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# Strictly singular, non-compact operators exist on the space of Gowers and Maurey

## 1. Introduction

In 1993 W.T. Gowers and B. Maurey \[GM\] solved the famous “unconditional basic sequence problem” by constructing the first known example of a space that does not contain any unconditional basic sequence. In the present paper this space is denoted by $`GM`$. Furthermore it was shown in \[GM\] that the space $`GM`$ is hereditarily indecomposable (HI), i.e. no infinite dimensional subspace of $`GM`$ can be decomposed into a direct sum of two further infinite dimensional closed subspaces. As shown in \[GM\] every bounded operator on a complex HI space can be written as a sum of a multiple of the identity and a strictly compact operator. Recall that an operator $`T`$ is strictly singular if no restriction of $`T`$ to an infinite dimensional subspace is an isomorphism. Actually Lemma 22 of \[GM\] implies immediately that the real version of $`GM`$ has also the property that every operator on a subspace of it is a strictly singular perturbation of a multiple of the identity. In \[GM\] it is asked whether or not every operator on $`GM`$ can be written as a compact perturbation of a multiple of the identity. If the answer to this question were positive then by \[AS\] the space $`GM`$ would be the first known example of an infinite dimensional Banach space such that every operator on it has a non-trivial invariant subspace i.e. $`GM`$ would be a positive solution to the invariant subspace problem.

In 1999 W.T. Gowers showed that strictly singular non-compact operators can be defined on certain subspaces of $`GM`$, \[G\]. Our main result is

###### Theorem 1.1.

There exists a strictly singular non-compact operator $`T:GMGM`$.

Since strictly singular non compact operators on an infinite dimensional banach space cannot be written as compact perturbations of a multiple of the identity, we give a negative answer to the question of W.T. Gowers and B. Maurey. Also, we show that the space of operators on $`GM`$ contains a subspace isometric to $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}`$, the Banach space of all bounded sequences of scalars. Thus the set of operators on $`GM`$ is non-separable in contrast to the separability of the set of compact perturbations of a multiple of the identity on a space with a basis.

Concerning the invariant subspace problem, note that if every strictly singular operator on $`GM`$ has some compact power, then by \[L\], $`GM`$ would still be a positive solution to the invariant subspace problem. However, we conjecture that there exists a strictly singular operator on $`GM`$ none of whose powers is compact.

The construction of the space $`GM`$ is based on the space $`S`$, the first known example of an arbitrarily distortable space, constructed by the second named author in \[S1\].

The space $`S`$ was used by E. Odell and the second author in order to show that the separable Hilbert space is arbitrarily distortable \[OS\]. The second named author proved in \[S2\] that the space $`S`$ is complementably minimal. This means that for every infinite dimensional subspace of $`S`$ there exists a further subspace which is isomorphic to $`S`$ and complemented in $`S`$. Note that if a Banach space $`X`$ with the Aproximation Property (AP) is complementably minimal then every non-trivial closed two-sided operator ideal $``$ of $`X`$ satisfies $`𝒦𝒮`$ where $`𝒦`$ is the ideal of compact operators and $`𝒮`$ is the ideal of strictly singular operators on $`X`$. Indeed, since $``$ is closed and non-trivial, and $`X`$ has the AP we have $`𝒦`$. Assume that there exists $`T\backslash 𝒮`$. Since $`T`$ is not strictly singular, there exists an infinite dimensional subspace $`Y`$ of $`X`$ such that $`T`$ restricted on $`Y`$ is an isomorphism. Since $`X`$ is complementably minimal there exists a subspace $`Z`$ of $`T(Y)`$ such that $`Z`$ is isomorphic to $`X`$ and complemented in $`X`$. Let $`j:XZ`$ be an onto isomorphism and let $`P:XZ`$ be an onto projection. Finally note that $`ATB`$ is the identity on $`X`$ where $`A=j^1P`$ and $`B=(T|_Z)^1j`$ are operators on $`X`$. Therefore $`\text{id }`$ and $``$ consists of all operators on $`X`$. Hence, for a complementably minimal space $`X`$ having (AP), the lack of strictly singular non-compact operators on $`X`$ is equivalent to $`X`$ being simple. Recall that a Banach space $`X`$ is simple if the only two-sided closed operator ideal on $`X`$ is the ideal of compact operators. The only known simple spaces are the spaces $`\mathrm{}_p`$ $`(1p<\mathrm{})`$ and $`c_0`$ \[H\] (see also \[FGM\] and \[P\] page 82). W.B. Johnson asked whether or not $`S`$ is simple. We prove

###### Theorem 1.2.

There exists a strictly singular non-compact operator on $`S`$.

Thus $`S`$ is not a simple space. Also Theorem 1.1 implies that $`GM`$ is not a simple space. We do not know how many two-sided closed operator ideals exist on $`S`$ and on $`GM`$.

It will follow from our work that formaly the same operator $`T`$ can be considered in both Theorems 1.1 and 1.2 (either as an operator on $`GM`$ or as an operator on $`S`$). The operator $`T`$ has the form $`T=\mathrm{\Sigma }x_i^{}e_i`$ where $`(x_i^{})`$ is a seminormalized block sequence in $`S^{}`$ as well as in $`GM^{}`$ and $`(e_i)`$ is the unit vector basis of $`S`$ or $`GM`$ respectively.

We assume all our Banach spaces being defined over $``$ noting that the result can be easily transfered to the complex case.

We now recall the definition of $`S`$ and will introduce first some basic notation. $`c_{00}`$ is the vectorspace of sequences in $``$ for which only finitely many coordinates are not zero. For $`xc_{00}`$ the support of $`x`$ is the set $`\{i:x_i0\}`$ which we denote by supp$`(x)`$. $`(e_i)`$ is the usual unit basis in $`c_{00}`$, i.e. $`e_i(j)=\delta _{ij}`$, for $`i,j`$. If $`x=x_ie_ic_{00}`$ and $`E`$ we write $`E(x)=_{iE}e_i`$. For two finite sets $`E,F`$ we write $`E<F`$ if $`\mathrm{max}E<\mathrm{min}F`$ ($`\mathrm{max}\mathrm{}=0`$), and for $`x,yc_{00}`$ we write $`x<y`$ if $`\text{supp}(x)<\text{supp}(y)`$.

Let $`_\mathrm{}_p`$ denote the usual norm on $`\mathrm{}_p`$ if $`1p\mathrm{}`$. Let $`f`$ denote the function $`f(x)=\mathrm{log}_2(x+1)`$. $`S`$ is the completion of $`(c_{00},_S)`$ and $`_S`$ is the unique norm on $`c_{00}`$ which satisfies the implicit formula:

$$x_S=x_{\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}}\underset{\stackrel{2n}{E_1<E_2<\mathrm{}<E_n}}{sup}\frac{1}{f(n)}\underset{j=1}{\overset{n}{}}E_jx_S$$

The unique existence of such a norm is easy to show and it is also not hard to prove that $`(e_i)`$ is a 1-unconditional and 1-subsymmetric basis of $`S`$ (see \[S1\]).

For $`\mathrm{}`$, $`\mathrm{}2`$ we define the equivalent norm $`_{\mathrm{}}`$ on $`S`$ by

$$x_{\mathrm{}}=\underset{E_1<\mathrm{}<E_{\mathrm{}}}{sup}\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\underset{j=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}E_jX_S.$$

The construction of the space $`GM`$ will be recalled in Section 3.

## 2. Existence of strictly singular, non-compact operators on $`𝑺`$

The main goal of this section is to prove Theorem 1.2. We start by stating a sufficient condition for an operator $`T:SS`$, of the form

$$T=\underset{i}{}x_i^{}e_i,$$

to be strictly singular but not compact.

