<b>Chapter One</b> After the definitions and basic results required for the rest of the thesis, a notion of spectrum for semigroup representations is introduced and some relevant examples given. <b>Chapter Two</b> Any semigroup representation by isometries on a Banach space may be dilated to a group representation on a larger Banach space. A new proof of this result is presented here, and a connection is shown to exist between the dilation and the trajectories of the dual representation. The problem of dilating various types of spaces, including partially ordered spaces, C*-algebras, and reflexive spaces, is discussed, and new dilation theorems are given for dual Banach spaces and von Neumann algebras. <b>Chapter Three</b> In this chapter the spectrum of a representation is examined more closely with the aid of methods from Banach algebra theory. In the case where the representation is by isometries it is shown that the spectrum is non-empty, that it is compact if and only if the representation is norm-continuous, and that any isolated point in the unitary spectrum is an eigenvalue. <b>Chapter Four</b> An analytic characterisation is given of the spectral conditions that imply a representation by isometries is invertible. For representations of Z+_n this con- dition is shown to be equivalent to polynomial convexity. Some topological conditions on the spectrum are also shown to imply invertibility. <b>Chapter Five</b> The ideas of the previous chapters are applied to problems of asymptotic behaviour. Asymptotic stability is described in terms of the behaviour of the dual of a representation. Finally, the case when the unitary spectrum is countable is discussed in detail.

Para aplicar el Teorema del Punto Fijo de Banach ( T.P.F.B.), se necesita una aplicación contractiva de un espacio completo en sí mismo; este resultado garantiza la existencia y unicidad de la solución de un problema específico. El teorema nos provee de un método iterativo, para construir la solución aproximada con cierto margen de error previamente fijado. Por lo mencionado, el T.P.F.B. ó método de las aproximaciones sucesivas (M.A.S.) se convierte en una potente herramienta del análisis, lo que quedará evidenciado luego de presentar algunas importantes aplicaciones del T.P.F.B. / -- To apply the Fixed Point Banach’s Theorem (F.P.B.T.) , we need a contracting application mapping a complete metric space into itself. The hypothesis guarantees the existences and uniqueness of solution of a specific problem, whose must be planted as a problem to find fixed points. The theorem provides to us with a iterative method to construct the approximated solution with a certain margin of error previously fixed.

