Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 106 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The weak topology is the coarsest topology making every bounded linear functional continuous. A neighbourhood basis at consists of sets for finite families in .
Mazur theorem says that for any convex subset of a real or complex normed vector space,The norm closure is convex. If is outside it, the Hahn-Banach separation theorem gives a bounded linear functional and a real with . In the real case omit the real part. Thus has a weak neighbourhood missing , 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 .
The sequential formulation, Mazur lemma, follows as well. If , then 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 th tail at norm distance less than from .
A weakly bounded set satisfies for every . Regard as a pointwise bounded family of functionals on . The completeness of the dual space holds even if 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 , and proves norm boundedness.
One can see the precise Baire argument here. The closed sets cover the Banach space . The Baire category theorem makes some contain a ball , after shrinking the radius. For , both and lie in , so . Scaling and the dual norm formula yield . 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 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 weak-star dense in . The weak topology on is carried by to on its image, since their coordinates are the same evaluations .
If is a reflexive Banach space, and Banach-Alaoglu proves weak compactness. Conversely, if is weakly compact, its image is weak-star compact and hence closed in the Hausdorff space . Goldstine density then forces , which implies . This proves the weak compactness characterization of reflexivity:Finally let be weakly compact and let separate points. If is empty there is nothing to prove; otherwise defineThe summands are bounded by and separation makes only for . The coordinate maps are weakly continuous, so the series, being uniformly convergent, makes the identity from weak to metric continuous. A continuous bijection from a compact space to a Hausdorff space is a homeomorphism. Thus induces precisely the weak topology on , the countable separating family metrizes a weakly compact set result. No norm-density of the separating family in is claimed or required.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 106 2 b iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The coordinate evaluations belong to the dual unit ball of the l-infinity sequence space and separate its points. Therefore the countable separating family metrizes a weakly compact set result makes any nonempty weakly compact a compact metric space in its weak topology. Choose finite -nets and take their countable union ; it is weakly dense in .
It follows that . By Mazur theorem, the last set is . Finite convex combinations of members of with nonnegative rational coefficients summing to one form a countable norm-dense subset of : for each fixed finite list, approximate its coefficients in the simplex by rational coefficients, and use the norm triangle inequality. Thus its norm closure is a separable metric space containing .
Every subset of a separable metric space is separable: balls centred on a countable dense set with positive rational radii form a countable base; intersect this base with the subset and choose one point from each nonempty intersection. Consequently the weakly compact subsets of l-infinity are norm separable conclusion isThe empty case is immediate. The convexification matters: the chosen weakly dense set itself need not be norm dense in a nonconvex .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 106 2 b ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Put . The nonemptiness of gives . By Mazur theorem, a norm-closed convex set is weakly closed. This applies to both and every closed norm ball.
For , the sets are nonempty by the definition of the infimum, weakly closed and nested. They all lie in the weakly compact set , by the weak compactness characterization of reflexivity. Hence they have the finite intersection property, and compactness gives . Then and for every , soThis proves the norm minimizer in a closed convex subset of a reflexive Banach space assertion without assuming sequential weak compactness. It includes ; uniqueness is not asserted without an additional condition such as strict convexity of the norm.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 106 2 b i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For each , evaluation is a bounded linear functional of norm one. Thus weak convergence to zero gives at every . The set is a weakly bounded set, since every scalar sequence converges, and part (a) supplies a uniform bound .
The constant is integrable for Lebesgue measure on . Applying the dominated convergence theorem to gives the weakly null continuous functions converge in L1 conclusionPointwise convergence alone would not provide the needed uniform dominating function; it is the weak boundedness argument that supplies it.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 106 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The weak-star topology is the coarsest topology making continuous for every . Its basic neighbourhoods of zero impose finitely many inequalities .
Suppose first that zero had a countable neighbourhood base in the entire dual. Choose a basic neighbourhood controlled by a finite set , and let . Given , the neighbourhood contains some , hence . If , the Hahn-Banach theorem supplies a bounded linear functional which vanishes on but has . Indeed, the finite-dimensional span is closed, and the functional taking to on its sum with is bounded because . Every scalar multiple of lies in , contradicting . Thus , and has countable Hamel dimension.
If is infinite-dimensional, every finite-dimensional is closed and has empty interior. Completeness rules out their union. For clarity, the Baire category theorem needed here has a direct nested-ball proof: inside a starting open ball choose a closed ball missing , then inside its interior choose a closed ball missing , and continue with positive radii tending to zero. The centres are Cauchy; their limit belongs to every ball and to none of the , a contradiction. A metric topology would have a countable ball base at zero. HenceThis is the weak-star topology on an entire infinite-dimensional Banach dual is not metrizable result. It does not contradict weak-star metrizability of the dual ball for a separable predual: that assertion concerns a bounded subset.