###### Proposition 2.1.

Assume that $`(x_i^{})_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is a seminormalized block sequence in $`S^{}`$ and that there is an increasing sequence $`(C(\mathrm{}))_{\mathrm{}}^+`$, with $`C(\mathrm{})\mathrm{}`$, if $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{}`$, for which the following condition holds.

(1) If $`(z_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is a block sequence in $`S`$, so that for each $`i`$, $`x_i^{}(z_i)=1`$ and $`x_{i1}^{}<z_i`$
$`<x_{i+1}^{}\text{ (take }x_0^{}=0\text{), then for any }2\mathrm{}\text{ and }(\lambda _i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}c_{00}\text{ we have that}`$
$`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\lambda _ie_i_{\mathrm{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{C(\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\lambda _iz_i_S.`$
Then the operator $`T=_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}x_i^{}e_i`$, with $`T(x)=_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}x_i^{}(x)e_i`$, for $`xS`$, is bounded, strictly singular, but not compact.

###### Proof.

In order to see that $`T:SS`$ is bounded let $`xc_{00}`$. We can write $`x`$ as $`x=_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}\lambda _iz_i`$, where $`(z_i)`$ is a block sequence in $`S`$ so that $`x_i^{}(z_i)=1`$ and $`x_{i1}^{}<z_i<x_{i+1}^{}`$. Thus $`Tx=\mathrm{\Sigma }\lambda _ie_i`$. If $`Tx_S=Tx_{\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}}`$, then

$$Tx_{\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}}=\underset{i}{\mathrm{max}}|\lambda _i|=\underset{i}{\mathrm{max}}\left|x_i^{}\left(\lambda _iz_j\right)\right|\underset{i}{sup}x_i^{}_S^{}x_S.$$

If $`Tx_S=Tx_{\mathrm{}}`$ for some $`\mathrm{}`$, $`\mathrm{}2`$, then it follows from our assumption (1) that

$$Tx_{\mathrm{}}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\lambda _ie_i_{\mathrm{}}\frac{1}{C(\mathrm{})}\lambda _iz_i_S\frac{1}{C(2)}x_S.$$

In order to show that $`T`$ is strictly singular we consider an arbitrary infinite dimensional subspace $`X`$ of $`S`$, and let $`\mathrm{}_0`$. $`X`$ contains an element $`x`$ for which there exists an $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{}_0`$ so that $`x_S=x_{\mathrm{}}`$. Indeed, as it was shown in \[S1\], we find for any $`N`$ and $`\epsilon >0`$ a normalized block $`(y_i)_{i=1}^N`$ in $`X`$ which is $`(1+\epsilon )`$-equivalent to the $`\mathrm{}_1^N`$-unit vector basis, in particular it follows that

$$\frac{1}{1+\epsilon }\frac{1}{N}\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}y_i_S.$$

On the other hand it was shown in \[S1\] that given $`\mathrm{}_0`$ we can choose $`N`$ big enough so that for any $`m`$, $`m\mathrm{}_0`$, it follows that $`\frac{1}{N}_{i=1}^Ny_i_m<(1+\delta (\epsilon ))/f(m)`$, with $`\delta (\epsilon )0`$, for $`\epsilon 0`$. Since clearly $`\frac{1}{N}_{i=1}^Ny_i_{\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}}\frac{1}{N}`$ there exists an $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{}_0`$ so that $`\frac{1}{N}_{i=1}^Ny_i_{\mathrm{}}=\frac{1}{N}_{i=1}^Ny_i_S`$. Now assume that $`X`$ is an infinite dimensional subspace of $`S`$ on which $`T`$ acts as an isomorphism. For any $`\mathrm{}_0`$ we can choose a $`yT(X)`$, $`yT(x)`$, so that $`y=y_{\mathrm{}}`$, with $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{}_0`$. As before we write $`x`$ as $`x=_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}\lambda _iz_i`$ where $`(z_i)`$ is a block sequence with $`x_i^{}(z_i)=1`$ and $`x_{i1}^{}<z_i<x_{i+1}^{}`$ for $`i`$. Then $`Tx_S=Tx_{\mathrm{}}=_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}\lambda _ie_i_{\mathrm{}}`$ $`\frac{1}{C(\mathrm{})}_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}\lambda _iz_i_S\frac{1}{C(\mathrm{}_0)}x_S`$. Since $`\mathrm{}_0`$ was arbitrary and since $`C(\mathrm{})\mathrm{}`$ for $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{}`$ we arrive to a contradiction to the assumption that $`T|_X`$ in an isomorphism.

Finally, $`T`$ is not compact since $`(x_i^{})`$ is a seminormalized block sequence. ∎

###### Remark.

Using the same proof, Proposition 2.1 can be generalized as follows: Assume $`(x_i^{})_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}S^{}`$ and $`(y_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}S`$ are seminormalized block sequences and $`(C(\mathrm{}))_+`$ so that $`C(\mathrm{})\mathrm{}`$ if $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{}`$ and the following conditions holds:
If $`(z_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is a block sequence in $`S`$, so that for each $`i`$, $`x_i^{}(z_i)=1`$ and $`x_{i1}^{}<z_i<x_{i+1}^{}`$, then for any $`2\mathrm{}`$ and $`(\lambda _i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}c_{00}`$ we have that

$$\lambda _iy_i_{\mathrm{}}\frac{1}{C(\mathrm{})}\lambda _iz_i_S+\mathrm{max}|\lambda _i|.$$

Then the operator $`T=\mathrm{\Sigma }x_i^{}y_i`$ is bounded, strictly singular but not compact.

###### Remark.

The rest of this section is devoted to the construction of a semi normalized block $`(x_n^{})`$ in $`S^{}`$ and a sequence $`C(\mathrm{})_{\mathrm{}}`$ satisfying the condition stated in Proposition 2.1. To do that we will have to overcome several technical difficulties. In a first reading one can proceed directly to Section 3. There we will show that by spreading out the coordinates of the sequence $`(x_i^{})`$ and under some mild growth condition on $`C(\mathrm{})`$ (which will be verified) the operator $`\mathrm{\Sigma }x_i^{}y_i`$ is well defined on $`GM`$, strictly singular and non-compact.

In order to define the sequence $`(x_m^{})S^{}`$ we will need the following notion of finitely branching trees. Consider the set $`_{k=0}^{\mathrm{}}^k`$, the set of all finite sequences with values in $``$, which will be partially ordered by extensions, i.e. if $`\mu =(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _m)`$ and $`\nu =(\nu _1,\mathrm{},\nu _n)`$ are in $`_{k=0}^{\mathrm{}}^k`$ we write $`\mu \nu `$ if $`mn`$ and $`\mu _1=\nu _1`$, $`\mu _2=\nu _2,\mathrm{},\mu _m=\nu _m`$. For $`\mu =(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _m)_{k=0}^{\mathrm{}}^k`$, we call $`m`$ the length of $`\mu `$ and denote it by $`|\mu |`$.

A non-empty subset $`𝒯`$ of $`_{k=0}^{\mathrm{}}^k`$ is called a finitely branching tree, or simply a tree (since we will not deal with other kinds of trees) if the following two conditions hold.

(2)
$$\text{If }\mu =(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _m)𝒯\text{ and }0km,\text{ then also }(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _k)\text{ lies in }𝒯.$$

Since $`𝒯`$ is non-empty, this implies in particular that $`\mathrm{}𝒯`$.

