Quotient Space

Quotient Space

Suppose that $X$ is a normed space, and $Y$ is a closed subspace of $X$, we can define an equivalent relation on $X$ by $x_1\sim x_2$ if and only if $x_1-x_2\in Y$.

Notation: for any $x\in X$, the set $x+Y$ is denoted by $x+Y = \{x+y:y\in Y\}$.

Note that in this notation, for any $x\in X$ the equivalence class under $\sim$ of $x$ is $x+Y$.

A very natural question is that what is the elements, operator and norm in $X/Y$?

The elements

Let $X/Y$ be the set of equivalence classes, which is $X/Y = \{x+Y:x\in X\}$.

The Operators

Define addition and scalar multiplication on $X/Y$ by

$$(x_1+Y)+(x_2+Y) = (x_1+x_2)+Y\\ \alpha(X+Y) = (\alpha x)+Y.$$
This operators are well defined and make $X/Y$ a vector space.

The Norm

Also, we define the norm of $X/Y$ be

$$||x+Y||_{ X/Y } = \inf\{||x+y||_X:y\in Y\}.$$
Then next result claims that $||\cdot||$ is well defined and is a norm on $X/Y$ . It is called the quotient norm.

THEOREM 1

$||\cdot||$ defined above is a norm on $X/Y$ .

Proof: We only chech the trianglar inequality for the quotient norm.

Let $x_1+Y, x_2+Y\in X/Y$. Want to show $||(x_1+Y)+(x_2+Y)||\leq ||x_1+Y||+||x_2+Y||$.

Let $\epsilon>0$ be given, the by the definition we can find $y_1,y_2 \in Y$ such that

$$||x_1+y_1||\leq ||x_1+Y||+\epsilon,\quad ||x_2+y_2||\leq ||x_2+Y||+\epsilon.$$
Then $||(x_1+Y)+(x_2+Y)||\leq ||x_1+y_1||+||x_2+y_2||\leq ||(x_1+Y)+(x_2+Y)||+2\epsilon$. Finally, we can let $\epsilon \rightarrow 0$.

The next theorem gives a sufficient and necessary condition for a normed vector space to become a Banach space.

THEOREM 2

$X$ is a normed space, then $X$ is a Banach space if and only if $\forall (x_n)\subset X$, such that $\sum_{n=1}^\infty||x_n||\leq \infty$

we have $\sum_{n=1}^\infty x_n$ converges in $X$. Which means, $\lim_{k\rightarrow \infty}\sum_{n=1}^kx_n\in X$ exists.

Proof: If $X$ is complete and $\sum_{n=1}^\infty||x_n||\leq \infty$, define $y_k=\sum_{n=1}^kx_n\in X$. Then for $k<j$

$$||y_k-y_j||\leq \sum_{n=k+1}^j||x_n||\rightarrow 0, \quad as \quad k\rightarrow \infty.$$
So we can see that $y_k$ is a Cauchy sequence in $X$. Hence converges.

On the other hand, let $(y_k)$ be a Cauchy sequence in $X$ and we choose a subsequence $(_{yk_n})$ such that

$$||y_{k_n}-y_{k_{n+1}}||\leq \frac{1}{2^n}, \quad \forall n\geq 1.$$
Then it is easy to see that $\sum_{n=1}^\infty||y_{k_n}-y_{k_{n+1}}||<\infty$. By the assumption, we can conclude that $\lim_{j\rightarrow \infty}\sum_{n=1}^j(y_{k_n}-y_{k_{n+1}})$ exists in $X$. Say the limit is $y = \lim_{j\rightarrow \infty}\sum_{n=1}^j(y_{k_n}-y_{k_{n+1}})$, then
$$\lim_{j\rightarrow \infty}(y_{k_1}-y_{k_{j+1}})=y.$$
So we get
$$\lim_{j\rightarrow \infty}y_{k_{j+1}}=y_{k_1}-y.$$
Since $y_k$ is Cauchy and it has a subsequence which converges to a element in $X$, then the whole sequence will converges to that element. So $X$ is complete hence a Banach space.

THEOREM 3

Suppose $X$ is a Banach space and $Y$ is a closed subspace of $X$, the the quotient space $X/Y$ is also a Banach space.

Proof: We will use the previous theorem to show this result. Let $(x_n+Y)\subset X/Y$ be such that

$$\sum_{n=1}^\infty||x_n+Y||<\infty.$$
We want to show that $\lim_{k\rightarrow \infty}(x_n+Y)$ exists in $X/Y$.

By the definition of the quotient norm, for any $n$ we can find $y_n\in Y$ such that

$$||x_n+y_n||\leq ||x_n+Y||+\frac{1}{2^n}.$$
So we have
$$\sum_{n=1}^\infty||x_n+y_n||\leq\sum_{n=1}^\infty||x_n+Y||+1<\infty.$$
Since $X$ is a Banach space which is complete by assumption, by Theorem 2 we obtain that $\sum_{n=1}^\infty(x_n+y_n)$ converges to some $z\in X$. Next, we only have to show that $\lim_{k\rightarrow \infty}\sum_{n=1}^k(x_n+Y) = z+Y$. Then we can complete the proof.

Now, since

$$||\sum_{n=1}^k(x_n+Y)-(z+Y)|| = ||(\sum_{n=1}^k(x_n-z)+Y||.$$
But
$$||\sum_{n=1}^k(x_n+y_n)-z||\rightarrow 0,$$
Implies that
$$||(\sum_{n=1}^k(x_n-z)+Y||\leq ||(\sum_{n=1}^k(x_n-z)+\sum_{n=1}^ky_n||\rightarrow 0.$$
So we are done as $k\rightarrow \infty$.