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Inspired by $\ell_p$ is Hilbert if and only if $p=2$, I try to prove that a $L^p$-space (provided with the standard norm) is a Hilbert space if and only if $p=2$. I already know that every $L^p$-space is a Banach space with respect to the standard norm.

This is what I got so far.

To prove

Let $(S, \Sigma, \mu)$ be a measure space and assume that $\mu$ is a positive, $\sigma$-finite measure that is not the trivial measure. Let $p\in [1, +\infty]$. The normed space $(L^p(S,\Sigma , \mu), \| \cdot \| _{L^p} )$ is a Hilbert space if and only if $p=2$.

Proof

Case 1: $p=2$

The standard inner product $\langle \cdot , \cdot \rangle _{L^2}$ induces the standard norm $\| \cdot \| _{L^2}$, so $(L^2 (S, \Sigma , \mu), \| \cdot \| _{L^2})$ is a Hilbert space.

Case 2: $p\in [1, \infty) \backslash \{ 2 \}$

Assume $(L^p(S,\Sigma , \mu), \| \cdot \| _{L^p} ) $ is a Hilbert space. Then it is also an inner product space, so it must satisfy the parallelogram rule: \begin{align} \forall f,g \in L^p(S,\Sigma , \mu): \ \ \| f + g \| ^2 + \| f -g \| ^2 = 2 ( \| f \| ^2 + \| g \| ^2 ). \end{align} Let $A, B$ be disjoint measurable sets such that $0 < \mu (A), \ \mu (B) < \infty$. Define $f_p, g_p \in \mathcal{L} ^p (S, \Sigma, \mu)$ by \begin{align*} f_p := \frac{1}{(\mu (A) ) ^{1/p}} 1 _A \geq 0 \ \ \ \text{ and } \ \ \ g_p := \frac{1}{(\mu (B) ) ^{1/p}} 1 _B \geq 0.\end{align*} Doing some calculations gives us \begin{align*} 2 \left ( \| f_p \| _{L^p} ^2 + \| g_p \| _{L^p} ^2 \right ) = 4 \ \ \text{ and } \ \ \| f_p + g_p \| _{L^p} ^2 + \| f_p - g_p \| _{L^p} ^2 = 2 \cdot 2 ^{2/p}. \end{align*} The functions $f_p$ and $g_p$ do not satisfy the parallelogram rule, since $4\neq 2 \cdot 2 ^{2/p}$ (remember that $p\neq 2$). But this contradicts our earlier conclusion that all $f,g\in L^p (S, \Sigma , \mu)$ must satisfy the parallelogram rule. Therefore, our assumption that $(L^p(S,\Sigma , \mu), \| \cdot \| _{L^p} ) $ is a Hilbert space is wrong. Hence, $(L^p(S,\Sigma , \mu), \| \cdot \| _{L^p} ) $ is not a Hilbert space.

Case 3: $p=\infty$

Assume $(L^{\infty} (S,\Sigma , \mu), \| \cdot \| _{L^{\infty}} ) $ is a Hilbert space. Then it is also an inner product space, so it must satisfy the parallelogram rule.

Let $A$ and $B$ be disjoint measurable sets which are not null sets and consider $F=1 _A$ and $G=1_B$. Then, we have \begin{align*} \| F + G \| _{L^{\infty}} ^2 + \| F - G \| _{L^{\infty}} ^2 = 1 + 1 = 2 \neq 4 = 2(1+1) = 2( \| F \| _{L^{\infty}} ^2 + \| G \| _{L^{\infty}} ^2 ). \end{align*} But this contradicts our earlier conclusion that all $f,g\in L^{\infty} (S, \Sigma , \mu)$ must satisfy the parallelogram rule. Therefore, our assumption that $(L^{\infty} (S,\Sigma , \mu), \| \cdot \| _{L^{\infty}} ) $ is a Hilbert space is wrong. Hence, $(L^{\infty} (S,\Sigma , \mu), \| \cdot \| _{L^{\infty}} ) $ is not a Hilbert space.

Question

I am not completely sure about the following statements "Let $A, B$ be disjoint measurable sets such that $0 < \mu (A), \ \mu (B) < \infty$" and "Let $A$ and $B$ be disjoint measurable sets which are not null sets". How do I know for sure that such measurable sets $A,B$ actually exist? Should I make more assumptions about the measure space in order to make these arguments work?

