γ-Bounded representations of amenable groups

Let G be an amenable group, let X be a Banach space and let π:G→B(X) be a bounded representation. We show that if the set is γ-bounded then π extends to a bounded homomorphism w:C^∗(G)→B(X) on the group C^∗-algebra of G. Moreover w is necessarily γ-bounded. This extends to the Banach space setting a theorem of Day and Dixmier saying that any bounded representation of an amenable group on Hilbert space is unitarizable. We obtain additional results and complements when G=Z, R or T, and/or when X has property (α).     

Bipartite graphs are not universal fixers

For any permutation π of the vertex set of a graph G, the graph πG is obtained from two copies G^′ and G^″ of G by joining u∈V(G^′) and v∈V(G^″) if and only if v=π(u). Denote the domination number of G by γ(G). For all permutations π of V(G), γ(G)≤γ(πG)≤2γ(G). If γ(πG)=γ(G) for all π, then G is called a universal fixer. We prove that graphs without 5-cycles are not universal fixers, from which it follows that bipartite graphs are not universal fixers.     

Regular graphs are not universal fixers

For any permutation π of the vertex set of a graph G, the graph πG is obtained from two copies G^′ and G^″ of G by joining u∈V(G^′) and v∈V(G^″) if and only if v=π(u). Denote the domination number of G by γ(G). For all permutations π of V(G), γ(G)≤γ(πG)≤2γ(G). If γ(πG)=γ(G) for all π, then G is called a universal fixer. We prove that regular graphs and graphs with γ=4 are not universal fixers.     

Various Slicing Indices on Banach Spaces

We give a short and direct proof for the computation of the Szlenk index of the C(K) spaces, when K is a countable compact space and determine their Lavrientiev indices. We also compute the Szlenk index of certain C(α) spaces, where α is an uncountable ordinal. Finally, we show that if the Szlenk index of a Banach space is ω (first infinite ordinal), then its weak*-dentability index is at most ω² and that this estimate is optimal. The first author was supported by the grants: Institutional Research Plan AV0Z10190503, A100190502, GA ČR 201/04/0090.     

Computability of finite-dimensional linear subspaces and best approximation

We discuss computability properties of the set P_G(x) of elements of best approximation of some point x∈X by elements of G⊆X in computable Banach spaces X. It turns out that for a general closed set G, given by its distance function, we can only obtain negative information about P_G(x) as a closed set. In the case that G is finite-dimensional, one can compute negative information on P_G(x) as a compact set. This implies that one can compute the point in P_G(x) whenever it is uniquely determined. This is also possible for a wider class of subsets G, given that one imposes additionally convexity properties on the space. If the Banach space X is computably uniformly convex and G is convex, then one can compute the uniquely determined point in P_G(x). We also discuss representations of finite-dimensional subspaces of Banach spaces and we show that a basis representation contains the same information as the representation via distance functions enriched by the dimension. Finally, we study computability properties of the dimension and the codimension map and we show that for finite-dimensional spaces X the dimension is computable, given the distance function of the subspace.     

Multiplication operators on vector measure Orlicz spaces

Let m be a countably additive vector measure with values in a real Banach space X, and let L¹(m) and L_w(m) be the spaces of functions which are, correspondingly, integrable and weakly integrable with respect to m. Given a Young's function Φ, we consider the vector measure Orlicz spaces L^Φ(m) and L^Φ_w(m) and establish that the Banach space of multiplication operators going from W = L^Φ(m) into Y = L¹ (m) is M = L^Ψ_w (m) with an equivalent norm; here Ψ is the conjugated Young's function for Φ. We also prove that when W = L^Φ_w(m), Y = L¹(m) we have M = L^Ψ_w (m), and when W = L^Φ_w(m), Y = L¹(m) we have M = L^Ψ (m).     

Covariant representations of Hecke algebras and imprimitivity for crossed products by homogeneous spaces

For discrete Hecke pairs (G,H), we introduce a notion of covariant representation which reduces in the case where H is normal to the usual definition of covariance for the action of G/H on c₀(G/H) by right translation; in many cases where G is a semidirect product, it can also be expressed in terms of covariance for a semigroup action. We use this covariance to characterise the representations of c₀(G/H) which are multiples of the multiplication representation on ?²(G/H), and more generally, we prove an imprimitivity theorem for regular representations of certain crossed products by coactions of homogeneous spaces. We thus obtain new criteria for extending unitary representations from H to G.     

