Characterizations of reflexivity and compactness via the strong Ekeland variational principle (Q844953)

The paper is concerned with Ekeland's variational principle (EkVP) [\textit{I.\,Ekeland}, J.~Math.\ Anal.\ Appl.\ 47, 324--353 (1974; Zbl 0286.49015)] and the strong Ekeland variational principle (SEkVP) of \textit{P.\,G.\thinspace Georgiev} [J.~Math.\ Anal.\ Appl.\ 131, No.\,1, 1--21 (1988; Zbl 0647.49009)]. The author proved in [J.~Math.\ Anal.\ Appl.\ 320, No.\,2, 787--794 (2006; Zbl 1099.49022)] that SEkVP holds for quasi-convex proper lsc functions defined on reflexive Banach spaces, as well as for proper lsc functions defined on compact metric spaces. In the paper under review, he shows that, if SEkVP holds for every quasi-convex proper lsc function defined on a Banach space \(X\), then \(X\) must be reflexive. Also, SEkVP holds for every proper lsc function defined on a metric space \(X\) iff \(X\) is boundedly compact, i.e., every closed bounded subset of \(X\) is compact. The case of \(\tau\)-metric spaces, defined and studied by the author in [J.~Math.\ Anal.\ Appl.\ 253, No.\,2, 440--458 (2001; Zbl 0983.54034)], is also considered. Notice that a similar converse result for the Stegall variational principle was proved by \textit{M.\,Fabian} and \textit{C.\,Finet} [Nonlinear Anal., Theory Methods Appl.\ 66, No.\,3\,(A), 565--570 (2007; Zbl 1117.46014)].