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In functional analysis and related areas of mathematics, a continuous linear operator or continuous linear mapping is a continuous linear transformation between topological vector spaces.
An operator between two normed spaces is a bounded linear operator if and only if it is a continuous linear operator.
Suppose that is a linear operator between two topological vector spaces (TVSs). The following are equivalent:
If is locally convex then this list may be extended to include:
If and are both Hausdorff locally convex spaces then this list may be extended to include:
If is a sequential space (such as a pseudometrizable space) then this list may be extended to include:
If is pseudometrizable or metrizable (such as a normed or Banach space) then we may add to this list:
If is seminormable space (such as a normed space) then this list may be extended to include:
If and are both normed or seminormed spaces (with both seminorms denoted by ) then this list may be extended to include:
If and are Hausdorff locally convex spaces with finite-dimensional then this list may be extended to include:
Throughout, is a linear map between topological vector spaces (TVSs).
Bounded subset
The notion of a "bounded set" for a topological vector space is that of being a von Neumann bounded set. If the space happens to also be a normed space (or a seminormed space) then a subset is von Neumann bounded if and only if it is norm bounded, meaning that A subset of a normed (or seminormed) space is called bounded if it is norm-bounded (or equivalently, von Neumann bounded). For example, the scalar field ( or ) with the absolute value is a normed space, so a subset is bounded if and only if is finite, which happens if and only if is contained in some open (or closed) ball centered at the origin (zero).
Any translation, scalar multiple, and subset of a bounded set is again bounded.
Function bounded on a set
If is a set then is said to be bounded on if is a bounded subset of which if is a normed (or seminormed) space happens if and only if A linear map is bounded on a set if and only if it is bounded on for every (because and any translation of a bounded set is again bounded) if and only if it is bounded on for every non-zero scalar (because and any scalar multiple of a bounded set is again bounded). Consequently, if is a normed or seminormed space, then a linear map is bounded on some (equivalently, on every) non-degenerate open or closed ball (not necessarily centered at the origin, and of any radius) if and only if it is bounded on the closed unit ball centered at the origin
Bounded linear maps
By definition, a linear map between TVSs is said to be bounded and is called a bounded linear operator if for every (von Neumann) bounded subset of its domain, is a bounded subset of it codomain; or said more briefly, if it is bounded on every bounded subset of its domain. When the domain is a normed (or seminormed) space then it suffices to check this condition for the open or closed unit ball centered at the origin. Explicitly, if denotes this ball then is a bounded linear operator if and only if is a bounded subset of if is also a (semi)normed space then this happens if and only if the operator norm is finite. Every sequentially continuous linear operator is bounded.[5]
Function bounded on a neighborhood and local boundedness
In contrast, a map is said to be bounded on a neighborhood of a point or locally bounded at if there exists a neighborhood of this point in such that is a bounded subset of It is "bounded on a neighborhood" (of some point) if there exists some point in its domain at which it is locally bounded, in which case this linear map is necessarily locally bounded at every point of its domain. The term "locally bounded" is sometimes used to refer to a map that is locally bounded at every point of its domain, but some functional analysis authors define "locally bounded" to instead be a synonym of "bounded linear operator", which are related but not equivalent concepts. For this reason, this article will avoid the term "locally bounded" and instead say "locally bounded at every point" (there is no disagreement about the definition of "locally bounded at a point").
A linear map is "bounded on a neighborhood" (of some point) if and only if it is locally bounded at every point of its domain, in which case it is necessarily continuous[2] (even if its domain is not a normed space) and thus also bounded (because a continuous linear operator is always a bounded linear operator).[6]
For any linear map, if it is bounded on a neighborhood then it is continuous,[2][7] and if it is continuous then it is bounded.[6] The converse statements are not true in general but they are both true when the linear map's domain is a normed space. Examples and additional details are now given below.
The next example shows that it is possible for a linear map to be continuous (and thus also bounded) but not bounded on any neighborhood. In particular, it demonstrates that being "bounded on a neighborhood" is not always synonymous with being "bounded".
Example: A continuous and bounded linear map that is not bounded on any neighborhood: If is the identity map on some locally convex topological vector space then this linear map is always continuous (indeed, even a TVS-isomorphism) and bounded, but is bounded on a neighborhood if and only if there exists a bounded neighborhood of the origin in which is equivalent to being a seminormable space (which if is Hausdorff, is the same as being a normable space). This shows that it is possible for a linear map to be continuous but not bounded on any neighborhood. Indeed, this example shows that every locally convex space that is not seminormable has a linear TVS-automorphism that is not bounded on any neighborhood of any point. Thus although every linear map that is bounded on a neighborhood is necessarily continuous, the converse is not guaranteed in general.
