Two closed subspace whose sum is not closed?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the question of finding examples of two closed subspaces in a normed or Banach space whose sum is not closed. The focus is primarily on infinite-dimensional spaces, as participants suggest that such examples are difficult to conceive in finite-dimensional settings like R^n.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that examples of closed subspaces whose sum is not closed likely exist in infinite-dimensional spaces.
  • Another participant provides a specific example using the Hilbert space \mathcal{H}=\ell^2(\mathbb{N}), defining a bounded linear operator T and demonstrating that the sum of the subspaces A and B is not closed due to the range of T being a proper dense subspace.
  • A third participant shares a link to an external resource that discusses the problem further and mentions relevant literature on the topic.
  • A later reply expresses appreciation for the shared resource and acknowledges the usefulness of the search.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on a definitive example beyond the one provided, and the discussion remains open to further exploration of the topic.

Contextual Notes

The discussion does not resolve the broader implications of the examples provided, nor does it clarify the conditions under which the sum of closed subspaces may or may not be closed.

quasar987
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What would be an example of two closed subspaces of a normed (or Banach) space whose sum A+B = {a+b: a in A, b in B} is not closed?

I suppose we would have to look in infinite dimensional space to find our example, because this is hard to imagine in R^n!
 
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How about this: Consider the Hilbert space \mathcal{H}=\ell^2(\mathbb{N}) of square-summable sequences of reals. Let {en} be the standard o.n. basis for \mathcal{H}, and define T on \mathcal{H} by letting T(en)=(1/n)*en and extending linearly. This is a bounded linear operator on \mathcal{H}. Next, consider the space \mathcal{H} \oplus_2 \mathcal{H}, which is simply the direct sum of two copies of \mathcal{H} given the 2-norm coordinate wise. (This is still a Hilbert space.) Let A={(x,0) : x in \mathcal{H}} and B={(x,Tx) : x in \mathcal{H}}. Then A and B are subspaces of \mathcal{H} \oplus_2 \mathcal{H}, and A+B is closed there iff {Tx : x in \mathcal{H}} is closed in \mathcal{H}. But the range of T is a proper dense subspace of \mathcal{H}. Thus, A+B cannot be closed.
 
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I was googling to see if there's a better example, and I found the following http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/S0161171201005324. You might find it interesting.

Also, apparently this problem is discussed in the books A Hilbert Space Problem Book by Halmos and Elements of Operator Theory by Kubrusly. Try to see if your library has a copy of either.
 
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Very nice! and congratulations on the fruitful google search ;)
 

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