A NOTE ON LINEAR FUNCTIONAL NORMS

YIFEI PAN AND MEI WANG

Abstract. For a vector u in a normed linear space, Hahn-Banach Theorem

provides the existence of a linear functional f, f (u) = kuk such that kf k = 1.
In this paper we prove the existence of functionals with |f (uj )| = kuj k for
linearly independent vectors and characterize the norm-one property kf k = 1
in terms of the triangle inequality.
Key words: Hahn-Banach Theorem; triangle inequality

Let (X , k · k) be a normed vector space over a field K (K = R or C) and X ∗ be

the space of K-valued, continuous linear functionals on X . For any u ∈ X \ {0},
Hahn-Banach Theorem [1] gives the existence of f ∈ X ∗ , f (u) = kuk with the
property kf k = 1. In this paper we prove the existence of f ∈ X ∗ , |f (uj )| = kuj k
for linearly independent vectors uj , j = 1, · · · , k and investigate the implications
of the norm-one property of such functionals. This paper is motivated by the study
of Schwarz lemma for higher order derivatives of holomorphic mappings from unit
ball to itself in Cn . The following are the results.

Theorem 1. Let (X , k · k) be a normed vector space over K. Let u1 , · · · , uk ∈

X \ {0} be linearly independent. Then ∃f ∈ X ∗ such that

|f (uj )| = kuj k, j = 1, · · · , k.

Remarks. Here the condition of linear independence is necessary (see Example

1 below). The functional in Theorem 1 has kf k ≥ 1 by definition. The following
shows that in most situations, kf k > 1.

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 46B20.

1
2 YIFEI PAN AND MEI WANG

Proposition 1. Let (X , k · k) be a normed vector space over K, u1 , · · · , uk ∈

X \ {0}. If ∃f ∈ X ∗ such that kf k = 1 and

(1) f (uj ) = kuj k, j = 1, · · · , k,

then the triangle equality holds, i.e.,

° °
°X k ° Xk
° °
(2) ° u °= kuj k.
° j °
° j=1 ° j=1

Furthermore,
° °
° uj1 ujm °
° °
° kuj k + · · · + kuj k ° = m, ∀{j1 , · · · , jm } ⊂ {1, · · · , k}.
1 m

Remarks. The following figure is an example of the triangle equality case under
maximum norm.

u1

u2

Figure 1. Triangle equality case for k = 2 under maximum norm.

Our proofs are based on applications of the Hahn-Banach Theorem [1]. Here
we quote a corollary of the Hahn-Banach Theorem as a lemma.
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Lemma 1. Let L be a linear subspace of a normed vector space X over K. Then

for each uo ∈ X with dist(uo , L) = inf u∈L kuo − uk > 0, ∃f ∈ X ∗ such that

f (u) = 0, ∀u ∈ L, f (uo ) = dist(uo , L), kf k = 1.

Proof of Theorem 1. Let

1
L1 = span{u2 , · · · , uk }, v1 = u1 .
ku1 k

L1 is a finite dimensional subspace thus L1 is closed. Since v1 is independent of

u2 , · · · , uk , dist(u1 , L1 ) > 0 so

1
d1 = dist(v1 , L1 ) = dist(u1 , L1 ) > 0.
ku1 k

By Lemma 1, ∃h ∈ X ∗ such that

khk = 1, h(v1 ) = d1 , h(uj ) = 0, ∀j = 2, · · · , k (since uj ∈ L1 ).

Let
1 ku1 k ku1 k
f1 = h= h= h.
d1 dist(u1 , L1 ) dist(u1 , span{u2 , · · · , uk })
Then f1 ∈ X ∗ and

ku1 k 1
kf1 k = , f1 (uj ) = 0, ∀j = 2, · · · , k, f1 (u1 ) = h(ku1 kv1 ) = ku1 k.
dist(u1 , L1 ) d1

Define
Lm = span{uj , j ∈ {1, · · · , k} \ {m}}, m = 2, · · · , k.

We can construct fm ∈ X ∗ in a similar way such that ∀m = 2, · · · , k,

kum k
kfm k = , fm (uj ) = 0, ∀j ∈ {1, · · · , k} \ {m}, fm (um ) = kum k.
dist(um , Lm )

Now let
f = f1 + · · · + fk .
4 YIFEI PAN AND MEI WANG

Then f ∈ X ∗ and
f (uj ) = kuj k for j = 1, · · · , k.

This completes the proof of Theorem 1. ¤

Corollary 1. Let (X , k · k) be a normed vector space over K. Let u1 , · · · , uk ∈

X \ {0} be linearly independent. Then ∃f ∈ X ∗ and θ1 , · · · , θk ∈ [0, 2π) such that

f (u∗j ) = ku∗j k for u∗j = eiθj uj , j = 1, · · · , k.

Proof. By Theorem 1, there exists a f ∈ X such that

|f (uj )| = kuj k, j = 1, · · · , k.

Thus there are θ1 , · · · , θk ∈ [0, 2π) such that for j = 1, · · · , k,

f (uj ) = e−iθj kuj k.

Consequently,

f (u∗j ) = f (eiθj uj ) = eiθj f (uj ) = eiθj e−iθj kuj k = kuj k = ke−iθj uj k = ku∗j k.

The following example shows that Theorem 1 and Corollary 1 may not hold if
the vectors are linearly dependent.

