Generalized strong boundary points and boundaries of families of continuous functions (Q1758617)

Let \(X\) be a locally compact Hausdorff space and let \(\mathcal{A}\) be a family of continuous functions on \(X\). A boundary for \(\mathcal{A}\) is a subset \(B\subset X\) such that every \(f\in\mathcal{A}\) attains its maximum modulus on \(B\). The concept of strong boundary points are generalized for families of functions and it is shown that the collection of these generalized strong boundary points is a boundary for \(\mathcal{A}\). Conditions under which all boundaries for \(\mathcal{A}\) consist of generalized strong boundary points and under which these points coincide with classical strong boundary points are given. In particular, when \(\mathcal{A}\) has sufficient algebraic structure, it is shown that this construction provides a unique boundary for \(\mathcal{A}\). This approach provides an alternative technique for proving the existence of the Choquet and Shilov boundaries in certain function algebras.