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8 votes
1 answer
716 views

A non-hyperfinite type III factor from an action of the free group on the circle

We define below a von Neumann algebra $\mathcal{M}$ from an action of the free group on the circle, and we prove that $\mathcal{M}$ is a non-hyperfinite type ${\rm III}$ factor. Question : Is $\...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

Properties of convolutions

Consider the function $$f_{n}(x)=e^{-x^2}x^n.$$ and the function $$h_p(x):=e^{-\vert x \vert^p}.$$ My goal is to analyze $$ F_p(y):=\frac{(f_2*h_p)(y)}{(f_0*h_p)(y)}- \left(\frac{(f_1*h_p)(y) }{(f_0*...
Landauer's user avatar
  • 173
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

Bohr compactification as a topological compactification

Let $G$ be a locally compact Hausdorff group. Denote its Bohr compactification by $bG$. Despite group structure, $G$ has several (Hausdorff) compactifications that, in a sense, the smallest one is ...
XIII's user avatar
  • 747
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Comparing norms on tensor products of matrices

Given a Hilbert space $H$, let $S_1(H)$ denote the space of trace-class operators on $H$, with the trace-class norm or Schatten 1-norm. That is $$ \Vert T \Vert_1 = \sum_{j\geq 1} |s_j| $$ where $(s_1,...
R.N's user avatar
  • 209
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Symmetric basis of harmonic homogeneous polynomials

Recently, a question about the beautiful theory of harmonic polynomials made me aware there is something I've wanted to know for a long time. As is well known, for any number of variables $n$ and any ...
Pietro Majer's user avatar
  • 60.5k
6 votes
1 answer
474 views

Proof that $L^2(0,T;X)^* = L^2(0,T;X^*)$

How is the proof that $$[L^2(0,T;X)]' = L^2(0,T;X')$$ looking like, where $X$ is a Hilbert space? I am asking for the proof that the dual space of $L^2(0,T;X)$ is the space $L^2(0,T;X^*)$. Is the ...
lollypop's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
696 views

Reference request: optimal $L^p$ regularity for solutions to $-\Delta u=f$ with $f\in L^1(R^d)$

The tilte says it all. Given $f\in L^1(R^d)$ (let me restrict to dimension $d\geq 3$ for convenience), what is the optimal $L^p$ regularity for solutions to $$ -\Delta u=f\hspace{3cm}(1)? $$ I'm of ...
leo monsaingeon's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
198 views

Heuristic and graphic representation of BV functions and their singularities

This question is about some heuristics and graphs of BV functions. In 1-dimensional setting, two key examples of $BV$ functions $u: \mathbb R \to \mathbb R$ are the Heaviside function, whose ...
Riku's user avatar
  • 839
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

Is the space of signed finite measures on a compact set $M([0,1])$ a sequential space?

Let $M([0,1])$ be the set of finite signed measures on $[0,1]$ (with the topology generated by the sets $\left\{ \mu \in M([0,1]) : \left| \int f(x) \mu(dx)- a\right| \leq \delta\right\}$ for all $\...
Ori's user avatar
  • 95
5 votes
1 answer
395 views

Universal decay rate of the Fisher information along the heat flow

I'm looking for a reference for the following fact: In the torus $\mathbb T^d$ let me denote by $u_t=u(t,x)$ the (unique, distributional) solution of the heat equation $$ \partial_t u=\Delta u $$ ...
leo monsaingeon's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
968 views

Can one estimate the distribution of eigenvalues of a matrix by its Cauchy/Stieltje transform?

Given a real symmetric $n$ dimensional matrix $A$, with eigenvalues $\lambda_i$ I am defining its Cauchy transform as the function, $f_A(z) = \sum_i \frac{1}{z-\lambda_i}\,$ Is there any information ...
Student's user avatar
  • 617
3 votes
2 answers
949 views

Reference for proof that $C_b^* = rba$

The following theorem seems to have folk status: The topological dual of the space $C_b(X)$ of bounded continuous functions on a topological space $X$ is isomorphic to the space $rba(X)$ of finite, ...
Mark Peletier's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
84 views

Convergence of the Gaussian integral on $\mathcal{E}'$ for a mapping supported on $L^2$

Let $F : L^2(S^1) \to L^2(S^1)$ be a (nonlinear) mapping such that \begin{equation} \lVert F(f) \rVert \leq \lVert f \rVert \end{equation} for all $f \in L^2(S^1)$. For the space of smooth periodic ...
Isaac's user avatar
  • 3,477
2 votes
2 answers
351 views

Weak convergence for discrete-time processes using characteristic functions

I am looking for a good reference about the analogues of the Bochner Theorem and the Lévy Continuity Theorem for probability measures on $\mathbb{R}^{\mathbb{N}}$ with the product topology. ...
Abdelmalek Abdesselam's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
317 views

Concrete example of BV function $u:\mathbb{R}^2 \to \mathbb{R}$ with singular derivative

What are examples of two BV functions $u:\mathbb{R}^2 \to \mathbb{R}$ with singular derivative? More precisely, I'd like to see an example (and a plot using Mathematica or Matlab) of a function $$...
Riku's user avatar
  • 839
2 votes
1 answer
149 views

Surveys/monographs on the vortex filament equation

Where can I find surveys on the mathematical aspects of the vortex filament equation? In particular, I'm interested in the following topics: physical motivation; notion of solutions and ...
Kei's user avatar
  • 277
1 vote
0 answers
739 views

Finding a unique and finite expected value for almost all measurable functions?

