Operator differentiable functions (Q5915403)

For a given compact interval \(I\) the author studies the subset \(C_{op}^1(I)\subset C(I)\) consisting of continuous functions for which \(T\mapsto f(T)\) is Fréchet differentiable on the set of bounded self-adjoint Hilbert space operators with spectrum contained in \(I\). It turns out that \[ C^2(I)\subset C_{op}^1(I)\subset C^1(I), \] and that \(C_{op}^1(I)\) is a Banach space with respect to the norm \(\|f\|_d=\|f\|_\infty+\sup\{\|df_T\|\mid T=T^\ast,~\text{ sp}(T)\subset I\}\). The inclusions are strict but dense in the respective norms. Here \(df_T\) denotes the total derivative of \(f\) at \(T\) which in special cases can be expressed by an explicit integral formula.