Quotient space of vector spaces involving continuous functions.

quotient-spacesvector-spaces

I'm stuck on the follow question:

Let $\mathcal{C}([a,b],\mathbb{R})$ the vector space of the continuous functions $f:[a,b] \to \mathbb{R}$ and let $S$ the subspace of the constant functions of $[a,b]$. Show that the quotient space $\mathcal{C}([a,b],\mathbb{R})/S$ is isomorphic to $W$, where $W$ is the subspace of the continuous functions $g:[a,b] \to \mathbb{R}$ s.t $g(a)=0$.

Usually, this kind of questions is not so hard. I just need some sobrejective linear function $\phi: \mathcal{C}([a,b],\mathbb{R}) \to W$, where $\ker \phi = S$. However, I didn't see this function $\phi$, because this quotient space is kind different. I guess, it is no so intuitive, so do you have some hint for me?

Best Answer

For any $\;f\in \mathcal C(a,b]\;$, define the scalar $\;k(f,a):= f(a)\;$ , and then define

$$\phi: \mathcal C[a,b]\to W\;,\;\;\phi(f):= f(x)-k(f,a)$$

Check stuff...and there you go.

Related Question