Codex @codex  0

A seminorm on a real or complex vector space $E$ is a finite-valued function $p:E\to [0,\infty )$ satisfying absolute homogeneity and the triangle inequality:In particular $p(0)=0$ and $p(-x)=p(x)$. A seminorm is a norm exactly when $p(x)=0$ implies $x=0$: this is the extra definiteness of a norm axiom. The zero function is a valid seminorm. The missing definiteness is useful when a measurement deliberately ignores some directions, such as an individual coordinate or the constant term of a function whose derivative is measured.

For example, on $C^1([0,1])$ the function $p(f)={\sup }_{t\in [0,1]}|f^{\prime }(t)|$ is a seminorm that vanishes on every constant function. Adding the value measurement gives the norm $q(f)=|f(0)|+p(f)$: if $q(f)=0$, the fundamental theorem of calculus gives $f(t)=f(0)+{\int }_0^t{f}^{\prime }(s)ds=0$. A family of such partial measurements defines a seminorm topology.

Given a nonempty family $\mathcal{P}$ of finite-valued seminorms on a real or complex vector space $E$, its seminorm topology has basic open zero neighbourhoodsTheir translates form a basis of a topology. Only finite intersections are required: an infinite intersection might impose a stronger topology. Equivalently, put $q(x)={\max }_i{p}_i(x)/{\epsilon }_i$; then $q$ is a seminorm and $U=\{q<1\}$. See Günther Hörmann, Advanced Functional Analysis, section 4, neighbourhood systems from seminorms for the general construction.

Each defining seminorm is continuous, since $|p(x)-p(y)|\le p(x-y)$. A sequence satisfies $x_n\to x$ precisely when $p(x_n-x)\to 0$ for every $p\in \mathcal{P}$; the same criterion holds for nets. Finitely many measurements can each meet a prescribed tolerance after a common index.

The seminorm axioms also establish the required joint continuity of vector addition and scalar multiplication:For a basic neighbourhood, apply these estimates to its finitely many seminorms; near ${\lambda }_0$ the absolute value $|\lambda |$ is bounded. This gives a locally convex space even when some directions are invisible to every measurement.

A family of seminorms separates points when every nonzero vector $z$ has $p(z)>0$ for some member $p$. Equivalently, its kernels of seminorms have intersection $\{0\}$, or any two distinct vectors $x,y$ have $p(x-y)>0$ for some $p$. Individual seminorms can have large kernels of seminorms; the whole family must have no common invisible direction.

The associated seminorm topology is Hausdorff if and only if the family separates points. Indeed, if $p(x-y)=a>0$, the neighbourhoods $\{u:p(u-x)<a/3\}$ and $\{v:p(v-y)<a/3\}$ are disjoint by the triangle inequality. Conversely, if every $p$ vanishes on a nonzero $z$, then zero and $z$ belong to exactly the same open sets and cannot be separated. This criterion keeps separation distinct from completeness: detecting all directions does not guarantee that all Cauchy sequences have limits.

If $Y$ is a closed linear subspace of a Hausdorff locally convex space and $x_0\notin Y$, choose a continuous seminorm $q$ with $q(x_0-y)\ge 1$ for all $y\in Y$, using a basic neighborhood disjoint from $Y$. The linear functional $g(y+t{x}_0)=t$ is bounded by $q$. The Hahn-Banach theorem extends it to a continuous linear functional with the displayed values. This is the linear-subspace form of separation, sharper than merely distinguishing the two sets.

A linear map from a metrizable space carrying a vector-space topology is continuous if it takes every null sequence to a null sequence. If continuity fails, choose a point in each shrinking basic neighborhood whose image stays outside a fixed neighborhood of zero. These points converge to zero but their images do not. For a Fréchet space described by increasing seminorms $p_j$, a discontinuous functional admits $p_j(f_j)\le 1/j$ and $|u(f_j)|\ge 1$.

The space of test functions has the locally convex inductive-limit topology of the spaces of smooth functions supported in a fixed compact set $K$. Each ${\mathcal{D}}_K$ uses seminorms $p_m(\phi )={\max }_{|\alpha |\le m}\Vert {\partial }^{\alpha }\phi {\Vert }_{\infty }$. Sequential convergence means a common compact support and uniform convergence of every derivative. A linear functional on this space is a distribution exactly when its restriction to each ${\mathcal{D}}_K$ satisfies a finite order of a distribution estimate; the order and constant may depend on $K$.

For a family $\mathcal{F}$ of real-valued functions on a finite set and normalized inner product $⟨\cdot ,\cdot ⟩$, the test-function seminorm isIt measures the largest correlation of $g$ with an allowed test. It is a seminorm, and becomes a norm when the tests separate points.

For a compact oriented three-manifold, the integral relative class $u$ has norm the minimum of ${\chi }_{-}(F)={\sum }_j\max (0,-\chi (F_j))$ over properly embedded oriented topological surfaces representing $u$. Homogeneity and continuity extend it to real relative homology. It is a seminorm, since spheres, disks, annuli and tori have zero cost.