Let’s call (X,∥⋅∥) a normed space. Let Y⊂X. Also, given a linear functionaly∗∈Y∗ of Y. Then there exists a linear functional x∗∈X∗ of X that satisfies the following equation.
x∗(y)=y∗(y),∀y∈Y
∥x∗∥X∗=∥y∗∥Y∗
Explanation
In simple terms, this means that the dual of a subspace can be extended to the dual of the entire space. In other words, all linear functionals of the subspace have a counterpart in the entire space’s linear functionals with the same function values and norms. Also, let’s treat the norm space X as a C-vector space.
Let X be a C-vector space and Y⊂X. Let’s call p:X→R a seminorm of X. And suppose that y∗:Y→C is a linear functional of Y that satisfies the following condition.
∣y∗(y)∣≤p(y),∀y∈Y
Then there exists a linear functional x∗:X→C of X that satisfies the following conditions.
x∗(y)=y∗(y),∀y∈Y
∣x∗(x)∣≤p(x),∀x∈X
Proof
Let’s denote the norms of X and Y as ∥⋅∥, the norms of X∗ and Y∗ as ∥⋅∥X∗ and ∥⋅∥Y∗ respectively. Let’s assume p:X→R is defined as follows.
p(x)=∥y∗∥Y∗∥x∥X,x∈X
Then p can be shown to be quasi-linear. By definition, since 0≤p, p is a seminorm. Also, the following equation holds:
In the third line, since ∥y∥ is a constant, it can come out of the absolute value, and since y∗ is linear, ∥y∥1 entered into the function. Moreover, the fourth line is ∥y∥y=1 and by the definition of dual norm, since ∥y∗∥Y∗=∥y∥≤1y∈Ysup∣y∗(y)∣, it holds. Therefore, the conditions for using the auxiliary theorem are satisfied, thus there exists a linear functional Xx∗:X→C that satisfies the following conditions.
x∗(y)=y∗(y),∀y∈Y
∣x∗(x)∣≤p(x),∀x∈X
The first condition is equivalent to (1). By (3),
∣x∗(x)∣≤p(x)=∥y∗∥Y∗∥x∥
By the definition of the dual norm,
∥x∗∥X∗=∥x∥≤1x∈Xsup∥y∗∥Y∗∥x∥=∥y∗∥Y∗
Thus, it satisfies the conditions of (2).
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Corollaries
1
If X is a norm space and x0∈X, then there exists a linear functional x∗∈X∗ satisfying the following condition.
∥x∗∥X∗=1,x∗(x0)=∥x0∥
Proof
Let’s say Y={λ∣λx0∈R}. Then Y becomes a subspace ofX. Now, let’s define a linear functional y∗:Y→R of Y as follows.
y∗(y)=y∗(λx0):=λ∥x0∥,y=λx0∈Y
It is easy to verify that y∗ is indeed linear, so we omit this. By the definition of y∗,
∣y∗(y)∣=λ∥x0∥=∥λx0∥=∥y∥
By the definition of dual norm, since ∥y∗∥Y∗=∥y∥≤1y∈Ysup∣y∗(y)∣,
∥y∗∥Y∗=1
Additionally,
y∗(x0)=∥x0∥(5)
By the Hahn-Banach extension theorem, given y∗, there exists a linear functional x∗ of X such that ∥x∗∥X∗=1=∥y∗∥Y∗ and satisfies x∗(y)=y∗(y),∀y∈Y. Then by (4) and (5),
∥x∗∥X∗=∥y∗∥Y∗=1
x∗(x0)=y∗(x0)=∥x0∥
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2
Let’s say X is a C-vector space and both Y⊂S are subspaces of X. If s∈S equals d(s,Y)=δ>0, then there exists a linear functional x∗∈X∗ satisfying the following.
∥x∗∥X∗≤1
y∗(s)=x∗(y)=y∗(s)=δ,s∈(S∖Y)y∗(y)=0,y∈Y
d(s,Y) represents the shortest distance between the point s and the set Y, namely d(s,Y):=y∈Yinf∥s−y∥.
naturally grants y∗ linearity. Now, to confirm that y∗ is a function, let’s assume y1+λ1s=y2+λ2s and suppose λ1=λ2, then since y1−y2=(λ2−λ2)s, it leads to s=λ2−λ11(y1−y2), and since Y is a vector space, it must be closed under addition, thus it must be s∈Y. However, this contradicts d(s,Y)>0, therefore it must be λ1=λ2,
y∗(y1+λ1s)=λ1δ=λ2δ=y∗(y2+λ1s)
thus, y∗ is well-defined as a function. For all y+λs∈S,
∣y∗(y+λs)∣====≤∣λδ∣∣λ∣d(s,Y)∣λ∣y∈Yinf∥s−y∥∥s−λy∥∥y+λs∥
therefore, y∗ is bounded, and especially ∥y∗∥≤1. Since y∗:S→C is a bounded linear function, and by the Hahn-Banach theorem, for all s∈S there exists a linear functional x∗∈X∗ that satisfies x∗(s)=y∗(s). Meanwhile, by substituting λ=0 in the definition of y∗, since y∗(y+0s)=0, for all y∈Y,
Since X is a vector space, a scalar multiplied by an element of X is also an element of X. Therefore, Y becomes a subset of X. To show that the subset Y is a subspace, it must be shown to be closed under addition and scalar multiplication. Let’s say y1=λ1x0∈Y, y2=λ2x0∈Y, and λ1,λ2,k∈R; and λ1+λ2=λ3∈R, kλ1=λ4∈R. Then,
y1+y2=λ1x0+λ2x0=λ3x0∈Y
ky1=k(λ1x0)=(kλ1)x0=λ4x0∈Y
Therefore, Y is a subspace of X.
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Robert A. Adams and John J. F. Foutnier, Sobolev Space (2nd Edition, 2003), p6 ↩︎