To summarize the discussion below, for a linear map on a normed (or seminormed) space, being continuous, being bounded, and being bounded on a neighborhood are all equivalent. A linear map whose domain or codomain is normable (or seminormable) is continuous if and only if it bounded on a neighborhood. And a bounded linear operator valued in a locally convex space will be continuous if its domain is (pseudo)metrizable[2] or bornological.[6]
Guaranteeing that "continuous" implies "bounded on a neighborhood"
A TVS is said to be locally bounded if there exists a neighborhood that is also a bounded set.[8] For example, every normed or seminormed space is a locally bounded TVS since the unit ball centered at the origin is a bounded neighborhood of the origin. If is a bounded neighborhood of the origin in a (locally bounded) TVS then its image under any continuous linear map will be a bounded set (so this map is thus bounded on this neighborhood ). Consequently, a linear map from a locally bounded TVS into any other TVS is continuous if and only if it is bounded on a neighborhood. Moreover, any TVS with this property must be a locally bounded TVS. Explicitly, if is a TVS such that every continuous linear map (into any TVS) whose domain is is necessarily bounded on a neighborhood, then must be a locally bounded TVS (because the identity function is always a continuous linear map).
Any linear map from a TVS into a locally bounded TVS (such as any linear functional) is continuous if and only if it is bounded on a neighborhood.[8] Conversely, if is a TVS such that every continuous linear map (from any TVS) with codomain is necessarily bounded on a neighborhood, then must be a locally bounded TVS.[8] In particular, a linear functional on a arbitrary TVS is continuous if and only if it is bounded on a neighborhood.[8]
Thus when the domain or the codomain of a linear map is normable or seminormable, then continuity will be equivalent to being bounded on a neighborhood.
Guaranteeing that "bounded" implies "continuous"
A continuous linear operator is always a bounded linear operator.[6] But importantly, in the most general setting of a linear operator between arbitrary topological vector spaces, it is possible for a linear operator to be bounded but to not be continuous.
A linear map whose domain is pseudometrizable (such as any normed space) is bounded if and only if it is continuous.[2] The same is true of a linear map from a bornological space into a locally convex space.[6]
Guaranteeing that "bounded" implies "bounded on a neighborhood"
In general, without additional information about either the linear map or its domain or codomain, the map being "bounded" is not equivalent to it being "bounded on a neighborhood". If is a bounded linear operator from a normed space into some TVS then is necessarily continuous; this is because any open ball centered at the origin in is both a bounded subset (which implies that is bounded since is a bounded linear map) and a neighborhood of the origin in so that is thus bounded on this neighborhood of the origin, which (as mentioned above) guarantees continuity.
Every linear functional on a topological vector space (TVS) is a linear operator so all of the properties described above for continuous linear operators apply to them. However, because of their specialized nature, we can say even more about continuous linear functionals than we can about more general continuous linear operators.
Let be a topological vector space (TVS) over the field ( need not be Hausdorff or locally convex) and let be a linear functional on The following are equivalent:[1]
If and are complex vector spaces then this list may be extended to include:
If the domain is a sequential space then this list may be extended to include:
If the domain is metrizable or pseudometrizable (for example, a Fréchet space or a normed space) then this list may be extended to include:
If the domain is a bornological space (for example, a pseudometrizable TVS) and is locally convex then this list may be extended to include:
and if in addition is a vector space over the real numbers (which in particular, implies that is real-valued) then this list may be extended to include:
If is complex then either all three of and are continuous (respectively, bounded), or else all three are discontinuous (respectively, unbounded).
Every linear map whose domain is a finite-dimensional Hausdorff topological vector space (TVS) is continuous. This is not true if the finite-dimensional TVS is not Hausdorff.
Every (constant) map between TVS that is identically equal to zero is a linear map that is continuous, bounded, and bounded on the neighborhood of the origin. In particular, every TVS has a non-empty continuous dual space (although it is possible for the constant zero map to be its only continuous linear functional).
Suppose is any Hausdorff TVS. Then every linear functional on is necessarily continuous if and only if every vector subspace of is closed.[12] Every linear functional on is necessarily a bounded linear functional if and only if every bounded subset of is contained in a finite-dimensional vector subspace.[13]
A locally convex metrizable topological vector space is normable if and only if every bounded linear functional on it is continuous.
A continuous linear operator maps bounded sets into bounded sets.
The proof uses the facts that the translation of an open set in a linear topological space is again an open set, and the equality for any subset of and any which is true due to the additivity of
If is a complex normed space and is a linear functional on then [14] (where in particular, one side is infinite if and only if the other side is infinite).
Every non-trivial continuous linear functional on a TVS is an open map.[1] If is a linear functional on a real vector space and if is a seminorm on then if and only if [1]
If is a linear functional and is a non-empty subset, then by defining the sets the supremum can be written more succinctly as because If is a scalar then so that if is a real number and is the closed ball of radius centered at the origin then the following are equivalent:
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