The problem of envelopes for Banach spaces

LetX be a Banach space. A Banach spaceY is an envelope ofX if (1)Y is finitely representable inX; (2) any Banach spaceZ finitely representable inX and of density character not exceeding that ofY is isometric to a subspace ofY. Lindenstrauss and Pelczynski have asked whether any separable Banach space has a separable envelope. We give a negative answer to this question by showing the existence of a Banach space isomorphic tol ₂, which has no separable envelope. A weaker positive result holds: any separable Banach space has an envelope of density character ≦ℵ₁ (assuming the continuum hypothesis).     

An example of a universal Banach space

We construct a separable reflexive Banach spaceX which is complementably universal for all finite dimensional Banach spaces. By this we mean: for every finite dimensional Banach spaceE there is isometric embeddingi:E→X such that there exists a projectionP: → _→ ^onto with ‖P‖=1.     

On Pettis Integrability

Assuming that (Ω, Σ, μ) is a complete probability space and X a Banach space, in this paper we investigate the problem of the X-inheritance of certain copies of c ₀ or l_￥\ell _\infty in the linear space of all [classes of] X-valued μ-weakly measurable Pettis integrable functions equipped with the usual semivariation norm.     

On the classes of hereditarily ℓp Banach spaces

Let X denote a specific space of the class of X _α,p Banach sequence spaces which were constructed by Hagler and the first named author as classes of hereditarily ℓ_p Banach spaces. We show that for p > 1 the Banach space X contains asymptotically isometric copies of ℓ_p. It is known that any member of the class is a dual space. We show that the predual of X contains isometric copies of ℓ_p where 1/p + 1/q = 1. For p = 1 it is known that the predual of the Banach space X contains asymptotically isometric copies of c ₀. Here we give a direct proof of the known result that X contains asymptotically isometric copies of ℓ₁.     

Polyhedral banach spaces and extensions of compact operators

LetX be a polyhedral Banach space whose dual is anL ₁(μ) space for some measureμ. Then for each Banach spacesY ⊆Z and each compact operatorT: Y →X there exists a norm preserving compact extension Z →X.     

Embedding c<Subscript>0</Subscript> in bvca(Σ, <Emphasis Type="Italic">X</Emphasis>)

If (Ω,Σ) is a measurable space and X a Banach space, we provide sufficient conditions on Σ and X in order to guarantee that bvca(Σ, X) the Banach space of all X-valued countably additive measures of bounded variation equipped with the variation norm, contains a copy of c₀ if and only if X does. This work was supported by the project MTM2005-01182 of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, co-financed by the European Community (Feder projects).     

Geometry of Banach spaces with property β

We prove that every Banach space can be isometrically and 1-complementably embedded into a Banach space which satisfies property β and has the same character of density. Then we show that, nevertheless, property β satisfies a hereditary property. We study strong subdifferentiability of norms with property β to characterize separable polyhedral Banach spaces as those admitting a strongly subdifferentiable β norm. In general, a Banach space with such a norm is polyhedral. Finally, we provide examples of non-reflexive spaces whose usual norm fails property β and yet it can be approximated by norms with this property, namely (L ₁[0,1], ‖·‖1) and (C(K), ‖·‖∗) whereK is a separable Hausdorff compact space To the memory of A. Plans Supported in part by DGICYT grant PB 94-0243 and DGICYT PB 96-0607.     

Ergodic Banach spaces

We show that any Banach space contains a continuum of non-isomorphic subspaces or a minimal subspace. We define an ergodic Banach space X as a space such that E₀ Borel reduces to isomorphism on the set of subspaces of X, and show that every Banach space is either ergodic or contains a subspace with an unconditional basis which is complementably universal for the family of its block-subspaces. We also use our methods to get uniformity results. We show that an unconditional basis of a Banach space, of which every block-subspace is complemented, must be asymptotically c₀ or ?_p, and we deduce some new characterisations of the classical spaces c₀ and ?_p.     

On a Banach space approximable by Jacobi polynomials

Let X represent either the space C[-1,1] L _p ^(α,β) (w), 1 ≦ p < ∞ on [-1, 1]. Then Xare Banach spaces under the sup or the p norms, respectively. We prove that there exists a normalized Banach subspace X ¹ _αβ of Xsuch that every f ∈ X ¹ _αβ can be represented by a linear combination of Jacobi polynomials to any degree of accuracy. Our method to prove such an approximation problem is Fourier–Jacobi analysis based on the convergence of Fourier–Jacobi expansions. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Geometrical implications of the existence of very smooth bump functions in Banach spaces

We show that ifX is a Banach space and if there is a non-zero real-valuedC ^∞-smooth function onX with bounded support, then eitherX contains an isomorphic copy ofc ₀(N), or there is an integerk greater than or equal to 1 such thatX is of exact cotype 2k and, in this case,X contains an isomorphic copy ofl ^2k(N). We also show that ifX is a Banach space such that there is onX a non-zero real-valuedC ⁴-smooth function with bounded support and ifX is of cotypeq forq<4, thenX is isomorphic to a Hilbert space.     

Any Banach space has an equivalent norm with trivial isometries

For any Banach spaceX there is a norm |||·||| onX, equivalent to the original one, such that (X, |||·|||) has only trivial isometries. For any groupG there is a Banach spaceX such that the group of isometries ofX is isomorphic toG × {− 1, 1}. For any countable groupG there is a norm ‖ · ‖ _G onC([0, 1]) equivalent to the original one such that the group of isometries of (C([0, 1]), ‖ · ‖ _G ) is isomorphic toG × {−1, + 1}.     

