All Questions
11,147 questions
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 ...
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 ...
- 23.5k
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 ...
- 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 $\...
- 31.5k
77
votes
0
answers
4k
views
2, 3, and 4 (a possible fixed point result ?)
The question below is related to the classical Browder-Goehde-Kirk fixed point theorem.
Let $K$ be the closed unit ball of $\ell^{2}$, and let $T:K\rightarrow K$
be a mapping such that
$$\Vert Tx-Ty\...
- 4,060
71
votes
16
answers
21k
views
Is there a nice application of category theory to functional/complex/harmonic analysis?
[Title changed, and wording of question tweaked, by YC, because the original title asked a question which seems different from the one people want to answer.]
I've read looked at the examples in most ...
71
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Barrelled, bornological, ultrabornological, semi-reflexive, ... how are these used?
I'm not a functional analyst (though I like to pretend that I am from time to time) but I use it and I think it's a great subject. But whenever I read about locally convex topological vector spaces, ...
- 26.8k
69
votes
4
answers
13k
views
What is a foliation and why should I care?
The title says everything but while it is a little bit provocative let me elaborate a bit about my question. First time when I met the foliation it was just an isolated example in the differential ...
- 9,330
69
votes
3
answers
12k
views
Nonconvexity and discretization
Edit: Here's a more down-to-earth, and somewhat weakened, but I believe still nontrivial, version of the main theorem.
Prototypical nonconvex spaces are $\ell^p$-spaces for $0<p<1$, say $\ell^p(\...
- 21.3k
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 ...
- 4,351
65
votes
9
answers
12k
views
Polish spaces in probability
Probabilists often work with Polish spaces, though it is not always very clear where this assumption is needed.
Question: What can go wrong when doing probability on non-Polish spaces?
- 651
65
votes
14
answers
6k
views
Notions of convergence not corresponding to topologies
This question concerns the ramifications of the following interesting problem that
appeared on Ed Nelson's final exam on Functional Analysis some years ago:
Exam question: Is there a metric on the ...
- 801
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,...
63
votes
7
answers
5k
views
What well known results with countability assumptions can be naturally extended to uncountable settings?
In many of the common categories of spaces (or algebras) in mathematics, one often restricts attention to those spaces or algebras which are "countable" or "countably generated" in ...
60
votes
23
answers
108k
views
A good book of functional analysis [closed]
I'm a student (I've been studying mathematics 4 years at the university) and I like functional analysis and topology, but I only studied 6 credits of functional analysis and 7 in topology (the basics)....
59
votes
9
answers
10k
views
Motivation for and history of pseudo-differential operators
Suppose you start from partial differential equations and functional analysis (on $\mathbb R^n$ and on real manifolds). Which prominent example problems lead you to work with pseudo-differential ...
- 5,327
59
votes
7
answers
29k
views
Learning roadmap for harmonic analysis
In short, I am interested to know of the various approaches one could take to learn modern harmonic analysis in depth. However, the question deserves additional details. Currently, I am reading Loukas ...
53
votes
3
answers
13k
views
Pullback measures
Why do all measure theory textbooks present the concept of push-forward measure, but never the concept of pull-back measure? Doesn't the latter exist?
It's true that the naive treatment of such a ...
- 5,407
52
votes
2
answers
3k
views
vector balancing problem
I believe the solution posted to the arXiv on June 17 by Marcus, Spielman, and Srivastava is correct.
This problem may be hard, so I don't expect an off-the-cuff solution. But can anyone suggest ...
- 42.8k
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 ...
- 6,351
50
votes
7
answers
16k
views
Way to memorize relations between the Sobolev spaces?
Consider the Sobolev spaces $W^{k,p}(\Omega)$ with a bounded domain $\Omega$ in n-dimensional Euclidean space. When facing the different embedding theorems for the first time, one can certainly feel ...
- 2,935
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 ...
- 15.5k
47
votes
3
answers
10k
views
Quantum mechanics formalism and C*-algebras
Many authors (e.g Landsman, Gleason) have stated that in quantum mechanics, the observables of a system can be taken to be the self-adjoint elements of an appropriate C*-algebra. However, many ...
- 573
46
votes
0
answers
2k
views
Set-theoretic reformulation of the invariant subspace problem
The invariant subspace problem (ISP) for Hilbert spaces asks whether every bounded linear operator $A$ on $l^2$ (with complex scalars) must have a closed invariant subspace other than $\{0\}$ and $l^2$...
- 42.8k
45
votes
7
answers
9k
views
What's an example of a space that needs the Hahn-Banach Theorem?
The Hahn-Banach theorem is rightly seen as one of the Big Theorems in functional analysis. Indeed, it can be said to be where functional analysis really starts. But as it's one of those "there ...
