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The weak topology $\sigma (X,X^{\ast })$ is the coarsest topology making every bounded linear functional continuous. A neighbourhood basis at $x$ consists of sets $\{y:|f_j(y-x)|<ϵ,1\le j\le m\}$ for finite families in $X^{\ast }$.

Mazur theorem says that for any convex subset $C$ of a real or complex normed vector space,The norm closure is convex. If $x$ is outside it, the Hahn-Banach separation theorem gives a bounded linear functional $f$ and a real $a$ with $\mathrm{Re}f(x)>a\ge {\sup }_{y\in C}\mathrm{Re}f(y)$. In the real case omit the real part. Thus $x$ has a weak neighbourhood missing $C$, proving that the weak closure lies in the norm closure. The other inclusion follows because the weak topology is weaker than the norm topology. In the complex case real separation is converted to a complex functional by $f(z)=h(z)-ih(iz)$.

The sequential formulation, Mazur lemma, follows as well. If $x_n\rightharpoonup x$, then $x$ lies in the weak closure of each tail and hence in the norm closure of its convex hull. Select a finite convex combination of the $n$th tail at norm distance less than $1/n$ from $x$.

A weakly bounded set $D$ satisfies ${\sup }_{x\in D}|f(x)|<\infty$ for every $f\in X^{\ast }$. Regard $J(D)$ as a pointwise bounded family of functionals on $X^{\ast }$. The completeness of the dual space holds even if $X$ is incomplete: a norm-Cauchy sequence of functionals has a pointwise bounded linear limit and then converges uniformly on the unit ball. The Uniform boundedness principle therefore gives ${\sup }_{x\in D}\Vert Jx\Vert <\infty$, and $\Vert Jx\Vert =\Vert x\Vert$ proves norm boundedness.

One can see the precise Baire argument here. The closed sets $F_n=\{f\in X^{\ast }:{\sup }_{x\in D}|f(x)|\le n\}$ cover the Banach space $X^{\ast }$. The Baire category theorem makes some $F_n$ contain a ball $f_0+r{B}_{X^{\ast }}$, after shrinking the radius. For $\Vert g\Vert \le r$, both $f_0$ and $f_0+g$ lie in $F_n$, so ${\sup }_D|g(x)|\le 2n$. Scaling and the dual norm formula yield ${\sup }_D\Vert x\Vert \le 2n/r$. A weakly compact set is weakly bounded because each functional has compact, hence bounded, image. Consequently it is norm bounded.

For a Banach space, let $J:X\to X^{\ast \ast }$ be its canonical isometry. We use two explicitly stated weak-star facts: Banach-Alaoglu theorem makes a dual unit ball weak-star compact, and Goldstine theorem makes $J(B_X)$ weak-star dense in $B_{X^{\ast \ast }}$. The weak topology on $X$ is carried by $J$ to $\sigma (X^{\ast \ast },X^{\ast })$ on its image, since their coordinates are the same evaluations $f(x)$.

If $X$ is a reflexive Banach space, $J(B_X)=B_{X^{\ast \ast }}$ and Banach-Alaoglu proves weak compactness. Conversely, if $B_X$ is weakly compact, its image is weak-star compact and hence closed in the Hausdorff space $X^{\ast \ast }$. Goldstine density then forces $J(B_X)=B_{X^{\ast \ast }}$, which implies $JX=X^{\ast \ast }$. This proves the weak compactness characterization of reflexivity:Finally let $K\subset X$ be weakly compact and let $(f_n)\subset B_{X^{\ast }}$ separate points. If $K$ is empty there is nothing to prove; otherwise defineThe summands are bounded by $2^{-n}$ and separation makes $d(x,y)=0$ only for $x=y$. The coordinate maps are weakly continuous, so the series, being uniformly convergent, makes the identity from weak $K$ to metric $K$ continuous. A continuous bijection from a compact space to a Hausdorff space is a homeomorphism. Thus $d$ induces precisely the weak topology on $K$, the countable separating family metrizes a weakly compact set result. No norm-density of the separating family in $X^{\ast }$ is claimed or required.

The Uniform boundedness principle states that if $E$ is a Banach space and a family of bounded linear operators $S_{\alpha }:E\to Y$ is pointwise bounded, then ${\sup }_{\alpha }\Vert S_{\alpha }\Vert <\infty$.

Suppose $x_n\rightharpoonup x$ in the normed vector space $X$. For each $n$, define the evaluation functionalThe completeness of the dual space says that $X^{\ast }$ is Banach even when $X$ is not. For each $f\in X^{\ast }$, the scalar sequence $J_n(f)=f(x_n)$ converges to $f(x)$ and is therefore bounded. Uniform boundedness givesBy the canonical embedding into the bidual and the Hahn-Banach theorem, $\Vert J_n\Vert =\Vert x_n\Vert$. Hencewhich proves that a weakly convergent sequence is bounded.

The continuous dual space of a normed vector space $V$ iswith the operator norm

Let $(f_n)$ be a Cauchy sequence in this norm. For each $v\in V$,so $(f_n(v))$ is Cauchy in the scalar field. Define $f(v)={\lim }_n{f}_n(v)$. Passing to limits in the linearity identities shows that $f$ is linear.

A norm-Cauchy sequence is bounded, say $\Vert f_n\Vert \le M$. Hence $|f(v)|\le M\Vert v\Vert$, so $f\in V^{\ast }$. Given $\epsilon >0$, choose $N$ such that $\Vert f_n-f_m\Vert <\epsilon$ for $m,n\ge N$. Letting $m\to \infty$ givesfor every $v$, and therefore $\Vert f_n-f\Vert \le \epsilon$. Thus $f_n\to f$ in operator norm, proving completeness of the dual space: $V^{\ast }$ is Banach.