Copies of c0(Г) and ?∞(Г)/c0(Г) in quotients of Banach spaces with applications to Orlicz and Marcinkiewicz spaces

Let X be a Banach space, let Y be its subspace, and let Г be an infinite set. We study the consequences of the assumption that an operator T embeds ?_221E;(Г) into X isomorphically with T(c₀(Г)) ⊂ Y. Under additional assumptions on T we prove the existence of isomorphic copies of c₀(Г^ℵ0) in X/Y, and complemented copies ?_∞(Г) in X/Y. In concrete cases we obtain a new information about the structure of X/Y. In particular, L∞[O,1]/C[O,1] contains a complemented copy of ?_∞/c₀, and some natural (lattice) quotients of real Orlicz and Marcinkiewicz spaces contain lattice-isometric and positively I-complemented copies of(real) ?_∞/c₀.     

Operator space structure and amenability for Figà-Talamanca-Herz algebras

Column and row operator spaces—which we denote by COL and ROW, respectively—over arbitrary Banach spaces were introduced by the first-named author; for Hilbert spaces, these definitions coincide with the usual ones. Given a locally compact group G and p,p′∈(1,∞) with , we use the operator space structure on to equip the Figà-Talamanca-Herz algebra A_p(G) with an operator space structure, turning it into a quantized Banach algebra. Moreover, we show that, for p?q?2 or 2?q?p and amenable G, the canonical inclusion A_q(G)⊂A_p(G) is completely bounded (with cb-norm at most , where is Grothendieck's constant). As an application, we show that G is amenable if and only if A_p(G) is operator amenable for all—and equivalently for one—p∈(1,∞); this extends a theorem by Ruan.     

Genericity and amalgamation of classes of Banach spaces

We study universality problems in Banach space theory. We show that if A is an analytic class, in the Effros-Borel structure of subspaces of C([0,1]), of non-universal separable Banach spaces, then there exists a non-universal separable Banach space Y, with a Schauder basis, that contains isomorphs of each member of A with the bounded approximation property. The proof is based on the amalgamation technique of a class C of separable Banach spaces, introduced in the paper. We show, among others, that there exists a separable Banach space R not containing L¹(0,1) such that the indices β and rND are unbounded on the set of Baire-1 elements of the ball of the double dual R∗∗ of R. This answers two questions of H.P. Rosenthal.We also introduce the concept of a strongly bounded class of separable Banach spaces. A class C of separable Banach spaces is strongly bounded if for every analytic subset A of C there exists Y∈C that contains all members of A up to isomorphism. We show that several natural classes of separable Banach spaces are strongly bounded, among them the class of non-universal spaces with a Schauder basis, the class of reflexive spaces with a Schauder basis, the class of spaces with a shrinking Schauder basis and the class of spaces with Schauder basis not containing a minimal Banach space X.     

Fragmentability of groups and metric-valued function spaces

Let (X,τ) be a topological space and let ρ be a metric defined on X. We shall say that (X,τ) is fragmented by ρ if whenever ε>0 and A is a nonempty subset of X there is a τ-open set U such that U∩A≠∅ and ρ−diam(U∩A)<ε. In this paper we consider the notion of fragmentability, and its generalisation σ-fragmentability, in the setting of topological groups and metric-valued function spaces. We show that in the presence of Baireness fragmentability of a topological group is very close to metrizability of that group. We also show that for a compact Hausdorff space X, σ-fragmentability of (C(X),‖⋅_‖∞) implies that the space Cp(X;M) of all continuous functions from X into a metric space M, endowed with the topology of pointwise convergence on X, is fragmented by a metric whose topology is at least as strong as the uniform topology on C(X;M). The primary tool used is that of topological games.     

Vanishing exponential integrability for functions whose gradients belong to L(log(e+L))

If the gradient of u(x) is nth power locally integrable on Euclidean n-space, then the integral average over a ball B of the exponential of a constant multiple of |u(x)−u_B|^n/(n−1), u_B=average of u over B, tends to 1 as the radius of B shrinks to zero—for quasi almost all center points. This refines a result of N. Trudinger (1967). We prove here a similar result for the class of gradients in Lⁿ(log(e+L))^α, 0?α?n−1. The results depend on a capacitary strong-type inequality for these spaces.     

