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152 votes
18 answers
24k views

Why do we care about $L^p$ spaces besides $p = 1$, $p = 2$, and $p = \infty$?

I was helping a student study for a functional analysis exam and the question came up as to when, in practice, one needs to consider the Banach space $L^p$ for some value of $p$ other than the obvious ...
5 votes
1 answer
681 views

Does the norm of a normed linear space determine the form of its dual spaces elements?

Hello everybody, As an introductory example, suppose $U \subset R^n$ is open and bounded, let $p = 2$. Then there is a constant $c>0$ s.t. $\forall u \in W^{1,p}_0 : \Vert u \Vert _ {W^{1,p}_0} \...
shuhalo's user avatar
  • 5,327
2 votes
2 answers
679 views

L^2 space of holomorphic functions with given weight

Hi folks, what is known about the $L^2$ space of holomorphic functions of 1 complex variable with the scalar product $\langle f, g \rangle = \int dzd{\bar z} \frac{ {\bar f(z)} g(z) }{(1 + z{\bar z})^...
Daniel's user avatar
  • 362
13 votes
5 answers
1k views

Does this sequence span $L^2$?

Consider the following sequence of functions in $L^2[0,\infty)$: $$f_n(x)=e^{-x/n}x^n,\;\;n\geq 1$$ Does this sequence span $L^2[0,\infty)$ (that is, is the set of finite linear combinations of these ...
Guy Katriel's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
272 views

Contractions and spaces

Suppose $X$ is a closed subspace of an $L^{1}$-space and $X$ is isometric to another $L^{1}$-space. Then we know that $X$ is in the range of a contractive projection on the $L^{1}$-space. Is there any ...
John Jones's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
466 views

Injection between non-isomorphic irreducible Hilbert space reps?

I must be missing something trivial here. Let $G$ be, say, a reductive Lie group (or more generally any locally compact Hausdorff unimodular topological group). A unitary Hilbert space representation ...
Kevin Buzzard's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
1k views

When does a unitary Hilbert space rep of a reductive Lie group decompose into a direct sum of irreps with finite multiplicities?

I'm giving some lectures on the trace formula. Here's something I proved in the last lecture. Let $G$ be a locally compact Hausdorff unimodular topological group (e.g. a reductive Lie group), let $\...
Kevin Buzzard's user avatar
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
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Existence of weak limits

Background: Three months ago, I asked this question, which is a bit related to the following (if the answer to it was Yes, then answer to this one would be Yes too, but since that was a No, it still ...
27 votes
1 answer
4k views

Criteria for boundedness of power series

Consider a power series $\sum_{n=0}^{\infty} a_n x^n$ that is convergent for all real x, thus defining a function $f: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}$. Can one give necessary and sufficient criteria the ...
Andreas Rüdinger's user avatar
66 votes
7 answers
10k views

Why is the Hahn-Banach theorem so important?

Every time I hear it mentioned it is praised in the highest possible terms, and I remember one of my old lecturers saying that it is one of the 3 most important theorems in analysis. Yet the only ...
teil's user avatar
  • 4,351
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

Besicovitch Covering Constant for R^1

In the case where $E\subset\mathbb{R}^1$, a Besicovitch cover of $E$ is a cover by open intervals such that each point of $E$ is the center of some interval in the cover. The Besicovitch Covering ...
cxseven's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote
1 answer
433 views

Intersection of ideals in C*-algebra or even rings in general

Dear all, here is a question that has been bothering me. It goes without saying that I would appreciate any help in answering it. Let {I_k} be a countable sequence of two sided closed ideals in a C*-...
Audrey Kirilova's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
495 views

Noninteger iterates of functions: How to get ODE from flow at a given time?

Suppose you have the autonomous ordinary differential equation $dx(t)/dt = f(x(t))$ with $x: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}$ and the initial condition $x(0)=x_0$. Then, assuming some regularity conditions, ...
Andreas Rüdinger's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
4k views

Proof of Young's convolutions inequality for a general measure on $\mathbb R^d$

Is Young's inequality true for an arbitrary measure on $\mathbb R^d$? If so, where can I find a proof of it? In particular, where can I find the proof of the discrete version (i.e the version for $\...
AgCl's user avatar
  • 2,745
12 votes
3 answers
2k views

Relevance of the complex structure of a function algebra for capturing the topology on a space.

This question is the outcome of a few naive thoughts, without reading the proof of Gelfand-Neumark theorem. Given a compact Hausdorff space $X$, the algebra of complex continuous functions on it is ...
Akela's user avatar
  • 3,699
15 votes
4 answers
2k views

Naive questions about "matrices" representing endomorphisms of Hilbert spaces.

This is a very basic question and might be way too easy for MO. I am learning analysis in a very backwards way. This is a question about complex Hilbert spaces but here's how I came to it: I have in ...
Kevin Buzzard's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
1k views

Can Stein's maximal principle be strengthened?

