90

Chapter 5

Banach Spaces

Many linear equations may be formulated in terms of a suitable linear operator

acting on a Banach space. In this chapter, we study Banach spaces and linear oper-
ators acting on Banach spaces in greater detail. We give the definition of a Banach
space and illustrate it with a number of examples. We show that a linear operator
is continuous if and only if it is bounded, define the norm of a bounded linear op-
erator, and study some properties of bounded linear operators. Unbounded linear
operators are also important in applications: for example, differential operators are
typically unbounded. We will study them in later chapters, in the simpler context
of Hilbert spaces.

5.1 Banach spaces

A normed linear space is a metric space with respect to the metric d derived from
its norm, where d(x, y) = kx − yk.

Definition 5.1 A Banach space is a normed linear space that is a complete metric
space with respect to the metric derived from its norm.

The following examples illustrate the definition. We will study many of these
examples in greater detail later on, so we do not present proofs here.

Example 5.2 For 1 ≤ p < ∞, we define the p-norm on Rn (or Cn ) by

1/p
k(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn )kp = (|x1 |p + |x2 |p + . . . + |xn |p ) .

For p = ∞, we define the ∞, or maximum, norm by

k(x1 , x2 , . . . , xn )k∞ = max {|x1 |, |x2 |, . . . , |xn |} .

Then Rn equipped with the p-norm is a finite-dimensional Banach space for 1 ≤

p ≤ ∞.

91
92 Banach Spaces

Example 5.3 The space C([a, b]) of continuous, real-valued (or complex-valued)
functions on [a, b] with the sup-norm is a Banach space. More generally, the space
C(K) of continuous functions on a compact metric space K equipped with the
sup-norm is a Banach space.

Example 5.4 The space C k ([a, b]) of k-times continuously differentiable functions
on [a, b] is not a Banach space with respect to the sup-norm k · k∞ for k ≥ 1, since
the uniform limit of continuously differentiable functions need not be differentiable.
We define the C k -norm by

kf kC k = kf k∞ + kf 0 k∞ + . . . + kf (k) k∞ .

Then C k ([a, b]) is a Banach space with respect to the C k -norm. Convergence with
respect to the C k -norm is uniform convergence of functions and their first k deriva-
tives.

Example 5.5 For 1 ≤ p < ∞, the sequence space `p (N) consists of all infinite
sequences x = (xn )∞
n=1 such that
∞
X
|xn |p < ∞,
n=1

with the p-norm,

∞
!1/p
X
kxkp = |xn |p .
n=1

For p = ∞, the sequence space `∞ (N) consists of all bounded sequences, with

kxk∞ = sup{|xn | | n = 1, 2, . . .}.

Then `p (N) is an infinite-dimensional Banach space for 1 ≤ p ≤ ∞. The sequence

space `p (Z) of bi-infinite sequences x = (xn )∞
n=−∞ is defined in an analogous way.

Example 5.6 Suppose that 1 ≤ p < ∞, and [a, b] is an interval in R. We denote

by Lp ([a, b]) the set of Lebesgue measurable functions f : [a, b] → R (or C) such
that
Z b
|f (x)|p dx < ∞,
a

where the integral is a Lebesgue integral, and we identify functions that differ on a
set of measure zero (see Chapter 12). We define the Lp -norm of f by
Z !1/p
b
kf kp = |f (x)|p dx .
a
 Banach spaces 93

For p = ∞, the space L∞ ([a, b]) consists of the Lebesgue measurable functions
f : [a, b] → R (or C) that are essentially bounded on [a, b], meaning that f is
bounded on a subset of [a, b] whose complement has measure zero. The norm on
L∞ ([a, b]) is the essential supremum

kf k∞ = inf {M | |f (x)| ≤ M a.e. in [a, b]} .

More generally, if Ω is a measurable subset of Rn , which could be equal to Rn itself,

then Lp (Ω) is the set of Lebesgue measurable functions f : Ω → R (or C) whose
pth power is Lebesgue integrable, with the norm
Z 1/p
kf kp = |f (x)|p dx .
Ω

We identify functions that differ on a set of measure zero. For p = ∞, the space
L∞ (Ω) is the space of essentially bounded Lebesgue measurable functions on Ω
with the essential supremum as the norm. The spaces Lp (Ω) are Banach spaces for
1 ≤ p ≤ ∞.

Example 5.7 The Sobolev spaces, W k,p , consist of functions whose derivatives
satisfy an integrability condition. If (a, b) is an open interval in R, then we define
W k,p ((a, b)) to be the space of functions f : (a, b) → R (or C) whose derivatives of
order less than or equal to k belong to Lp ((a, b)), with the norm
 1/p
k Z
X b  
 (j) p 
kf kW k,p =  f (x) dx .
j=0 a

The derivatives f (j) are defined in a weak, or distributional, sense as we explain

later on. More generally, if Ω is an open subset of Rn , then W k,p (Ω) is the set of
functions whose partial derivatives of order less than or equal to k belong to L p (Ω).
Sobolev spaces are Banach spaces. We will give more detailed definitions of these
spaces, and state some of their main properties, in Chapter 12.

A closed linear subspace of a Banach space is a Banach space, since a closed

subset of a complete space is complete. Infinite-dimensional subspaces need not
be closed, however. For example, infinite-dimensional Banach spaces have proper
dense subspaces, something which is difficult to visualize from our intuition of finite-
dimensional spaces.

Example 5.8 The space of polynomial functions is a linear subspace of C ([0, 1]),
since a linear combination of polynomials is a polynomial. It is not closed, and
Theorem 2.9 implies that it is dense in C ([0, 1]). The set {f ∈ C ([0, 1]) | f (0) = 0}
is a closed linear subspace of C ([0, 1]), and is a Banach space equipped with the
sup-norm.
94 Banach Spaces

Example 5.9 The set `c (N) of all sequences of the form (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn , 0, 0, . . .)
whose terms vanish from some point onwards is an infinite-dimensional linear sub-
space of `p (N) for any 1 ≤ p ≤ ∞. The subspace `c (N) is not closed, so it is not a
Banach space. It is dense in `p (N) for 1 ≤ p < ∞. Its closure in `∞ (N) is the space
c0 (N) of sequences that converge to zero.

A Hamel basis, or algebraic basis, of a linear space is a maximal linearly in-

dependent set of vectors. Each element of a linear space may be expressed as a
unique finite linear combination of elements in a Hamel basis. Every linear space
has a Hamel basis, and any linearly independent set of vectors may be extended
to a Hamel basis by the repeated addition of linearly independent vectors to the
set until none are left (a procedure which is formalized by the axiom of choice,
or Zorn’s lemma, in the case of infinite-dimensional spaces). A Hamel basis of an
infinite-dimensional space is frequently very large. In a normed space, we have a
notion of convergence, and we may therefore consider various types of topological
bases in which infinite sums are allowed.

Definition 5.10 Let X be a separable Banach space. A sequence (xn ) is a Schauder

basis of X if for every x ∈ X there is a unique sequence of scalars (cn ) such that
P∞
x = n=1 cn xn .

The concept of a Schauder basis is not as straightforward as it may appear.

The Banach spaces that arise in applications typically have Schauder bases, but
Enflo showed in 1973 that there exist separable Banach spaces that do not have
any Schauder bases. As we will see, this problem does not arise in Hilbert spaces,
which always have an orthonormal basis.
∞
Example 5.11 A Schauder basis (fn )n=0 of C([0, 1]) may be constructed from
“tent” functions. For n = 0, 1, we define

f0 (x) = 1, f1 (x) = x.

For 2k−1 < n ≤ 2k , where k ≥ 1, we define

 k −k


 2 x − 2 (2n − 2) − 1
 if x ∈ In ,
fn (x) = 1 − 2k x − 2−k (2n − 1) − 1 if x ∈ Jn ,

0 otherwise,

where

In = [2−k (2n − 2), 2−k (2n − 1)),

Jn = [2−k (2n − 1), 2−k 2n).

The graphs of these functions form a sequence of “tents” of height one and width
2−k+1 that sweep across the interval [0, 1]. If f ∈ C([0, 1]), then we may compute
 Bounded linear maps 95

the coefficients cn in the expansion

∞
X
f (x) = cn fn (x)
n=0

by equating the values of f and the series at the points x = 2−k m for k ∈ N
and m = 0, 1, . . . , 2k . The uniform continuity of f implies that the resulting series
converges uniformly to f .