Student Number : 0108851W - MSc Dissertation - School of Mathematics - Faculty of Science / A brief search on www.ams.org with the keyword “Markov operator” produces some 684 papers, the earliest of which dates back to 1959. This suggests that the term “Markov operator” emerged around the 1950’s, clearly in the wake of Andrey Markov’s seminal work in the area of stochastic processes and Markov chains. Indeed, [17] and [6], the two earliest papers produced by the ams.org search, study Markov processes in a statistical setting and “Markov operators” are only referred to obliquely, with no explicit definition being provided. By 1965, in [7], the situation has progressed to the point where Markov operators are given a concrete definition and studied more directly. However, the way in which Markov operators originally entered mathematical discourse, emerging from Statistics as various attempts to generalize Markov processes and Markov chains, seems to have left its mark on the theory, with a notable lack of cohesion amongst its propagators. The study of Markov operators in the Lp setting has assumed a place of importance in a variety of fields. Markov operators figure prominently in the study of densities, and thus in the study of dynamical and deterministic systems, noise and other probabilistic notions of uncertainty. They are thus of keen interest to physicists, biologists and economists alike. They are also a worthy topic to a statistician, not least of all since Markov chains are nothing more than discrete examples of Markov operators (indeed, Markov operators earned their name by virtue of this connection) and, more recently, in consideration of the connection between copulas and Markov operators. In the realm of pure mathematics, in particular functional analysis, Markov operators have proven a critical tool in ergodic theory and a useful generalization of the notion of a conditional expectation. Considering the origin of Markov operators, and the diverse contexts in which they are introduced, it is perhaps unsurprising that, to the uninitiated observer at least, the theory of Markov operators appears to lack an overall unity. In the literature there are many different definitions of Markov operators defined on L1(μ) and/or L1(μ) spaces. See, for example, [13, 14, 26, 2], all of which manage to provide different definitions. Even at a casual glance, although they do retain the same overall flavour, it is apparent that there are substantial differences in these definitions. The situation is not much better when it comes to the various discussions surrounding ergodic Markov operators: we again see a variety of definitions for an ergodic operator (for example, see [14, 26, 32]), and again the connections between these definitions are not immediately apparent. In truth, the situation is not as haphazard as it may at first appear. All the definitions provided for Markov operator may be seen as describing one or other subclass of a larger class of operators known as the positive contractions. Indeed, the theory of Markov operators is concerned with either establishing results for the positive contractions in general, or specifically for one of the aforementioned subclasses. The confusion concerning the definition of an ergodic operator can also be rectified in a fairly natural way, by simply viewing the various definitions as different possible generalizations of the central notion of a ergodic point-set transformation (such a transformation representing one of the most fundamental concepts in ergodic theory). The first, and indeed chief, aim of this dissertation is to provide a coherent and reasonably comprehensive literature study of the theory of Markov operators. This theory appears to be uniquely in need of such an effort. To this end, we shall present a wealth of material, ranging from the classical theory of positive contractions; to a variety of interesting results arising from the study of Markov operators in relation to densities and point-set transformations; to more recent material concerning the connection between copulas, a breed of bivariate function from statistics, and Markov operators. Our goals here are two-fold: to weave various sources into a integrated whole and, where necessary, render opaque material readable to the non-specialist. Indeed, all that is required to access this dissertation is a rudimentary knowledge of the fundamentals of measure theory, functional analysis and Riesz space theory. A command of measure and integration theory will be assumed. For those unfamiliar with the basic tenets of Riesz space theory and functional analysis, we have included an introductory overview in the appendix. The second of our overall aims is to give a suitable definition of a Markov operator on Banach lattices and provide a survey of some results achieved in the Banach lattice setting, in particular those due to [5, 44]. The advantage of this approach is that the theory is order theoretic rather than measure theoretic. As we proceed through the dissertation, definitions will be provided for a Markov operator, a conservative operator and an ergodic operator on a Banach lattice. Our guide in this matter will chiefly be [44], where a number of interesting results concerning the spectral theory of conservative, ergodic, so-called “stochastic” operators is studied in the Banach lattice setting. We will also, and to a lesser extent, tentatively suggest a possible definition for a Markov operator on a Riesz space. In fact, we shall suggest, as a topic for further research, two possible approaches to the study of such objects in the Riesz space setting. We now offer a more detailed breakdown of each chapter. In Chapter 2 we will settle on a definition for a Markov operator on an L1 space, prove some elementary properties and introduce several other important concepts. We will also put forward a definition for a Markov operator on a Banach lattice. In Chapter 3 we will examine the notion of a conservative positive contraction. Conservative operators will be shown to demonstrate a number of interesting properties, not least of all the fact that a conservative positive contraction is automatically a Markov operator. The notion of conservative operator will follow from the Hopf decomposition, a fundmental result in the classical theory of positive contractions and one we will prove via [13]. We will conclude the chapter with a Banach lattice/Riesz space definition for a conservative operator, and a generalization of an important property of such operators in the L1 case. In Chapter 4 we will discuss another well-known result from the classical theory of positive contractions: the Chacon-Ornstein Theorem. Not only is this a powerful convergence result, but it also provides a connection between Markov operators and conditional expectations (the latter, in fact, being a subclass of theMarkov operators). To be precise, we will prove the result for conservative operators, following [32]. In Chapter 5 we will tie the study of Markov operators into classical ergodic theory, with the introduction of the Frobenius-Perron operator, a specific type of Markov operator which is generated from a given nonsingular point-set transformation. The Frobenius-Perron operator will provide a bridge to the general notion of an ergodic operator, as the definition of an ergodic Frobenius-Perron operator follows naturally from that of an ergodic transformation. In Chapter 6 will discuss two approaches to defining an ergodic operator, and establish some connections between the various definitions of ergodicity. The second definition, a generalization of the ergodic Frobenius-Perron operator, will prove particularly useful, and we will be able to tie it, following [26], to several interesting results concerning the asymptotic properties of Markov operators, including the asymptotic periodicity result of [26, 27]. We will then suggest a definition of ergodicity in the Banach lattice setting and conclude the chapter with a version, due to [5], of the aforementioned asymptotic periodicity result, in this case for positive contractions on a Banach lattice. In Chapter 7 we will move into more modern territory with the introduction of the copulas of [39, 40, 41, 42, 16]. After surveying the basic theory of copulas, including introducing a multiplication on the set of copulas, we will establish a one-to-one correspondence between the set of copulas and a subclass of Markov operators. In Chapter 8 we will carry our study of copulas further by identifying them as a Markov algebra under their aforementioned multiplication. We will establish several interesting properties of this Markov algebra, in parallel to a second Markov algebra, the set of doubly stochastic matrices. This chapter is chiefly for the sake of interest and, as such, diverges slightly from our main investigation of Markov operators. In Chapter 9, we will present the results of [44], in slightly more detail than the original source. As has been mentioned previously, these concern the spectral properties of ergodic, conservative, stochastic operators on a Banach lattice, a subclass of the Markov operators on a Banach lattice. Finally, as a conclusion to the dissertation, we present in Chapter 10 two possible routes to the study of Markov operators in a Riesz space setting. The first definition will be directly analogous to the Banach lattice case; the second will act as an analogue to the submarkovian operators to be introduced in Chapter 2. We will not attempt to develop any results from these definitions: we consider them a possible starting point for further research on this topic. In the interests of both completeness, and in order to aid those in need of more background theory, the reader may find at the back of this dissertation an appendix which catalogues all relevant results from Riesz space theory and operator theory.

