Abstract: | The problem under consideration is the following: Let S: E′ → Lq, T: E′ → Lp, 0 < q ≦ 2, 0 < p ≦ 2, be operators, ‖Sa‖ ≦ ‖Ta‖, such that, T generates a stable measure on E, i.e., exp (-‖Ta‖ p), a ? E′, is the characteristic function of a RADON measure on E. Does this imply, that exp (-‖Sa‖ q), a ? E′, is the characteristic function of a RADON measure, too? In general this is not true provided q or p less than 2. A BANACH space is said to be of (q,p)-cotype if the answer to the above question is “yes”. We establish several properties of this classification and obtain as an application the well-known classes due to MOUCHTARI, TIEN, WERON and MANDREKAR, WERON, Finally we apply our results to so-called S-spaces. |