Let $(X,d)$ be a metric space. If set $A\subseteq X$, let $H^{\alpha}$ be the $\alpha$-dimensional Hausdorff measure on $A$, where $\alpha\in[0,+\infty)$ and $\text{dim}_{\text{H}}(A)$ is the ...
Arbuja's user avatar
  • 63
0 votes
1 answer
124 views

Relationship between the vortex filament equation and the cubic Schrödinger equation

How is the vortex filament equation $$\partial_t \chi = \partial_s \chi \wedge \partial_{ss} \chi,$$ where $\chi(t,s)$ is a curve in $\mathbb R^3$, related to the cubic Schrödinger equation? Note 1. ...
Kei's user avatar
  • 277
81 votes
4 answers
8k views

Did Gelfand's theory of commutative Banach algebras influence algebraic geometers?

Guillemin and Sternberg wrote the following in 1987 in a short article called "Some remarks on I.M. Gelfand's works" accompanying Gelfand's Collected Papers, Volume I: The theory of commutative ...
Jonas Meyer's user avatar
  • 7,329
81 votes
3 answers
9k views

Norms of commutators

If an $n$ by $n$ complex matrix $A$ has trace zero, then it is a commutator, which means that there are $n$ by $n$ matrices $B$ and $C$ so that $A= BC-CB$. What is the order of the best constant $\...
Bill Johnson's user avatar
  • 31.5k
63 votes
5 answers
10k views

Jean Bourgain's relatively lesser known significant contributions

Jean Bourgain passed away on December 22, 2018. A great mathematician is no longer with us. Terry Tao has blogged about Bourgain's death and mentioned some of his more recent significant contributions,...
51 votes
2 answers
5k views

A strengthening of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality

Suppose $\mathbf{v},\mathbf{w} \in \mathbb{R}^n$ (and if it helps, you can assume they each have non-negative entries), and let $\mathbf{v}^2,\mathbf{w}^2$ denote the vectors whose entries are the ...
Nathaniel Johnston's user avatar
48 votes
6 answers
7k views

Is there an "elegant" non-recursive formula for these coefficients? Also, how can one get proofs of these patterns?

Not sure if this is a "good" question for this forum or if it'll get panned, but here goes anyway... Consider this problem. I've been trying to find a formula to expand the "regular iteration" of "...
47 votes
6 answers
6k views

Can we actually find any fixed points with Brouwer's theorem?

Background At the risk of greatly oversimplifying matters, let me state a heuristic from Granas and Dugundji's beautiful book: fixed point theorems fall into two broad categories. The first class is ...
Vidit Nanda's user avatar
  • 15.5k
43 votes
1 answer
5k views

Can $L^p(\mathbb{R})$ and $ L^q(\mathbb{R})$ be isomorphic?

Let $p,q \in (1,\infty)$ with $p\neq q$. Are the Banach spaces $L^p(\mathbb{R})$, $L^q(\mathbb{R})$ isomorphic?
Lost's user avatar
  • 559
40 votes
5 answers
5k views

"Entropy" proof of Brunn-Minkowski Inequality?

I read in an information theory textbook the Brunn-Minkowski inequality follows from the Entropy Power inequality. The first one says that if $A,B$ are convex polygons in $\mathbb{R}^d$, then $$ m(...
john mangual's user avatar
  • 22.8k
39 votes
3 answers
14k views

Is the Invariant Subspace Problem interesting?

There's an amusing comment in Peter Lax's Functional Analysis book. After a brief description of the Invariant Subspace Problem, he says (paraphrasing) "...this question is still open. It is also an ...
William DeMeo's user avatar
38 votes
2 answers
13k views

What, exactly, has Louis de Branges proved about the Riemann Hypothesis?

I know this is a dangerous topic which could attract many cranks and nutters, but: According to Wikipedia [and probably his own website, but I have a hard time seeing exactly what he's claiming] Louis ...
Zen Harper's user avatar
  • 1,990
37 votes
4 answers
4k views

Which differential equations allow for a variational formulation?

Many ODE's and PDE's arising in nature have a variational formulation. An example of what I mean is the following. Classical motions are solutions $q(t)$ to Lagrange's equation $$ \frac{d}{dt}\frac{\...
Thomas Rot's user avatar
  • 7,583
35 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is it consistent with ZF that $V \to V^{\ast \ast}$ is always an isomorphism?

Let $k$ be a field and $V$ a $k$-vector space. Then there is a map $V \to V^{\ast \ast}$, where $V^{\ast}$ is the dual vector space. If we are in ZFC and $\dim V$ is infinite, then this map is not ...
David E Speyer's user avatar
35 votes
2 answers
9k views

tr(ab) = tr(ba)?