by Huang Liren. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Bibliography: leaves 92-97.

by Ho Wing Man. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85). / Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1 --- Preliminaries --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1 --- Gateaux and Frechet Differentiability --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2 --- β-Differentiability --- p.9 / Chapter 1.3 --- Monotone Operators and Usco Maps --- p.14 / Chapter 2 --- Variational Principle --- p.25 / Chapter 2.1 --- A Generalized Variational Principle --- p.27 / Chapter 2.2 --- A Smooth Variational Principle --- p.37 / Chapter 3 --- Differentiability of Convex Functions --- p.47 / Chapter 3.1 --- On Banach Spaces with β-Smooth Bump Functions --- p.48 / Chapter 3.2 --- A Characterization of Asplund Spaces --- p.64 / Chapter 4 --- More on Differentiability --- p.70 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.70 / Chapter 4.2 --- Differentiability Theorems --- p.75

The central idea in this thesis is the introduction of a new isometric invariant of a Banach space. This is Property AI-I. A Banach space has Property AI-I if whenever a finite metric space almost-isometrically embeds into the space, it isometrically embeds. To study this property we introduce two further properties that can be thought of as finite metric variants of Dvoretzky's Theorem and Krivine's Theorem. We say that a Banach space satisfies the Finite Isometric Dvoretzky Property (FIDP) if it contains every finite subset of $\ell_2$ isometrically. We say that a Banach space has the Finite Isometric Krivine Property (FIKP) if whenever $\ell_p$ is finitely representable in the space then it contains every subset of $\ell_p$ isometrically. We show that every infinite-dimensional Banach space \emph{nearly} has FIDP and every Banach space nearly has FIKP. We then use convexity arguments to demonstrate that not every Banach space has FIKP, and thus we can exhibit classes of Banach spaces that fail to have Property AI-I. The methods used break down when one attempts to prove that there is a Banach space without FIDP and we conjecture that every infinite-dimensional Banach space has Property FIDP.

Ng, Kwong Wing. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-126). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgments --- p.iii / Contents --- p.v / Introduction --- p.vii / Chapter 1 --- Preliminaries --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Basic Notations and Conventions --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Fundamental Results in Banach Space Theory and Variational Analysis --- p.4 / Chapter 1.3 --- Set-Valued Mappings --- p.6 / Chapter 1.4 --- Enlargements and Projections --- p.8 / Chapter 1.5 --- Subdifferentials --- p.11 / Chapter 1.6 --- Sets of Normals --- p.18 / Chapter 1.7 --- Coderivatives --- p.24 / Chapter 2 --- The Generalized Distance Function - Basic Estimates --- p.27 / Chapter 2.1 --- Elementary Properties of the Generalized Distance Function --- p.27 / Chapter 2.2 --- Frechet-Like Subdifferentials of the Generalized Distance Function --- p.32 / Chapter 2.3 --- Limiting and Singular Subdifferentials of the Generalized Distance - Function --- p.44 / Chapter 3 --- The Generalized Distance Function - Estimates via Intermediate Points --- p.73 / Chapter 3.1 --- Frechet-Like and Limiting Subdifferentials of the Generalized Dis- tance Function via Intermediate Points --- p.74 / Chapter 3.2 --- Frechet and Proximal Subdifferentials of the Generalized Distance Function via Intermediate Points --- p.90 / Chapter 4 --- The Marginal Function --- p.95 / Chapter 4.1 --- Singular Subdifferentials of the Marginal Function --- p.95 / Chapter 4.2 --- Singular Subdifferentials of the Generalized Marginal Function . . --- p.102 / Chapter 5 --- The Perturbed Distance Function --- p.107 / Chapter 5.1 --- Elementary Properties of the Perturbed Distance Function --- p.107 / Chapter 5.2 --- The Convex Case - Subdifferentials of the Perturbed Distance Function --- p.111 / Chapter 5.3 --- The Nonconvex Case - Frechet-Like and Proximal Subdifferentials of the Perturbed Distance Function --- p.113 / Bibliography --- p.123

We give an overview of the basic properties of Banach Algebras. After that we specialize to the case of commutative Banach Algebras and study the Gelfand Map. We study the main characteristic of that map, and work on some applications.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.73-80).

Gesamthochsch., Diss.--Paderborn, 1979.