(3) If $`\mu 𝒯`$, then either $`\mu `$ is maximal in $`𝒯`$, i.e. no extension of $`\mu `$ lies in $`𝒯`$, or there is a
$`k_\mu =k_\mu ^𝒯\text{ so that }\{(\mu ,i):i\{1,2,\mathrm{},k_\mu \}\}=\{\nu 𝒯:\mu \nu ,|\nu |=|\mu |+1\}.`$
We call the elements of trees nodes. If $`𝒯`$ is a tree and $`\mu =(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _{|\mu |})𝒯\backslash \{\mathrm{}\}`$ we call $`(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _{|\mu |1})`$ the immediate predecessor of $`\mu `$. If $`\mu 𝒯`$ is not maximal in $`𝒯`$ we call the nodes $`(\mu ,i)`$, $`ik_\mu ^𝒯`$, immediate successors of $`\mu `$ in $`𝒯`$. Since we will always deal with only one tree $`𝒯`$ at a time we denote the numbers of successors of an non-maximal $`\mu 𝒯`$ simply by $`k_\mu `$. We say that a tree $`𝒯`$ is of length $`\mathrm{}`$, $`\mathrm{}_0`$, if $`𝒯_{k=0}^{\mathrm{}}^k`$ and all maximal nodes in $`𝒯`$ have length $`\mathrm{}`$. A tree is said to have infinite length if it does not contain maximal nodes. On a tree $`𝒯`$ having finite or infinite length we also introduce the lexicographic order which we denote by $`_{\text{lex}}`$, i.e. we well-order $`𝒯`$ into: $`\mathrm{},(1),(2),\mathrm{},(k_{\mathrm{}})`$, $`(1,1),\mathrm{},(1,k_{(1)})`$, $`(2,1),\mathrm{},(2,k_{(2)})`$, $`(3,1),\mathrm{}`$ . To a given tree $`𝒯`$ having finite length we want to define associated vectors in $`S`$ and $`S^{}`$. These vectors are defined up to equality in distribution. For $`x,yc_{00}`$ we say that $`x`$ and $`y`$ have the same distribution and write $`x=_{\text{dist}}y`$ if for some $`k`$, $`(\alpha _i)_{i=1}^k`$, and $`m_1<m_2<\mathrm{}<m_k`$ and $`n_1<n_2<\mathrm{}<n_k`$ in $``$ it follows that $`x=_{i=1}^k\alpha _ie_{m_i}\text{and}y=_{i=1}^k\alpha _ie_{n_i}`$.

###### Definition.

Let $`𝒯`$ be a tree of length $`\mathrm{}_0`$. For $`k\mathrm{}`$ and each $`\mu =(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _k)𝒯`$ we define the numbers

(4)
$$\alpha (\mu )=\underset{i=0}{\overset{k1}{}}\frac{f(k_{(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _i)})}{k_{(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _i)}}\text{ and }\beta (\mu )=\underset{i=0}{\overset{k1}{}}\frac{1}{f(k_{(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _i)})}$$

(if $`k=0`$, then $`(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _0)=\mathrm{}`$ and $`\alpha (\mathrm{})=\beta (\mathrm{})=1`$). We say that $`xS`$ is associated to $`𝒯`$ if

(5)
$$x=\underset{\mu 𝒯,|\mu |=\mathrm{}}{}\alpha (\mu )e_{n(\mu )}$$

and we say that $`x^{}S^{}`$ is associated to $`𝒯`$ if

(6)
$$x^{}=\underset{\mu 𝒯,|\mu |=\mathrm{}}{}\beta (\mu )e_{n(\mu )}^{}$$

where $`(n(\mu ))_{\mu 𝒯}`$ has the property that $`n(\mu )<n(\nu )`$ if $`\mu _{\text{lex}}\nu `$.

###### Remark.

In the above notation it is easy to see that $`x_S1`$, $`x^{}_S^{}1`$ and that $`x^{}(x)=1`$ (if the $`n(\mu )`$’s coincide).

###### Remark.

There is also a recursive way to introduce the vectors $`x`$ and $`x^{}`$ which are associated to a tree of length $`\mathrm{}`$. If $`\mathrm{}=0`$, i.e. $`𝒯=\{\mathrm{}\}`$, the associated vectors in $`S`$ and $`S^{}`$ are simply the elements of the unit vector basis. Assume that for an $`\mathrm{}0`$, we have defined the vectors associated to trees of length $`\mathrm{}`$ in $`S`$ and $`S^{}`$ respectively. Let $`𝒯`$ be a tree of length $`\mathrm{}+1`$. For $`ik_{\mathrm{}}`$, the number of immediate successors of $`\mathrm{}`$ in $`𝒯`$, we let $`𝒯_i=\{\mu _{j=0}^{\mathrm{}}^j(i,\mu )𝒯\}`$. Then $`𝒯_i`$ is a tree of length $`\mathrm{}`$ and we choose vectors $`x_iS`$ and $`x_i^{}S`$ associated to $`𝒯_i`$. Furthermore we require $`(x_i)_{i=1}^k_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`(x_i^{})_{i=1}^k_{\mathrm{}}`$ to be blocks. Then the vectors associated to $`𝒯`$ are

(7)
$$x=\frac{f(k_{\mathrm{}})}{k_{\mathrm{}}}\underset{i=1}{\overset{k_{\mathrm{}}}{}}x_i\text{and}x^{}=\frac{1}{f(k_{\mathrm{}})}\underset{i=1}{\overset{k_{\mathrm{}}}{}}x_i^{}.$$

More generally if $`0k\mathrm{}`$, and if $`𝒯`$ is a tree of length $`\mathrm{}`$, then every $`xS`$, respectively $`x^{}S`$, associated to $`𝒯`$ can be written as

(8)
$$x=\underset{\mu 𝒯,|\mu |=k}{}\alpha (\mu )x_\mu ,\text{and}x^{}=\underset{\mu 𝒯,|\mu |=k}{}\beta (\mu )x_\mu ^{},$$

where $`x_\mu `$ and $`x_\mu ^{}`$ are associated to $`𝒯_\mu :=\{\nu _{j=0}^\mathrm{}k^j(\mu ,\nu )𝒯\}`$ and $`(x_\mu )`$ and $`(x_\mu ^{})`$ are blocks with respect to the lexicographic order.

Every tree $`𝒯`$ is determined, by the numbers $`k_\mu `$, for $`\mu 𝒯`$ being non-maximal. In order to choose the wanted block sequence $`(x_n^{})S^{}`$ which satisfies the requirements of Proposition 2.1 we will first choose a “lacunary enough” subset $`K`$. Secondly, we will choose an infinite tree $`𝒯`$, with $`(k_\mu )_{\mu 𝒯}K`$ and such that $`(k_\mu )`$ increases with respect to the lexicographic order. Then we will choose a sequence $`(L_n)_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$, which increases “fast enough” to $`\mathrm{}`$. Finally we let $`(x_n^{})S^{}`$ be a block sequence for which $`x_n^{}`$, $`n`$, is associated to $`𝒯_{L_n}=\{\mu 𝒯|\mu |L_n\}`$. Let us formulate these conditions precisely.

