable condition ...
Gro-Tsen's user avatar
  • 32.5k
24 votes
5 answers
1k views

What sets of self-maps are the continuous self-maps under some topology?

An open question on MSE, https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/427634/a-topology-such-that-the-continuous-functions-are-exactly-the-polynomials , asks whether there is an infinite field and a ...
dfeuer's user avatar
  • 511

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