An overview of semi-continuity results on the spectral radius and positivity (Q2473867)

The following result on spectral properties of operators is proved, based on the strong Krein--Rutman theorem. Theorem. Let \(E\) be a real or complex Banach space, let \(L(E)\) be the space of linear operators on \(E\), and let \(K(E) \subset L(E)\) be the subspace of compact linear operators. Then (a) the spectral radius is an upper semicontinuous mapping on \(L(E)\) and continuous on \(K(E)\); (b) the spectral radius is, in general, not a lower semicontinuous mapping on \(L(E)\). An application of this theorem to the spectral properties of quasinilpotent operators is given.