Let $`(\epsilon _i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ be a decreasing sequence of positive numbers so that $`_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}\epsilon _i<\mathrm{}`$. Assume that $`(k_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ satisfies the following growth conditions

(9) $`{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}f\left({\displaystyle \frac{3}{4}}f(k_1)\right)1,\text{ and }\mathrm{ln}k_13`$
(10) $`\text{for}r>k_1\text{and}a>1,\text{ then }f(r^a){\displaystyle \frac{3}{4}}af(r).`$
Note that always $`f(r^a)af(r)`$, and that we can assume (10) for a large enough $`k_1`$ since $`f()`$ is asymptotically logarithmic. For $`j`$ we require the following inequalities

(11)
$$\left(\frac{6}{3f(k_j)}\underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}\frac{k_s}{f(k_s)}\right)^{1/2}\underset{\mathrm{}=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\left(\frac{8}{3}k_1\right)^{\mathrm{}/2}+2\frac{\mathrm{log}_2f(k_j)}{f(k_j)^{1/2}}\left(\underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}\frac{k_s}{f(k_s)}\right)^{1/2}<\epsilon _j.$$

For $`r>1`$ we define

(12)
$$G(r):=\underset{i}{\mathrm{max}}\frac{f(r)f(k_i)}{f(rk_i)}\underset{j=1}{\overset{i1}{}}\frac{f(k_j)}{k_j}$$

and establish several properties. First note that above maximum is welldefined since for fixed $`r>0`$ $`\frac{f(r)f(k_i)}{f(rk_i)}_{j=1}^{i1}\frac{f(k_j)}{k_j}`$ converges to zero if $`i\mathrm{}`$.

###### Proposition 2.2.

aaaaaaaaaaaa

* $`G(r)`$ is increasing in $`r>1`$.
* If $`(k_{i_j})_{j=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is a subsequence of $`(k_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ and we define

$$\overline{G}(r)=\underset{j}{\mathrm{max}}\frac{f(r)f(k_{i_j})}{f(rk_{i_j})}\underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}\frac{f(k_{i_s})}{k_{i_s}}$$

(i.e. we replace $`(k_i)`$ in the definition of $`G`$ by $`(k_{i_j})`$), then $`\overline{G}(r)G(r)`$.

###### Proof.

For (a) we have to show that the function $`[1,\mathrm{})x\frac{f(x)}{f(ax)}`$, $`ak_1`$ is increasing. By taking derivatives we need to show that

$$\frac{\mathrm{ln}(1+ax)}{1+x}\frac{a\mathrm{ln}(1+x)}{1+ax}0$$

.

An easy computation shows that:

$$\frac{\mathrm{ln}(1+ax)}{1+x}\frac{a\mathrm{ln}(1+x)}{1+ax}\frac{\mathrm{ln}(ax)}{1+x}\frac{a\mathrm{ln}(x)+a}{1+ax}\frac{ax(\mathrm{ln}(a)3)}{(1+x)(1+ax)}0\text{ (by (}\text{9}\text{)).}$$

In order to show (b) let $`r>1`$ and choose $`i`$ such that

$$G(r)=\frac{f(r)f(k_i)}{f(rk_i)}\underset{s=1}{\overset{i1}{}}\frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}.$$

Secondly choose an $`s1`$ so that $`k_{i_{s1}}k_{i1}<k_ik_{i_s}`$ $`(k_0=k_{i_0}=1)`$. Then

$$\overline{G}(r)\frac{f(r)f(k_{i_s})}{f(rk_{i_s})}\underset{t=1}{\overset{s1}{}}\frac{f(k_{i_t})}{k_{i_t}}\frac{f(r)f(k_{i_s})}{f(rk_{i_s})}\underset{t=1}{\overset{i1}{}}\frac{f(k_t)}{k_t}\frac{f(r)f(k_i)}{f(rk_i)}\underset{t=1}{\overset{i1}{}}\frac{f(k_t)}{k_t}=G(r).$$

###### Lemma 2.3.

For $`i`$ choose $`m_i^+`$ such that $`f(m_ik_i)=k_i`$, i.e. $`m_i=\frac{2^{k_i}1}{k_i}`$. Assume that $`r[m_{i1},m_i)`$, for some $`i2`$ and define the sequence $`(r_{\mathrm{}})_{\mathrm{}=0}^{\mathrm{}}`$ inductively by $`r_0=r`$ and $`r_{\mathrm{}+1}=r_{\mathrm{}}^{f(r_{\mathrm{}})}`$. Then

(13)
$$\underset{\mathrm{}=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{1}{\sqrt{G(r_{\mathrm{}})}}\underset{j=i}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}(\epsilon _j+\epsilon _{j1}).$$

The reader interested in the technical details of the proof is referred to the end of this section.

In addition to the growth conditions on $`(k_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ stated in (9), (10), and (11) we will need a further property. Recall from \[S1\] that for given $`\mathrm{}`$ and $`\epsilon >0`$ one can choose $`n_1<n_2<\mathrm{}<n_{\mathrm{}}`$ fast enough increasing so that a block $`(y_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$, with $`y_i=_{\text{dist}}\frac{f(n_i)}{n_i}_{j=1}^{n_i}e_j`$, for $`i=1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}`$, is $`(1+\epsilon )`$-equivalent to $`(e_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ in $`S`$. In particular this implies that $`_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}y_i_S\frac{(1+\epsilon )\mathrm{}}{f(\mathrm{})}`$. Therefore we can and will require the following additional property on the sequence $`(k_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$.

(14) If $`𝒯`$ is a tree of infinite length with $`\{k_\mu :\mu 𝒯\}(k_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`k_\mu <k_\nu `$, if $`\mu _{\text{lex}}\nu `$,
then for $`\mathrm{}`$ and $`xS`$ associated to $`\{\mu 𝒯:|\mu |\mathrm{}\}`$ it follows that $`x2`$.
Note that (14) implies that for a tree $`𝒯`$ as in (14), and $`\mathrm{}`$, any $`x^{}S^{}`$ associated to $`\{\mu 𝒯,|\mu |\mathrm{}\}`$ is at least of norm $`\frac{1}{2}`$. Assume now that $`(k_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ satisfies (9) through (11) and (14), and let $`G(r)`$, $`r>1`$, be defined as in (12). We choose a sequence $`(L_n)_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ which has the following property (15).

(15) $`\text{For }r>1\text{, the number }L_{f(f(r))}\text{ is big enough to ensure that }`$
$`G(r)=\underset{iL_{f(f(r))}}{\mathrm{max}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_i)f(r)}{f(k_ir)}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{i1}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_j)}{k_j}}.`$
Note that (15) passes through to any subsequence $`(k_{i_s})_{s=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ of $`(k_i)`$, i.e.

$$\overline{G}(r):=\underset{s}{\mathrm{max}}\frac{f(k_{i_s})f(r)}{f(k_{i_s}r)}\underset{t=1}{\overset{s1}{}}\frac{f(k_{i_t})}{k_{i_t}}=\underset{sL_{f(f(r))}}{\mathrm{max}}\frac{f(k_{i_s})f(r)}{f(k_{i_s}r)}\underset{t=1}{\overset{s1}{}}\frac{f(k_{i_t})}{k_{i_t}}.$$

Finally we choose an infinite tree $`𝒯`$ so that $`\{k_\mu :\mu 𝒯\}(k_i)_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ and so that $`k_\mu <k_\nu `$ if $`\mu _{\text{lex}}\nu `$. We let $`(x_n^{})_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}`$ be a block sequence in $`S^{}`$, with $`x_n^{}`$ being associated to the tree $`\{\mu 𝒯:|\mu |L_n+1\}`$.

