Approximation numbers of operators on normed linear spaces (Q2655387)

From the authors' abstract: \textit{A.\,Böttcher, A.\,V.\thinspace Chithra} and \textit{M.\,N.\,N.\thinspace Namboodiri} [Integral Equations Oper.\ Theory 39, No.\,4, 387--395 (2001; Zbl 1021.47009)] showed that, if \(T\) is a bounded linear operator on a separable Hilbert space \(H\), \(\{e_j\}^\infty_{j=1}\) is an orthonormal basis of \(H\), and \(P_n\) is the orthogonal projection onto the span of \(\{e_j\}^n_{j=1}\), then, for each \(k\in\mathbb{N}\), the sequence \(\{s_k(P_nTP_n)\}\) converges to \(s_k(T)\), where for a bounded operator \(A\) on \(H\), \(s_k(A)\) denotes the \(k\)th approximation number of \(A\), that is, \(s_k(A)\) is the distance from \(A\) to the set of all bounded linear operators of rank at most \(k- 1\). In this paper, we extend the above result to more general cases. In particular, we prove that, if \(T\) is a bounded linear operator from a separable normed linear space \(X\) to a reflexive Banach space \(Y\) and if \(P_n\) and \(Q_n\) are sequences of bounded linear operators on \(X\) and \(Y\), respectively, such that \(\| P_n\|\, \| Q_n\|\leq 1\) for all \(n\in\mathbb{N}\) and \(Q_nTP_n\) converges to \(T\) under the weak operator topology, then \(\{s_k(Q_nTP_n)\}\) converges to \(s_k(T)\). We also obtain a similar result for the case of any normed linear space \(Y\) which is the dual of some separable normed linear space. For compact operators, we give this convergence of \(s_k(Q_nTP_n)\) to \(s_k(T)\) with separability assumptions on \(X\) and the dual of \(Y\). Counterexamples are given to show that the results do not hold if additional assumptions on the space \(Y\) are removed. Under separability assumptions on \(X\) and \(Y\), we also show that if there exist sequences of bounded linear operators \(P_n\) and \(Q_n\) on \(X\) and \(Y\), respectively, such that (i) \(Q_nTP_n\) is compact, (ii) \(\| P_n\|\,\| Q_n\|\leq 1\), and (iii) \(\{Q_nTP_n\}\) converges to \(T\) in the weak operator topology, then \(\{s_k(Q_nTP_n)\}\) converges to \(s_k(T)\) if and only if \(s_k(T)= s_k(T')\).