Daugavet property in projective symmetric tensor products of Banach spaces (Q2137905)

Recall that a Banach space \(X\) is an \(L_1\)-predual if the dual \(X^*\) is isometric to an \(L_1\)-space. The main result of this paper is that if \(N\) is a natural number, then the \(N\)-fold projective symmetric tensor product of \(X\) has the Daugavet property in the following cases: when \(X\) is an \(L_1\)-predual with the Daugavet property, and when \(X = L_1(\mu,Y)\), for an atomless \(\sigma\)-finite positive measure \(\mu\) and a non-zero Banach space \(Y\). The road to the proof of the main result is filled with a number of interesting results and properties. Localizing the Daugavet property one says that a norm one element \(x \in X\) is a Daugavet point if the Daugavet equation \(\|I + T\| = 1 + \|T\|\) is satisfied for every operator of the form \(T = x^* \otimes x\), \(x^* \in X^*\). Related to this we have that \(x\) is a \(\Delta\)-point if \(\|I - P\| \ge 2\) for all \(P = x^* \otimes x\) where \(x^*(x) = 1\), \(x^* \in X^*\). Every Daugavet-point is a \(\Delta\)-point and in \(L_1\)-preduals \(\Delta\)-points and Daugavet-points are the same. The authors give a characterization of Daugavet points in \(L_1\)-preduals, extending known characterizations. Using, among other things, this characterization, it is shown that a real Banach space which is (GM)-polyhedral does not have \(\Delta\)-points. In particular, if \(X\) is a real \(L_1\)-predual, then \(X\) is (GM)-polyhedral if and only if the set of \(\Delta\)-points is empty. The authors also show that \(L_1\)-preduals and Lip\(_0(M)\) spaces, where \(M\) pointed complete metric space, with the Daugavet property has the polynomial Daugavet property (that is, the Daugavet equation holds also for weakly compact polynomials). \textit{A. Rueda Zoca} et al. [J. Inst. Math. Jussieu 20, No. 4, 1409--1428 (2021; Zbl 1481.46007)] introduced the operator version of the Daugavet property and showed that if both \(X\) and \(Y\) have this property, then the projective tensor product \(X \hat{\otimes}_\pi Y\) has the Daugavet property. A weak version of the operator Daugavet property is introduced and it is shown that the same conclusion holds for this property. The polynomial weak operator Daugavet property is also introduced. It is shown that \(L_1\)-preduals and \(L_1(\mu,Y)\) spaces with the Daugavet property also satisfy this property, and that this property passes to the projective symmetric tensor product. All these operator versions of the Daugavet property imply the ordinary Daugavet property.