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Contents
1. Normed vector spaces
1.1. Examples of normed vector spaces
1.2. Continuous linear operators
1.3. Equivalent norms
1.4. Matrix norms
1.5. Banach spaces

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3
6
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11
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1. Normed vector spaces

Recall that a vector space over a field K is a set X together with two
operations,
X X X, (x, y) 7 x + y

addition:

scalar multiplication: K X X, (, x) 7 x
which are required to satisfy certain axioms. The elements of X are called
points or vectors and the elements of K are called scalars.
Definition 1.1. A normed vector space is a pair (X, k.k) consisting of a
vector space X (over R or C) and a mapping
k.k : X R, x 7 kxk
such that
(i) kxk = 0 if and only if x = 0
(ii) k xk = || kxk for all scalars and all x X
(iii) kx + yk kxk + kyk for all x, y X

(Triangle inequality)

The mapping k.k is called a norm on X and kxk is called the norm of x.
The norm of a vector is non-negative and we can think of kxk as the length
of a vector x. The mapping d : X X R given by
d(x, y) = kx yk

for all x, y X

defines a metric on X. In this way every normed vector space can be

regarded as a metric space.

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1.1. Examples of normed vector spaces.

Example 1.2. The Euclidean norm on Rn .
kxk2 =

xx=

x21 + + x2n

where x = (x1 , . . . , xn ) Rn .
Example 1.3. Other norms on Rn .
(a) The 1-norm.
kxk1 = |x1 | + + |xn |
(b) The -norm.
kxk = max {|x1 |, . . . , |xn |}
where x = (x1 , . . . , xn ) Rn .
Example 1.4. The complex numbers. (C, |.|) is a normed vector space
where |.| is the modulus,
|z| =

p
x2 + y 2 ,

for all z = x + i y C

Example 1.5. Let C[0, 1] be the set of all continuous real-valued functions
f : [0, 1] R. Addition and scalar multiplication of functions can be
defined pointwise:
If f and g are real-valued functions on [0, 1] then
(f + g)(x) = f (x) + g(x)

for all x [0, 1]

If is a scalar then
( f )(x) = (f (x))

for all x [0, 1]

With these operations C[0, 1] is a vector space over R. The following define
two different norms on C[0, 1],

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(a)
kf k1 =

|f (x)| dx

(b)
kf k = sup |f (x)|
x[0,1]

for all f C[0, 1].

Example 1.6. Let c0 be the set of all sequences (xj )

j=1 of real numbers
which converge to 0. Addition and scalar multiplication of sequences can
be defined componentwise:

If x = (xj )
j=1 and y = (yj )j=1 then

x + y = (xj + yj )
j=1
If is a scalar then
x = ( xj )
j=1
With these operations c0 is a vector space over R. We can define a norm
on c0 by
kxk = sup |xj |
j

for all points x = (xj )

j=1 in c0 .

Example 1.7. Let `2 be the set of all sequences (xj )

j=1 of real numbers
which are square-summable. i.e.

x2j <

j=1

Addition and scalar multiplication of sequences can be defined componentwise as in the previous example. With these operations `2 is a vector space

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over R. We can define a norm on `2 by

kxk2 =

X
j=1

2
for all points x = (xj )
j=1 in ` .

x2j

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1.2. Continuous linear operators. Let X and Y be vector spaces over

the same field K. A mapping T : X Y is called a linear operator if
T (x + y) = T (x) + T (y)
T ( x) = T (x)
for all x, y X and for all scalars .
Now suppose X and Y are normed vector spaces. Since we can regard
X and Y as metric spaces, it makes sense to consider continuous linear
operators. The set of all continuous linear operators T : X Y is denoted
L(X, Y ).
We can define operations of addition and scalar multiplication on L(X, Y )
as follows:
if S, T L(X, Y ) then define S + T L(X, Y ) by
(S + T )(x) = S(x) + T (x)

for all x X

if T L(X, Y ) and is a scalar then define T L(X, Y ) by

( T )(x) = (T (x))

for all x X

With these operations L(X, Y ) is a vector space (over the same field as X
and Y ).

