A non-reflexive Banach space with all contractions mean ergodic (Q607869): Difference between revisions

Recall that a linear operator \(T\) on a real or complex Banach space \(X\) is called mean ergodic if the limit \[ E(T)x:= \lim_{n \to \infty} \;\frac{1}{n} \sum_{k=1}^{n} T^{k} x \] exists for all \(x \in X\). Mean ergodicity was shown by von Neumann (1931) for unitary operators on Hilbert spaces, by Riesz (1937) for contractions on Hilbert spaces, and independently by Lorch (1939), Kakutani (1938) and Yosida (1938) for power-bounded operators on reflexive spaces. A natural question is whether reflexivity is necessary. In 2001, the authors of the paper under review proved that if every power-bounded operator on a Banach space with a basis is mean ergodic, then the space must be reflexive. On the other hand, in [\textit{L. Sucheston}, Lect. Notes Math. 526, 285--290 (1976; Zbl 0371.60037)], the following question was posed: If every contraction in a Banach space is mean ergodic, must the space be reflexive? The authors of the present paper construct on any quasi-reflexive of order 1 separable real Banach space an equivalent norm such that all contractions on the space and all contractions on its dual are mean ergodic, thus answering negatively Sucheston's above mentioned question.