###### Lemma 2.4.

Assume that $`(z_n)_{n=1}^{\mathrm{}}S`$ has the property that $`x_n^{}(z_n)=1`$, and $`x_{n1}^{}<z_i<x_{n+1}^{}`$. If $`m`$ and $`I`$ are such that $`f(f(m))\mathrm{min}I`$ and $`\mathrm{\#}Im`$, then

$$\underset{iI}{}\lambda _iz_i_S\frac{G(m)}{f(m)}\underset{iI}{}|\lambda _i|,\text{ whenever }(\lambda _i)_{iI}.$$

###### Proof.

Using (8) we can write for any $`n`$ and $`\mathrm{}=0,1,\mathrm{},L_n+1`$ $`x_n^{}`$ as

$$x_n^{}=\underset{\stackrel{\mu 𝒯}{|\mu |=\mathrm{}}}{}\beta (\mu )x_{n,\mu }^{}$$

where $`\beta (\mu )=1/_{i=1}^{|\mu |1}f(k_{(\mu _1,\mathrm{},\mu _i)})`$ and $`x_{n,\mu }^{}`$ is associated to $`\{\nu _{j=0}^{L_n+1\mathrm{}}^j(\mu ,\nu )𝒯\}`$, for $`\mu 𝒯`$, with $`|\mu |=\mathrm{}`$, and where $`(x_{n,\mu }^{})_{\mu 𝒯,|\mu |=\mathrm{}}`$ is a block with respect to $`_{\text{lex}}`$. Assume $`m`$, $`I`$, with $`f(f(m))\mathrm{min}I`$ and $`\mathrm{\#}Im`$, and let $`(\lambda _i)_{iI}`$. Without loss of generality we can assume that $`\lambda _i0`$, for $`iI`$.

By recursion we will choose for each $`\mathrm{}=0,1,\mathrm{},L_{f(f(m))}`$ a node $`\nu _{\mathrm{}}𝒯`$, with $`|\nu _{\mathrm{}}|=\mathrm{}`$ and $`\nu _0\nu _1\nu _2\mathrm{}\nu _{\mathrm{}}`$, so that

(16)
$$\underset{iI}{}\lambda _ix_{i,\nu _{\mathrm{}}}^{}(z_i)\underset{s=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}1}{}}\frac{f(k_{\nu _s})}{k_{\nu _s}}\underset{iI}{}\lambda _i.$$

For $`\mathrm{}=0,\mu _0=\mathrm{}`$, and since $`x_{n,\mathrm{}}^{}=x_n^{}`$, the claim follows from the assumptions on $`(z_n)`$. Assume $`\nu _0\nu _1\mathrm{}\nu _{\mathrm{}}`$, with $`\mathrm{}<L_{f(f(m))}`$, have been chosen. Then it follows from (8) that

$$x_{n,\nu _{\mathrm{}}}^{}=\frac{1}{f(k_\nu _{\mathrm{}})}\underset{j=1}{\overset{k_\nu _{\mathrm{}}}{}}x_{i,(\nu _{\mathrm{}},j)}^{}$$

and by the induction hypothesis that

$$\underset{s=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}1}{}}\frac{f(k_{\nu _s})}{k_{\nu _s}}\underset{iI}{}\lambda _i\underset{iI}{}\lambda _ix_{i,\nu _{\mathrm{}}}^{}(z_i)=\frac{1}{f(k_\nu _{\mathrm{}})}\underset{iI}{}\underset{j=1}{\overset{k_\nu _{\mathrm{}}}{}}\lambda _ix_{i,(\nu _{\mathrm{}},j)}^{}(z_i).$$

Thus there exists a $`jk_\nu _{\mathrm{}}`$ so that for $`\nu _{\mathrm{}+1}:=(\nu _{\mathrm{}},j)`$ it follows that

$$\underset{iI}{}\lambda _ix_{i,\nu _{\mathrm{}+1}}^{}(z_i)\underset{s=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{f(k_{\nu _s})}{k_{\nu _s}}\underset{iI}{}\lambda _i.$$

This finishes the proof of the claim.

For $`\mathrm{}=0,1,\mathrm{},L_{f(f(m))}`$ let

$$y_{\mathrm{}}^{}=\frac{1}{f(mk_\nu _{\mathrm{}})}\underset{iI}{}\underset{j=1}{\overset{k_\nu _{\mathrm{}}}{}}x_{i,(\nu _{\mathrm{}},j)}^{}=\frac{f(k_\nu _{\mathrm{}})}{f(mk_\nu _{\mathrm{}})}\underset{iI}{}x_{i,\nu _{\mathrm{}}}^{}$$

(recall that $`x_i^{}`$, with $`iI`$, is the associated vector to a tree of length at least $`L_{f(f(m))}+1`$). Since $`\mathrm{\#}Im`$ it follows that on the $`y_{\mathrm{}}^{}_S1`$, and, then, that

$`{\displaystyle \underset{iI}{}}\lambda _iz_i_S`$ $`\underset{\mathrm{}L_{f(f(m))}}{\mathrm{max}}y_{\mathrm{}}^{}\left({\displaystyle \underset{iI}{}}\lambda _iz_i\right)=\underset{\mathrm{}L_{f(f(m))}}{\mathrm{max}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_\nu _{\mathrm{}})}{f(mk_\nu _{\mathrm{}})}}{\displaystyle \underset{iI}{}}\lambda _ix_{i,\nu _{\mathrm{}}}^{}(z_i)`$
$`\underset{\mathrm{}L_{f(f(m))}}{\mathrm{max}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_\nu _{\mathrm{}})}{f(mk_\nu _{\mathrm{}})}}{\displaystyle \underset{s=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}1}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_{\nu _s})}{k_{\nu _s}}}{\displaystyle \underset{iI}{}}\lambda _i={\displaystyle \frac{G(m)}{f(m)}}{\displaystyle \underset{iI}{}}\lambda _i.`$
In the last of above inequalities we used (15), the remark after (15), and Proposition 2.1. ∎

Before we can prove that our chosen sequence $`(x_n^{})`$ satisfies the properties stated in Proposition 2.1 we will need another argument. For $`r2`$ and $`xS`$ define

$$|x|_r=\underset{r\mathrm{}<\mathrm{}}{sup}x_{\mathrm{}}=\underset{\mathrm{}r,E_1<E_2<\mathrm{}<E_{\mathrm{}}}{sup}\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}E_ix_S.$$

Note that $`||||||_r`$ is an equivalent norm on $`S`$. The next lemma makes the following qualitative statement precise:

If $`xc_{00}`$ and if $`r2`$ is “big enough”, if $`\mathrm{}r`$ and $`E_1<E_2<\mathrm{}<E_{\mathrm{}}`$ are such that

$$|x|_r=x_{\mathrm{}}=\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}E_ix_S$$

then “for most of the” $`i\{1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}\}`$ it follows that either $`E_ix_S=E_ix_{\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}}`$ or $`E_ix_S=E_ix_{n_i}`$ with $`n_i`$ being “much bigger than $`r`$”.

###### Lemma 2.5.

There is a $`d>1`$, so that for all $`r`$ with $`f(r)>d^2`$ and all $`x=x_je_jc_{00}`$, it follows that

$$|x|_r=x_{\mathrm{}}\frac{1}{1\frac{d}{\sqrt{f(r)}}}\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\left(\underset{jJ}{}|x_j|+\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}E_ix_{n_i}\right),$$

where $`\mathrm{}`$, $`\mathrm{}r`$, $`J\text{supp}(x)`$, $`\mathrm{\#}J\mathrm{},E_1<E_2<\mathrm{}<E_{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}`$, $`E_i`$ and $`E_iJ=\mathrm{}`$, and $`n_1,n_2,\mathrm{},n_{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}`$, $`n_j>r^{f(r)}`$ for $`j=1,2,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J`$.

Lemma 2.5 is almost identical to Lemma 5 in \[S2\]; for the sake of being self-contained we include a proof at the end of this section. Now we are ready for the last step of proving Theorem 1.2, by showing that $`(x_n^{})`$ as chosen before satisfies Proposition 2.1.

###### Lemma 2.6.

There is a constant $`c>1`$ and an $`m_0`$, so that for any block sequence $`(z_n)S`$, with $`x_n^{}(z_n)=1`$ and $`x_{i1}^{}<z_i<x_{i+1}^{}`$, for $`n`$, and any $`mm_0`$ it follows that

$$\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\lambda _ie_i_m\frac{c}{\sqrt{G(m)}}\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\lambda _iz_i_S$$

whenever $`(\lambda _i)c_{00}`$.