Polynomial numerical indices of Banach spaces with absolute norm

We study when a Banach space with absolute norm may have polynomial numerical indices equal to one. In the real case, we show that a Banach space X with absolute norm, which has the Radon-Nikodým property or is Asplund, satisfies n⁽²⁾(X)<1 unless it is one-dimensional. In the complex case, we show that the only Banach spaces X with absolute norm and the Radon-Nikodým property which satisfy n⁽²⁾(X)=1 are the spaces . Also, the only Asplund complex space X with absolute norm which satisfies n⁽²⁾(X)=1 is c₀(Λ).     

Bad normed spaces, convexity properties, separated sets

Some years ago, a parameter-denoted by A₁(X)-was defined in real Banach spaces. In the same setting, several years before, a notion called Q-convexity had been defined. Studying these two notions seems to be rather awkward and up until now this has not been done in deep.Here we indicate some properties and connections between these two parameters and some other related ones, in infinite-dimensional Banach spaces. We also consider another notion, a natural extension of Q-convexity, and we discuss the case when A₁(X) attains its maximum value. The spaces where this happens can be considered as ”bad” since they cannot have several properties which are usually considered as nice (like uniform non-squareness or P-convexity).     

On character amenability of semigroup algebras

We study the character amenability of semigroup algebras. We work on general semigroups and certain semigroups such as inverse semigroups with a finite number of idempotents, inverse semigroups with uniformly locally finite idempotent set, Brandt and Rees semigroup and study the character amenability of the semigroup algebra l¹(S) in relation to the structures of the semigroup S. In particular, we show that for any semigroup S, if ?¹(S) is character amenable, then S is amenable and regular. We also show that the left character amenability of the semigroup algebra ?¹(S) on a Brandt semigroup S over a group G with index set J is equivalent to the amenability of G and J being finite. Finally, we show that for a Rees semigroup S with a zero over the group G, the left character amenability of ?¹(S) is equivalent to its amenability, this is in turn equivalent to G being amenable.     

Colorings at minimum cost

We define by min_c∑_{u,v}∈E(G)|c(u)−c(v)| the min-costMC(G) of a graph G, where the minimum is taken over all proper colorings c. The min-cost-chromatic numberχ_M(G) is then defined to be the (smallest) number of colors k for which there exists a proper k-coloring c attaining MC(G). We give constructions of graphs G where χ(G) is arbitrarily smaller than χ_M(G). On the other hand, we prove that for every 3-regular graph G^′, χ_M(G^′)≤4 and for every 4-regular line graph G^″, χ_M(G^″)≤5. Moreover, we show that the decision problem whether χ_M(G)=k is -hard for k≥3.     

The geometry of the critical set of nonlinear periodic Sturm-Liouville operators

We study the critical set C of the nonlinear differential operator F(u)=−u^″+f(u) defined on a Sobolev space of periodic functions Hp(S¹), p?1. Let be the plane z=0 and, for n>0, let n be the cone x²+y²=tan²z, |z−2πn|<π/2; also set . For a generic smooth nonlinearity f:R→R with surjective derivative, we show that there is a diffeomorphism between the pairs (Hp(S¹),C) and (R³,Σ)×H where H is a real separable infinite-dimensional Hilbert space.     

Functional properties of rearrangement invariant spaces defined in terms of oscillations

Function spaces whose definition involves the quantity f^**-f^*, which measures the oscillation of f^*, have recently attracted plenty of interest and proved to have many applications in various, quite diverse fields. Primary role is played by the spaces S_p(w), with 0<p<∞ and w a weight function on (0,∞), defined as the set of Lebesgue-measurable functions on R such that f^*(∞)=0 and

     

Berezin transform on¶compact Hermitian symmetric spaces

Let X=G ^* be a compact Hermitian symmetric space. We study the Berezin transform on L ²(X) and calculate its spectrum under the decomposition of L ²(X) into the irreducible representations of G ^*. As applications we find the expansion of powers of the canonical polynomial (Bergman reproducing kernel for the canonical line bundle) in terms of the spherical polynomials on X, and we find the irreducible decomposition of tensor products of Bergman spaces on X. Received: 10 September 1996 / Revised version: 10 September 1997