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| ``functions on a fin. dim. vector space''
by rmilson on 2002-06-09 00:36:03 |
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| In regards to the point raised in correction number 4.
Let's say V is an n-dimensional, real vector space.
1) Note that V is not a banach space, although it could be made into one in an infinite number of ways.
2) It is true that V is isomorphic to R^n, in the sense that there exist linear bijections between V and R^n, however there is no way to prefer any one such bijection over another.
We would like to define what it means for a function f:V -> R to be differentiable, but how to proceed?
We need a norm for the denominator of our limit expression, but which norm are we to use?
The fact of the matter is that if f:V->R is differentiable with respect to one norm, it is differentiable with respect to all norms. This is an interesting consequence of the finite-dimensionality of V.
Thus the concept of "differentiable function" makes sense in the context of "finite dimensional vector spaces", which is not quite the same context as "Banach spaces".
A similar phenomenon occurs if we try to topologize V. The way to proceed is to pick a norm, any norm and to use that particular norm topology. It doesn't matter which norm we choose to do this, we get the same topology regardless. This is, of course, not true in the infinite-dimensional setting. |
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