Weak\(^*\) locally uniformly rotund norms and descriptive compact spaces (Q1869038)

A family \((H_i)\), \(i \in I\), of subsets of a topological space \(Z\) is called isolated if each \(H_i\) is disjoint with the closure of the union of all \(H_j\) for \(j \neq i\). If \(I\) is the union of a countable collection \((I_n)\) such that every family \((H_i : i \in I_n)\) is isolated, then the family \((H_i : i \in I)\) is said to be \(\sigma\)-isolated. A family \(\mathcal N \) of subsets of \(Z\) is a network if every open set is a union of members of \(\mathcal N\). A compact space is defined to be descriptive if its topology has a \(\sigma\)-isolated network. The main result of the paper under review is: Let \(X\) be a Banach space and let \(K\) be a compact space. Then the following assertions are true: (1) \(X^*\) has an equivalent \(W^*LUR\) norm iff \(B_{X^*}\) is descriptive. (2) Suppose \(B_{X^*}\) is descriptive. For every Asplund subset \(M \subset X,\) there is an \(M\)-differentiable equivalent norm on \(X\) such that the dual norm is \(W^*\)LUR. (3) \(K\) is descriptive iff \(C(K)^*\) has an equivalent \(W^*\)LUR norm. It follows from this interesting result that the existence of an equivalent \(W^*\)LUR norm on a dual Banach space is a nonlinear topological property. Some well-known results about Gâteaux or Fréchet renormability of certain classes of Banach spaces follow as corollaries.