5.2 Bounded linear maps

A linear map or linear operator T between real (or complex) linear spaces X, Y is
a function T : X → Y such that

T (λx + µy) = λT x + µT y for all λ, µ ∈ R (or C) and x, y ∈ X.

A linear map T : X → X is called a linear transformation of X, or a linear operator

on X. If T : X → Y is one-to-one and onto, then we say that T is nonsingular or
invertible, and define the inverse map T −1 : Y → X by T −1 y = x if and only if
T x = y, so that T T −1 = I, T −1 T = I. The linearity of T implies the linearity of
T −1 .
If X, Y are normed spaces, then we can define the notion of a bounded linear
map. As we will see, the boundedness of a linear map is equivalent to its continuity.

Definition 5.12 Let X and Y be two normed linear spaces. We denote both the
X and Y norms by k · k. A linear map T : X → Y is bounded if there is a constant
M ≥ 0 such that

kT xk ≤ M kxk for all x ∈ X. (5.1)

If no such constant exists, then we say that T is unbounded. If T : X → Y is a

bounded linear map, then we define the operator norm or uniform norm kT k of T
by

kT k = inf{M | kT xk ≤ M kxk for all x ∈ X}. (5.2)

We denote the set of all linear maps T : X → Y by L(X, Y ), and the set of all
bounded linear maps T : X → Y by B(X, Y ). When the domain and range spaces
are the same, we write L(X, X) = L(X) and B(X, X) = B(X).

Equivalent expressions for kT k are:

kT xk
kT k = sup ; kT k = sup kT xk; kT k = sup kT xk. (5.3)
x6=0 kxk kxk≤1 kxk=1

We also use the notation Rm×n , or Cm×n , to denote the space of linear maps from
Rn to Rm , or Cn to Cm , respectively.
96 Banach Spaces

Example 5.13 The linear map A : R → R defined by Ax = ax, where a ∈ R, is

bounded, and has norm kAk = |a|.

Example 5.14 The identity map I : X → X is bounded on any normed space X,

and has norm one. If a map has norm zero, then it is the zero map 0x = 0.

Linear maps on infinite-dimensional normed spaces need not be bounded.

Example 5.15 Let X = C ∞ ([0, 1]) consist of the smooth functions on [0, 1] that
have continuous derivatives of all orders, equipped with the maximum norm. The
space X is a normed space, but it is not a Banach space, since it is incomplete.
The differentiation operator Du = u0 is an unbounded linear map D : X → X. For
example, the function u(x) = eλx is an eigenfunction of D for any λ ∈ R, meaning
that Du = λu. Thus kDuk/kuk = |λ| may be arbitrarily large. The unboundedness
of differential operators is a fundamental difficulty in their study.

Suppose that A : X → Y is a linear map between finite-dimensional real linear

spaces X, Y with dim X = n, dim Y = m. We choose bases {e1 , e2 , . . . , en } of X
and {f1 , f2 , . . . , fm } of Y . Then
m
X
A (ej ) = aij fi ,
i=1

for a suitable m × n matrix (aij ) with real entries. We expand x ∈ X as

n
X
x= xi e i , (5.4)
i=1

where xi ∈ R is the ith component of x. It follows from the linearity of A that

 
Xn Xm
A xj e j  = yi fi ,
j=1 i=1

where
n
X
yi = aij xj .
j=1

Thus, given a choice of bases for X, Y we may represent A as a linear map A :

Rn → Rm with matrix A = (aij ), where
    
y1 a11 a12 · · · a1n x1
 y2   a21 a22 · · · a2n   x2 
    
 . = . .. .. ..   .. . (5.5)
 ..   .. . . .  . 
ym am1 am2 · · · amn xn
 Bounded linear maps 97

We will often use the same notation A to denote a linear map on a finite-dimensional
space and its associated matrix, but it is important not to confuse the geometrical
notion of a linear map with the matrix of numbers that represents it.
Each pair of norms on Rn and Rm induces a corresponding operator, or matrix,
norm on A. We first consider the Euclidean norm, or 2-norm, kAk2 of A. The
Euclidean norm of a vector x is given by kxk22 = (x, x), where (x, y) = xT y. From
(5.3), we may compute the Euclidean norm of A by maximizing the function kAxk22
on the unit sphere kxk22 = 1. The maximizer x is a critical point of the function
f (x, λ) = (Ax, Ax) − λ {(x, x) − 1} ,

where λ is a Lagrange multiplier. Computing ∇f and setting it equal to zero, we

find that x satisfies

AT Ax = λx. (5.6)
Hence, x is an eigenvector of the matrix AT A and λ is an eigenvalue. The matrix
AT A is an n × n symmetric matrix, with real, nonnegative eigenvalues. At an
eigenvector x of AT A that satisfies (5.6), normalized so that kxk2 = 1, we have
(Ax, Ax) = λ. Thus, the maximum value of kAxk22 on the unit sphere is the
maximum eigenvalue of AT A.
We define the spectral radius r(B) of a matrix B to be the maximum absolute
value of its eigenvalues. It follows that the Euclidean norm of A is given by
q
kAk2 = r (AT A). (5.7)

In the case of linear maps A : Cn → Cm on finite dimensional complex linear

spaces, equation (5.7) holds with AT A replaced by A∗ A, where A∗ is the Hermitian
conjugate of A. Proposition 9.7 gives a formula for the spectral radius of a bounded
operator in terms of the norms of its powers.
To compute the maximum norm of A, we observe from (5.5) that
|yi | ≤ |ai1 ||x1 | + |ai2 ||x2 | + . . . + |ain ||xn |
≤ (|ai1 | + |ai2 | + . . . + |ain |) kxk∞ .

Taking the maximum of this equation with respect to i and comparing the result
with the definition of the operator norm, we conclude that
kAk∞ ≤ max (|ai1 | + |ai2 | + . . . + |ain |) .
1≤i≤m

Conversely, suppose that the maximum on the right-hand side of this equation is
attained at i = i0 . Let x be the vector with components xj = sgn ai0 j , where sgn
is the sign function,

 1 if x > 0,
sgn x = 0 if x = 0, (5.8)

−1 if x < 0.
98 Banach Spaces

Then, if A is nonzero, we have kxk∞ = 1, and

kAxk∞ = |ai0 1 | + |ai0 2 | + . . . + |ai0 n |.

Since kAk∞ ≥ kAxk∞ , we obtain that

kAk∞ ≥ max (|ai1 | + |ai2 | + . . . + |ain |) .

1≤i≤m

Therefore, we have equality, and the maximum norm of A is given by the maximum
row sum,
 
Xn 
kAk∞ = max |aij | . (5.9)
1≤i≤m  
j=1

A similar argument shows that the sum norm of A is given by the maximum column
sum
(m )
X
kAk1 = max |aij | .
1≤j≤n
i=1

For 1 < p < ∞, one can show (see Kato [26]) that the p-matrix norm satisfies
1/p
kAkp ≤ kAk1 kAk1−1/p
∞ .

There are norms on the space B(Rn , Rm ) = Rm×n of m × n matrices that are not
associated with any vector norms on Rn and Rm . An example is the Hilbert-Schmidt
norm
 1/2
Xm X n
2
kAk =  |aij |  .
i=1 j=1

Next, we give some examples of linear operators on infinite-dimensional spaces.

Example 5.16 Let X = `∞ (N) be the space of bounded sequences {(x1 , x2 , . . .)}
with the norm

k(x1 , x2 , . . .)k∞ = sup |xi |.

i∈N

A linear map A : X → X is represented by an infinite matrix (aij )∞

i,j=1 , where

∞
X
(Ax)i = aij xj .
j=1

In order for this sum to converge for any x ∈ `∞ (N), we require that
∞
X
|aij | < ∞
j=1
 Bounded linear maps 99

for each i ∈ N, and in order for Ax to belong to `∞ (N), we require that

 
X∞ 
sup |aij | < ∞.
i∈N 
j=1


Then A is a bounded linear operator on `∞ (N), and its norm is the maximum row
sum,
 
X∞ 
kAk∞ = sup |aij | .
i∈N  
j=1

Example 5.17 Let X = C([0, 1]) with the maximum norm, and

k : [0, 1] × [0, 1] → R

be a continuous function. We define the linear Fredholm integral operator K : X →

X by
Z 1
Kf (x) = k(x, y)f (y) dy.
0

Then K is bounded and

Z 1 
kKk = max |k(x, y)| dy .
0≤x≤1 0

This expression is the “continuous” analog of the maximum row sum for the ∞-norm
of a matrix.