The Banach-Alaoglu theorem states that is compact for for every normed vector space , whether complete or not. Embed it in the product by its evaluations. Each factor is compact, so Tychonoff theorem makes the product compact Hausdorff. The equations expressing additivity and scalar homogeneity define a closed subset of the product. Its elements are exactly the bounded linear functionals of norm at most one, since the coordinate bounds give . The induced product topology is precisely weak-star, proving the theorem.
The theorem printed as “Goldstein” is the standard Goldstine theorem: is weak-star dense in for the canonical embedding into the bidual. To prove it, fix and . The set is convex. If were outside its closure, finite-dimensional Hahn-Banach separation theorem would supply coefficients such that, for ,The real case omits real parts; in the complex case every real-linear separating functional on has the displayed form. The supremum equals the dual norm by multiplying vectors by signs or unimodular scalars. The strict inequality contradicts . Thus , which is exactly approximation on every prescribed finite family of weak-star coordinates.
Now take with its compact Hausdorff weak-star topology. For each , the evaluation is continuous on , and Hahn-Banach theorem gives . Thereforeis the isometric evaluation embedding into continuous functions on a compact dual ball, over the same scalar field as .
For the final sequential assertions, choose a norm-dense sequence in the separable dual and suppose . Each bounded scalar sequence has a convergent subsequence: divide a bounding interval or square into finitely many smaller closed pieces, repeatedly retain one containing infinitely many terms, and let the diameters tend to zero. Successive extraction for , followed by a diagonal subsequence , makes every converge.
If the conclusion is immediate. Otherwise, for any and , choose with . For sufficiently large ,Thus exists for every . Taking limits proves linearity, and provesThis diagonal argument includes the continuity estimate rather than appealing to a sequential compactness theorem.
If is not reflexive, choose , scaling a bidual element outside if necessary. The Goldstine theorem proved above supplies with for . Norm density and the bound extend this convergence to every . Hence weak-star. Every subsequence has the same coordinate limits, so a weakly convergent subsequence with limit would give , a contradiction. This sequential Goldstine approximation for a separable dual provesThe construction uses the Goldstine proof already given, not an unproved weak sequential compactness result.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 106 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
A character of an algebra is a nonzero complex-linear multiplicative map . The character space of an algebra carries the Gelfand topology, namely pointwise convergence on , equivalently the subspace weak-star topology in .
For a unital complex Banach algebra, : multiplicativity and nonzeroness force this. If were invertible, applying to its product with its inverse would give . Thus . The Neumann series shows , so and the character of an algebra is automatically bounded. The same conclusion for a nonunital algebra follows by extending to its unitization of an algebra via and using the standard norm .
In the algebra let and fix . Write . If , the rational function belongs to , which is impossible because a character of an algebra cannot vanish on an invertible element. Thus . For a rational function without poles in , choose a reduced denominator having no zeros in . Multiplicativity gives . Density of these rational functions and boundedness of then yield for every .
Conversely, evaluation at each is a character of an algebra. The map is continuous in the Gelfand topology because every is continuous; its inverse is , also continuous. Hence the character space of R(K) isThe identification includes the topology, not merely a bijection of sets.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 106 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Work over the complex scalar field. If , the ideal generated by is proper: otherwise commutativity would make invertible. By Zorn lemma extend it to a maximal ideal . This ideal is closed. Indeed, if its closure were all of , it would contain an element of sufficiently close to to be invertible, since the invertible group is open; a proper ideal cannot contain such an element. Its closure is therefore proper, and maximality gives .
The quotient is a complex unital Banach algebra and a division algebra. The Gelfand-Mazur theorem identifies it with , giving a character of an algebra with . Conversely, the argument in (a) shows that every is in the spectrum. ThusHere, as usual, a unital Banach algebra has a nonzero identity; the zero algebra is excluded.
The holomorphic functional calculus assigns to every function holomorphic on an open neighbourhood of an element . It is a unital algebra homomorphism, sends the coordinate function to , agrees with evaluation of rational functions having no poles on the spectrum, depends only on the germ near the spectrum, and is continuous for uniform convergence on a fixed surrounding contour. Its formula isHere is a finite oriented contour cycle in , with winding number one on the spectrum and zero off . A finite union of suitable polygonal boundary cycles suffices; no connectedness of is required. Such cycles exist by compactness of the spectrum, and the calculus is independent of the choice. The inverse is the resolvent of an element.
For the exponential, use a circle . The uniformly convergent Neumann expansion may be integrated term by term. The scalar Cauchy integral formula gives , provingThis series converges absolutely in the Banach algebra norm.
