The distance to the functions with range in a given set in Banach spaces of vector-valued continuous functions (Q2575615)

For a compact (not necessarily Hausdorff) topological space \(\Omega\) and a Banach space \(X\), denote by \(C(\Omega,X)\) the Banach space of all continuous functions \(f:\Omega\to X\) with the norm \(\| f\| =\max\{\| f(t)\| :t\in \Omega\}.\) The relation \(t\sim s \iff f(t)=f(s)\) for all \(f\in C(\Omega)\) is an equivalence relation on \(\Omega,\) the quotient space \(\Omega/_{\sim}\) is compact Hausdorff and the spaces \(C(\Omega,X)\) and \(C(\Omega/_{\sim},X)\) are isometrically isomorphic. If \(S\) is a nonempty subset of \(X\), let \(d^S_f(t)=d_X(f(t),S)\) for \( t\in \Omega \) and \(f\in C(\Omega,X).\) Let also \(C(\Omega,S)\) denote the set of all \(f\in C(\Omega,X)\) with range in \(S.\) The main result of the paper asserts that \(d^S_f\) belongs to \(C(\Omega)\) and \(d(f,C(\Omega,S))\geq \| d^S_f\| _{C(\Omega)}, \) with equality when the space \(\Omega/_{\sim}\) is totally disconnected or the set \(S\) is convex. It is shown by some examples that if \(\Omega/_{\sim}\) is not totally disconnected, then there exists a subset \(S\) of \(X\) such that the above inequality is strict. The obtained results extend to the vector case some results of \textit{R. C. Buck} [Pac. J. Math. 53, 85--94 (1974; Zbl 0258.41023)] and \textit{C. Franchetti} and \textit{E. W. Cheney} [Boll. Unione Mat. Ital., V. Ser., B 18, 1003--1015 (1981; Zbl 0485.41025)]. The case of the space \(L_p(\mu,X)\) of Bochner integrable vector functions was considered in another paper of the author [Numer. Funct. Anal. Optimization 26, No. 6, 641--658 (2005; Zbl 1097.46021)].