For linear maps, boundedness is equivalent to continuity.

Theorem 5.18 A linear map is bounded if and only if it is continuous.

Proof. First, suppose that T : X → Y is bounded. Then, for all x, y ∈ X, we

have

kT x − T yk = kT (x − y)k ≤ M kx − yk,

where M is a constant for which (5.1) holds. Therefore, we can take δ = /M in
the definition of continuity, and T is continuous.
Second, suppose that T is continuous at 0. Since T is linear, we have T (0) = 0.
Choosing  = 1 in the definition of continuity, we conclude that there is a δ > 0
such that kT xk ≤ 1 whenever kxk ≤ δ. For any x ∈ X, with x 6= 0, we define x̃ by
x
x̃ = δ .
kxk
100 Banach Spaces

Then kx̃k ≤ δ, so kT x̃k ≤ 1. It follows from the linearity of T that

kxk
kT xk = kT x̃k ≤ M kxk,
δ
where M = 1/δ. Thus T is bounded. 
The proof shows that if a linear map is continuous at zero, then it is continuous
at every point. A nonlinear map may be bounded but discontinuous, or continuous
at zero but discontinuous at other points.
The following theorem, sometimes called the BLT theorem for “bounded linear
transformation” has many applications in defining and studying linear maps.

Theorem 5.19 (Bounded linear transformation) Let X be a normed linear

space and Y a Banach space. If M is a dense linear subspace of X and
T :M ⊂X →Y

bounded linear map T : X → Y

is a bounded linear map, then there is a unique
such that T x = T x for all x ∈ M . Moreover, T = kT k.

Proof. For every x ∈ X, there is a sequence (xn ) in M that converges to x. We

define
T x = lim T xn .
n→∞

This limit exists because (T xn ) is Cauchy, since T is bounded and (xn ) Cauchy,
and Y is complete. We claim that the value of the limit does not depend on the
sequence in M that is used to approximate x. Suppose that (xn ) and (x0n ) are any
two sequences in M that converge to x. Then
kxn − x0n k ≤ kxn − xk + kx − x0n k,
and, taking the limit of this equation as n → ∞, we see that

lim kxn − x0n k = 0.

n→∞

It follows that
kT xn − T x0n k ≤ kT k kxn − x0n k → 0 as n → ∞.
Hence, (T xn ) and (T x0n ) converge to the same limit.
The map T is an extension of T , meaning that T x = T x, for all x ∈ M , because
if x ∈ M , we can use the constant sequence with xn = x for all n to define T x. The
linearity of T follows from the linearity of T .
The fact that T is bounded follows from the inequality

T x = lim kT xn k ≤ lim kT k kxn k = kT k kxk .
n→∞ n→∞

It also follows that T ≤ kT k. Since T x = T x for x ∈ M , we have T = kT k.
 Bounded linear maps 101

Finally, we show that T is the unique bounded linear map from X to Y that
coincides with T on M . Suppose that Te is another such map, and let x be any
point in X, We choose a sequence (xn ) in M that converges to x. Then, using the
continuity of Te, the fact that Te is an extension of T , and the definition of T , we see
that
Tex = lim Texn = lim T xn = T x.
n→∞ n→∞ 
We can use linear maps to define various notions of equivalence between normed
linear spaces.

Definition 5.20 Two linear spaces X, Y are linearly isomorphic if there is a one-
to-one, onto linear map T : X → Y . If X and Y are normed linear spaces and
T , T −1 are bounded linear maps, then X and Y are topologically isomorphic. If
T also preserves norms, meaning that kT xk = kxk for all x ∈ X, then X, Y are
isometrically isomorphic.

When we say that two normed linear spaces are “isomorphic” we will usually
mean that they are topologically isomorphic. We are often interested in the case
when we have two different norms defined on the same space, and we would like to
know if the norms define the same topologies.

Definition 5.21 Let X be a linear space. Two norms k · k1 and k · k2 on X are

equivalent if there are constants c > 0 and C > 0 such that
ckxk1 ≤ kxk2 ≤ Ckxk1 for all x ∈ X. (5.10)

Theorem 5.22 Two norms on a linear space generate the same topology if and
only if they are equivalent.

Proof. Let k · k1 and k · k2 be two norms on a linear space X. We consider the

identity map
I : (X, k · k1 ) → (X, k · k2 ).
From Corollary 4.20, the topologies generated by the two norms are the same if and
only if I and I −1 are continuous. Since I is linear, it is continuous if and only if it
is bounded. The boundedness of the identity map and its inverse is equivalent to
the existence of constants c and C such that (5.10) holds. 
Geometrically, two norms are equivalent if the unit ball of either one of the
norms is contained in a ball of finite radius of the other norm.
We end this section by stating, without proof, a fundamental fact concerning
linear operators on Banach spaces.

Theorem 5.23 (Open mapping) Suppose that T : X → Y is a one-to-one, onto

bounded linear map between Banach spaces X, Y . Then T −1 : Y → X is bounded.
102 Banach Spaces

This theorem states that the existence of the inverse of a continuous linear map
between Banach spaces implies its continuity. Contrast this result with Example 4.9.

5.3 The kernel and range of a linear map

The kernel and range are two important linear subspaces associated with a linear
map.

Definition 5.24 Let T : X → Y be a linear map between linear spaces X, Y . The

null space or kernel of T , denoted by ker T , is the subset of X defined by

ker T = {x ∈ X | T x = 0} .

The range of T , denoted by ran T , is the subset of Y defined by

ran T = {y ∈ Y | there exists x ∈ X such that T x = y} .

The word “kernel” is also used in a completely different sense to refer to the
kernel of an integral operator. A map T : X → Y is one-to-one if and only if
ker T = {0}, and it is onto if and only if ran T = Y .

Theorem 5.25 Suppose that T : X → Y is a linear map between linear spaces X,

Y . The kernel of T is a linear subspace of X, and the range of T is a linear subspace
of Y . If X and Y are normed linear spaces and T is bounded, then the kernel of T
is a closed linear subspace.

Proof. If x1 , x2 ∈ ker T and λ1 , λ2 ∈ R (or C), then the linearity of T implies

that

T (λ1 x1 + λ2 x2 ) = λ1 T x1 + λ2 T x2 = 0,

so λ1 x1 + λ2 x2 ∈ ker T . Therefore, ker T is a linear subspace. If y1 , y2 ∈ ran T , then

there are x1 , x2 ∈ X such that T x1 = y1 and T x2 = y2 . Hence

T (λ1 x1 + λ2 x2 ) = λ1 T x1 + λ2 T x2 = λ1 y1 + λ2 y2 ,

so λ1 y1 + λ2 y2 ∈ ran T . Therefore, ran T is a linear subspace.

Now suppose that X and Y are normed spaces and T is bounded. If (xn ) is a
sequence of elements in ker T with xn → x in X, then the continuity of T implies
that
 
T x = T lim xn = lim T xn = 0,
n→∞ n→∞

so x ∈ ker T , and ker T is closed. 

The nullity of T is the dimension of the kernel of T , and the rank of T is the
dimension of the range of T . We now consider some examples.
 The kernel and range of a linear map 103

Example 5.26 The right shift operator S on `∞ (N) is defined by

S(x1 , x2 , x3 , . . .) = (0, x1 , x2 , . . .),

and the left shift operator T by

T (x1 , x2 , x3 , . . .) = (x2 , x3 , x4 , . . .).

These maps have norm one. Their matrices are the infinite-dimensional Jordan
blocks,
   
0 0 0 ... 0 1 0 ...
 1 0 0 ...   0 0 1 ... 
   
[S] =  0 1 0 ...  , [T ] =  0 0 0 ... .
   
.. .. .. . . .. .. .. . .
. . . . . . . .

The kernel of S is {0} and the range of S is the subspace

ran S = {(0, x2 , x3 , . . .) ∈ `∞ (N)} .

