Extremal mappings for the Schwarz lemma (Q1197458)

The authors investigate the connection between extremal mappings for the Schwarz Lemma and various geometrical properties of finite-dimensional Banach spaces, such as the Banach-Mazur distance and minimal volume ellipsoids. Of fundamental importance is the concept of a Banach space \(X\) having the unique invariant inner product property, which is defined as follows: An inner product \(\langle\cdot,\cdot\rangle\) on \(X\) is said to be invariant if \(\langle Sz,Sw\rangle= \langle z,w\rangle\) for every isometric isomorphism \(S: X\to X\) and all \(z,w\in X\). Next, \(X\) has the unique invariant inner product property (u.i.i.p.) if \(X\) has an invariant inner product which generates the topology of \(X\) and if all invariant inner products on \(X\) are multiples of one another. Theorem: If \(e(X)\) denotes the Banach-Mazur distance of \(X\) to Hilbert space, and if \(X\) is a finite-dimensional Banach space having a u.i.i.p., then \(e(X)^ 2= \sup_{\| x\|=1}\langle x,x\rangle/\inf_{\| x\|= 1}\langle x,x\rangle\). Let \(X= (X_ 1\oplus\cdots\oplus X_ n)_{\ell_ p}\), where each of the \(d_ j\)-dimensional Banach spaces \(X_ j\) has a u.i.i.p. Let \(2\leq p\leq\infty\) and \({1\over r}+ {2\over p}= 1\), and suppose that \(\langle\cdot,\cdot\rangle_ j\) is the smallest invariant inner product on \(X_ j\) which satisfies \(\| x_ j\|^ 2\leq \langle x_ j,x_ j\rangle_ j\) for all \(x_ j\in X_ j\). For a fixed \(n\)-tuple \((c_ 1,\dots,c_ n)\) of positive numbers, define an inner product on \(X\) by \(\langle \sum_ j x_ j,\sum_ j y_ j\rangle\equiv \sum_ j c_ j\langle x_ j,y_ j\rangle_ j\). Theorem: (1). If all \(c_ j= 1\), then the unit ball for this inner product is the maximal volume ellipsoid contained in \(B_ X\). (2). If \(c_ j=\Bigl({d_ j\over \sum_ k d_ k}\Bigr)^{{1\over r}} {1\over e(X_ j)^ 2}\) for all \(j\), then the unit ball for this inner product is the minimal volume ellipsoid containing \(B_ X\). (3). The only invariant inner product on \(X\) which satisfies \({1\over e(X)^ 2} \| x\|^ 2\leq \langle x.x\rangle\leq \| x\|^ 2\) for all \(x\in X\) is obtained by setting all \(c_ j= {1\over e(X)^ 2}\). A holomorphic mapping \(f: {\mathcal D}_ 1\to {\mathcal D}_ 2\) between bounded balanced domains in \(n\)-dimensional Banach spaces is said to be \(C\)- maximal if \(|\text{det } f'(0)|=\sup\{|\text{det }g'(0)|: g:{\mathcal D}_ 1\to {\mathcal D}_ 2\) holomorphic, \(g(0)= 0\}\). Also, the holomorphic Banach-Mazur distance \(d_ h({\mathcal D}_ 1,{\mathcal D}_ 2)\) is \(\inf\{\rho> 0\): there is a holomorphic embedding \(f: {\mathcal D}_ 1\to {\mathcal D}_ 2\) such that \(f(0)= 0\) and \({1\over \rho} {\mathcal D}_ 2\subset f({\mathcal D}_ 1)\subset {\mathcal D}_ 2\}\). A holomorphic embedding \(f: {\mathcal D}_ 1\to {\mathcal D}_ 2\) which satisfies the above set inclusion with \(\rho= d_ h({\mathcal D}_ 1,{\mathcal D}_ 2)\) is extremal. The authors show that in certain natural situations, \(C\)- maximal and extremal mappings are linear.