Choosing now $`C(\mathrm{})=\sqrt{G(\mathrm{})}/c`$ for $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{min}\{mm_0:\sqrt{G(m)}c\}`$, and $`C(\mathrm{})=1`$ for $`\mathrm{}<\mathrm{min}\{mm_0:\sqrt{G(m)}c\}`$ we note that the assumptions of Proposition 2.1 are fulfilled. For the case $`\mathrm{}<\mathrm{min}\{mm_0:\sqrt{G(m)}c\}`$ we are simply using the fact that every block basis in $`S`$ whose elements are of norm at least 1 dominates $`(e_i)`$ \[S2\].

###### Remark.

It will be important for the arguments in Section 3 that for any $`r>1`$ the series $`1/C(r_{\mathrm{}})`$ converges, where $`r_0=r`$ and, inductively, $`r_{\mathrm{}+1}=r_{\mathrm{}}^{f(r_{\mathrm{}})}`$ (Lemma 2.3).

###### Proof of Lemma 2.6.

We choose $`m_0`$ so that $`f(m_0)2d^2`$, where $`d`$ is chosen as in Lemma 2.5, and so that $`m_0>k_1`$, the first element of the previously chosen sequence $`(k_n)`$. For $`r_+`$ with $`f(r)2d^2`$ we consider the sequence $`(r_{\mathrm{}})_{\mathrm{}=0}^{\mathrm{}}`$, with $`r_0=r`$ and $`r_{\mathrm{}+1}=r_{\mathrm{}}^{f(r_{\mathrm{}})}`$ and observe that the two series $`_{\mathrm{}=0}^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d}{\sqrt{f(r_{\mathrm{}})}d}`$ and $`_{\mathrm{}=0}^{\mathrm{}}\frac{f(f(r_{\mathrm{}}))\sqrt{G(r_{\mathrm{}})}}{f(r_{\mathrm{}})}`$ are finite (note that $`\sqrt{G(r_{\mathrm{}})}\sqrt{f(r_{\mathrm{}})}`$ and that $`\frac{f(f(r_{\mathrm{}}))}{\sqrt{f(r_{\mathrm{}})}}`$ is summable). By Lemma 2.3 also the series $`_{\mathrm{}=0}^{\mathrm{}}\frac{1}{\sqrt{G(r_{\mathrm{}})}}`$ is finite. Therefore

$$c(r):=\underset{\mathrm{}=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{1}{1\frac{d}{\sqrt{f(r_{\mathrm{}})}}}\left[1+\frac{f(f(r_{\mathrm{}}))\sqrt{G(r_{\mathrm{}})}}{f(r_{\mathrm{}})}+\frac{1}{\sqrt{G(r_{\mathrm{}})}1}\right]$$

is uniformly bounded on $`[m_0,\mathrm{})`$. By induction on $`\mathrm{\#}I`$ we will show that

(17)
$$\underset{iI}{}\lambda _ie_i_m\frac{c(m)}{\sqrt{G(m)}}\underset{iI}{}\lambda _iz_i_S\text{ for all }mm_0.$$

This would imply the statement of the Lemma if we choose $`c=sup_{mm_0}c(m)`$.

If $`\mathrm{\#}I=1`$ the claim is trivial (note that $`e_i_m=1/f(m)1/\sqrt{G(m)}`$).

Assume that for some $`k`$ and all $`I`$, $`\mathrm{\#}Ik`$, (17) is true and assume $`\mathrm{\#}I=k+1`$, $`mm_0`$, and $`(\lambda _i)_{iI}`$. By Lemma 2.5 we can choose $`\mathrm{}m`$, $`JI`$, $`\mathrm{\#}J\mathrm{}`$, $`E_1<E_2<\mathrm{}<E_{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}`$, $`E_iJ=\mathrm{}`$, and $`n_1,n_2,\mathrm{},n_{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}(m^{f(m)},\mathrm{})`$ so that (put $`x=_{iI}\lambda _ie_i`$ and $`z=_{iI}\lambda _iz_i`$)

$`{\displaystyle \underset{iI}{}}\lambda _ie_i_m`$ $`\left|{\displaystyle \underset{iI}{}}\lambda _ie_i\right|_m={\displaystyle \underset{iI}{}}\lambda _ie_i_{\mathrm{}}`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1\frac{d}{\sqrt{f(m)}}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}\left[{\displaystyle \underset{jJ}{}}|\lambda _j|+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}}E_ix_{n_i}\right]`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1\frac{d}{\sqrt{f(m)}}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}\left[{\displaystyle \underset{\stackrel{jJ}{jf(f(\mathrm{}))}}{}}|\lambda _i|+{\displaystyle \underset{\stackrel{jJ}{j>f(f(\mathrm{}))}}{}}|\lambda _i|+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}}E_ix_{n_i}\right]`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1\frac{d}{\sqrt{f(m)}}}}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{f(f(\mathrm{}))}{f(\mathrm{})}}\underset{\lambda I}{\mathrm{max}}|\lambda _i|+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}\left({\displaystyle \underset{\stackrel{jJ}{j>f(f(\mathrm{}))}}{}}|\lambda _i|+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}}E_ix_{n_i}\right)\right]`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1\frac{d}{\sqrt{f(m)}}}}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{f(f(m))}{f(m)}}z_s+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}\left({\displaystyle \underset{\stackrel{jJ}{j>f(f(\mathrm{}))}}{}}|\lambda _i|+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}}E_ix_{n_i}\right)\right].`$
We can assume that $`E_i\mathrm{supp}(x)`$ for $`i\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J`$. If $`J\mathrm{}`$ then the cardinality of the support of $`E_ix`$ is smaller than the cardinality of supp$`(x)`$. If $`J=\mathrm{}`$ and if, say, $`E_1=\text{supp}(x)`$ then we could split $`E_1`$ into $`\stackrel{~}{E}_1`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{E}_2`$, choose $`n_2=n_1`$ and observe that above inequalities still hold. Thus we can assume that for all $`i=1,\mathrm{}\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J`$, the support of $`E_i(x)`$ is of lower cardinality than the support of $`x`$. Thus we can assume that our induction hypothesis applies to $`E_i(x)`$, $`i\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J`$.

We distinguish now between two cases.

If $`\underset{\stackrel{jJ}{j>f(f(\mathrm{}))}}{}|\lambda _j|\frac{1}{\sqrt{G(\mathrm{})}1}\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}E_i(x)_{n_i}`$, then it follows from Lemma 2.4 (applied to $`\mathrm{}=m`$ and $`I=\{jJ:j>f(f(\mathrm{}))\}`$) that

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}\left({\displaystyle \underset{\stackrel{jJ}{j>f(f(\mathrm{}))}}{}}|\lambda _j|+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}}E_ix_{n_i}\right)`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}\sqrt{G(\mathrm{})}{\displaystyle \underset{\stackrel{jJ}{j>f(f(\mathrm{}))}}{}}|\lambda _j|`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{G(\mathrm{})}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\stackrel{jJ}{j>f(f(\mathrm{}))}}{}}\lambda _jz_j_S(\mathrm{\#}J\mathrm{})`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{G(m)}}}{\displaystyle \underset{iI}{}}\lambda _iz_i_S.`$
If $`\underset{\stackrel{jJ}{j>f(f(\mathrm{}))}}{}|\lambda _j|<\frac{1}{\sqrt{G(\mathrm{})}1}\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}E_i(x)_{n_i}`$ we deduce that