The range of T is the whole space `∞ (N), and the kernel of T is the one-dimensional
subspace

ker T = {(x1 , 0, 0, . . .) | x1 ∈ R} .

The operator S is one-to-one but not onto, and T is onto but not one-to-one. This
cannot happen for linear maps T : X → X on a finite-dimensional space X, such
as X = Rn . In that case, ker T = {0} if and only if ran T = X.

Example 5.27 An integral operator K : C([0, 1]) → C([0, 1])

Z 1
Kf (x) = k(x, y)f (y) dy
0

is said to be degenerate if k(x, y) is a finite sum of separated terms of the form

n
X
k(x, y) = ϕi (x)ψi (y),
i=1

where ϕi , ψi : [0, 1] → R are continuous functions. We may assume without loss of

generality that {ϕ1 , . . . , ϕn } and {ψ1 , . . . , ψn } are linearly independent. The range
of K is the finite-dimensional subspace spanned by {ϕ1 , ϕ2 , . . . , ϕn }, and the kernel
of K is the subspace of functions f ∈ C([0, 1]) such that
Z 1
f (y)ψi (y) dy = 0 for i = 1, . . . , n.
0

Both the range and kernel are closed linear subspaces of C([0, 1]).
104 Banach Spaces

Example 5.28 Let X = C([0, 1]) with the maximum norm. We define the integral
operator K : X → X by
Z x
Kf (x) = f (y) dy. (5.11)
0

An integral operator like this one, with a variable range of integration, is called a
Volterra integral operator. Then K is bounded, with kKk ≤ 1, since
Z x Z 1
kKf k ≤ sup |f (y)| dy ≤ |f (y)| dy ≤ kf k.
0≤x≤1 0 0

In fact, kKk = 1, since K(1) = x and kxk = k1k. The range of K is the set
of continuously differentiable functions on [0, 1] that vanish at x = 0. This is a
linear subspace of C([0, 1]) but it is not closed. The lack of closure of the range
of K is due to the “smoothing” effect of K, which maps continuous functions to
differentiable functions. The problem of inverting integral operators with similar
properties arises in a number of inverse problems, where one wants to reconstruct
a source distribution from remotely sensed data. Such problems are ill-posed and
require special treatment.

Example 5.29 Consider the operator T = I + K on C([0, 1]), where K is defined

in (5.11), which is a perturbation of the identity operator by K. The range of T
is the whole space C([0, 1]), and is therefore closed. To prove this statement, we
observe that g = T f if and only if
Z x
f (x) + f (y) dy = g(x).
0
Rx
Writing F (x) = 0 f (y) dy, we have F 0 = f and
F 0 + F = g, F (0) = 0.

The solution of this initial value problem is

Z x
F (x) = e−(x−y) g(y) dy.
0

Differentiating this expression with respect to x, we find that f is given by

Z x
f (x) = g(x) − e−(x−y) g(y) dy.
0

Thus, the operator T = I + K is invertible on C([0, 1]) and

−1
(I + K) = I − L,

where L is the Volterra integral operator

Z x
Lg(x) = e−(x−y) g(y) dy.
0
 The kernel and range of a linear map 105

The following result provides a useful way to show that an operator T has closed
range. It states that T has closed range if one can estimate the norm of the solution
x of the equation T x = y in terms of the norm of the right-hand side y. In that
case, it is often possible to deduce the existence of solutions (see Theorem 8.18).

Proposition 5.30 Let T : X → Y be a bounded linear map between Banach

spaces X, Y . The following statements are equivalent:

(a) there is a constant c > 0 such that

ckxk ≤ kT xk for all x ∈ X;

(b) T has closed range, and the only solution of the equation T x = 0 is x = 0.

Proof. First, suppose that T satisfies (a). Then T x = 0 implies that kxk = 0, so
x = 0. To show that ran T is closed, suppose that (yn ) is a convergent sequence in
ran T , with yn → y ∈ Y . Then there is a sequence (xn ) in X such that T xn = yn .
The sequence (xn ) is Cauchy, since (yn ) is Cauchy and
1 1
kxn − xm k ≤ kT (xn − xm )k = kyn − ym k.
c c
Hence, since X is complete, we have xn → x for some x ∈ X. Since T is bounded,
we have

T x = lim T xn = lim yn = y,
n→∞ n→∞

so y ∈ ran T , and ran T is closed.

Conversely, suppose that T satisfies (b). Since ran T is closed, it is a Banach
space. Since T : X → Y is one-to-one, the operator T : X → ran T is a one-to-
one, onto map between Banach spaces. The open mapping theorem, Theorem 5.23,
implies that T −1 : ran T → X is bounded, and hence that there is a constant C > 0
such that
−1
T y ≤ Ckyk for all y ∈ ran T .

Setting y = T x, we see that ckxk ≤ kT xk for all x ∈ X, where c = 1/C. 

Example 5.31 Consider the Volterra integral operator K : C([0, 1]) → C([0, 1])
defined in (5.11). Then
Z x
sin nπx
K [cos nπx] = cos nπy dy = .
0 nπ
We have k cos nπxk = 1 for every n ∈ N, but kK [cos nπx] k → 0 as n → ∞. Thus,
it is not possible to estimate kf k in terms of kKf k, consistent with the fact that
the range of K is not closed.
106 Banach Spaces

5.4 Finite-dimensional Banach spaces

In this section, we prove that every finite-dimensional (real or complex) normed lin-
ear space is a Banach space, that every linear operator on a finite-dimensional space
is continuous, and that all norms on a finite-dimensional space are equivalent. None
of these statements is true for infinite-dimensional linear spaces. As a result, topo-
logical considerations can often be neglected when dealing with finite-dimensional
spaces but are of crucial importance when dealing with infinite-dimensional spaces.
We begin by proving that the components of a vector with respect to any basis
of a finite-dimensional space can be bounded by the norm of the vector.
Lemma 5.32 Let X be a finite-dimensional normed linear space with norm k · k,
and {e1 , e2 , . . . , en } any basis of X. There are constants m > 0 and M > 0 such
Pn
that if x = i=1 xi ei , then
n
X n
X
m |xi | ≤ kxk ≤ M |xi | . (5.12)
i=1 i=1

Proof. By the homogeneity of the norm, it suffices to prove (5.12) for x ∈ X such
Pn
that i=1 |xi | = 1. The “cube”
( )
Xn
n
C = (x1 , . . . , xn ) ∈ R  |xi | = 1
i=1
n
is a closed, bounded subset of R , and is therefore compact by the Heine-Borel
theorem. We define a function f : C → X by
n
X
f ((x1 , . . . , xn )) = xi e i .
i=1

For (x1 , . . . , xn ) ∈ Rn and (y1 , . . . , yn ) ∈ Rn , we have

n
X
kf ((x1 , . . . , xn )) − f ((y1 , . . . , yn ))k ≤ |xi − yi |kei k,
i=1

so f is continuous. Therefore, since k · k : X → R is continuous, the map

(x1 , . . . , xn ) 7→ kf ((x1 , . . . , xn )) k
is continuous. Theorem 1.68 implies that kf k is bounded on C and attains its
infimum and supremum. Denoting the minimum by m ≥ 0 and the maximum by
M ≥ m, we obtain (5.12). Let (x1 , . . . , xn ) be a point in C where kf k attains its
minimum, meaning that
kx1 e1 + . . . + xn en k = m.
The linear independence of the basis vectors {e1 , . . . , en } implies that m 6= 0, so
m > 0. 
 Finite-dimensional Banach spaces 107

This result is not true in an infinite-dimensional space because, if a basis consists

of vectors that become “almost” parallel, then the cancellation in linear combina-
tions of basis vectors may lead to a vector having large components but small norm.

Theorem 5.33 Every finite-dimensional normed linear space is a Banach space.