The classification of injective Banach lattices

LetE be a 1-injective Banach lattice,X any Banach space andT: E ← X a norm bounded linear operator. Then eitherT is an isomorphism on some copy ofl _∞ inE or for all σ > 0 there is φ ∈E ₊ ^′ such that ‖Tu‖≦φ (|u|)+σ ‖u‖ for allu ∈E. We deduce the theorem that: A norm order continuous injective Banach lattice is order isomorphic to an (AL)-space.     

Extremal properties of contraction semigroups onc 0

For any complex Banach spaceX, letJ denote the duality mapping ofX. For any unit vectorx inX and any (C ₀) contraction semigroup (T _t ) _t>0 onX, Baillon and Guerre-Delabriere proved that ifX is a smooth reflexive Banach space and if there isx ^*∈J(x) such that ÷〈(T(t)x, J(x)〈÷→1 ast→∞, then there is a unit vectory∈X which is an eigenvector of the generatorA of (T _t ) _t>0 associated with a purely imaginary eigenvalue. They asked whether this result is still true ifX is replaced byc ₀. In this article, we show the answer is negative Partial results of this paper were obtained when the author attended the International Conference of Convexity at the University of Marne-La-Vallée. He would like to express his gratitude for the kind hospitality offered to him. He would also like to thank Profs. Goldstein and Jamison for their valuable suggestions.     

Embedding unconditional stable banach spaces into symmetric stable banach spaces

In this paper we prove the following result which solves a question raised by A. Pelczynski: “Every stable Banach space with an unconditional basis is isomorphic to a complemented subspace of some stable Banach space with a symmetric basis.” Moreover, we show that all the interpolation spacesl ^p ,l ^q _θ,X,1 1≦p, q<∞ andX stable, are stable.     

Moduli of non-dentability and the radon-nikodým property in banach spaces

We show that for a separable Banach spaceX failing the Radon-Nikodym property (RNP), andε > 0, there is a symmetric closed convex subsetC of the unit ball ofX such that every extreme point of the weak-star closure ofC in the bidualX** has distance fromX bigger than 1 −ε. An example is given showing that the full strength of this theorem does not carry over to the non-separable case. However, admitting a renorming, we get an analogous result for this theorem in the non-separable case too. We also show that in a Banach space failing RNP there is, forε > 0, a convex setC of diameter equal to 1 such that each slice ofC has diameter bigger than 1 −ε. Some more related results about the geometry of Banach spaces failing RNP are given.     

Daugavet centers and direct sums of Banach spaces

A linear continuous nonzero operator G: X → Y is a Daugavet center if every rank-1 operator T: X → Y satisfies ||G + T|| = ||G|| + ||T||. We study the case when either X or Y is a sum X _1⊕F X ₂ of two Banach spaces X ₁ and X ₂ by some two-dimensional Banach space F. We completely describe the class of those F such that for some spaces X ₁ and X ₂ there exists a Daugavet center acting from X _1⊕F X ₂, and the class of those F such that for some pair of spaces X ₁ and X ₂ there is a Daugavet center acting into X _1⊕F X ₂. We also present several examples of such Daugavet centers.     

On normal and compact operators on Banach spaces

For some normal operators (T=H+iK) on a Banach spaceX we study the dual space of the Banach algebraA (H, K) assuming thatX* is weakly complete and we study the decompositionX=Ker (T) ⊕ (TX)⁻ for spacesX ⊅c ₀.     

Independent sequences in Banach spaces

In every ∞-dimensional separable Banach spaceX there is a fundamental sequence such that no subsequence of it, which is fundamental inX, is independent (“{x _n} is fundamental inX” meansX=span {x _n}).     

Universal non-compact operators between super-reflexive Banach spaces and the existence of a complemented copy of Hilbert space

Suppose that 1<p≦2, 2≦q<∞. The formal identity operatorI:l _p→l _qfactorizes through any given non-compact operator from ap-smooth Banach space into aq-convex Banach space. It follows that ifX is a 2-convex space andY is an infinite dimensional subspace ofX which is isomorphic to a Hilbert space, thenY contains an isomorphic copy ofl ₂ which is complemented inX.     

Hyperfinite Dimensional Representations of Spaces and Algebras of Measures

Let X be a locally compact topological space and (X, E, X_ω) be any triple consisting of a hyperfinite set X in a sufficiently saturated nonstandard universe, a monadic equivalence relation E on X, and an E-closed galactic set X_ω ⊆ X, such that all internal subsets of X_ω are relatively compact in the induced topology and X is homeomorphic to the quotient X_ω/E. We will show that each regular complex Borel measure on X can be obtained by pushing down the Loeb measure induced by some internal function . The construction gives rise to an isometric isomorphism of the Banach space M(X) of all regular complex Borel measures on X, normed by total variation, and the quotient , for certain external subspaces of the hyperfinite dimensional Banach space , with the norm ‖f‖₁ = ∑_{x ∈ X} |f(x)|. If additionally X = G is a hyperfinite group, X_ω = G_ω is a galactic subgroup of G, E is the equivalence corresponding to a normal monadic subgroup G₀ of G_ω, and G is isomorphic to the locally compact group G_ω/G₀, then the above Banach space isomorphism preserves the convolution, as well, i.e., M(G) and are isometrically isomorphic as Banach algebras. Research of both authors supported by a grant by VEGA – Scientific Grant Agency of Slovak Republic.