A new metric yielding a richer class of unbounded functions having compact hulls in the shift flow (Q2025677)

The author considers flows of the form \(T:X\times \mathcal F \rightarrow X\), where \(\mathcal F=\mathbb R, \mathbb Z\), (\(\mathbb R^{+},\mathbb Z^{+}\)) and \(X\) is a function space. In particular, the flows define the shift map \(\sigma(f,\tau)=f_\tau\) where \(f_\tau(t)=f(t+\tau)\). In this setting, a task is to understand when the hull defined by \(H(f)=\overline{\bigcup\limits_{\tau\in \mathbb R}f_\tau}\) is a compact set. First, the function spaces are defined: the continuous functions on \(\mathbb R\) with the topology of uniform convergence on compact subsets of \(\mathbb R\), the space \(L^p_{\mathrm{loc}}(\mathbb R)\) with the \(L^p_{\mathrm{loc}}(\mathbb R)\) topology, and the non metrizable space \(L^\infty_{\mathrm{loc}}(\mathbb R)\) with an induced weak\(^*\) topology. It turns out however, that certain functions giving rise to non-compact hulls in the ``usual'' metrics actually have compact hulls in a different metric space. In this paper, the author introduces a new metric (e.g., for unbounded rapidly oscillatory functions) and shows that hulls are compact in the shift flow. This extends a series of results results obtained in the 1970's by the author and \textit{G. R. Sell} [Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 79, 802--805 (1973; Zbl 0265.54044); J. Differ. Equations 15, 429--458 (1974; Zbl 0294.58008); J. Differ. Equations 22, 478--496 (1976; Zbl 0339.58013); J. Differ. Equations 22, 497--522 (1976; Zbl 0338.58016); Lifting properties in skew-product flows with applications to differential equations. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS) (1977; Zbl 0374.34031); J. Differ. Equations 27, 320--358 (1978; Zbl 0372.34027); J. Differ. Equations 113, No. 1, 17--67 (1994; Zbl 0815.34049)]. This new metric gives rise to rather strange convergence properties. For example, it is shown that there exists a sequence of real-valued functions defined on \([0, 2\pi]\) that converge to zero in the new metric but the absolute values diverge to infinity almost everywhere.