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    Technically your proof can fail in the case when there's just one atom with finite positive measure in the entire space, but in this case you can do explicit calculations along the lines of your case 2 and 3. – Ian Nov 28 '18 at 22:36
  • $L^p$ of what? $\mathbb{R}? or what? – José Alejandro Aburto Araneda Nov 29 '18 at 00:15
  • It is about $L^p (S, \Sigma , \mu)$, where $(S, \Sigma , \mu)$ is a measure space with $\mu$ a positive, $\sigma$-finite measure. – JanTinbergen1991 Nov 29 '18 at 00:55
  • Also $\mu \neq 0$. – JanTinbergen1991 Nov 29 '18 at 01:04
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    @Ian, thanks for the comment. In the case when there's just one atom with finite positive measure in the entire space, I do not know how to find $f_p, g_p \in L^p$ such that the parallelogram rule is violated. How should I approach this problem? Can you give me a hint? Thanks in advance. – JanTinbergen1991 Nov 29 '18 at 03:38
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    In this case (one atom with positive measure) the $L^p$ space is isomorphic to $\mathbb R^1$, which is a Hilbert space for all $p$, as all the $L^p$-norms coincide – daw Nov 29 '18 at 07:30
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    What @daw said is what I meant, you see it by just doing an explicit calculation of the left and right sides of the parallelogram law, for general $f,g$ (which are really just single scalars). – Ian Nov 29 '18 at 17:23
  • Do you mean that in the case of a Dirac measure $\delta _x$, you have \begin{align} | f + g | ^2 + | f - g | ^2 & = \left ( \int |f+g|^p d\delta _x \right ) ^{2/p} + \left (\int |f-g| ^p d\delta _x \right ) ^{2/p} \ & = \left ( | f(x) + g(x) | ^p \right ) ^{2/p} + \left ( | f(x) - g(x) | ^p \right ) ^{2/p} \ & = | f(x) + g(x) |^2 + | f(x) - g(x) |^2 \ & = 2(f(x))^2 + 2(g(x))^2 \ & = 2\left (\int |f|^p d\delta _x \right )^{2/p} + 2\left (\int |g|^p d\delta _x \right )^{2/p} \ & = 2 | f | ^2 + 2 | g | ^2? \end{align} – JanTinbergen1991 Nov 30 '18 at 04:07
  • I should prove that if there are no two disjoint measurable sets $A,B$ such that $\mu(A), \mu (B) \in (0, \infty)$, then the positive, $\sigma$-finite, non-trivial measure $\mu$ must be a Dirac measure $\delta _x$. I think I understand this on a intuitive level. I am not very familiar with the concept of atoms (and how they are precisely related to Dirac measures), but if I can prove this, then I can use the polarization identity to show that in this situation $L^p$ is a Hilbert space. – JanTinbergen1991 Nov 30 '18 at 04:25
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    Technically your statement about $\mu$ being a Dirac measure is not true, but it is "morally true". The only difference is that the set ${ x }$ may be replaced by a set $A$ with $\mu(A)>0$ and with $\forall B \subsetneq A,\mu(B)=0$. – Ian Nov 30 '18 at 14:17
  • @Ian why do you insist on finite positive measure? – Not Euler Oct 27 '20 at 11:44

1 Answers1

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Here is an interesting characterization, from which one can see that for the Lebesgue measure, all $L^p$ spaces with $p\ne 2$ are not Hilbert. https://www.docdroid.net/Ib35oGd/lp-pdf

Sotiris
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  • The content is there, but your link opens up sketchy popups and has ads on the side. Perhaps you could find an alternative way to share the pdf, or you could just paste the tex in the answer directly if you're the one who made it. – iYOA Dec 17 '20 at 17:22
  • Hi! Unfortunately, it is not my file (or my link). However, I do not get any advertising when I open it. Nevertheless, feel free to repost and share! :) – Sotiris Dec 18 '20 at 23:43
  • Oh I see, are you using an ad blocker, by any chance? I get the popups both on my desktop and on my phone. I would repost, but I'm not keen to download the pdf in the first place. It's probably not a big deal but I'd rather not take chances anyway. – iYOA Dec 21 '20 at 04:56
  • No, I am not using an adblocker. – Sotiris Dec 29 '20 at 08:46