Geometry of spaces of polynomials (Q1269095)

Some geometric properties of the unit ball of \({\mathcal P}(^nX)\), the Banach space of all \(n\)-homogeneous polynomials on a Banach space \(X\) are investigated. In particular, the rotundity and smoothness of \({\mathcal P}(^nX)\) and of its predual \(\widehat\otimes^n_{s,\pi}X\) are studied. In many cases, \({\mathcal P}(^nX)\) is neither rotund (if \(n\geq 2\) and \(X\) a dual Banach space of dimension \(\geq 2\)) nor smooth (if \(X\) is a finite-dimensional real Banach space). As a result of its own interest it is shown that \(\{\pm x^n:\| x\|= 1\}\) is the set of all exposed points of the unit ball of \(\widehat\otimes^n_{s,\pi}X\). Another useful tool is an inequality relating the product of the norms of linear functionals with the norm of the product of these functionals.