The extension of \(p\)-adic compact operators. (Q1414938)

Let \(X\) be a locally convex space over a non-Archimedean valued field \(K\). The space \(X\) possesses the compact extension property (CEP) if, for any locally convex spaces \(Z\supset Y\) over \(K\), every compact operator \(T:\;Y\to X\) has an extension to a compact operator \(\overline{T}:\;Z\to X\). The authors show that if \(K\) is not spherically complete, then there are no non-trivial locally convex spaces with the CEP. If \(K\) is spherically complete, then there exist large classes of spaces with the CEP (in particular, all Banach spaces) and spaces without the CEP. These results (which are completely different from their Archimedean counterparts) are used for obtaining new characterizations of spherically complete fields and fields with discrete valuations in terms of properties of topological vector spaces over them.