Example 1. Let X = R2 with the Euclidean norm. Let u1 = (1, 0), u2 = (0, 1)
and u3 = (1, 1). If there were a functional f ∈ X ∗ such that |f (uj )| = kuj k for
j = 1, 2, 3, then f (ui ) = ±1 for i = 1, 2. By linearity |f (u3 )| = |f (u1 + u2 )| =
√
|f (u1 ) + f (u2 )| = 0 or 2, which contradicts |f (u3 )| = ku3 k = 2. Therefore
|f (uj )| = kuj k may not exist for linearly dependent uj ’s.
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Proof of Proposition 1. From (1), f (uj ) = kuj k for j = 1, · · · , k. If kf k = 1,

by the linearity of f and the definition of functional norm,

ku1 k + · · · + kuk k |f (u1 + · · · + uk )| |f (u)|

= ≤ sup =1
ku1 + · · · + uk k ku1 + · · · + uk k u∈X \{0} kuk

=⇒ ku1 k + · · · + kuk k ≤ ku1 + · · · + uk k.

The triangle inequality implies that the equality holds. Consequently, by applying
the above result to subsets of the uj ’s we obtain

kuj1 + · · · + ujm k = kuj1 k + · · · + kujm k, ∀ {j1 , · · · , jm } ⊂ {1, · · · , k}.

uj
Consider wj = kuj k for j = 1, · · · , k. Then f (wj ) = kwj k = 1. Applying the
above result to the wj ’s we have
° ° ° °
°X k ° °X k ° Xk
° uj ° ° °
° °=° w °= kwj k = k,
° ° ° j °
° j=1 kuj k ° ° j=1 ° j=1

and
° °
° uj1 ujm °
° °
° kuj k + · · · + kuj k ° = kwj1 + · · · + wjm k = kwj1 k + · · · + kwjm k = m
1 m

for any {j1 , · · · , jm } ⊂ {1, · · · , k}. This completes the proof of Proposition 1. ¤

Remark. Notice that our result is consistent with [2], where the sharpness of the
triangle inequality was discussed thoroughly and extensively.

Corollary 2. Let (X , k · k) be a normed vector space over K and u1 , · · · , uk ∈

X \ {0}. If ∃f ∈ X ∗ such that
° °
°X ° X
° k ° k
(3) f (uj ) = kuj k, j = 1, · · · , k, ° °
uj ° < kuj k,
°
° j=1 ° j=1
6 YIFEI PAN AND MEI WANG

then
kf k > 1.

Proof. By the definition of functional norm and (3),

|f (u)| |f (u1 + · · · + uk )| ku1 k + · · · + kuk k

kf k = sup ≥ = > 1.
u∈X \{0} kuk ku1 + · · · + uk k ku1 + · · · + uk k

The example below illustrates that, when a functional f with |f (uj )| = kuj k
for k linearly independent vectors exists (Theorem 1) and the triangle equality
P P
k uj k = kuj k holds (ref. (2) in Proposition 1), f is not necessarily of norm
one. As indicated in Proposition 1, kf k = 1 is a very restricted condition. In fact
the corresponding kf k in X can be arbitrarily large.

Example 2. Let
n o
X = C0 = u = (a1 , a2 , · · · ) = (an ) : an ∈ K, lim an = 0 , k(an )k = max |an |.
n→∞ n

(X , k · k) is a complete normed vector space (Banach space) with the dual space
( ∞
)
X
X ∗ = C0∗ = `1 = f = {α1 , α2 , · · · } = {αn } : αn ∈ K, |αn | < ∞
n=1

where
∞ ∞
¡ ¢ X X
f (u) = f{αn } u(an ) = αn an , kf k = |αn |.
n=1 n=1
For k > 0 and a1 , · · · , ak such that 0 < a1 < a2 < · · · < ak , let

u1 = (a1 , 0, 0, · · · ), u2 = (a2 , a1 , 0, · · · ), ··· , uk = (ak , ak−1 , · · · , a1 , 0, · · · ).

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Then u1 , · · · , uk are linearly independent vectors in C0 . For r ∈ (0, 1), consider

© ª
f = 1, 0, · · · , 0 , r, r2 , r3 , · · · ∈ C0∗ = `1 .
| {z }
k−1 times

f has the property (as in Theorem 1)

f (uj ) = aj = kuj k, ∀j = 1, · · · , k.

Furthermore,
° °
°X k ° X k
° °
kuj k = aj , ∀j = 1, · · · , k, ku1 +· · ·+uk k = a1 +· · ·+ak =⇒ ° °
uj ° = kuj k.
°
° j=1 ° j=1

However
∞
X 1
kf k = |αn | = > 1.
1−r
n=1

Furthermore, for any u = (a1 , a2 , · · · ) ∈ Co with kuk = 1, we have ak ≤ 1 for all k

and aj < 1 for some j. Let v = (1, 1, · · · ). Then
∞
X ∞
X 1
|f (u)| = αn a n < αn = |f (v)| = = kf k.
1−r
n=1 n=1

Thus
|f (u)| < kf k, ∀u with kuk = 1,

which implies that the functional f is not norm-attaining, that is,

|f (u)|
< kf k, ∀u ∈ X \ {0}.
kuk

Remark. An immediate corollary of the above results is that, if X is strictly

convex and u1 , · · · , uk ∈ X \ {0} are linearly independent, then a functional f
with |f (uj )| = kuj k, j = 1, · · · , k, kf k = 1 implies

|f (u1 )| |f (u2 )| |f (uk )|

= = ··· = .
ku1 k ku2 k kuk k
8 YIFEI PAN AND MEI WANG

References

[1] Zeidler, E. (1995) Applied Functional Analysis: Main Principles and Their Applications.
Applied Mathematical Sciences Vol. 109. Springer-Verlag, New York.
[2] Mitani, K., Saito, K., Kato, M. and Tamura, T., On sharp triangle inequalities in
Banach spaces. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 336 (2007) 1178-1186.

Yifei Pan, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Indiana University - Purdue

University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN 46805-1499

School of Math and Informatics, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China

E-mail address: pan@ipfw.edu

Mei Wang, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637

E-mail address: meiwang@galton.uchicago.edu