Almost isometric ideals and non-separable Gurariy spaces (Q1754582)

A subspace \(Y\) of a Banach space \(X\) is an ideal in \(X\) precisely when \(Y\) is locally \(1\)-complemented in \(X\). It is an almost isometric ideal (ai-ideal) if the local projections can be chosen to be almost isometries -- like in the principle of local reflexivity. A Banach space \(X\) is a Gurariy space if it is a space of almost universal disposition for finite dimensional spaces. \textit{W. Lusky} proved in [Arch. Math. 27, 627--635 (1976; Zbl 0338.46023)] that the separable Gurariy space \(G\) is unique. The main result is the following. A (non-separable) Banach space \(X\) is a Gurariy space if and only if every separable ai-ideal in \(X\) is isometric to \(G\). Similarly, \(X\) is an \(L_1\)-predual space if and only if every separable ideal in \(X\) is an \(L_1\)-predual space. The proof of these results uses the following theorem that the authors prove: Let \(M_n\) be an increasing family of subspaces of a Banach space \(X\) and let \(M\) be the closure of their union. Then, if each \(M_n\) is an (ai)-ideal in \(X\), so is \(M\). Hence, the family of separable (ai)-ideals in \(X\) is a skeleton.