On incomparability of Banach spaces (Q1081799)

We give a simpler proof of the well-known \textit{H. P. Rosenthal}'s characterization of totally incomparable Banach spaces [J. Funct. Anal. 4, 167-175 (1969; Zbl 0181.154)] and we introduce a dual concept of incomparability: Two Banach spaces are said to be totally coincomparable if they have no isomorphic quotients of infinite-dimension. A characterization of totally coincomparable Banach spaces is given, relations between the two concepts are studied, and some interesting consequences are presented.