Theorem 1.8. Let T : X Y be a linear operator between normed vector

spaces (X, k.k) and (Y, k.k). Then T is continuous if and only if there exists
a real number M such that
kT (x)k M kxk

for all x X.

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We can define a norm on L(X, Y ) by

kT kop = inf {M : kT (x)k M kxk for all x X}
for all T L(X, Y ). As a consequence of Theorem 1.8, a linear operator T
is continuous if and only if kT kop < .
It will be convenient to have the following descriptions of the operator
norm.

Theorem 1.9. If T L(X, Y ) then

kT kop =

sup kT (x)k
kxk1

= sup
x6=0

kT (x)k
kxk

sup kT (x)k
kxk=1

Note that

(i) kT kop = 0 if and only if T = 0

(ii) k T kop = || kT kop
(iii) kS + T kop kSkop + kT kop
Thus (L(X, Y ), k.kop ) is a normed vector space.
If X is a normed vector space then we denote by L(X) the set of all
continuous linear operators T : X X. (i.e. L(X) = L(X, X)). We can
define multiplication on L(X) as follows:
if S, T L(X) then define ST L(X) by
(ST )(x) = S(T (x))

for all x X

With these operations L(X) is an example of an associative algebra.

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Theorem 1.10. If S, T L(X) then

kST kop kSkop kT kop
Example 1.11. The unilateral shift operator on `2 is defined by
T : `2 `2 ,

(x1 , x2 , x3 , . . .) 7 (0, x1 , x2 , x3 , . . .)

This is a continuous linear operator with kT kop = 1.

Example 1.12. Let C 1 [0, 1] denote the set of continuous real-valued functions f : [0, 1] R which have continuous derivatives

df
dx

: [0, 1] R. Then

C 1 [0, 1] is a vector space with pointwise operations of addition and scalar

multiplication (the same operations as C[0, 1]). The supremum norm
kf k = sup |f (x)|
x[0,1]

defines a norm on C 1 [0, 1] and C[0, 1]. The differentiation operator

D : C 1 [0, 1] C[0, 1],
is a linear operator which is not continuous.

f 7

df
dx

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1.3. Equivalent norms.

Definition 1.13. Two norms k.k1 and k.k2 on a vector space X are said to
be equivalent if there exist positive real numbers a, b such that
akxk1 kxk2 bkxk1
for all x X.
Theorem 1.14. Let X be a vector space. The following statements are
equivalent:
(i) k.k1 and k.k2 are equivalent norms on X,
(ii) k.k1 and k.k2 generate the same topology on X (i.e. the same open
sets),
(iii) A sequence (xj ) in X converges to a point x with respect to k.k1 if and
only if (xj ) converges to x with respect to k.k2 .
The above result tells us that if we want to check continuity of a mapping
or convergence of a sequence then we are allowed to swap our norm for an
equivalent one. This can make calculations easier.
Theorem 1.15. Let X be a finite dimensional vector space. Then all norms
on X are equivalent.
Example 1.16. Let C[0, 1] denote the set of continuous real-valued functions f : [0, 1] R. Then the norms
kf k1 =

|f (x)| dx

and
kf k = sup |f (x)|
x[0,1]

are not equivalent on C[0, 1].

Using Theorem 1.15 we can prove the following:

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Theorem 1.17. Let (X, k.k) and (Y, k.k) be normed vector spaces and let
T : X Y be a linear operator. If X is finite dimensional then T is
continuous.

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1.4. Matrix norms. The collection Mm,n (R) of all (m n)-matrices with
entries in R is a vector space over R. There are many ways to put a norm on
Mm,n (R), here we consider some of the most frequently used matrix norms.
Example 1.18. The Frobenius norm. If we regard the entries of a matrix
A = (aij ) as coordinates for a point in Euclidean space Rmn then we arrive
at
n
m X
X

kAkF =

a2ij

! 12

i=1 j=1

trace(At A)

We can regard an (m n)-matrix as a continuous linear operator from Rn

to Rm . In the following three cases we use the operator norm on L(Rn , Rm )
while varying the norms on Rn and Rm .
Example 1.19. The 1-norm.
kAk1 =

sup kA(x)k1
kxk1 =1

m
X

max

1jn

|aij |

i=1

i.e. the maximum of the absolute column sums.

