The linearity coefficient of metric projections onto a Chebyshev subspace (Q1033908)

For a subspace (always closed) \(Y\) of a Banach space \(X\), denote by \(P_Y\) the metric projection operator \(P_Y(x)=\{y\in Y : \|x-y\|=\rho(x,Y)\}\). The subspace \(Y\) is called Chebyshev if \(P_Y(x)\) contains exactly one element for each \(x\in X\). The quasiorthogonal set to \(Y\) is defined by \(Q(Y)=\{q\in X : 0\in P_Y(x)\} =\{q\in X : \exists f\in Y^\perp\), \(f\neq 0,\; f(q)=\|f\|\,\|q\|\},\) where \(Y^\perp=\{f\in X^* : f(Y)=\{0\}\}\). This quasiorthogonal set is related to the approximation properties of the subspace \(Y\): \(Y\) is Chebyshev iff (1) \(Q(Y)+Y=X \) and (2) \(P_Y(q)=0\) for every \(q\in Q(Y)\). Moreover, \(P_Y\) is linear iff, further, \(Q(Y)\) is a subspace of \(X\). The linearity of the metric projection onto Chebyshev subspaces of the spaces \(C\) and \(L_1\) was studied by the author in [Math.\ Notes 63, No.\,6, 717--723 (1998); translation from Mat.\ Zametki 63, No.\,6, 812--820 (1998; Zbl 0917.41018)]. The present paper is concerned with the properties of the linearity coefficient \(\lambda(Y),\) defined for a Chebyshev subspace \(Y\) of \(X\) by \(\lambda(Y)=\inf \{\rho(q_1+q_2,Y)/\|q_1+q_2\| : q_1,q_2\in Q(Y), \, q_1+q_2\neq 0\},\) a quantity closely related to the approximation properties of the subspace \(Y\). For instance: (1)\; \(0\leq\lambda(Y)\leq 1\) and \(\lambda(Y)=1\) iff \(P_Y\) is linear; (2)\; if \(P_Y\) is \(k\)-Lipschitz, then \(\lambda(Y)\geq 1/(k+1),\) and conversely, if \(\lambda(Y)>0,\) then \(P_Y\) is \(k\)-Lipschitz with \(k=\big(\lambda(Y)\big)^{-1}+1\); (3)\; \(\lambda(Y) =0\) iff the operator \(P_Y\) is not Lipschitz; (4)\; if \(P_Y\) is discontinuous, then \(\lambda(Y) =0,\) but the converse is not true (Theorem 1). In Theorem 2, it is shown that if each closed subspace of \(X\) is Chebyshev with \(\lambda(Y)>0,\) then \(X\) is isomorphic to a Hilbert space. In Sections 3 and 4, the behavior of \(\lambda(Y) \) in the spaces \(C(K)\), respectively \(L_1(M,\Sigma,\mu),\) is studied.