If and , then because is bounded and linear. Therefore , proving weak continuity of .
For a bounded sequence in , extract successive subsequences on which the first, second, and subsequent coordinates converge, then take a diagonal subsequence. Call the coordinate limits . Every finite partial sum satisfies , so and . For any , the pairing on its first coordinates converges, while the pairing on the tail is bounded uniformly by . First choose large, then take the subsequence limit. The Riesz representation theorem identifies these pairings with every continuous linear functional, proving the requested weak convergence.
For , norm convergence implies weak convergence immediately. Conversely, suppose but a subsequence has . Coordinate convergence to zero allows us to select indices and cutoffs such that the mass of before or at is below , and its mass after is below . Its mass on the intervening block is then at least . On that block set when nonzero and zero otherwise. These prescriptions define . The bounded linear functional has real part at least on every selected , contradicting weak convergence. Translating by the limit proves weak and norm convergence of sequences coincide in , the Schur property.
A compact operator sends bounded sets to relatively norm-compact sets. Every bounded sequence in has a weakly convergent subsequence by the argument above, after scaling into the unit ball. Its image under converges weakly and therefore in norm by the Schur property. Sequential compactness in a metric space gives relative compactness of the image of the unit ball. Every bounded linear operator from to is compact.
In an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space, every bounded sequence has a weakly convergent subsequence, but it need not have a norm-convergent one. For example an orthonormal sequence has pairwise distance and therefore no strongly convergent subsequence, although by Bessel inequality.
More generally, weak sequential compactness of bounded sequences in a reflexive Banach space ensures a weakly convergent subsequence with its limit in that space. Conversely, this property for all bounded sequences characterizes reflexivity, using the Eberlein-Šmulian theorem and weak compactness of the closed unit ball. Thus reflexivity replaces finite-dimensional norm compactness by weak sequential compactness.
In a nonreflexive Banach space there is no such general weak-subsequence guarantee. The coordinate unit vectors in give an example: by the Schur property, weak convergence would imply norm convergence, impossible for their pairwise distance two. Banach-Alaoglu theorem supplies weak-star compactness of a dual unit ball, which gives convergent subnets, not automatically convergent subsequences. For a separable predual, the weak-star compact dual ball is metrizable and subsequences do suffice. For an arbitrary Banach space one can also regard a bounded sequence in its bidual and extract a weak-star convergent subnet there; the limit need not belong to the original space. These qualifications distinguish weak from weak-star compactness.
Schur property of l1 2026-10-03
The l-p sequence space has the Schur property. If a weakly null sequence stayed bounded below in norm, coordinatewise convergence and summability would select disjoint blocks containing almost all of successive terms. A sequence in matching their signs on those blocks would pair uniformly positively with a subsequence, contradicting weak convergence through the duality of l1 and l infinity.
Weakly null sine sequence in L1 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The functions converge weakly to zero in . Indeed, every also belongs to on this finite interval, and the Riemann-Lebesgue lemma gives . However,
so does not have the Schur property.