Proof. Suppose that (xk )∞ k=1 is a Cauchy sequence in a finite-dimensional normed

linear space X. Let {e1 , . . . , en } be a basis of X. We expand xk as
n
X
xk = xi,k ei ,
i=1

where xi,k ∈ R. For 1 ≤ i ≤ n, we consider the real sequence of ith components,

(xi,k )∞
k=1 . Equation (5.12) implies that

1
|xi,j − xi,k | ≤ kxj − xk k,
m
so (xi,k )∞
k=1 is Cauchy. Since R is complete, there is a yi ∈ R, such that

lim xi,k = yi .
k→∞

We define y ∈ X by
k
X
y= yi ei .
i=1

Then, from (5.12),

n
X
kxk − yk ≤ M |xi,k − yi | kei k,
i=1

and hence xk → y as k → ∞. Thus, every Cauchy sequence in X converges, and X

is complete. 

Since a complete space is closed, we have the following corollary.

Corollary 5.34 Every finite-dimensional linear subspace of a normed linear space

is closed.

In Section 5.2, we proved explicitly the boundedness of linear maps on finite-

dimensional linear spaces with respect to certain norms. In fact, linear maps on
finite-dimensional spaces are always bounded.

Theorem 5.35 Every linear operator on a finite-dimensional linear space is bounded.

108 Banach Spaces

Proof. Suppose that A : X → Y is a linear map and X is finite dimensional. Let

Pn
{e1 , . . . , en } be a basis of X. If x = i=1 xi ei ∈ X, then (5.12) implies that
n
X n
X 1
kAxk ≤ |xi | kAei k ≤ max {kAei k} |xi | ≤ max {kAei k} kxk,
i=1
1≤i≤n
i=1
m 1≤i≤n

so A is bounded. 
Finally, we show that although there are many different norms on a finite-
dimensional linear space they all lead to the same topology and the same notion of
convergence. This fact follows from Theorem 5.22 and the next result.

Theorem 5.36 Any two norms on a finite-dimensional space are equivalent.

Proof. Let k · k1 and k · k2 be two norms on a finite-dimensional space X. We

choose a basis {e1 , e2 , . . . , en } of X. Then Lemma 5.32 implies that there are strictly
P
positive constants m1 , m2 , M1 , M2 such that if x = ni=1 xi ei , then
n
X n
X
m1 |xi | ≤ kxk1 ≤ M1 |xi | ,
i=1 i=1
Xn Xn
m2 |xi | ≤ kxk2 ≤ M2 |xi | .
i=1 i=1

Equation (5.10) then follows with c = m2 /M1 and C = M2 /m1 . 

5.5 Convergence of bounded operators

The set B(X, Y ) of bounded linear maps from a normed linear space X to a normed
linear space Y is a linear space with respect to the natural pointwise definitions of
vector addition and scalar multiplication:

(S + T )x = Sx + T x, (λT )x = λ(T x).

It is straightforward to check that the operator norm in Definition 5.12,

kT xk
kT k = sup ,
x6=0 kxk
defines a norm on B(X, Y ), so that B(X, Y ) is a normed linear space.
The composition of two linear maps is linear, and the following theorem states
that the composition of two bounded linear maps is bounded.

Theorem 5.37 Let X, Y , and Z be normed linear spaces. If T ∈ B(X, Y ) and

S ∈ B(Y, Z), then ST ∈ B(X, Z), and

kST k ≤ kSk kT k. (5.13)

 Convergence of bounded operators 109

Proof. For all x ∈ X we have

kST xk ≤ kSk kT xk ≤ kSk kT k kxk.


For example, if T ∈ B(X), then T n ∈ B(X) and kT n k ≤ kT kn. It may well
happen that we have strict inequality in (5.13).

Example 5.38 Consider the linear maps A, B on R2 with matrices

   
λ 0 0 0
A= , B= .
0 0 0 µ
These matrices have the Euclidean (or sum, or maximum) norms kAk = |λ| and
kBk = |µ|, but kABk = 0.

A linear space with a product defined on it is called an algebra. The composition

of maps defines a product on the space B(X) of bounded linear maps on X into itself,
so B(X) is an algebra. The algebra is associative, meaning that (RS)T = R(ST ),
but is not commutative, since in general ST is not equal to T S. If S, T ∈ B(X), we
define the commutator [S, T ] ∈ B(X) of S and T by

[S, T ] = ST − T S.

If ST = T S, or equivalently if [S, T ] = 0, then we say that S and T commute.

The convergence of operators in B(X, Y ) with respect to the operator norm is
called uniform convergence.

Definition 5.39 If (Tn ) is a sequence of operators in B(X, Y ) and

lim kTn − T k = 0
n→∞

for some T ∈ B(X, Y ), then we say that Tn converges uniformly to T , or that Tn

converges to T in the uniform, or operator norm, topology on B(X, Y ).

Example 5.40 Let X = C([0, 1]) equipped with the supremum norm. For kn (x, y)
is a real-valued continuous function on [0, 1] × [0, 1], we define Kn ∈ B(X) by
Z 1
Kn f (x) = kn (x, y)f (y) dy. (5.14)
0

Then Kn → 0 uniformly as n → ∞ if
Z 1 
kKn k = max |kn (x, y)| dy → 0 as n → ∞. (5.15)
x∈[0,1] 0

An example of functions kn satisfying (5.15) is kn (x, y) = xy n .

A basic fact about a space of bounded linear operators that take values in a
Banach space is that it is itself a Banach space.
110 Banach Spaces

Theorem 5.41 If X is a normed linear space and Y is a Banach space, then

B(X, Y ) is a Banach space with respect to the operator norm.

Proof. We have to prove that B(X, Y ) is complete. Let (Tn ) be a Cauchy se-
quence in B(X, Y ). For each x ∈ X, we have

kTn x − Tm xk ≤ kTn − Tm k kxk,

which shows that (Tn x) is a Cauchy sequence in Y . Since Y is complete, there is

a y ∈ Y such that Tn x → y. It is straightforward to check that T x = y defines a
linear map T : X → Y . We show that T is bounded. For any  > 0, let N be such
that kTn − Tm k < /2 for all n, m ≥ N . Take n ≥ N . Then for each x ∈ X, there
is an m(x) ≥ N such that kTm(x)x − T xk ≤ /2. If kxk = 1, we have

kTn x − T xk ≤ kTn x − Tm(x) xk + kTm(x)x − T xk ≤ . (5.16)

It follows that if n ≥ N , then

kT xk ≤ kTn xk + kT x − Tn xk ≤ kTn k + 

for all x with kxk = 1, so T is bounded. Finally, from (5.16) it follows that
limn→∞ kTn − T k = 0. Hence, Tn → T in the uniform norm. 
A particularly important class of bounded operators is the class of compact
operators.

Definition 5.42 A linear operator T : X → Y is compact if T (B) is a precompact

subset of Y for every bounded subset B of X.

An equivalent formulation is that T is compact if and only if every bounded

sequence (xn ) in X has a subsequence (xnk ) such that (T xnk ) converges in Y . We
do not require that the range of T be closed, so T (B) need not be compact even if B
is a closed bounded set. We leave the proof of the following properties of compact
operators as an exercise.

Proposition 5.43 Let X, Y , Z be Banach spaces. (a) If S, T ∈ B(X, Y ) are

compact, then any linear combination of S and T is compact. (b) If (Tn ) is a
sequence of compact operators in B(X, Y ) converging uniformly to T , then T is
compact. (c) If T ∈ B(X, Y ) has finite-dimensional range, then T is compact. (d)
Let S ∈ B(X, Y ), T ∈ B(Y, Z). If S is bounded and T is compact, or S is compact
and T is bounded, then T S ∈ B(X, Z) is compact.

It follows from parts (a)–(b) of this proposition that the space K(X, Y ) of com-
pact linear operators from X to Y is a closed linear subspace of B(X, Y ). Part (d)
implies that K(X) is a two-sided ideal of B(X), meaning that if K ∈ K(X), then
AK ∈ K(X) and KA ∈ K(X) for all A ∈ B(X).
 Convergence of bounded operators 111

From parts (b)–(c), an operator that is the uniform limit of operators with finite
rank, that is with finite-dimensional range, is compact. The converse is also true for
compact operators on many Banach spaces, including all Hilbert spaces, although
there exist separable Banach spaces on which some compact operators cannot be
approximated by finite-rank operators. As a result, compact operators on infinite-
dimensional spaces behave in many respects like operators on finite-dimensional
spaces. We will discuss compact operators on a Hilbert space in greater detail in
Chapter 9.
Another type of convergence of linear maps is called strong convergence.

