The diameter of the isomorphism class of a Banach space (Q816328): Difference between revisions

For a Banach space \(X\), let \(D(X)\) denote the diameter of the isomorphism class of \(X\) with respect to the Banach-Mazur distance; i.e., \[ D(X)= \sup\{ d(X_1,X_2): X_1 \simeq X_2 \simeq X\}. \] The main theorem, confirming a long standing conjecture, is that \(D(X)=\infty\) for every infinite-dimensional separable Banach space. To prove their theorem the authors introduce and study the notion of a \(K\)-elastic Banach space, meaning a space \(X\) with the property that whenever some space \(Y\) embeds into \(X\), it actually \(K\)-embeds, i.e., there is an isomorphism \(T\) from \(Y\) into \(X\) such that \(\| y\| \leq \| Ty\| \leq K\| y\| \) for all~\(y\). The decisive result on \(K\)-elastic spaces is (Theorem~1): If, for some \(K\), a separable space and all its isomorphs are \(K\)-elastic, then \(X\) is finite-dimensional. (This immediately implies the main theorem.) Theorem~1 in turn is derived from Theorem~7 saying that a \(K\)-elastic separable infinite-dimensional space contains~\(c_0\). The delicate proofs use Bourgain's index theory and spreading models. In the final section the authors comment on open problems such as the structure of elastic spaces and the nonseparable or Lipschitz versions of their results.