Help with continuous functions in metric spaces

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the continuity of linear functionals in normed spaces, specifically addressing the implications of continuity at the origin and the existence of a bound for the functional in terms of the norm of the vector. The scope includes theoretical aspects of functional analysis and properties of linear operators in both finite and infinite dimensional spaces.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant asks for assistance in proving that if a linear functional is continuous at the origin, then there exists a constant k such that |f(u)| ≤ k*||u|| for all u in the normed space.
  • Another participant questions whether ℝ is considered a normed space in this context and raises concerns about the notion of continuity if f is viewed as an element of the dual space.
  • A participant notes that while continuous operators are bounded at the origin in infinite dimensional spaces, they express hesitation about using this fact if it hasn't been covered in class.
  • One participant proposes a proof strategy by assuming the claim is false and showing that this leads to a contradiction regarding the continuity of f at the origin.
  • A later reply attempts to outline a proof involving the use of a δ-neighborhood and the properties of the operator norm, suggesting a method to establish the desired inequality.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the implications of continuity in finite versus infinite dimensional spaces, and there is no consensus on the best approach to proving the claim. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the application of certain properties of linear functionals.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations regarding the assumptions made about the dimensionality of the space and the definitions of continuity and boundedness in different contexts. Some participants highlight the need for clarity on these points.

h20o85
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hi guys,
I have a question I would like assistance with:

let (v,||.||) be a norm space over ℝ, and let f:v→ℝ be a linear functional.
if f is continuous on 0 (by the metric induced by the norm), prove that there is k>0 such that for each u in v, |f(u)| ≤ k*||u||.

thanks :)
 
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I am a little confused here, do you consider ℝ also as a normed space, or is f an element of the dual V*? If f is an element of the dual, what notion of continuity do you have?

If f is a linear operator between normed spaces, then continuity at a point implies global continuity (by translation; given T(x), we can get T(y)=T(y-x+x) , and linearity does the rest), and, for linear operators on finite-dimensional space, continuity implies boundedness; express any vector v in terms of a finite basis, and then use inequalities to find a bound for ||T(v)||. Is that the question?
 
Thank you for replying (I am new to this forum and I just realized that I am not supposed to ask homework-style questions here...)

R is also considered as a normed space, but v is not necessarily a finite dimensional space, therefore I can't use boundedness...
 
h20o85 said:
R is also considered as a normed space, but v is not necessarily a finite dimensional space, therefore I can't use boundedness...

Continuous operators are bounded at the origin even for the infinite dimensional case, but that's essentially what you're proving here so if it hasn't been brought up in class I would be hesitant to use it.

Suppose that the claim is not true. Then for each integer n, there is some un such that |f(u)| > n||u||. Prove f is not continuous at the origin
 
h20o85 said:
hi guys,
I have a question I would like assistance with:

let (v,||.||) be a norm space over ℝ, and let f:v→ℝ be a linear functional.
if f is continuous on 0 (by the metric induced by the norm), prove that there is k>0 such that for each u in v, |f(u)| ≤ k*||u||.

thanks :)


We have some δ st for all p with ||p||<δ we have |f(p)-f(0)| = |f(p)| < ε for any ε. Then for any unit vector v in our space

|f(v)| = 1/δ |f(δ v )| < ε||v||/δ =ε/δ since ||δ v || = δ. But the norm of the opearator is

inf||v||=1|f(v)|

so we are done if you just pick for ε any number n .
 
Last edited:

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