Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2014 / iii / Paper 6 / 2 / ii / Solution

Consider the restriction operatorIt is onto: otherwise its range, a vector subspace of the finite-dimensional vector space $E^{\ast }$, would have a nonzero annihilator in $E^{\ast \ast }=E$. That annihilator would be an $e\in E$ vanishing on all of $X$, so $e=0$, a contradiction. Moreover $T$ is open. To see this directly, choose preimages of a basis of $E^{\ast }$; they define a linear right inverse $S:E^{\ast }\to X$, continuous because its domain is finite-dimensional. Small changes of an image can then be lifted by small changes using $S$.

Put $r=1+\epsilon$ and $C=T(\{x:\Vert x\Vert <r\})$. It is open and convex in $E^{\ast }$. If $a\notin C$, the Hahn-Banach separation theorem gives a nonzero real linear functional on $E^{\ast }$, represented by some $e\in E$, such thatBut $a(e)=x^{\ast \ast }(e)\le \Vert e\Vert$, contradicting $r>1$. Therefore $a\in C$, and the finite-dimensional interpolation form of Goldstine's theorem yieldsIf $E=\{0\}$ one simply takes $x=0$.

To recover the Goldstine theorem, start with $x^{\ast \ast }\in B_{X^{\ast \ast }}$ and finitely many tests $e_1,\dots ,e_m\in X^{\ast }$. Apply the result to their span with a small parameter $\delta >0$. The resulting $x$ need not lie in $B_X$, but $v=x/(1+\delta )$ does. For every test,Choosing $\delta$ sufficiently small puts $Jv$ in any prescribed basic weak-star neighborhood. This proves the asserted weak-star density of the closed unit ball. The reverse inclusion follows because $B_{X^{\ast \ast }}$ is weak-star closed, being the intersection of the conditions $|x^{\ast \ast }(e)|\le \Vert e\Vert$ for $e\in X^{\ast }$.