MHB How Do You Prove the Boundedness of an Integral Operator in Measure Spaces?

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    2016
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The discussion focuses on proving the boundedness of an integral operator defined on finite measure spaces. It establishes that if the kernel function K meets specific conditions regarding integrability, the operator I(K) can be shown to be bounded from L^p(ν) to L^p(μ). The necessary conditions for K include the finiteness of the supremum of integrals over both measure spaces. Although no responses were provided for the problem of the week, corrections to the original statement's typos were noted. The thread emphasizes the importance of clear problem formulation in mathematical discussions.
Euge
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Here is this week's POTW:

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Show that if $(X,\mathcal{M},\mu)$, $(Y,\mathcal{N},\nu)$ are finite measure spaces, $1 < p < \infty$, and $K$ is a measurable function on $X\times Y$, there is a bounded integral operator $I(K) : \mathscr{L}^p(\nu) \to \mathscr{L}^p(\mu)$ given by

$$I(K)(f) :x \mapsto \int_Y K(x,y)\,f(y)\, d\nu(y)\quad (f\in \mathscr{L}^p(\mu)),$$

provided that the kernel $K$ satisfies the conditions $\sup_x \int_Y \lvert K(x,y)\rvert\, d\nu(y) < \infty$ and $\sup_y \int_X \lvert K(x,y)\rvert \, d\mu(x) < \infty$.
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No one answered this week's problem. That's ok though, because the problem statement originally had some typos -- they have been corrected. :D You can read my solution below.
Assume the conditions on $K$ hold. Let $\alpha$ be the supremum of all the integrals $\int_Y \lvert K(x,y)\vert\, d\nu(y)$ as $x$ ranges over $X$; similarly define $\beta$ as the supremum of all integrals $\int_X \lvert K(x,y)\vert\, d\mu(x)$ as $y$ ranges over $Y$. Let $q$ be the conjugate exponent of $p$. Given $f\in \mathscr{L}^p$ with $\|f\|_p = 1$,

$$\lvert I(K)f\rvert \le \int_Y \lvert K(x,y)\rvert^{1/q} \lvert K(x,y)\rvert^{1/p}\lvert f(y)\rvert\, d\nu(y) \le \alpha^{1/q}\left(\int_Y \lvert K(x,y)\rvert \lvert f(y)\rvert^p\, d\nu(y)\right)^{1/p},$$

using Hölder's inequality, and by Fubini,

$$\|I(K)f\|_p \le \alpha^{1/q}\left(\int_X\int_Y \lvert K(x,y)\rvert \lvert f(y)\rvert^p\, d\nu(y)\, d\mu(x)\right)^{1/p}
= \alpha^{1/q}\left(\int_Y \lvert f(y)\rvert^p \left[\int_X \lvert K(x,y)\rvert\, d\mu(x)\right] d\nu(y)\right)^{1/p}
\le \alpha^{1/q}\beta^{1/p}\|f\|_p = \alpha^{1/q}\beta^{1/p}$$

As $f$ was arbitrary, $T$ is bounded (by $\alpha^{1/q}\beta^{1/p}$). In fact, as $0 \le \alpha, \beta \le \max\{\alpha,\beta\}$, we may deduce $\|I(K)\| \le \max\{\alpha,\beta\}$.