Geometric essence of ``compact'' operators on Hilbert \(C^\ast\)-modules (Q2304300)

For compact operators on a Hilbert space, there are two equivalent definitions: the operators that admit an approximation, in norm, by finite rank operators from the same class as the operators that map bounded sets to totally bounded sets. For operators on Hilbert \(C^*\)-modules, only the first definition was known, and it was unclear what an analog of a totally bounded set should be. The paper under review fills this gap, at least for countably generated Hilbert \(C^*\)-modules. The author introduces a uniform structure on Hilbert \(C^*\)-modules by a certain system of pseudometrics such that an operator maps bounded sets to totally bounded sets with respect to this uniform structure iff it is compact.