Function spaces with extremal properties (Q2375989)

One of the main tools in the study of rearrangement invariant Banach function spaces is the so-called fundamental function. Given a rearrangement invariant Banach function space \(E\) -- also called symmetric Banach function space --, the notion of the fundamental function can be defined as follows. If \(e\) is a measurable subset of \([0,\infty]\), \(\varphi_E(t)\) for \(t \in [0,\infty)\) is defined as \[ \varphi_E(t)=\| k_e\|_E, \quad t= \mathrm{measure}(e), \] where \(k_e\) is the characteristic function of \(e\). In this paper, it is shown that for a particular set of easy fundamental functions, the value of \(\varphi_E\) determines the space \(E\), giving a complete characterization for the cases \(\varphi_1(t)=t\), \(\varphi_2(t)=\mathrm{sgn}(t)\), \(\varphi_3(t)=\max\{t, \mathrm{sgn}(t)\}\) and \(\varphi_4(t):=\min\{t,1\}\). Let \(E_a\) be the closure of the bounded compactly supported functions in \(E\). Concretely, Theorem 1 states (isometrically) that (i) if \(\varphi_E=\varphi_1\), then \(E=L_1\), (ii) if \(\varphi_E=\varphi_2\), then \(E=L_1\) or \(E=(L_\infty)_a\), (iii) if \(\varphi_E=\varphi_3\), then \(E=L_1 \cap L_\infty\), and (iv) if \(\varphi_E=\varphi_4\), then \(E=L_1+L_\infty\) or \(E=(L_1 \cap L_\infty)_a\). Theorem 2 gives a more abstract version of such a result. Let \(\mathcal R\) be the class of symmetric spaces which can be represented as \(E=E_1 \cap E_2\), where \(E_1\) and \(E_2\) are symmetric spaces and \(E \subsetneqq E_1, E_2\), and \(\mathcal M\) the set of symmetric spaces which can be represented in the form \(E=E_1 + E_2\), where \(E_1\) and \(E_2\) are symmetric spaces and \(E_1, E_2 \subsetneqq E\). Theorem 2 states that for a symmetric space \(E\) different from \(L_1,L_\infty, (L_\infty)_a, L_1 \cap L_\infty, L_1 + L_\infty\), and \((L_1 + L_\infty)_a\) we have that \(E \in \mathcal R \cap \mathcal M\), i.e., there exist symmetric spaces \(E_1,E_2,E_3\) and \(E_4\) such that \(E= E_1 \cap E_2=E_3 + E_4\), where \(E \subsetneqq E_1, E_2\) and \(E_3, E_4 \subsetneqq E\). More results are given for the particular cases of \(E\) being reflexive or uniformly convex (Theorem 3), or when \(E\) has a symmetric basis and is different from \(\ell_1, \ell_\infty\) and \(c_0\) (Theorem 4). No proofs are given.