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}({\displaystyle \underset{\stackrel{jJ}{jf(f(\mathrm{}))}}{}}|\lambda _j|`$ $`+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}}E_i(x)_{n_i})`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{G(\mathrm{})}1}}\right){\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}}E_i(x)_{n_i}`$
$`\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{G(m)}1}}\right)c(m^{f(m)}){\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{G(m^{f(m)})}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}}F_i(z)_S`$
(by the induction hypothesis applied to $`E_ix`$)
here we let $`z=\underset{iI}{}\lambda _iz_i`$ and $`F_i=\underset{jE_i}{}\text{ supp}(z_j)`$, and note that $`F_iz=\underset{jE_i}{}\lambda _jz_j`$.
$`\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{G(m)}1}}\right)c(m^{f(m)}){\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{G(m)}}}z_S.`$
Thus in both cases we conclude that

$`{\displaystyle \lambda _ie_i}_m`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{1\frac{d}{f(m)}}}\right)\left({\displaystyle \frac{f(f(m))\sqrt{G(m)}}{f(m)}}+1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{G(m)}1}}\right)c(m^{f(m)}){\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{G(m)}}}z_s`$
$`=c(m){\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{G(m)}}}{\displaystyle \underset{iI}{}}\lambda _iz_i_S,`$
which finishes the proof of Lemma 2.6. ∎

We still have to prove Lemma 2.3 and Lemma 2.5.

###### Proof of Lemma 2.3.

Note that for $`r>1`$

(18)
$$G(r)\stackrel{~}{G}(r):=\underset{j=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}1_{[m_{j1},m_j)}(r)\frac{f(r)f(k_j)}{f(rk_j)}\underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}\frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}(m_0=1).$$

Therefore it will be enough to show that for $`j2`$,

(19)
$$\underset{\mathrm{},m_{j1}r_{\mathrm{}}<m_j}{}\frac{1}{\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{G}(r_{\mathrm{}})}}\epsilon _{j1}+\epsilon _j.$$

Using (9) we can easily prove by induction on $`\mathrm{}_0`$ that

(20)
$$r_{\mathrm{}}r^{\left(\frac{3}{4}f(r)\right)^{2^{\mathrm{}}1}}m_{j1}^{\left(\frac{3}{4}f(m_{j1})\right)^{2^{\mathrm{}}1}}$$

and (by applying $`f`$) it follows from (10) that (recall that $`m_{j1}m_1k_1`$)

(21)
$$f(r_{\mathrm{}})\left(\frac{3}{4}f(m_{j1})\right)^2^{\mathrm{}}.$$

We distinguish between two kinds of $`r_{\mathrm{}}`$’s in $`\{r_{\mathrm{}}:m_{j1}r_{\mathrm{}}<m_j\}`$. If $`0\mathrm{}`$ is such that $`m_{j1}r_{\mathrm{}}k_j`$ we deduce that

(22) $`\stackrel{~}{G}(r_{\mathrm{}})`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{f(r_{\mathrm{}})f(k_j)}{f(r_{\mathrm{}}k_j)}}{\displaystyle \underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}}f(r_{\mathrm{}}){\displaystyle \frac{f(k_j)}{f(k_j^2)}}{\displaystyle \underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}}`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}f(r_{\mathrm{}}){\displaystyle \underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{3}{4}}f(m_{j1})\right)^2^{\mathrm{}}{\displaystyle \underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}}\text{(by (}\text{21}\text{))}`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{3}{16}}k_{j1}\left({\displaystyle \frac{3}{8}}k_{j1}\right)^{2^{\mathrm{}}1}{\displaystyle \underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}}`$
(note that $`f(m_{j1})f(m_{j1}k_{j1})f(k_{j1})\frac{1}{2}k_{j1}`$)
$`={\displaystyle \frac{3}{16}}f(k_{j1})\left({\displaystyle \frac{3}{8}}k_{j1}\right)^{2^{\mathrm{}}1}{\displaystyle \underset{s=1}{\overset{j2}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}}{\displaystyle \frac{3}{16}}f(k_{j1})\left({\displaystyle \frac{3}{8}}k_1\right)^{\mathrm{}}{\displaystyle \underset{s=1}{\overset{j2}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}}.`$
Thus

(23)
$$\underset{\stackrel{\mathrm{}_j}{m_{j1}r_{\mathrm{}}k_j}}{}\frac{1}{\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{G}(r_{\mathrm{}})}}\left(\frac{16}{3}\frac{1}{f(k_{j1})}\underset{s=1}{\overset{j2}{}}\frac{k_s}{f(k_s)}\right)^{1/2}\underset{\mathrm{}=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\left(\frac{8}{3}k_1\right)^{\mathrm{}/2}<\epsilon _{j1}\text{(by (}\text{11}\text{)).}$$

To estimate $`1/\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{G}(r_{\mathrm{}})}`$, with $`k_j<r_{\mathrm{}}<m_j`$, we put $`\mathrm{}_0=\mathrm{min}\{\mathrm{}r_\mathrm{}_0>k_j\}`$ and $`\mathrm{}_1=\mathrm{max}\{\mathrm{}r_{\mathrm{}}<m_j\}`$ and observe for $`\mathrm{}\{\mathrm{}_0,\mathrm{}_0+1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}_1\}`$ that

(24)
$$\stackrel{~}{G}(r_{\mathrm{}})=\frac{f(r_{\mathrm{}})f(k_j)}{f(r_{\mathrm{}}k_j)}\underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}\frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}f(k_j)\frac{f(r_{\mathrm{}})}{f(r_{\mathrm{}}^2)}\underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}\frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}\frac{1}{2}f(k_j)\underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}\frac{f(k_s)}{k_s}.$$

As in (20) and (21) we observe that

$$r_\mathrm{}_0^{\left(\frac{3}{4}f(r_\mathrm{}_0)\right)^{2^{\mathrm{}_1\mathrm{}_0}1}}r_\mathrm{}_1<m_j\text{ and }\left(\frac{3}{4}f(r_\mathrm{}_0)\right)^{2^{\mathrm{}_1\mathrm{}_0}}f(m_j)k_j$$

which implies by (10) that $`2^{\mathrm{}_1\mathrm{}_0}f(\frac{3}{4}f(r_\mathrm{}_0))\frac{4}{3}f(k_j)`$ and thus (by (9))

(25)
$$\mathrm{}_1\mathrm{}_0\mathrm{log}_2\frac{f(k_j)}{\frac{3}{4}f\left(\frac{3}{4}f(r_\mathrm{}_0)\right)}\mathrm{log}_2f(k_j).$$

The inequalities (24), (25) and (11) imply that

(26) $`{\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{},k_j<r_{\mathrm{}}<m_j}{}}\stackrel{~}{G}(r_{\mathrm{}})^{1/2}`$ $`2(\mathrm{}_1\mathrm{}_0)\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(k_j)}}{\displaystyle \underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{k_s}{f(k_s)}}\right)^{1/2}`$
$`2{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{log}_2f(k_j)}{\sqrt{f(k_j)}}}\left({\displaystyle \underset{s=1}{\overset{j1}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{k_s}{f(k_s)}}\right)^{1/2}\epsilon _j.`$
Finally (23) and (26) imply the claimed inequality (19). ∎

###### Proof of Lemma 2.5.

Since $`f`$ is close to a logarithmic function we can choose a $`c>1`$ so that for $`\xi ,\xi ^{},R1`$ and $`0<r<1`$