Example 1.20. The -norm.
kAk =
=

sup kA(x)k

kxk =1

max

1im

n
X

|aij |

j=1

i.e. the maximum of the absolute row sums.

Example 1.21. The spectral norm (or 2-norm).
kAk2 =

sup kA(x)k2
kxk2 =1

p
largest eigenvalue of At A

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1.5. Banach spaces.

Definition 1.22. A Banach space is a normed vector space (X, k.k) which
is complete (with respect to the metric d(x, y) = kx yk).
Theorem 1.23. Every finite dimensional normed vector space is a Banach
space.
In light of Theorem 1.23 we now consider some infinite dimensional Banach spaces.
Definition 1.24. Let (X, d) and (Y, d0 ) be metric spaces. Let (fn )
n=1 be
a sequence of mappings fn : X Y . Then (fn )
n=1 is said to converge
pointwise to a mapping f : X Y if for each x0 X, given any  > 0
there exists N N such that
d0 (fn (x0 ), f (x0 )) <  for all n N
(Note that N depends on the point x0 ).
The sequence (fn )
n=1 is said to converge uniformly to f : X Y if given
any  > 0 there exists N N such that
d0 (fn (x), f (x)) <  for all n N, and for all x X
(In this case N does not depend on any point).
Example 1.25. For each n N consider the continuous function
fn : (0, ) R,

x 7

1
nx

Then the sequence (fn )

n=1 converges pointwise but not uniformly to the
zero function
f : (0, ) R,

x 7 0

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Lemma 1.26. (Uniform Limit Theorem) Let (X, d) and (Y, d0 ) be metric
spaces. Let (fn )
n=1 be a sequence of continuous mappings fn : X Y . If
(fn )
n=1 converges uniformly to f : X Y then f is continuous.
Example 1.27. For each n N consider the continuous function
fn : [0, 1] R,

x 7 xn

Then the sequence (fn )

n=1 converges pointwise but not uniformly to the
function
f : [0, 1] R,
Notice that f is not continuous.

0 0x<1
x 7
1 x=1

Theorem 1.28. C[0, 1] with the supremum norm

kf k = sup |f (x)|
x[0,1]

is a Banach space.

Lemma 1.29. Let (X, k.k) be a normed vector space over R (or C). Then
the following maps are continuous.

(a) Addition.
X X X, (x, y) 7 x + y
(b) Scalar multiplication.
R X X, (, x) 7 x
(c) The norm.
X R,

x 7 kxk

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Theorem 1.30. Let (X, k.k) and (Y, k.k) be normed vector spaces. If Y is
a Banach space then L(X, Y ) with the operator norm
kT k = sup kT (x)k
kxk1

is a Banach space.

The sequence space (`2 , k.k2 ) is another example of an infinite dimensional Banach space.

Definition 1.31. Let (X, k.k) be a normed vector space. If (xk )

k=1 is a
sequence in X then we say the formal series

xk

k=1

is convergent if the sequence (sm )

m=1 of partial sums
m
X

sm =

xk

k=1

converges to a point x X. In this case we write

x=

xk

k=1

If the series

kxk k

k=1

converges in R then we say the series

X
k=1

is absolutely convergent.

xk

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Theorem 1.32. Let (X, k.k) be a Banach space. Then every absolutely
convergent series in X is convergent in X. Also,
k

xk k

k=1

kxk k

k=1

Example 1.33. Let (X, k.k) be a Banach space and let T L(X). Then
the series

X
1 k
T
k!
k=0

eT =

is convergent in L(X). In particular, the exponential of a square matrix can

be used to solve systems of differential equations.
Let (X k.k) be a normed vector space. The identity operator I : X X,
x 7 x is a multiplicative identity element in L(X) since
for all T L(X)

T I = I T = I,

An element T L(X) is called invertible if there exists S L(X) such that

T S =ST =I
We call S the inverse of T and we write T 1 = S.
Theorem 1.34. Let (X, k.k) be a Banach space. If T L(X) and kT k < 1
then (I T ) is invertible in L(X) and
1

(I T )

Tk

k=0

Corollary 1.35. Let (X, k.k) be a Banach space. The set of all invertible
elements in L(X) is an open set in (L(X), k.kop ).