Convergence of Pólya algorithm and continuous metric selections in space of continuous functions (Q1890562)

\(T\) is a locally compact Hausdorff space, \(C_0(T)\) is the Banach space (with respect to the uniform norm) of those real continuous functions on \(T\) which vanish at infinity, and \(G\) is a finite-dimensional subspace of \(C_0(T)\). If \(f\in C_0(T)\) then \(d(f,G)=\inf\{|f-g|: g\in G\}\) is the distance of \(f\) from \(G\) and \(\Pi_G(f)= \{g\in G:|f-g|= d(f,G)\}\) is the set of best approximations to \(f\) from \(G\). The set valued mapping \(\Pi_G\) is the metric projection of \(C_0(T)\) onto \(G\). The existence of continuous selections for metric projections is a much studied question. Suppose that there exists a positive finite Borel measure \(\mu\) on \(T\) whose support is \(T\). Then there are strictly convex \(L^p\)-norms on \(C_0(T)\): \[ |f|_p= \biggl( \int_T|f(t)|^p d\mu(t)\biggr)^{1/p} \] for \(1<p<\infty\), and these norms approximate the uniform norm in the sense that \(|f|= \lim_{n\to\infty}|f|_p\). Let \(\Pi^p_G(f)\) be the (necessarily) unique best \(L^p\)-approximation to \(f\) from \(G\). If \(g\) is an accumulation point of \(\Pi^p_G(f)\) as \(p\to\infty\) then \(g\in \Pi_G(f)\). This process of identifying best uniform approximations to \(f\) from \(G\) is known as the Pólya algorithm. If the Pólya algorithm converges, that is if \(\lim_{p\to\infty} \Pi^p_G(f)\) exists for each \(f\in C_0(T)\), then it defines a selection for \(\Pi_G\). It is said that the Pólya algorithm converges stably if \(\lim_{p\to\infty, h\to f} \Pi^p_G(h)\) exists for each \(f\in C_0(T)\). The paper is devoted to showing that there exists a continuous selection for \(\Pi_G\) if and only if the Pólya algorithm for \(G\) converges stably, and that the resulting continuous selection is independent of the choice of the measure \(\mu\). Incidentally the paper offers, with a justification, as generalization of Rice's notion of strict best approximations in the spaces \(l^\infty (n)\), the definition \(\text{sba}(f)= \lim_{p\to\infty} \Pi^p_G(f)\) in case the Pólya algorithm converges.