By definition of the weak topology, exactly when for every .
Let be bounded and choose a norm-dense sequence in . Successive subsequences make converge, and the diagonal argument produces a single subsequence on which every converges. Uniform boundedness of and norm approximation of an arbitrary by the show that is Cauchy for every . Thus is weakly Cauchy, and
for every , so its difference sequence is weakly null.
For the countable family , use the weak metric from part a. Delete a finite initial segment from the th sequence so that every remaining term has weak distance less than from zero, and relabel that tail. Enumerate all these tails while preserving the order within each one. For every weak neighbourhood of zero, all terms from sufficiently large lie inside it, and only finitely many terms from each of the finitely many remaining sequences lie outside it. The resulting enumeration is weakly null and contains the relabelled th sequence as a subsequence for every . Equivalently, without relabelling, it contains a tail-subsequence of every original sequence, which is the form used below.
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Let
Choose positive with . We construct inductively. Once has been chosen, compactness of its unit sphere gives finitely many members of that almost norm every vector of . Because , the next may be chosen so that all those functionals are as small on it as required. Choosing the error relative to gives
for all scalars . Indeed, if the last coefficient could threaten this estimate, first bounds that coefficient by a fixed multiple of the norm of the preceding sum; the selected norming functional then gives the displayed inequality. Iteration and the finite product bound satisfy the standard basis criterion, so is a basic sequence contained in .
The same proof works for any Hausdorff locally convex vector topology weaker than the weak topology: on each finite-dimensional , the -continuous linear functionals still norm the space, and supplies the next point. A canonical strictly weaker example arises on when is not reflexive: the weak-star topology is then strictly weaker than the weak topology .
We next prove the Eberlein-Smulian theorem. If the weak closure of a bounded set is weakly compact, take any sequence in and let be its closed linear span. The relevant weak closure lies in the separable space . A countable weak-star dense subset of the dual unit ball separates points of this compact set, so its weak topology is metrizable. Compact metrizability gives a weakly convergent subsequence.
For the converse, suppose is not relatively weakly compact. In the canonical embedding into , choose
The Hahn-Banach theorem gives that vanishes on but satisfies . Alternating Goldstine approximation with the fact that lies in the weak-star closure of constructs bounded and such that, up to errors tending to zero,
If a subsequence converged weakly to , then for each fixed the second relation would give . A weak-star cluster point of the bounded sequence satisfies by the first relation, and hence by weak convergence; but passing to the same cluster point in gives . This contradiction produces a sequence in with no weakly convergent subsequence. Relative weak compactness is therefore equivalent to the subsequence condition.
Finally suppose is weakly sequentially compact and . If lies in the norm closure of , a norm-convergent sequence suffices. Otherwise apply the first part to and obtain a basic sequence . A subsequence converges weakly by hypothesis. Its weak limit lies in the closed span of the basic sequence, while every coordinate functional is eventually zero on that subsequence. The limit is consequently zero, so the corresponding sequence from converges weakly to .
This also shows that a weakly sequentially compact is weakly closed: any point of its weak closure is the limit of a sequence in , and a weakly convergent subsequence has its limit in . The relative form of the Eberlein-Smulian theorem then makes weakly compact. The reverse implication follows from the first direction of that theorem. Thus weak compactness and weak sequential compactness are equivalent.
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Weak closure Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
The weak closure of is its closure in the weak topology. Thus exactly when every weak neighbourhood of meets .
Weakly compact set Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
A subset of a Banach space is weakly compact when it is compact in the weak topology; it is relatively weakly compact when its weak closure is weakly compact.