Definition 5.44 A sequence (Tn ) in B(X, Y ) converges strongly if

lim Tn x = T x for every x ∈ X.

n→∞

Thus, strong convergence of linear maps is convergence of their pointwise values

with respect to the norm on Y . The terminology here is a little inconsistent: strong
and norm convergence mean the same thing for vectors in a Banach space, but
different things for operators on a Banach space. The associated strong topology
on B(X, Y ) is distinct from the uniform norm topology whenever X is infinite-
dimensional, and is not derived from a norm. We leave the proof of the following
theorem as an exercise.

Theorem 5.45 If Tn → T uniformly, then Tn → T strongly.

The following examples show that strong convergence does not imply uniform
convergence.

Example 5.46 Let X = `2 (N), and define the projection Pn : X → X by

Pn (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn , xn+1 , xn+2 , . . .) = (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn , 0, 0, . . .).

Then kPn − Pm k = 1 for n 6= m, so (Pn ) does not converge uniformly. Nevertheless,

if x ∈ `2 (N) is any fixed vector, we have Pn x → x as n → ∞. Thus, Pn → I
strongly.

Example 5.47 Let X = C([0, 1]), and consider the sequence of continuous linear
functionals Kn : X → R, given by
Z 1
Kn f = sin(nπx) f (x) dx.
0

If p is a polynomial, then an integration by parts implies that

Z 1
p(0) − cos(nπ)p(1) 1
Kn p = + cos(nπx) p0 (x) dx.
nπ nπ 0
112 Banach Spaces

Hence, Kn p → 0 as n → ∞. If f ∈ C([0, 1]), then by Theorem 2.9 for any  > 0

there is a polynomial p such that kf − pk < /2, and there is an N such that
|Kn p| < /2 for n ≥ N . Since kKn k ≤ 1 for all n, it follows that

|Kn f | ≤ kKn k kf − pk + |Kn p| < 

when n ≥ N . Thus, Kn f → 0 as n → ∞ for every f ∈ C([0, 1]). This result is

a special case of the Riemann-Lebesgue lemma, which we prove in Theorem 11.34.
On the other hand, if fn (x) = sin(nπx), then kfn k = 1 and kKn fn k = 1/2, which
implies that kKn k ≥ 1/2. (In fact, kKn k = 2/π for each n.) Hence, Kn → 0
strongly, but not uniformly.

A third type of convergence of operators, weak convergence, may be defined

using the notion of weak convergence in a Banach space, given in Definition 5.59
below. We say that Tn converges weakly to T in B(X, Y ) if the pointwise values
Tn x converge weakly to T x in Y . We will not consider the weak convergence of
operators in this book.
We end this section with two applications of operator convergence. First we
define the exponential of an operator, and use it to solve a linear evolution equation.
If A : X → X is a bounded linear operator on a Banach space X, then, by analogy
with the power series expansion of ea , we define
1 2 1 1
eA = I + A + A + A3 + . . . + An + . . . . (5.17)
2! 3! n!
A comparison with the convergent real series
1 1 1
ekAk = 1 + kAk + kAk2 + kAk3 + . . . + kAkn + . . . ,
2! 3! n!
implies that the series on the right hand side of (5.17) is absolutely convergent in
B(X), and hence norm convergent. It also follows that
A
e ≤ ekAk .

If A and B commute, then multiplication and rearrangement of the series for the
exponentials implies that

eA eB = eA+B .

The solution of the initial value problem for the linear, scalar ODE xt = ax with
x(0) = x0 is given by x(t) = x0 eat . This result generalizes to a linear system,

xt = Ax, x(0) = x0 , (5.18)

where x : R → X, with X a Banach space, and A : X → X is a bounded linear

operator on X. The solution of (5.18) is given by

x(t) = etA x0 .
 Convergence of bounded operators 113

This is a solution because

d tA
e = AetA ,
dt
where the derivative is given by the uniformly convergent limit,
 A(t+h) 
d tA e − etA
e = lim
dt h→0 h
 Ah 
e −I
= etA lim
h→0 h
X∞
1
= AetA lim A n hn
h→0
n=0
(n + 1)!
= AetA .
An important application of this result is to linear systems of ODEs when x(t) ∈
Rn and A is an n × n matrix, but it also applies to linear equations on infinite-
dimensional spaces.

Example 5.48 Suppose that k : [0, 1] × [0, 1] → R is a continuous function, and

K : C([0, 1]) → C([0, 1]) is the integral operator
Z 1
Ku(x) = k(x, y)u(y) dy.
0

The solution of the initial value problem

Z 1
ut (x, t) + λu(x, t) = k(x, y)u(y, t) dy, u(x, 0) = u0 (x),
0

with u(·, t) ∈ C([0, 1]), is u = e(K−λI)t u0 .

The one-parameter family of operators T (t) = etA is called the flow of the
evolution equation (5.18). The operator T (t) maps the solution at time 0 to the
solution at time t. We leave the proof of the following properties of the flow as an
exercise.

Theorem 5.49 If A : X → X is a bounded linear operator and T (t) = etA for

t ∈ R, then:

(a) T (0) = I;
(b) T (s)T (t) = T (s + t) for s, t ∈ R;
(c) T (t) → I uniformly as t → 0.

A family of bounded linear operators {T (t) | t ∈ R} that satisfies the proper-

ties (a)–(c) in this theorem is called a one-parameter uniformly continuous group.
Properties (a)–(b) imply that the operators form a commutative group under com-
position, while (c) states that T : R → B(X) is continuous with respect to the
114 Banach Spaces

uniform, or norm, topology on B(X) at t = 0. The group property implies that T

is uniformly continuous on R, meaning that kT (t) − T (t0 )k → 0 as t → t0 for any
t0 ∈ R.
Any one-parameter uniformly continuous group of operators can be written as
T (t) = etA for a suitable operator A, called the generator of the group. The
generator A may be recovered from the operators T (t) by
 
T (t) − I
A = lim . (5.19)
t→0 t

Many linear partial differential equations can be written as evolution equations of

the form (5.18) in which A is an unbounded operator. Under suitable conditions
on A, there exist solution operators T (t), which may be defined only for t ≥ 0, and
which are strongly continuous functions of t, rather than uniformly continuous. The
solution operators are then said to form a C0 -semigroup. For an example, see the
discussion of the heat equation in Section 7.3.
As a second application of operator convergence, we consider the convergence of
approximation schemes. Suppose we want to solve an equation of the form

Au = f, (5.20)

where A : X → Y is a nonsingular linear operator between Banach spaces and

f ∈ Y is given. Suppose we can approximate (5.20) by an equation

A  u = f  , (5.21)

whose solution u can be computed more easily. We assume that A : X → Y

is a nonsingular linear operator with a bounded inverse. We call the family of
equations (5.21) an approximation scheme for (5.20). For instance, if (5.20) is a
differential equation, then (5.21) may be obtained by a finite difference or finite
element approximation, where  is a grid spacing. One complication is that a
numerical approximation A may act on a different space X than the space X.
For simplicity, we suppose that the approximations A may be defined on the same
space as A. The primary requirement of an approximation scheme is that it is
convergent.

Definition 5.50 The approximation scheme (5.21) is convergent to (5.20) if u → u

as  → 0 whenever f → f .

We make precise the idea that A approximates A in the following definition of

consistency.

Definition 5.51 The approximation scheme (5.21) is consistent with (5.20) if A v →

Av as  → 0 for each v ∈ X.
 Convergence of bounded operators 115

In other words, the approximation scheme is consistent if A converges strongly

to A as  → 0. Consistency on its own is not sufficient to guarantee convergence.
We also need a second property called stability.

Definition 5.52 The approximation scheme (5.21) is stable if there is a constant

M , independent of , such that

kA−1
 k ≤ M.

Consistency and convergence relate the operators A to A, while stability is

a property of the approximate operators A alone. Stability plays a crucial role
in convergence, because it prevents the amplification of errors in the approximate
solutions as  → 0.

Theorem 5.53 (Lax equivalence) An consistent approximation scheme is con-

vergent if and only if it is stable.

Proof. First, we prove that a stable scheme is convergent. If Au = f and A u =

f , then

u − u = A−1
 (A u − Au + f − f ) .

