Let $X$ and $Y$ be some infinite dimensional Banach spaces. Let $T:X\longrightarrow Y$ be some compact linear operator. It is easy to understand that $T$ cannot be surjective: the Open Mapping Theorem due to Banach, states that surjective operators should be open, and it follows that the image of the unit ball $\mathbb{B}_{1,X}$ should contain an open ball $\{||y||<r\}$ for some $r>0$, so its closure can't be compact. Is it true that the image of $T$ cannot contain any closed subspace of infinite dimension?
2026-03-29 19:16:42.1774811802
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Subspaces in the image of compact operator
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A compact operator has a closed range iff it has a finite dimensional range. Without loss of generality,we can assume that the range of A is closed,otherwise we can consider the restriction of A to E where E=T−1(F),In all cases the theorem assures that F is finite dimensional. to prove the theorem,consider the canonical map associated with A and the fact that the closedness of the range of the operator imply the invertibility of canonical map and hence the finite dimensionality of the range (the identity is compact).
Let $F\subset T(X)$ be a closed (in $Y$) subspace. Then $E = T^{-1}(F)$ is a closed subspace of $X$, and $T\lvert_E \colon E \to F$ is a compact surjective operator. Since $F$ is closed in $Y$, the open mapping theorem implies that $F$ is finite-dimensional.
So: the image of a compact operator cannot contain an infinite-dimensional Banach space.