The smooth drop theorem (Q1912637)

Let \(B_X\) be the closed ball in the Banach space \((X, |\cdot|)\). For \(x \in X\setminus B_X,\) let \(D(x, B_X)\) be the drop generated by \(x\), i.e., \(D(x, B_X) = \text{conv}(\{x\} \cup B_X)\). \textit{J. Daneš} [Boll. Unione Mat. Ital., IV. Ser. 6, 369-375 (1972; Zbl 0236.47053)] has proved that for a closed set \(S\) with \(\text{dist}(S, B_X) > 0\) there exists \(s \in S\) such that \(D(s, B_X) \cap S = \{s\} \). The author gives a smooth variant of this theorem. Defining a smooth Banach space and a smooth drop in a certain sense he obtains the following theorem: Let \(X\) be a smooth Banach space, let \(S\) be as above and let \(x_1 \in S\). Then there exists a smooth drop \(D\) such that \(D \subseteq B(0, |x_1|)\) and \(D \cap S = \{a\}\). As an application one obtains a smooth variant of a theorem of Browder.