Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 6 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The weak topology on a normed vector space is , the coarsest topology making every bounded linear functional continuous. A neighbourhood base at is given by finitely many inequalities , with . In the complex case, separation uses real parts of bounded linear functionals.
Mazur theorem states that the weak closure of a convex set equals its closure in the norm topology. The weak topology is coarser than the norm topology, so the norm closure is contained in the weak closure. Conversely, if is outside the norm closure of a convex set , the Hahn-Banach separation theorem gives and with . The corresponding weak topology neighbourhood of misses , so is outside its weak closure. This proves Mazur theorem, including the empty-set case. In particular, if converges weakly to , then is in the weak closure of every tail and therefore in the norm closure of its convex hull. Choosing a finite convex combination of the th tail within of proves the usual Mazur lemma formulation as well.
The weak-star topology on the continuous dual space is : convergence means pointwise convergence on , and a neighbourhood base prescribes finitely many evaluation inequalities. The Banach-Alaoglu theorem states that the closed unit ball of is compact in this weak-star topology, even if is incomplete. Embed this closed unit ball intowhere or . Each factor is compact, so is compact by the Tychonoff theorem. Inside , the equations and define a closed set. Every such point defines a linear functional satisfying , hence belongs to the closed unit ball of . Thus this image is closed in . The product topology on it is exactly the weak-star topology, proving Banach-Alaoglu theorem. Evaluations also separate its points, so the weak-star topology is Hausdorff.
For the canonical embedding into the bidual , we have . Restricting all evaluations at therefore gives exactly . Thus the induced subspace topology is the weak topology on .
Now identify with . Let be a bounded convex set, write for its norm closure in , and let be its weak-star topology closure in . Boundedness places in a multiple of the closed unit ball of , so is compact by Banach-Alaoglu theorem. The preceding subspace topology identification and Mazur theorem giveIf is a weakly compact set, its image in the Hausdorff weak-star topology is compact and therefore closed. It contains , so . Conversely, if , the displayed identity gives , and its compactness is precisely weak compactness in . Hence . This argument also covers .
For a bounded linear operator , its Banach-space adjoint is , defined by . Evaluation at any fixed is thus evaluation at after applying . Each is continuous in the relevant weak-star topology, proving that is weak-star continuous. Applying the same result to shows that is weak-star continuous. Direct evaluation gives
Use for the closed unit ball; using the open ball gives the same norm closure of . Goldstine theorem says that is weak-star dense in . Put . It is compact and closed in the weak-star topology by Banach-Alaoglu theorem and the established continuity. It contains . Conversely, Goldstine theorem gives, for every , a net from converging weak-star to ; its image converges weak-star to . ConsequentlyApply the preceding bounded convex set criterion in , and then scale the closed unit ball. We obtain the bidual characterization of weakly compact operators:The canonical embedding into the bidual on the right specifies exactly which copy of is intended.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 6 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
All vector spaces in this solution are complex, while convex combinations use real coefficients. An extreme point of a convex set is one for which , and , forces . Equivalently, is not the midpoint of two distinct points of .
The Krein-Milman theorem says that every nonempty compact convex set in a Hausdorff locally convex space is the closed convex hull of its extreme points. Here is a proof. A face of a convex set is a convex set such that whenever an interior point of a segment in belongs to , both endpoints belong to . Consider nonempty compact faces, ordered by reverse inclusion. A chain has nonempty intersection by compactness and the finite intersection property; that intersection is again a compact face. The Zorn lemma therefore gives a minimal nonempty compact face .
If contains distinct , a continuous real linear functional on the underlying real locally convex space distinguishes them. Such a linear functional exists because the space is Hausdorff and locally convex, by the Hahn-Banach theorem. The maximizers of on form a nonempty proper compact face of . A face of a face is a face of , contradicting minimality. Therefore is a singleton, yielding an extreme point. The same argument inside any nonempty compact face of supplies an extreme point of lying in that face.
Let be the closed convex hull of the extreme points of . It is a nonempty closed subset of compact , hence compact. If , the Hahn-Banach separation theorem provides a continuous real linear functional with . Its maximizer set on is a nonempty compact face, which contains an extreme point of . But and , a contradiction. Thus , proving Krein-Milman theorem.
For a nonempty compact Hausdorff space , the extreme points of the dual unit ball of C(K) areThis is the permitted description without proof, with denoting the complex space of continuous functions on a compact space equipped with the supremum norm. If is empty, and the closed unit ball of its continuous dual space has the single extreme point instead.
The complex Banach–Stone theorem states that a surjective complex-linear isometric isomorphism of normed spaces has the formwhere and is a homeomorphism. Conversely, every such map is a surjective complex-linear isometric isomorphism of normed spaces for the supremum norm.
To prove this, suppose first that are nonempty. The Banach-space adjoint is a bijective isometric isomorphism of normed spaces on the continuous dual spaces, so it bijects their closed unit balls and preserves extreme points. The displayed extreme point description gives uniquelyUniqueness follows by evaluating at the constant function , and then using that continuous functions separate points of a compact Hausdorff space. Evaluation gives the required formula for , and is continuous. Surjectivity of on extreme points proves surjectivity of : the preimage of any is for some . If , every function in the range of has equal values at these two points after division by ; surjectivity of and separation of points force . Thus is bijective.
For every , is continuous. The evaluation map , , is a continuous injection of a compact Hausdorff space into a Hausdorff product topology, hence a homeomorphism onto its image. Continuity of every coordinate proves continuity of . A continuous bijection between compact Hausdorff spaces is a homeomorphism. Conversely the weighted-composition formula plainly preserves the supremum norm, and its inverse isIf one compact space is empty, a surjective isometric isomorphism of normed spaces forces the other to be empty, and the empty homeomorphism gives the corresponding trivial case. This completes Banach–Stone theorem.