Taking the norm of this equation, using the definition of the operator norm, and
the triangle inequality, we find that

ku − u k ≤ kA−1
 k (kA u − Auk + kf − f k) . (5.22)

If the scheme is stable, then

ku − u k ≤ M (kA u − Auk + kf − f k) ,

and if the scheme is consistent, then A u → Au as  → 0. It follows that u → u if

f → f , and the scheme is convergent.
Conversely, we prove that a convergent scheme is stable. For any f ∈ Y , let
u = A−1 f . Then, since the scheme is convergent, we have u → u as  → 0, where
u = A−1 f , so that u is bounded. Thus, there exists a constant Mf , independent
of , such that kA−1
 f k ≤ Mf . The uniform boundedness theorem, which we do not
prove here, then implies that there exists a constant M such that kA−1 k ≤ M , so
the scheme is stable. 

An analogous result holds for linear evolution equations of the form (5.18) (see
Strikwerder [53], for example). There is, however, no general criterion for the
convergence of approximation schemes for nonlinear equations.
116 Banach Spaces

5.6 Dual spaces

The dual space of a linear space consists of the scalar-valued linear maps on the
space. Duality methods play a crucial role in many parts of analysis. In this section,
we consider real linear spaces for definiteness, but all the results hold for complex
linear spaces.

Definition 5.54 A scalar-valued linear map from a linear space X to R is called

a linear functional or linear form on X. The space of linear functionals on X is
called the algebraic dual space of X, and the space of continuous linear functionals
on X is called the topological dual space of X.

In terms of the notation in Definition 5.12, the algebraic dual space of X is

L(X, R), and the topological dual space is B(X, R). A linear functional ϕ : X → R
is bounded if there is a constant M such that

|ϕ(x)| ≤ M kxk for all x ∈ X,

and then we define kϕk by

|ϕ(x)|
kϕk = sup . (5.23)
x6=0 kxk
If X is infinite dimensional, then L(X, R) is much larger than B(X, R), as we illus-
trate in Example 5.57 below. Somewhat confusingly, both dual spaces are commonly
denoted by X ∗ . We will use X ∗ to denote the topological dual space of X. Either
dual space is itself a linear space under the operations of pointwise addition and
scalar multiplication of maps, and the topological dual is a Banach space, since R
is complete.
If X is finite dimensional, then L(X, R) = B(X, R), so there is no need to
distinguish between the algebraic and topological dual spaces. Moreover, the dual
space X ∗ of a finite-dimensional space X is linearly isomorphic to X. To show this,
we pick a basis {e1 , e2 , . . . , en } of X. The map ωi : X → R defined by
 
n
X
ωi  xj e j  = x i (5.24)
j=1

is an element of the algebraic dual space X ∗ . The linearity of ωi is obvious.

For example, if X = Rn and

e1 = (1, 0, . . . , 0), e2 = (0, 1, . . . , 0), . . . , en = (0, 0, . . . , 1),

are the coordinate basis vectors, then

ωi : (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) 7→ xi

is the map that takes a vector to its ith coordinate.

 Dual spaces 117

The action of a general element ϕ of the dual space ϕ : X → R on a vector

x ∈ X is given by a linear combination of the components of x, since
n
! n
X X
ϕ xi e i = ϕ i xi ,
i=1 i=1

where ϕi = ϕ(ei ) ∈ R. It follows that, as a map,

n
X
ϕ= ϕi ωi .
i=1

Thus, {ω1 , ω2 , . . . , ωn } is a basis of X ∗ , called the dual basis of {e1 , e2 , . . . , en }, and

both X and X ∗ are linearly isomorphic to Rn . The dual basis has the property that

ωi (ej ) = δij ,

where δij is the Kronecker delta function, defined by


1 if i = j,
δij = (5.25)
0 if i 6= j.

Although a finite-dimensional space is linearly isomorphic with its dual space,

there is no canonical way to identify the space with its dual; there are many iso-
morphisms, depending on an arbitrary choice of a basis. In the following chapters,
we will study Hilbert spaces, and show that the topological dual space of a Hilbert
space can be identified with the original space in a natural way through the inner
product (see the Riesz representation theorem, Theorem 8.12). The dual of an
infinite-dimensional Banach space is, in general, different from the original space.

Example 5.55 In Section 12.8, we will see that for 1 ≤ p < ∞ the dual of Lp (Ω)
0
is Lp (Ω), where 1/p + 1/p0 = 1. The Hilbert space L2 (Ω) is self-dual.

Example 5.56 Consider X = C([a, b]). For any ρ ∈ L1 ([a, b]), the following for-
mula defines a continuous linear functional ϕ on X:
Z b
ϕ(f ) = f (x)ρ(x) dx. (5.26)
a

Not all continuous linear functionals are of the form (5.26). For example, if x0 ∈
[a, b], then the evaluation of f at x0 is a continuous linear functional. That is, if we
define δx0 : C([a, b]) → R by

δx0 (f ) = f (x0 ),

then δx0 is a continuous linear functional on C([a, b]). A full description of the dual
space of C([a, b]) is not so simple: it may be identified with the space of Radon
measures on [a, b] (see [12], for example).
118 Banach Spaces

One way to obtain a linear functional on a linear space is to start with a linear
functional defined on a subspace, extend a Hamel basis of the subspace to a Hamel
basis of the whole space and extend the functional to the whole space, by use
of linearity and an arbitrary definition of the functional on the additional basis
elements. The next example uses this procedure to obtain a discontinuous linear
functional on C([0, 1]).

Example 5.57 Let M = {xn | n = 0, 1, 2, . . .} be the set of monomials in C([0, 1]).

The set M is linearly independent, so it may be extended to a Hamel basis H. Each
f ∈ C([0, 1]) can be written uniquely as
f = c 1 h1 + · · · + c N hN , (5.27)
for suitable basis functions hi ∈ H and nonzero scalar coefficients ci . For each
n = 0, 1, 2, . . ., we define ϕn (f ) by

ci if hi = xn ,
ϕn (f ) =
0 otherwise.
Due to the uniqueness of the decomposition in (5.27), the functional ϕn is well-
defined. We define a linear functional ϕ on C([0, 1]) by
∞
X
ϕ(f ) = nϕn (f ).
n=1

For each f , only a finite number of terms in this sum are nonzero, so ϕ is a well-
defined linear functional on C([0, 1]). The functional is unbounded, since for each
n = 0, 1, 2, . . . we have kxn k = 1 and |ϕ(xn )| = n.

A similar construction shows that every infinite-dimensional linear space has

discontinuous linear functionals defined on it. On the other hand, Theorem 5.35
implies that all linear functionals on a finite-dimensional linear space are bounded.
It is not obvious that this extension procedure can be used to obtain bounded
linear functionals on an infinite-dimensional linear space, or even that there are
any nonzero bounded linear functionals at all, because the extension need not be
bounded. In fact, it is possible to maintain boundedness of an extension by a
suitable choice of its values off the original subspace, as stated in the following
version of the Hahn-Banach theorem.

Theorem 5.58 (Hahn-Banach) If Y is a linear subspace of a normed linear space

X and ψ : Y → R is a bounded linear functional on Y with kψk = M , then there is
a bounded linear functional ϕ : X → R on X such that ϕ restricted to Y is equal
to ψ and kϕk = M .

We omit the proof here. One consequence of this theorem is that there are
enough bounded linear functionals to separate X, meaning that if ϕ(x) = ϕ(y) for
all ϕ ∈ X ∗ , then x = y (see Exercise 5.6).
 Dual spaces 119

Since X ∗ is a Banach space, we can form its dual space X ∗∗ , called the bidual of
X. There is no natural way to identify an element of X with an element of the dual
X ∗ , but we can naturally identify an element of X with an element of the bidual
X ∗∗ . If x ∈ X, then we define Fx ∈ X ∗∗ by evaluation at x:

Fx (ϕ) = ϕ(x) for every ϕ ∈ X ∗ . (5.28)

Thus, we may regard X as a subspace of X ∗∗ . If all continuous linear functionals

on X ∗ are of the form (5.28), then X = X ∗∗ under the identification x 7→ Fx , and
we say that X is reflexive.
Linear functionals may be used to define a notion of convergence that is weaker
than norm, or strong, convergence on an infinite-dimensional Banach space.

