Asymptotically convex Banach spaces and the index of rotundity problem (Q2915797)

The notion of asymptotically convex Banach spaces is introduced and some applications to the approximation hyperplane series property are given. Let \(X\) be a real or complex Banach space, \(Y\) be a closed subspace of \(X\) and \(\varepsilon\in (0,1]\), \(\delta\in [0,1)\). \(X\) is said to be \((\varepsilon,\delta)\)-asymptotically convex in the direction of \(Y\) if, for every non-trivial segment \([x_1,x_2]\subset S_X\backslash S_Y\) (where \(S_X\) is the unit sphere of \(X\)), there holds \(\operatorname{dist}([x_1,x_2],Y)\geq\varepsilon\) and \(\text{dist}(x_1-x_2,Y)\leq\delta\|x_1-x_2\|\). It is first proved that, if \(Y\) and \(Z\) are Banach spaces and \(Z\) is rotund, then the space \(X:=Y\times Z\), endowed with the norm NEWLINE\[NEWLINE\|(y,z)\|:=\begin{cases} \frac{\|y\|^2+\|z\|^2}{2\|y\|} & \text{if }\;\|z\|<\|y\|, \\ \|z\| & \text{if }\;\|y\|\leq \|z\|, \end{cases}NEWLINE\]NEWLINE where \(y\in Y\) and \(z\in Z\), is a Banach space that is \((1,0)\)-asymptotically convex in the direction of \(Y\times\{0\}\). If \(X\) is a real or complex Banach space, its index of rotundity is defined as NEWLINE\[NEWLINE\xi_X:=\sup\{\text{diam}(C): C\subset S_X \text{ is convex}\}.NEWLINE\]NEWLINE The next two results (Theorem 3.1 and Corollary 3.2) of the paper show that a certain type of asymptotically convex Banach spaces can be renormed in order to decrease the index of rotundity as much as desired. At the end of the paper (Chapter 4), some applications of the results obtained in this paper to the approximative hyperplane series property are given.