In mathematics, an LF-space, also written (LF)-space, is a topological vector space (TVS) X that is a locally convex inductive limit of Fréchet spaces. This means that X is a direct limit in the category of locally convex topological vector spaces is a Fréchet space. The name LF stands for Limit of Fréchet spaces.

is an embedding of TVSs then the LF-space is called a strict LF-space. This means that the subspace topology induced on by is identical to the original topology on . Some authors (e.g. Schaefer) define the term "LF-space" to mean "strict LF-space," so when reading mathematical literature, it is recommended to always check how LF-space is defined.

Definition

Inductive/final/direct limit topology

Throughout, it is assumed that

is either the category of topological spaces or some subcategory of the category of topological vector spaces (TVSs);

• If all objects in the category have an algebraic structure, then all morphisms are assumed to be homomorphisms for that algebraic structure.

• is a non-empty directed set;

where is a topological space for every index ;

• To avoid potential confusion, should not be called 's "initial topology" since the term "initial topology" already has a well-known definition. The topology is called the original topology on or 's given topology.

• also have algebraic structures, then is automatically assumed to have whatever algebraic structure is needed);

• is a family of maps where for each index , the map has prototype . If all objects in the category have an algebraic structure, then these maps are also assumed to be homomorphisms for that algebraic structure.

If it exists, then the final topology on , also called the colimit or inductive topology, and denoted by or , is the finest topology on such that

1. , and

2. for every index , the map is a continuous.

In the category of topological spaces, the final topology always exists and moreover, a subset is open (resp. closed) in if and only if is open (resp. closed) in for every index .

However, the final topology may not exist in the category of Hausdorff topological spaces due to the requirement that belong to the original category (i.e. belong to the category of Hausdorff topological spaces).

Direct systems

Suppose that is a directed set and that for all indices

such that if then is the identity map on and if then the following compatibility condition is satisfied:

where this means that the composition

If the above conditions are satisfied then the triple formed by the collections of these objects, morphisms, and the indexing set

is known as a direct system that is directed (or indexed) by . Since the indexing set is a directed set, the direct system is said to be directed. The maps are called the bonding, connecting, or linking maps of the system.

If the indexing set is understood then is often omitted from the above tuple (i.e. not written); the same is true for the bonding maps if they are understood. Consequently, one often sees written " is a direct system" where "" actually represents a triple with the bonding maps and indexing set either defined elsewhere (e.g. canonical bonding maps, such as natural inclusions) or else the bonding maps are merely assumed to exist but there is no need to assign symbols to them (e.g. the bonding maps are not needed to state a theorem).

Direct limit of a direct system

For the construction of a direct limit of a general inductive system, please see the article: direct limit.

Direct limits of injective systems

is injective then the system is called injective.

If the 's have an algebraic structure, say addition for example, then for any , we pick any index such that and then define their sum using by using the addition operator of . That is, where is the addition operator of . This sum is independent of the index that is chosen.

In the category of locally convex topological vector spaces, the topology on the direct limit of an injective directed inductive limit of locally convex spaces can be described by specifying that an absolutely convex subset of is a neighborhood of if and only if is an absolutely convex neighborhood of in for every index .

Direct limits in Top

Direct limits of directed direct systems always exist in the categories of sets, topological spaces, groups, and locally convex TVSs. In the category of topological spaces, if every bonding map is/is a injective (resp. surjective, bijective, homeomorphism, topological embedding, quotient map) then so is every .

Problem with direct limits

Direct limits in the categories of topological spaces, topological vector spaces (TVSs), and Hausdorff locally convex TVSs are "poorly behaved". For instance, the direct limit of a sequence (i.e. indexed by the natural numbers) of locally convex nuclear Fréchet spaces may to be Hausdorff (in which case the direct limit does not exist in the category of Hausdorff TVSs). For this reason, only certain "well-behaved" direct systems are usually studied in functional analysis. Such systems include LF-spaces. However, non-Hausdorff locally convex inductive limits do occur in natural questions of analysis.

Strict inductive limit

with its natural ordering, then the resulting limit is called a strict (countable) direct limit. In such a situation we may assume without loss of generality that each is a vector subspace of and that the subspace topology induced on by is identical to the original topology on .

Properties

An inductive limit in the category of locally convex TVSs of a family of bornological (resp. barrelled, quasi-barrelled) spaces has this same property.

LF-spaces

Every LF-space is a meager subset of itself. The strict inductive limit of a sequence of complete locally convex spaces (such as Fréchet spaces) is necessarily complete. In particular, every LF-space is complete. Every LF-space is barrelled and bornological, which together with completeness implies that every LF-space is ultrabornological. An LF-space that is the inductive limit of a countable sequence of separable spaces is separable. LF spaces are distinguished and their strong duals are bornological and barrelled (a result due to Alexander Grothendieck).

If is the strict inductive limit of an increasing sequence of Fréchet space then a subset of is bounded in if and only if there exists some such that is a bounded subset of .

A linear map from an LF-space into another TVS is continuous if and only if it is sequentially continuous. A linear map from an LF-space into a Fréchet space is continuous if and only if its graph is closed in . Every bounded linear operator from an LF-space into another TVS is continuous.

If of is a Fréchet space if and only if all are normable. Thus the strong dual space of an LF-space is a Fréchet space if and only if it is an LB-space.

Examples

Space of smooth compactly supported functions

A typical example of an LF with compact support. The LF. Such a sequence could be the balls of radius i has a natural Fréchet space inherits its LF-space structure as described above. The LF.

With this LF is known as the space of test functions, of fundamental importance in the theory of distributions.

Direct limit of finite-dimensional spaces

Suppose that for every positive integer , and for , consider Xm as a vector subspace of via the canonical embedding defined by . Denote the resulting LF-space by . Since any TVS topology on makes continuous the inclusions of the Xm's into -vector space with countable Hamel dimension. It is a LC topology, associated with the family of all seminorms on . Also, the TVS inductive limit topology of coincides with the topological inductive limit; that is, the direct limit of the finite dimensional spaces of is equal to the algebraic dual space of is equal to the strong topology). whose topological dual space is X.

See also

• DF-space

• Direct limit

• Final topology

• F-space

• LB-space

Citations

Bibliography