Distance to spaces of continuous functions (Q2499787)

The use of the interchangeable limit condition in weak compactness can be traced to the proof of the Eberlein theorem and appears explicitly in [\textit{A.\,Grothendieck}, Am.\ J.\ Math.\ 74, 168--186 (1952; Zbl 0046.11702)]. \textit{V.\,Pták} [Proc.\ Symp.\ Pure Math.\ VII, 437--450 (1963; Zbl 0144.16903)] gave a proof of the Krein--Shmulyan theorem using a combinatorial lemma that ensured that the property of interchanging limits with absolutely convex and \(w(E',E)\)-compact subsets of the dual of a locally convex space is preserved by passing to convex hulls. In [Rev.\ Mat.\ Iberoam.\ 21, 237--248 (2005; Zbl 1083.46012)], \textit{M.\,Fabian, P.\,Hájek, V.\,Zizler} and the reviewer proved a quantitative version of the Krein--Shmulyan theorem by modifying Pták's combinatorial lemma and relating the interchangeability of limits to distances from points in the bidual of a Banach space to the space; see, for a different approach, \textit{A.\,S.\thinspace Granero} [Rev.\ Mat.\ Iberoam.\ 22, No.\,1, 93--110 (2006; Zbl 1117.46002)], while \textit{A.\,S.\thinspace Granero, P.\,Hájek} and the reviewer [Math.\ Ann.\ 328, No.\,4, 625--631 (2004; Zbl 1059.46015)] showed that the estimates given there could not be improved. The present paper evolves from this material and shows a more topological (and more general) approach by linking oscillations of functions, the \(\varepsilon\)-interchanging limit property of sets, and distances to spaces of continuous functions. A sample: Let \(X\) be a paracompact space and let \(Z\) be a convex subset of a normed space \(E\). Then, for every bounded map \(f:X\rightarrow Z\), we have \((1/2)\text{osc}(f)\leq \text{dist}(f,C^*(X,Z))\leq \text{osc}(f)\), where \(C^*(X,Z)\) denotes the space of bounded continuous functions from \(X\) into \(Z\). Regarding convex hulls, the authors prove the following Theorem. Let \(Z\) be a compact convex subset of a normed space \(E\), let \(K\) be a set, and let \(H\) be a subspace of \(Z^K\). Then, for each \(\varepsilon\geq 0\), \(H\) \(\varepsilon\)-interchanges limits with \(K\) if and only if \(\text{conv}(H)\) \(\varepsilon\)-interchanges limits with \(K\). Distances to spaces of affine functions and accessibility by sequences to elements of closures of sets of functions that \(\varepsilon\)-interchange limits are also considered. The paper includes several examples proving that the estimates provided are sharp.