Hahn-Banach in dual space

functional-analysistopological-vector-spaces

Let $X$ be a Banach space. Let us take a subspace $V \subset X^*$ of the topological dual space and a linear functional
$\varphi \colon V \to \mathbb R$. We assume that $\varphi$ is continuous w.r.t. the weak-$*$ topology on $V$. Thus, it is continuous w.r.t. the strong topology, i.e., bounded. Hence, we can use

  • Hahn-Banach in the Banach space $X^*$ to obtain an extension $\varphi_1 \colon X^* \to \mathbb R$ with $\|\varphi_1\| = \|\varphi\|$. However, $\varphi_1$ might not be weak-$*$ continuous.
  • Hahn-Banach in the tvs $X^*$ equipped with the weak-$*$ topology to obtain an extension $\varphi_2 \colon X^* \to \mathbb R$ which is weak-$*$ continuous. However, $\|\varphi_2\| > \|\varphi\|$ might happen.

Is it possible to combine both approaches, i.e., does there exist an extension $\varphi_3 \colon X^* \to \mathbb R$ with $\|\varphi_3\| = \|\varphi\|$ and $\varphi_3$ is weak-$*$ continuous?

I doubt that this is always possible, but I do not have any counterexample.

Best Answer

Here is a simple counterexample. We choose $X = c_0$ (null sequences), thus $X^* = \ell^1$. We choose the subspace $$ V = \left\{ y \in \ell^1 \;\middle|\; \sum_{i=1}^\infty y(i) = 0\right\} $$ and $$\varphi(y) := y(1).$$

One can check that $$\|\varphi\| = \sup\{ \varphi(y) \;\mid\; y \in V, \|y\|\le1\}= 1/2.$$ Further, the sequence $e_1 \in X$ is the only weak-* continuous extension of $\varphi$, but $\|e_1\| = 1$.

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