Definition 5.59 A sequence (xn ) in a Banach space X converges weakly to x,

denoted by xn * x as n → ∞, if

ϕ(xn ) → ϕ(x) as n → ∞,

for every bounded linear functional ϕ in X ∗ .

If we think of a linear functional ϕ : X → R as defining a coordinate ϕ(x)

of x, then weak convergence corresponds to coordinate-wise convergence. Strong
convergence implies weak convergence: if xn → x in norm and ϕ is a bounded linear
functional, then

|ϕ(xn ) − ϕ(x)| = |ϕ(xn − x)| ≤ kϕkkxn − xk → 0.

Weak convergence does not imply strong convergence on an infinite-dimensional

space, as we will see in Section 8.6.
If X ∗ is the dual of a Banach space X, then we can define another type of weak
convergence on X ∗ , called weak-∗ convergence, pronounced “weak star.”

Definition 5.60 Let X ∗ be the dual of a Banach space X. We say ϕ ∈ X ∗ is the

weak-∗ limit of a sequence (ϕn ) in X ∗ if

ϕn (x) → ϕ(x) as n → ∞,

for every x ∈ X. We denote weak-∗ convergence by

∗
ϕn * ϕ.

By contrast, weak convergence of (ϕn ) in X ∗ means that

F (ϕn ) → F (ϕ) as n → ∞,

for every F ∈ X ∗∗ . If X is reflexive, then weak and weak-∗ convergence in X ∗ are

equivalent because every bounded linear functional on X ∗ is of the form (5.28). If
X ∗ is the dual space of a nonreflexive space X, then weak and weak-∗ convergence
120 Banach Spaces

are different, and it is preferable to use weak-∗ convergence in X ∗ instead of weak

convergence.
One reason for the importance of weak-∗ convergence is the following compact-
ness result, called the Banach-Alaoglu theorem.

Theorem 5.61 (Banach-Alaoglu) Let X ∗ be the dual space of a Banach space

X. The closed unit ball in X ∗ is weak-∗ compact.

We will not prove this result here, but we prove a special case of it in Theo-
rem 8.45.

5.7 References

For more on linear operators in Banach spaces, see Kato [26]. For proofs of the
Hahn-Banach, open mapping, and Banach-Alaoglu theorems, see Folland [12], Reed
and Simon [45], or Rudin [48]. The use of linear and Banach spaces in optimization
theory is discussed in [34]. Applied functional analysis is discussed in Lusternik and
Sobolev [33]. For an introduction to semigroups associated with evolution equations,
see [4]. For more on matrices, see [24]. An introduction to the numerical aspects
of matrices and linear algebra is in [54]. For more on the stability, consistency,
and convergence of finite difference schemes for partial differential equations, see
Strikwerder [53].

5.8 Exercises

Exercise 5.1 Prove that the expressions in (5.2) and (5.3) for the norm of a
bounded linear operator are equivalent.

Exercise 5.2 Suppose that {e1 , e2 , . . . , en } and {e

e1 , ee2 , . . . , een } are two bases of
the n-dimensional linear space X, with
n
X n
X
eei = Lij ej , ei = e ij eej ,
L
j=1 j=1

 
e ij , meaning that
where (Lij ) is an invertible matrix with inverse L

n
X
e jk = δik .
Lij L
j= 1

Let {ω1 , ω2 , . . . , ωn } and {e

ω1 , ω en } be the associated dual bases of X ∗ .
e2 , . . . , ω
 Exercises 121

P P
(a) If x = xi ei = x
ei eei ∈ X, then prove that the components of x transform
under a change of basis according to

x e ij xj .
ei = L (5.29)
P P
(b) If ϕ = ϕi ωi = ϕ ei ∈ X ∗ , then prove that the components of ϕ
ei ω
transform under a change of basis according to

ϕ
ei = Lji ϕj . (5.30)

Exercise 5.3 Let δ : C([0, 1]) → R be the linear functional that evaluates a func-
tion at the origin: δ(f ) = f (0). If C([0, 1]) is equipped with the sup-norm,

kf k∞ = sup |f (x)|,
0≤x≤1

show that δ is bounded and compute its norm. If C([0, 1]) is equipped with the
one-norm,
Z 1
kf k1 = |f (x)|dx,
0

show that δ is unbounded.

Exercise 5.4 Consider the 2 × 2 matrix

 
0 a2
A= ,
b2 0
where a > b > 0. Compute the spectral radius r(A) of A. Show that the Euclidean
norms of powers of the matrix are given by
2n 2n+1
A = a2n b2n , A = a2n+2 b2n .
1/n
Verify that r(A) = limn→∞ kAn k .

Exercise 5.5 Define K : C([0, 1]) → C([0, 1]) by

Z 1
Kf (x) = k(x, y)f (y) dy,
0

where k : [0, 1] × [0, 1] → R is continuous. Prove that K is bounded and

Z 1 
kKk = max |k(x, y)| dy .
0≤x≤1 0

Exercise 5.6 Let X be a normed linear space. Use the Hahn-Banach theorem to
prove the following statements.

(a) For any nonzero x ∈ X, there is a bounded linear functional ϕ ∈ X ∗ such

that kϕk = 1 and ϕ(x) = kxk.
122 Banach Spaces

(b) If x, y ∈ X and ϕ(x) = ϕ(y) for all ϕ ∈ X ∗ , then x = y.

Exercise 5.7 Find the kernel and range of the linear operator K : C([0, 1]) →
C([0, 1]) defined by
Z 1
Kf (x) = sin π(x − y)f (y) dy.
0

Exercise 5.8 Prove that equivalent norms on a normed linear space X lead to
equivalent norms on the space B(X) of bounded linear operators on X.

Exercise 5.9 Prove Proposition 5.43.

Exercise 5.10 Suppose that k : [0, 1] × [0, 1] → R is a continuous function. Prove

that the integral operator K : C([0, 1]) → C([0, 1]) defined by
Z 1
Kf (x) = k(x, y)f (y) dy
0

is compact.

Exercise 5.11 Prove that if Tn → T uniformly, then kTn k → kT k.

Exercise 5.12 Prove that if Tn converges to T uniformly, then Tn converges to T

strongly.

Exercise 5.13 Suppose that Λ is the diagonal n × n matrix and N is the n × n

nilpotent matrix (meaning that N k = 0 for some k)
 
  0 1 0 ... 0
λ1 0 . . . 0  0 0 
 0 λ2 . . . 0   1 ... 0 
   
Λ= . . . . , N =  ... ... .. . .
. .
..
..
 .. .. . . ..   
 0 0 0 ... 1 
0 0 . . . λn
0 0 0 ... 0

(a) Compute the two-norms and spectral radii of Λ and N .

(b) Compute eΛt and eN t .

Exercise 5.14 Suppose that A is an n × n matrix. For t ∈ R we define f (t) =

det etA .

(a) Show that

f (t) − 1
lim = tr A,
t→0 t
where tr A is the trace of the matrix A, that is the sum of its diagonal
elements.
 Exercises 123

(b) Deduce that f : R → R is differentiable, and is a solution of the ODE

f˙ = (tr A)f .
(c) Show that
det eA = etr A .

Exercise 5.15 Suppose that A and B are bounded linear operators on a Banach
space.

(a) If A and B commute, then prove that eA eB = eA+B .

(b) If [A, [A, B]] = [B, [A, B]] = 0, then prove that
eA eB = eA+B+[A,B]/2 .
This result is called the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff formula.

Exercise 5.16 Suppose that A and B are, possibly noncommuting, bounded op-
erators on a Banach space. Show that
et(A+B) − etA etB 1
lim = − [A, B],
t→0 t2 2
et(A+B) − etA/2 etB etA/2
lim = 0.
t→0 t2
Show that for small t the function etA/2 etB etA/2 x(0) provides a better approxima-
tion to the solution of the equation xt = (A + B)x than the function etA etB x(0).
The approximation et(A+B) ≈ etA/2 etB etA/2 , called Strang splitting, is useful in the
numerical solution of evolution equations by fractional step methods.

Exercise 5.17 Suppose that K : X → X is a bounded linear operator on a Banach

space X with kKk < 1. Prove that I − K is invertible and
(I − K)−1 = I + K + K 2 + K 3 + . . . ,
where the series on the right hand side converges uniformly in B(X).