A characterization of subspaces and quotients of reflexive Banach spaces with unconditional bases (Q2475022)

The authors characterize precisely when a separable infinite-dimensional reflexive Banach space \(X\) embeds into a reflexive space with an unconditional basis. The equivalent condition is that \(X\) has the unconditional tree property (UTP). This means that every weakly null tree in the sphere of \(X\) admits an unconditional branch. Such a tree is a set \((x_\alpha)_{\alpha \in T_\infty}\) where \[ T_\infty = \{(n_1,\ldots,n_k) :k\in \mathbb N,\;n_1<\cdots < n_k {\text{ and }}\, n_{i}\in \mathbb N\}. \] A branch is a sequence \((x_{(n_1,\ldots,n_k)})_{k=1}^\infty\) where \(n_1 < n_2 < \cdots\). A key step in the argument is to show that for a reflexive \(X\) the (UTP) is preserved by duals or quotients. Theorem~2.18 provides a long list of equivalent conditions for a reflexive \(X\) to embed into a reflexive space with an unconditional basis, including \(X\) being a quotient of a space with a shrinking unconditional basis. An example is provided that shows that it is not enough to assume merely that every normalized weakly null sequence in \(X\) has an unconditional subsequence.