Is the free locally convex space \(L(X)\) nuclear? (Q2094527)

In this outstanding paper, the authors study the question under which conditions of a Tychonoff space \(X\), the free locally convex space \(L(X)\) has certain properties. They prove that if \(L(X)\) is multi-Hilbert (i.e., it can be embedded into a product of Hilbert spaces), in particular, if \(L(X)\) is a nuclear space, then all compact subsets of \(X\) must be finite. Under the assumption that \(X\) is a \(k\)-space, the space \(L(X)\) is strongly nuclear iff it is nuclear iff it is multi-Hilbert iff \(X\) is countable and discrete. However, discreteness of \(X\) is not necessary: for every Lindelöf \(P\)-space, the free locally convex space \(L(X)\) is strongly nuclear, in particular nuclear. The authors prove that if \(X\) can be mapped continuously onto the unit interval, then \(L(X)\) is not multi-Hilbert. It is well known that the class of locally convex Schwartz spaces strictly contains the class of locally convex nuclear spaces. This is reflected in the case of free locally spaces: \(L(X)\) is a Schwartz space for every compact space \(X\). The authors show that every Schwartz space is multi-reflexive, which means that it can be embedded into a product of reflexive Banach spaces. For first countable paracompact spaces, the following equivalence is shown: \(X\) is locally compact and \(\sigma\)-compact iff \(L(X)\) is a Schwartz space iff \(L(X)\) is multi-reflexive. On the one hand, further sufficient conditions on \(X\) are provided such that \(L(X)\) is a Schwartz space, on the other hand, necessary conditions are established for \(L(X)\) being multi-reflexive. In the last section, the authors study the free abelian group \(A(X)\), which embeds into \(L(X)\). They prove that for a first countable paracompact space \(X\), the group \(A(X)\) is a Schwartz group if and only if \(X\) is a locally compact space and the set \(X^{(1)}\) of non-isolated points is \(\sigma\)-compact. In the last chapter, many interesting open questions are collected.