Neither the space of sequences converging to zero nor can be isometrically a continuous dual space of a Banach space. Indeed, every nonzero continuous dual space has a nonempty weak-star compact closed unit ball by Banach-Alaoglu theorem, and Krein-Milman theorem then guarantees an extreme point. A bijective linear isometry preserves extreme points of closed unit balls.
The closed unit ball of has no extreme points. Given with , choose with and . The two distinct elements remain in that closed unit ball and have midpoint .
The closed unit ball of the complex Lp space also has no extreme points. An element of norm less than one can be perturbed by a sufficiently small nonzero Lp space element in both directions. If , the non-atomic measure admits a measurable set of mass ; for example the continuous function attains . Put . For , the distinct functions both have Lp normwith the two coefficients interchanged for the minus sign. Their midpoint is . Thus neither proposed space is isometrically a Banach dual.
Finally, is a connected space, whereas is disconnected. They cannot be homeomorphic. By Banach–Stone theorem, and are not isometrically isomorphic as complex Banach spaces.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 6 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Work over and take a nonzero commutative unital Banach algebra , with . A character of an algebra is a nonzero multiplicative complex linear functional . It satisfies . Moreover : otherwise would be invertible, although its image under is zero. The bound on the spectrum of an element therefore gives , proving automatic continuity of characters and .
Every proper maximal ideal of is closed. Indeed its closure is an ideal; if this closure were all of , would contain an element within distance less than one of . Such an element is invertible by the Neumann series, forcing . Thus the closure is proper and maximality makes it equal to . The quotient Banach space , with its quotient Banach algebra structure, is a complex normed division algebra. By the Gelfand-Mazur theorem, it is , so the quotient map gives a character of an algebra with kernel . Conversely, the kernel of every character of an algebra is a maximal ideal, since the character is onto . The Zorn lemma supplies a maximal ideal containing every proper ideal, so the character space of an algebra is nonempty.
These facts give the exact relation between the character space and the spectrum of an element:One inclusion was proved above. For the other, if is noninvertible, the principal ideal it generates is proper because is commutative. Contain it in a maximal ideal and use its corresponding character of an algebra to obtain .
Give the Gelfand topology, namely its subspace topology from the weak-star topology on . In the closed unit ball of , it is the intersection of the closed conditionsConsequently Banach-Alaoglu theorem makes a compact Hausdorff space. For every , define the Gelfand transform . This is a continuous function on by definition of the Gelfand topology. The Gelfand representation theorem gives a contractive unital algebra homomorphism over a fieldMultiplicativity and linearity follow by evaluating at each character of an algebra; the supremum norm equality follows from the preceding spectrum of an element identity. Its kernel isthe Jacobson radical. Equivalently, its elements have spectrum of an element . Thus is injective precisely when is a semisimple commutative Banach algebra, and it gives a faithful continuous representation of as a function algebra. Its range contains the constants and separates points of , because distinct characters of an algebra differ on some . An arbitrary Banach algebra need not have an isometric or surjective Gelfand transform, nor a uniformly dense range: those conclusions require further hypotheses.
For the Banach algebra on a nonempty compact Hausdorff space , all characters of an algebra are evaluation characters. To see this, let be a maximal ideal. If its elements had no common zero, compactness would supply with no common zero. The continuous function belongs to , is strictly positive on , and has a continuous reciprocal. It is therefore invertible, a contradiction. Hence all elements of vanish at some , so and maximality gives equality. The associated character of an algebra must be : since , its value on is .
The map is a continuous bijection , using separation of points by continuous functions. Compactness and the Hausdorff property make it a homeomorphism. Under this identification the Gelfand transform is , so it is the identity representation of , in particular an isometric onto map. The empty gives the zero algebra, whose empty character space represents the zero function space; it was excluded by the nonzero unital convention above.
Now let be a commutative unital C-star algebra. The stronger conclusion is the Commutative Gelfand--Naimark theorem: the Gelfand transform is an isometric onto C-star homomorphism . We prove the additional assertions without assuming this conclusion.
First every character of an algebra respects the C-star algebra involution. If , the elements , , are unitary elements of a C-star algebra, and their norm is one by the C-star identity. Continuity and multiplicativity give . Thus for every real , forcing to be real. Writing with and self-adjoint gives . Therefore the range of is closed under complex conjugation.
Every element of commutative is a Normal element of a C-star algebra. For a normal , use the C-star identity, and then the same identity for the self-adjoint element , to obtainIts powers are also normal, so . The spectral radius formula gives , hence . The Gelfand transform is therefore an isometry, and its range is complete and closed in the supremum norm. It contains constants, separates points and is closed under complex conjugation. The complex Stone-Weierstrass theorem makes that range dense, hence all of .
The approximation step in Stone-Weierstrass theorem can also be seen directly here. For a unital conjugation-closed point-separating subalgebra , the real-valued part of its uniform closure is closed under absolute values, by polynomial approximation to on bounded intervals, hence under pointwise maxima and minima. Its real-valued functions separate points. Given real and , for each an affine rescaling of a separating function produces agreeing with at ; take a constant when . For fixed , finitely many neighbourhoods of where cover . Their maximum exceeds everywhere and agrees with at , hence is less than near . Finitely many of these latter neighbourhoods cover ; the minimum of their lies between and everywhere. Approximate real and imaginary parts separately. This proves the density used above and completes the C-star algebra conclusion.