A character of an algebra is bounded and takes the resolvent to . Applying it inside the contour integral and using the scalar Cauchy formula gives . The character of an algebra description of the spectrum, now applied to , proves the spectral mapping theorem:In particular this spectrum is contained in when .
For the composition rule for holomorphic functional calculus, choose a relatively compact open neighbourhood of whose closure is contained in , and a surrounding contour cycle in with winding number one on . Choose a sufficiently small neighbourhood of with and , and a contour in surrounding the spectrum. The neighbourhoods and cycles may be finite unions, obtained from finite covers of the relevant compact sets. For the function is holomorphic near . Locality and multiplicativity of the calculus giveInsert this in the formula for and interchange the two vector-valued integrals. The scalar inner integral is , soThis proves equality as algebra elements. Equality of their character of an algebra values alone would be insufficient in a Banach algebra with nonzero radical.
Finally, places the spectrum in the open unit disk. On that disk is a holomorphic branch. Its calculus value is the norm-convergent series : one may integrate the uniformly convergent scalar series on a circle with . Since , the composition rule gives the logarithm of an element near the identity formula
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 106 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The Riesz-Markov-Kakutani representation theorem identifies the dual of the complex space of continuous functions on a compact space with finite regular complex Borel measures on : each bounded linear functional has a unique representationHere is the variation measure; positive functionals correspond exactly to positive regular measures. This is the measure representation theorem, rather than the Hilbert-space representation of a functional by a vector.
For the spectral construction use the convention that the Hilbert inner product is linear in its first argument. A unital subalgebra of is understood to contain : an algebra whose abstract identity is a smaller projection could not give a resolution normalized by . On a compact Hausdorff space, a resolution of the identity is understood to be a normalized regular projection-valued measure: its scalar measures are regular, its values are orthogonal projections, and it is countably additive in the strong operator topology. Regularity is part of the usual convention needed for the uniqueness assertion; the statement is interpreted in this sense.
The Commutative Gelfand--Naimark theorem makes the Gelfand transform an isometric unital star-isomorphism , where is compact Hausdorff. Denote its inverse by . For , the bounded linear functional has norm at most . Riesz-Markov-Kakutani gives a regular complex measure such thatUniqueness makes these measures sesquilinear in . For , the identity shows positivity, so is positive with total mass .
For every Borel set , the bounded sesquilinear form determines an operator by Hilbert-space Riesz representation theorem, withIn particular and is self-adjoint. We now verify the projection identity rather than assume it.
For continuous , uniqueness of the representing measure applied to continuous test functions givesThese identities imply . Testing once more against a continuous givesThe restriction of a finite regular Borel measure is still regular, so uniqueness in Riesz-Markov-Kakutani yields . Consequently, for any Borel ,Taking proves that is an orthogonal projection. Also and . For disjoint , these projections are orthogonal, and scalar countable additivity gives weak countable additivity. If , then is the projection of the remaining union andThus countable additivity holds in the strong operator topology. The scalar measures are the regular measures already constructed. This completes the scalar-measure construction of a projection-valued measure.
By the integral theorem permitted in the question, continuous satisfies , and hence . For , this proves the spectral theorem for a commutative operator algebra:Any other regular resolution giving these integrals has the same scalar integrals on all of ; Riesz-Markov-Kakutani uniqueness forces the same scalar measures and therefore the same projections on every Borel set.
For nonempty open , compact Hausdorff normality supplies a nonzero continuous function supported in . If , the stated squared-norm identity for spectral integrals gives , contradicting the isometry of . This proves the full support of a faithful spectral measure propertyFaithfulness of the representation is essential here.
The spectral theorem for normal operators says that a bounded normal operator on a nonzero complex Hilbert space has a unique regular projection-valued measure on such that . Its support is all of , and bounded Borel functions have the associated Borel functional calculus for a normal operator.
For the proof sketch, is commutative because commutes with ; polynomials in these two operators commute, as do their norm limits. The map , , is onto by the character of an algebra formula and spectral permanence for C-star algebras. It is one-to-one because a character of an algebra preserves the star operation and its values on determine it on their dense polynomial algebra. It is therefore a homeomorphism from compact to the Hausdorff spectrum. Transport the resolution just constructed through this homeomorphism. It gives the formula for and full support; conversely a regular resolution for gives the same integrals for polynomials in , hence by density the same continuous functional calculus and the same resolution. This argument works without separability of .
Finally choose disjoint nonempty relatively open sets around two distinct spectral points, and put . Full support gives and , while , so . The spectral integral, or multiplicativity of its Borel calculus with , gives and also . Thus is closed, nonzero and proper, and . The spectral projection gives a reducing subspace conclusion isIn fact it is a reducing subspace, since it is also invariant under .