Let $T$ be an operator on $S(G)$ where $G$ is the line $R$ or the circle $T$, and $S(G)$ denotes the Schwartz space of functions on $G$. We can ask if the operator T is bounded (as an operator from $...
Mark Lewko's user avatar
22 votes
2 answers
2k views

Examples of loss of regularity by "creation of topology"

I would like to have a list as general as possible of examples of situations where the density of smooth objects into some "natural class" (the meaning of "natural" depending on the problem considered)...
Mircea's user avatar
  • 2,041
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
1 vote
0 answers
133 views

Square powers of hemicontinuous operators

Let H be an infinite dimensional real Hilbert space. A [not necessarily linear] mapping of H into itself is said to be hemicontinuous if it is continuous from each line segment of H to the weak ...
Ady's user avatar
  • 4,060
5 votes
1 answer
7k views

Dual Spaces of Sobolev Spaces

I will consider Sobolev spaces with $p=2$, only, so that they are Hilbert spaces. Hence the Sobolev inner product identifies each Sobolev space with its dual. In other words, I have an isomorphism $H^...
euklid345's user avatar
  • 807
2 votes
2 answers
768 views

Elementary vector measure question: what am I doing wrong?

This is an edited post of a post I made on sci.math (e.g. to fit MO markup) with an elementary question on vector measures. Since it is almost a week and I have received no answers, I am trying here. ...
G. Rodrigues's user avatar
  • 1,848
3 votes
1 answer
556 views

"Radon-Nikodym theorem" for nonabsolute continuous measures

Recently, in a particular problem I was solving, I needed some kind of Radon-Nikodym theorem for measures where one of them is not necessarily absolutely continuous with respect to other. My colleague ...
Jankir Dezmin's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
286 views

a.e. convergence of the powers of an operator built from rotations

Consider two numbers $a,b\in R/Z$ and some integer $p\geq 1$. Let $T:L^p(R/Z)\rightarrow L^p(R/Z)$ be the operator given by $$T(f)(x)=1/2(f(x+a)+f(x+b))$$ For which values of $a,b$ do we have almost ...
coudy's user avatar
  • 18.7k
28 votes
6 answers
12k views

Almost orthogonal vectors

This is to do with high dimensional geometry, which I'm always useless with. Suppose we have some large integer $n$ and some small $\epsilon>0$. Working in the unit sphere of $\mathbb R^n$ or $\...
Matthew Daws's user avatar
  • 18.7k
94 votes
1 answer
11k views

The mathematical theory of Feynman integrals

It is well known that Feynman integrals are one of the tools that physicists have and mathematicians haven't, sadly. Arguably, they are the most important such tool. Briefly, the question I'd like to ...
algori's user avatar
  • 23.5k
10 votes
2 answers
1k views

Are operators with trivial spectrum nilpotent in a sense?

Being far from analysis, I recently learned about the Invariant subspace problem and came up with the following (perhaps simple or well-known) question. Let $H$ be a separable complex Hilbert space ...
Sergei Ivanov's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
893 views

Perturbations of an operator that disconnect the spectrum

The following question came to me while working on a technical matter about transversality in infinite dimension, and I'm really curious to know whether it has an affirmative answer at least under ...
Pietro Majer's user avatar
  • 60.5k
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

Banach spaces with a certain separability property

In Ledoux and Talagrand's "Probability in Banach Spaces", for technical reasons they frequently assume that a Banach space $B$ has the property that the unit ball of $B^*$ contains a countable subset $...
Mark Meckes's user avatar
  • 11.4k
1 vote
2 answers
3k views

unit sphere is weak dense in the unit ball

As I remember the following is true: Fact: for every infinite-dimensional normed space $X$ the unit sphere $S$ is weak-dense in the unit ball $B$. Please help me find a reference. Thanks in ...
user4282's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
2k views

What's wrong with compact-open topology on the space of maps?

Given a smooth vector bundle $E$ with non-compact base, let $\Gamma(E)$ be the space of $C^\infty$ sections equipped with compact-open $C^\infty$-topology. I have heard that $\Gamma(E)$ is not ...
Igor Belegradek's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
1k views

Borel(X) = \sigma(X') for X non-separable

Let $X$ be a Banach space, $X' = \mathcal{L}(X, \mathbb{K})$ its dual space. Denote by $\mathcal{B}(X)$ the $\sigma$-algebra of Borel sets and denote by $\sigma(X')$ the $\sigma$-algebra which is ...
santker heboln's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

Quantitative questions about the size of a finite epsilon net

Let $X$ be a metric space, and let $U \subset X$ be any set. A finite set $N = N(\epsilon) \subset U$ is called a finite $\epsilon$-net of $U$ if every point of $U$ is at most a distance of $\epsilon$...
weakstar's user avatar
  • 943
4 votes
1 answer
985 views

weak convergence in infinite dimensional spaces

Weak convergence can be tricky when dealing with infinite dimensional spaces. For example, the usual Levy's continuity theorem does not extend readily to separable Banach spaces. Consider a (...
Alekk's user avatar
  • 2,133
19 votes
5 answers
16k views

What does "kernel" mean in integral kernel?