- 26.8k
45
votes
7
answers
16k
views
What is an intuitive view of adjoints? (version 2: functional analysis)
After realising that I don't have an intuitive understanding of adjoint functors, I then realised that I don't have an intuitive understanding of adjoint linear transformations!
Again, I can use 'em, ...
- 26.8k
45
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Existence and uniqueness of Haar measure on compacta; a cohomological approach
I am trying to use a modification of group cohomology to prove the existence and uniqueness of Haar measure on a compact Hausdorff group.
I think the best way of introducing the idea I am pursuing is ...
user30211
44
votes
10
answers
47k
views
Is square of Delta function defined somewhere?
I am wondering whether anyone knows if the square of Dirac Delta function is defined somewhere.
In the beginning, this question might look strange. But by restricting the space of the test functions, ...
44
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Example of a compact set that isn't the spectrum of an operator
This question is somewhat ill-posed (due to the word easy) and is triggered by idle curiosity:
Is there an easy example of a (separable, infinite-dimensional) Banach space $X$ and a nonempty ...
- 5,743
43
votes
8
answers
3k
views
How to quantify noncommutativity?
If I have two operators or finite-dimensional matrices $A$ and $B$, how can I quantify the amount to which they commute or don't commute? (I would consider it a big plus if it is computable easily for ...
- 1,890
43
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Why the name 'separable' space?
It is well known that a separable space is a topological space that has a countable dense subset. I am wondering how is this related to the name 'separable'? Any intuition where the name come from?
- 1,157
43
votes
1
answer
5k
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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?
- 559
41
votes
4
answers
16k
views
Product of Borel sigma algebras
If $X$ and $Y$ are separable metric spaces, then the Borel $\sigma$-algebra $B(X \times Y)$ of the product is the $\sigma$-algebra generated by $B(X)\times B(Y)$. I am embarrassed to admit that I ...
- 31.5k
40
votes
9
answers
10k
views
Simplest examples of rings that are not isomorphic to their opposites
What are the simplest examples of
rings that are not isomorphic to their
opposite rings? Is there a science to constructing them?
The only simple example known to me:
In Jacobson's Basic Algebra (...
- 5,654
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(...
- 22.8k
40
votes
5
answers
10k
views
Is there a natural measures on the space of measurable functions?
Given a set Ω and a σ-algebra F of subsets, is there some natural way to assign something like a "uniform" measure on the space of all measurable functions on this space? (I suppose first ...
- 1,475
39
votes
6
answers
7k
views
A remark of Connes on non-standard analysis
In an interview (at http://www.alainconnes.org/docs/Inteng.pdf) Connes remarks that
I had been working on non-standard analysis, but after a while I had found a catch in the theory.... The point is ...
- 1,131
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 ...
- 1,241
38
votes
7
answers
5k
views
Why should algebraic objects have naturally associated topological spaces? (Formerly: What is a topological space?)
In this question, Harry Gindi states:
The fact that a commutative ring has a natural topological space associated with it is a really interesting coincidence.
Moreover, in the answers, Pete L. ...
- 21k
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 ...
- 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{\...
- 7,583
37
votes
5
answers
4k
views
Reference for the Gelfand duality theorem for commutative von Neumann algebras
The Gelfand duality theorem for commutative von Neumann algebras states that the following three categories are equivalent:
(1) The opposite category of the category of commutative von Neumann ...
- 37.8k
37
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Moving one family of commuting self-adjoint operators to another without losing commutativity on the way
This is actually not a question of mine, so I'll be short on motivation and say nothing beyond that if this were true, a few fancy harmonic analysis techniques that a colleague of mine used in proving ...
- 61.9k
35
votes
4
answers
6k
views
How are infinite-dimensional manifolds most commonly treated?
I originally posted this question on StackExchange, where it was suggested I post here. It was also suggested I read about Hilbert manifolds and Fréchet manifolds. Nevertheless, I am still looking for ...
- 655
35
votes
6
answers
6k
views
Applications of noncommutative geometry
This is related to Anweshi's question about theories of noncommutative geometry.
Let's start out by saying that I live, mostly, in a commutative universe. The only noncommutative rings I have much ...
- 16k
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 ...
- 156k
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 ...
- 43.2k
34
votes
8
answers
9k
views
When is a Banach space a Hilbert space?
Let $\mathcal{X}$ be a real or complex Banach space.
It is a well known fact that $\mathcal{X}$ is a Hilbert space (i.e. the norm comes from an inner product) if the parallelogram identity holds.
...
- 343
34
votes
3
answers
8k
views
What are the applications of operator algebras to other areas?
Question: What are the applications of operator algebras to other areas?
More precisely, I would like to know the results in mathematical areas outside of operator algebras which were proved by ...