Characterization of \(k\)-smooth operators between Banach spaces (Q2282789)

Let \(X\) be a real Banach space. A unit vector \(x\) is said to be a \(k\)-smooth point if \(\{x^\ast \in X^\ast: x^\ast(x)=1=\|x^\ast\|\}\) has exactly \(k\)-linearly independent vectors. This concept was initially studied in [\textit{R. Khalil} and \textit{A. Saleh}, Missouri J. Math. Sci. 17, No. 2, 76--87 (2005; Zbl 1085.46012)] and [\textit{B.-L. Lin} and \textit{T. S. S. R. K. Rao}, Int. J. Math. Math. Sci. 2007, Article ID 52382, 12 p. (2007; Zbl 1152.46302)]. In [loc. cit.] it was observed that in principle, extreme points, which are independent vectors, can be considered. An interesting question in operator theory is to relate the \(k\)-smoothness of an operator to point-wise \(m\)-smoothness, at points where the operator attains its norm. In this nice paper, the authors achieve this when \(X\) is a smooth, reflexive Banach space, \(Y\) is such that \({\mathcal K}(X,Y)\) is an \(M\)-ideal in \({\mathcal L}(X,Y)\). Suppose \(d(T,{\mathcal K}(X,Y)<1\). Suppose \(T\) attains its norm only at independent vectors, \(\{\pm x_i,\dots,\pm x_r\}\), assume further that the vectors are pair-wise orthogonal in the sense of Birkhoff and James. Theorem 2.2 states that \(T\) is \(k\)-smooth if and only if \(T(x_i)\) is \(m_i\)-smooth for \(1 \leq i \leq r\), \(m_1+\dots+m_r = k\).