Commutativity and norms of specific operators (Problem 2.7.10 in Kreyszig's functional analysis book)

895 Views Asked by At

This is Problem 2.7.10 from Erwin Kreyszig's Introductory Functional Analysis with Applications.

Let $C[0,1]$ denote the normed space of all (real- or complex-valued) functions defined and continuous on the closed unit interval $[0,1]$ of the real line $\mathbb{R}$, with the norm defined by

$$\Vert x \Vert \colon= \max_{t\in[0,1]} \vert x(t) \vert \, \, \forall x \in C[0,1]. $$

Let $S \colon C[0,1] \to C[0,1]$ and $T \colon C[0,1] \to C[0,1]$ be defined as follows: $$Sx(s) \colon= s \int_0^1 x(t) \, dt,$$ and $$ Tx(s) \colon= s \cdot x(s) $$ for all $x \in C[0,1]$.

Do $S$ and $T$ commute?

Find $\Vert S \Vert$, $\Vert T \Vert$, $\Vert ST \Vert$, and $\Vert TS \Vert$.

My effort: For any $x\in C[0,1]$, we have $$STx(s) = S(sx(s)) = s \int_0^1 tx(t) \, dt,$$ while $$TSx(s) = T\left(s \int_0^1 x(t) \, dt\right) = s^2 \int_0^1 x(t) \, dt.$$ Thus, $TS \neq ST$ because for the point $x\in C[0,1]$ defined as $x(t) \colon= 1$ for all $t \in [0,1]$, we see that, for all $s \in [0,1]$, $$TSx(s) = s^2,$$ but $$STx(s) = \frac{s}{2}.$$ Am I right?

To compute the norms, we see that, for any $x \in C[0,1]$, $$\Vert Sx \Vert_{C[0,1]} = \max_{s\in [0,1]} \left\vert s \int_0^1 x(t) \, dt \right\vert = \max_{s \in [0,1]} \left( \vert s \vert \cdot \left\vert \int_0^1 x(t) \, dt \right\vert \right) = \max_{s\in[0,1]} \vert s \vert \cdot \left\vert \int_0^1 x(t) \, dt \right\vert \\ = \left\vert \int_0^1 x(t) \, dt \right\vert \leq \int_0^1 \vert x(t) \vert \, dt \leq \int_0^1 \max_{\tau\in[0,1]} \vert x(\tau) \vert \, dt = \int_0^1 \Vert x \Vert_{C[0,1]} \, dt \\ = \Vert x \Vert_{C[0,1]} \int_0^1 dt = \Vert x \Vert_{C[0,1]}. $$ So, for all non-zero $x \in C[0,1]$, we have $$\frac{\Vert Sx \Vert_{C[0,1]}}{\Vert x \Vert_{C[0,1]}} \leq 1;$$ so $$\Vert S \Vert \leq 1.$$ But for $x \in C[0,1]$ such that $x(t) \colon= 1$ for all $t \in [0,1]$, we see that $$\frac{\Vert Sx \Vert_{C[0,1]}}{\Vert x \Vert_{C[0,1]}} = 1;$$ so $$\Vert S \Vert = 1.$$ Am I right?

Now, for any $x \in C[0,1]$, we have $$\Vert Tx \Vert_{C[0,1]} = \max_{s\in[0,1]} \vert s x(s) \vert = \max_{s\in[0,1]} \left( \vert s \vert \cdot \vert x(s) \vert \right) \leq \max_{s\in[0,1]} \vert x(s) \vert = \Vert x \Vert.$$ So $$\Vert T \Vert \leq 1.$$ But for $x = 1$, we see that $$\Vert Tx \Vert_{C[0,1]} = \max_{s\in [0,1]} \vert s \vert = 1,$$ and $$\Vert x \Vert_{C[0,1]} = 1.$$ So it follows that $$\Vert T \Vert = 1.$$ Am I right?

Am I right so far?

And if so, then what about $\Vert ST \Vert$ and $\Vert TS \Vert$?