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Given a continuous surjection $h:\Omega \to K$ from Cantor space to a nonempty compact metric space, the pullback $f\mapsto f\circ h$ is a unital isometric embedding of $C(K)$ into $C(\Omega )$. Transport a normalized positive linear functional to its image, take a positive extension from a unital subspace of C(K), and represent that extension on Cantor space. The pushforward measure $h_{\ast }P$ then represents the original functional.

Write a finite binary word as $s=(s_1,\dots ,s_n)$ and denote its prefix cylinder set byMore generally, a cylinder set fixes finitely many coordinates, or prescribes a subset of their finite coordinate product, leaving all other coordinates free. Each coordinate factor is discrete, so finite-coordinate inverse images are both open and closed. Thus cylinders are clopen. The basic open sets of the product topology restrict only finitely many coordinates, so cylinders form a base. Any finite-coordinate cylinder is a finite union of prefix cylinders of one sufficiently long common length; the prefix cylinders therefore also form a base.

The Bernoulli space here is Cantor space, with compatible metricIt is a compact metric space: from any sequence, choose successively subsequences constant in the first, second and subsequent coordinates, and take the diagonal subsequence. Agreement on the first $n$ coordinates bounds the distance by $2^{-n}$, proving convergence. Compactness also follows from Tychonoff theorem.

Every cylinder indicator function is continuous because the cylinder is clopen. Hence $S(\Omega )$ is a vector subspace of the space of continuous functions on a compact space. To prove density, fix $f\in C_{\mathbb{R}}(\Omega )$ and $\epsilon >0$. By uniform continuity, choose $n$ so that $d(x,y)\le 2^{-n}$ implies $|f(x)-f(y)|<\epsilon$. Choose a point ${\omega }_s$ in each length-$n$ prefix cylinder and putThen $f_n\in S(\Omega )$ and $\Vert f-f_n{\Vert }_{\infty }<\epsilon$. This proves cylinder-function density in Cantor space:

Positivity of $\varphi$ implies monotonicity. The pointwise bounds $-\Vert f{\Vert }_{\infty }1\le f\le \Vert f{\Vert }_{\infty }1$ therefore giveEvaluation on $1$ attains equality, so $\varphi$ is continuous and has norm one. This is the norm of a positive functional on C(K).

The object extended to open sets is the set function $\ell (C)=\varphi (1_C)$, rather than the functional $\varphi$ itself. Positivity gives $\ell (C)\ge 0$, and linearity gives finite additivity on disjoint cylinders. To construct its extension directly, use the disjoint cylinder decomposition of open subsets of Cantor space. For an open $U$, take the shortest prefixes $s$ for which $[s]\subset U$. They are prefix-free, their cylinders are disjoint, and their union is $U$. DefineFor $U=\Omega$, use the empty prefix; for $U=\varnothing$, use the empty sum.

This value is independent of the chosen disjoint prefix-cylinder decomposition. Indeed, compare two such decompositions $(C_i)$ and $(D_j)$. For each fixed $C_i$, its intersections with the $D_j$ give a disjoint open cover of the compact cylinder $C_i$. Compactness reduces this to finitely many nonempty intersections. Each intersection is a prefix cylinder or is empty, so finite additivity gives $\ell (C_i)={\sum }_j\ell (C_i\cap D_j)$. Sum over $i$ and rearrange the nonnegative double sum. Doing the same with each $D_j$ proves equality of the two totals.

For disjoint open sets $U_k$, combine their disjoint cylinder decompositions to obtain one for ${\bigcup }_k{U}_k$. Rearrangement of nonnegative sums proves countable additivity on this family of open sets. The extension is unique because any countably additive extension must have the prescribed sum on every disjoint cylinder decomposition. Open sets are not themselves a sigma-algebra; countable additivity here concerns disjoint open families and their open union.

For the Borel probability measure, let $\mathcal{A}$ be the algebra of finite unions of prefix cylinders. It is also the algebra of clopen sets, because every clopen set is compact and has a finite cylinder cover. Define $\ell (A)=\varphi (1_A)$ on $\mathcal{A}$. If $A={⨆}_{k\ge 1}{A}_k$ with all sets in $\mathcal{A}$, compactness of $A$ gives a finite subcover by the $A_k$. Disjointness makes all remaining members empty. Thus finite additivity already establishes the premeasure condition.

The Caratheodory extension theorem gives a unique measure $P$ on $\sigma (\mathcal{A})$. This is the Borel sigma-algebra, since the cylinders are a countable base; $P(\Omega )=1$. Its values on open sets agree with the extension above. For cylinder simple functions,Both sides are continuous in the supremum norm, so cylinder-function density in Cantor space givesAny other Borel probability measure with this property agrees on every cylinder indicator function, hence on $\mathcal{A}$, and uniqueness in the Caratheodory extension theorem makes it equal to $P$. This proves the Cantor-space representation of positive functionals without assuming the general representation theorem.

Now let $h:\Omega \to X$ be the supplied continuous surjection. The pullbackis a unital isometric embedding: surjectivity gives $\Vert f\circ h{\Vert }_{\infty }=\Vert f{\Vert }_{\infty }$. On the vector subspace $J(C_{\mathbb{R}}(X))$, define $L(Jf)=\varphi (f)$. This is well-defined, has norm one and satisfies $L(1)=1$.

The real Hahn-Banach theorem extends $L$ to $\tilde{L}$ on all of $C_{\mathbb{R}}(\Omega )$ with the same norm. Norm preservation alone does not automatically mean positivity, so verify it. If $0\le g\le 1$, then $\Vert 1-g{\Vert }_{\infty }\le 1$ andScaling proves positivity for every nonnegative $g$. This is the unital contraction positivity criterion, giving a positive extension from a unital subspace of C(K).

Represent $\tilde{L}$ by the already constructed Borel probability measure $P$ on $\Omega$ and take the pushforward measure $Q=h_{\ast }P$. Continuity of $h$ makes its Borel inverse images measurable, and $Q(X)=1$. The pushforward integral identity givesThis is compact-metric representation by Cantor-space pullback. The hypothesis $\varphi (1)=1$ already excludes an empty $X$. The measure is on the Borel sets; no uniqueness claim on an unspecified larger collection of subsets is needed.