All Questions
13,925 questions
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....
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 $\mathbb R^3$ ...
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. ...
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
...
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?
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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.
...
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?
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)...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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*-...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 $A$ ...
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 ?
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-...
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 ...
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, $\...
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 ...
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-...
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 ...
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 ...
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?
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...