It is well known that given two Hilbert-Schmidt operators $a$ and $b$ on a Hilbert space $H$, their product is trace class and $tr(ab)=tr(ba)$. A similar result holds for $a$ bounded and $b$ trace ...
André Henriques's user avatar
34 votes
1 answer
3k views

tr(ab)=tr(ba), part 2.

This is a Banach space version of Andre Henriques' question Trace Question for Hilbert spaces. Let $a:X\to Y$ and $b:Y\to X$ be bounded linear operators between Banach spaces s.t. $ba$ and $ab$ ...
Bill Johnson's user avatar
  • 31.5k
34 votes
1 answer
4k views

Theme of Isbell duality

Let $C$ be a small category. Isbell duality provides an adjunction $\widehat{C} {{\mathcal{O} \atop \longrightarrow} \atop {\longleftarrow \atop \mathrm{Spec}}}\widehat{C^{\mathrm{op}}}^{\mathrm{op}}$....
Martin Brandenburg's user avatar
32 votes
19 answers
23k views

Good books on theory of distributions

Hi all. I'm looking for english books with a good coverage of distribution theory. I'm a fan of Folland's Real analysis, but it only gives elementary notions on distributions. Thanks in advance.
32 votes
2 answers
4k views

Are there non-reflexive vector spaces isomorphic to their bi-dual?

Let $V$ be an infinite dimensional topological vector space and consider the natural application $\iota\colon V\to V^{**}$. The space $V$ is said to be reflexive if $\iota$ is an isomorphism. Are ...
diverietti's user avatar
  • 7,902
28 votes
7 answers
13k views

Regular borel measures on metric spaces

When teaching Measure Theory last year, I convinced myself that a finite measure defined on the Borel subsets of a (compact; separable complete?) metric space was automatically regular. I used the ...
Matthew Daws's user avatar
  • 18.7k
26 votes
2 answers
5k views

Does Arzelà-Ascoli require choice?

Inspired by a recent Math.SE question entitled Where do we need the axiom of choice in Riemannian geometry?, I was thinking of the Arzelà--Ascoli theorem. Let's state a very simple version: ...
Nate Eldredge's user avatar
26 votes
3 answers
2k views

About the category of von neumann algebras

I am looking for one (or more) reference about properties of the category of von Neumann algebra. More precisely, in an answer of a previous question, Dmitri Pavlov mentions that the $W^*$ category ...
Oliver's user avatar
  • 357
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
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
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
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
23 votes
9 answers
2k views

Nonseparable counterexamples in analysis

When asking for uncountable counterexamples in algebra I noted that in functional analysis there are many examples of things that “go wrong” in the nonseparable setting. But most of the examples I'm ...
23 votes
2 answers
859 views

Moments of Plücker coordinates on complex Grassmannian

Consider the Grassmannian $Gr(k,N)\simeq U(N)/(U(k)\times U(N-k))$ which parametrizes $k$-dimensional subspaces of $\mathbb{C}^N$. Let us put on it the $U(N)$-invariant probability measure. Let $\...
Abdelmalek Abdesselam's user avatar
23 votes
4 answers
2k views

Are almost commuting hermitian matrices close to commuting matrices (in the 2-norm)?

I consider on $M_n(\mathbb C)$ the normalized $2$-norm, i.e. the norm given by $\|A\|_2 = \sqrt{\mathrm{Tr}(A^* A)/n}$. My question is whether a $k$-uple of hermitian matrices that are almost ...
Mikael de la Salle's user avatar
21 votes
2 answers
1k views

Meager subspaces of a Banach space and weak-* convergence

I previously asked a version of this question on Math.SE, but didn't receive an answer. (But there is a bounty there if you want to claim it!) Let $X$ be a Banach space. (If it helps, feel free to ...
Nate Eldredge's user avatar
21 votes
1 answer
3k views

Density of polynomials in $C^k(\overline\Omega)$

Let $\Omega$ be an open and bounded subset of $\mathbb{R}^2$ and let $C^k(\Omega)$, $1\leq k<\infty$, be the space of functions $f$ with continuous derivatives of order $\leq k$ in $\Omega$, ...
user111's user avatar
  • 4,034
21 votes
5 answers
18k views

When is Sobolev space a subset of the continuous functions?

If we let $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^d$ with $d=1,2,3$ and define $\mathcal{H}^1(\Omega)=(w\in L_2(\Omega): \frac{\partial w}{\partial x_i}\in L_2(\Omega), i=1,...,d)$. My tutor has repeated several ...
alext87's user avatar
  • 3,217
21 votes
0 answers
732 views

Closed connected additive subgroups of the Hilbert space

It is a classical result that a closed and connected additive subgroup of $\mathbb{R}^n$ is necessarily a linear subspace. However, this is no longer true in infinite dimension: a very easy example is ...
Pietro Majer's user avatar
  • 60.5k
19 votes
1 answer
3k views

Infinite convex combinations in a Banach space

Let's say that a subset $C$ of a Banach space $X$ is $\sigma$-convex if the following property holds: For any sequence $(x_k)_{k\ge0}$ in $C$, and for any sequence of non-negative real numbers $(\...
Pietro Majer's user avatar
  • 60.5k

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