In functional analysis, there is the term "integral kernel". Examples are Possion kernel, Dirichlet kernel etc. In algebra, the term kernel of a homomorphism refers to the inverse image of the zero ...
user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
2k views

Weak lower semi-continuity

Which conditions assure the weak lower semicontinuity of, say, an integral functional of the type $F(u):=\int_\Omega f(u(x),Du(x))dx$ on $W^{1,2}(\Omega,\mathbb{R}^N)$ for a bounded, if you will even ...
Sebastian Scholtes's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
1k views

Drawing conclusions by NOT using AC.

The existence of non-measurable subsets and functions on $\mathbb{R}$ require the use of the axiom of choice. That is, there exist models of ZF in which all subsets of (and hence all functions defined ...
Kevin Ventullo's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is the "Krein-Milman theorem for cones"?

Update: The question is completely answered. I had overlooked a reduction to the self-adjoint case, and the latter can be proved using a Hahn-Banach separation theorem. Thanks to Matthew Daws for ...
Jonas Meyer's user avatar
  • 7,329
7 votes
2 answers
808 views

Is a subspace with a certain property dense in the dual of a vector space?

Suppose we have a normed vector space $V$ and its dual $V^*$, and suppose that $X \subseteq V^*$ has the property that for every $v \in V$, there is some $\phi \in X$ with $\Vert \phi \Vert = 1$ such ...
Alden Walker's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
654 views

Nonseparable Hilbert spaces as quotients of spaces of bounded functions

Is the following result true: the Hilbert space $\ell^{2}\left(2^{\Gamma}\right)$ is a quotient of $\ell^{\infty}\left(\Gamma\right)$ for any uncountable $\Gamma$ ? [I think it is, but cannot remember ...
Ady's user avatar
  • 4,060
7 votes
1 answer
347 views

Nonexistence of determinantal functional equation for $\arccos$

Suppose I have distinct real numbers $a_i \in [-1,1]$, $i \in [k]$. I want to choose real numbers $b_j, j\in [k]$ such that the matrix $(\arccos(a_i b_j))_{i,j \in [k]}$ is nonsingular. Is this ...
Jonah Blasiak's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
635 views

Topological dual and the notions of "smaller" and "larger" than...

Hi, I've read this sentence but I can not understand what it means [...] $\Phi'$ is the topological dual of some dense space $\Phi$ of $H_{aux}$ [...] Notice that the choice of $\Phi$ is subject to ...
Pedro's user avatar
  • 733
5 votes
1 answer
403 views

Local form of a real-analytic function taking values in a Banach space

Let $B$ be an infinite-dimensional Banach space, and let $M\subset\mathbb{R}^n$ be a neighborhood of the origin in $\mathbb{R}^n$. Suppose that $I:M\to B$ is a real-analytic function with $I(0)=0$ ...
Lasse Rempe's user avatar
  • 6,548
6 votes
2 answers
4k views

Bounded and weakly bounded sets in top. vector spaces

Consider a locally convex topological vector space V over the complex numbers. Is it true that every weakly bounded subset of V is indeed bounded? If not, what additional requirements are needed for ...
Ralf's user avatar
  • 61
3 votes
2 answers
766 views

Borel vs measure for all Borel measures

Let X be locally compact and Hausdorff, and let $f:X\rightarrow\mathbb R$ be a function. Suppose that for all finite regular (positive) Borel measures $\mu$, we know that $f$ is $\mu$-measurable. ...
Matthew Daws's user avatar
  • 18.7k
5 votes
4 answers
1k views

Is any continuous linear operator from a dual Banach space to a separable Hilbert space the strong-operator limit of a net of adjoint operators of less or equal norm ?

Let $E$ be an arbitrary Banach space and let $T:E^{*}\rightarrow\ell^{2}$ be a linear continuous operator. Is it true that $T$ must be the $so$-limit (i.e., limit w.r.t. the strong operator topology) ...
Ady's user avatar
  • 4,060
4 votes
0 answers
487 views

Convolutions and Toeplitz Operators

Let be $d>0$ an integer number and consider the Cartesian product $\mathbb Z^d$ as metric space, with the distance between $x,y\in\mathbb Z^d$ given by $\|x-y\|_1=\sum_{j=0}^d|x_j-y_j|$. Let be $...
Leandro's user avatar
  • 2,044
7 votes
0 answers
4k views

Explicit element of $(\ell^{\infty})^* - \ell^1$? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: What’s an example of a space that needs the Hahn-Banach Theorem? It is well known that the dual of $\ell^{\infty}$ properly contains $\ell^1$ (over $\mathbb{N}$, say). ...
Akhil Mathew's user avatar
  • 25.6k
2 votes
2 answers
354 views

A bound on linear functionals over cotype 2 spaces

This is a modification of the somewhat naive question that I asked below. Suppose $X$ is a real Banach space of cotype-2, and $u_1, u_2, ... u_n$ are unit vectors in this space. For $\gamma = ((\...
Brad Rodgers's user avatar
  • 2,151