(27) $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{c}}(f(\xi )+f(\xi ^{}))`$ $`f(\xi \xi ^{})f(\xi )+f(\xi ^{})`$
(28) $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{c}}Rf(\xi )`$ $`f(\xi ^R)Rf(\xi )`$
(29) $`rf(\xi )`$ $`f(\xi ^r)`$
(30) $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{c}}f(\xi )`$ $`f(\xi )1\text{if}\xi 2.`$
Assuming furthermore that $`c2`$ we deduce for $`\xi 1`$ that

$$f(\xi ^{1/\sqrt{f(\xi )}})=\mathrm{log}_2(\xi ^{1/\sqrt{f(\xi )}}+1)1+\frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\xi )}}\mathrm{log}_2(\xi )1+\sqrt{f(\xi )}c\sqrt{f(\xi )},.$$

Let $`d=4c^3`$, let $`r`$, such that $`f(r)>d^2`$, and $`xc_{00}`$. Choose $`r\mathrm{}<\mathrm{}`$ and $`E_1<E_2<\mathrm{}<E_{\mathrm{}}`$ so that $`|x|_r=x_{\mathrm{}}=\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}E_i(x)_S`$. For $`i\{1,2,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}\}`$ let $`n_i\{\mathrm{}\}`$ so that $`||E_ix_S=E_ix_{n_i}`$. For two numbers $`\stackrel{~}{r},\stackrel{~}{R}`$, $`2\stackrel{~}{r}<\stackrel{~}{R}<\mathrm{}`$, we let $`M:=M(\stackrel{~}{r},\stackrel{~}{R}):=\{i\mathrm{}:\stackrel{~}{r}n_i<\stackrel{~}{R}\}`$ and we choose for $`iM`$, $`E_1^{(i)}<\mathrm{}<E_{n_i}^{(i)}`$, with $`E_j^{(i)}E_i`$ whenever $`jn_i`$ so that $`E_ix_S=\frac{1}{f(n_i)}_{j=1}^{n_i}E_j^{(i)}x_S`$. Now we observe that $`\{E_i:iM\}_{iM}\{E_j^{(i)}:1jn_i\}`$ is well ordered by $`<`$ and its cardinality is $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}M+_{iM}n_i`$ which is at least $`\mathrm{}`$ and at most $`\stackrel{~}{R}\mathrm{}`$. Thus we deduce

$`|x|_r`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}E_ix_S{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f\left(\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}M+\underset{iM}{}n_i\right)}}\left[{\displaystyle \underset{\stackrel{i=1}{iM}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}E_ix_s+{\displaystyle \underset{iM}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{n_i}{}}}E_j^{(i)}x_S\right]`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{}\stackrel{~}{R})}}\left[{\displaystyle \underset{i=1,iM}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}E_ix_S+{\displaystyle \underset{iM}{}}f(n_i)E_ix_S\right]\text{ (since }n_i\stackrel{~}{R}\text{ for }iM\text{)}`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{}\stackrel{~}{R})}}\left[{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}E_ix_S+{\displaystyle \underset{iM}{}}(f(\stackrel{~}{r})1)E_ix_S\right]`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{}\stackrel{~}{R})}}\left[{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}E_ix_S+{\displaystyle \frac{f(\stackrel{~}{r})}{c}}{\displaystyle \underset{iM}{}}E_ix_S\right].`$
Solving these inequalities for $`\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\underset{iM}{}E_ix_S`$ we obtain that

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{iM}{}}E_ix_S`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{}\stackrel{~}{R})}}]{\displaystyle \frac{cf(\mathrm{}\stackrel{~}{R})}{f(\stackrel{~}{r})}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}||E_ix_S`$
$`={\displaystyle \frac{c}{f(\stackrel{~}{r})}}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{f(\mathrm{}\stackrel{~}{R})f(\mathrm{})}{f(\mathrm{})}}\right]|x|_r`$
$`c{\displaystyle \frac{f(\stackrel{~}{R})}{f(\stackrel{~}{r})f(\mathrm{})}}|x|_rc{\displaystyle \frac{f(\stackrel{~}{R})}{f(\stackrel{~}{r})f(r)}}|x|_r.`$
Choosing for the $`(\stackrel{~}{r},\stackrel{~}{R})`$ the values $`(2,r^{1/\sqrt{f(r)}})`$, $`(r^{1/\sqrt{f(r)}},r)`$, $`(r,r^{\sqrt{f(r)}})`$ and $`(r^{\sqrt{f(r)}},r^{f(r)})`$ we deduce for all choices $`\frac{f(\stackrel{~}{R})}{f(\stackrel{~}{r})f(r)}\frac{c^2}{\sqrt{f(r)}}`$. This implies that

$$\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\underset{\stackrel{1i\mathrm{}}{n_i<r^{f(r)}}}{}E_ix\frac{4c^3}{\sqrt{f(r)}}|x|_r$$

and thus that

$$|x|_r=\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\left[\underset{\stackrel{i=1}{n_i<r^{f(r)}}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}E_ix_{n_i}+\underset{\stackrel{i=1}{n_i>r^{f(r)}}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}E_ix_{n_i}\right]\frac{d}{\sqrt{f(r)}}|x|_r+\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\underset{\stackrel{i=1}{n_i>r^{f(r)}}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}E_ix.$$

Now let $`I=\{i\mathrm{}n_i=\mathrm{}\text{ or }n_ir^{f(r)}\}`$ and choose for $`iI`$ a $`j_i\mathrm{supp}(x)E_i`$ so that $`E_ix_{\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}}=|x_{j_i}|`$, and reorder $`(n_i)_{i\{1\mathrm{}\mathrm{}\}\backslash I}`$ and $`(E_i)_{i\{1\mathrm{}\mathrm{}\}\backslash I}`$ into $`\stackrel{~}{n}_1,\stackrel{~}{n}_2,\mathrm{},\stackrel{~}{n}_{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}I}`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{E}_1<\stackrel{~}{E}_2<\mathrm{}<\stackrel{~}{E}_{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}I}`$. Letting $`J=\{j_i:iI\}`$ we obtain the claimed inequality:

$$|x|_r\frac{1}{1\frac{d}{\sqrt{f(r)}}}\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\left[\underset{jJ}{}|x_j|+\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}\mathrm{\#}J}{}}\stackrel{~}{E}_ix_{\stackrel{~}{n}_i}\right].$$

## 3. The construction of strictly singular non-compact operators on $`GM`$

The goal of this section is to prove Theorem 1.1. We postpone the definition of the space $`GM`$ and only state some properties needed for the proof of Theorem 1.1.

Recall that the spreading model of a seminormalized weakly null sequence $`(x_i)`$ in some Banach space $`(X,)`$ is a sequence $`(y_i)`$ along with a norm $`||`$ on the span of $`(y_i)`$ such that

$$\left|\underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}\lambda _iy_i\right|=\underset{\begin{array}{c}N\mathrm{}\\ Nn_1<n_2<\mathrm{}n_k\end{array}}{lim}\underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}\lambda _ix_i$$

for every finite sequence of scalars $`(\lambda _i)_{i=1}^k`$.

###### Proposition 3.1.

The spreading model of the unit vector basis of $`GM`$ is the unit vector basis of $`S`$.

In order to defining $`GM`$ a lacunary set $`J`$ is used which has the property that if $`n,mJ`$ and $`n<m`$ then $`4n^2\mathrm{log}\mathrm{log}\mathrm{log}m`$, and $`f(\mathrm{min}J)256`$.

###### Proposition 3.2.

The norm of $`GM`$ satisfies

(31)
$$x_Sx_{GM}x_S+\underset{\mathrm{}J}{}x_{\mathrm{}},\text{ for }xc_{00}$$

(here $`_{\mathrm{}}`$ still denotes the equivalent norm on $`S`$ introduced at the end of Section 1).

Propositions 3.1 and 3.2 will be shown at end of this section. The first inequality in (31) is an immediate consequence of the definition of $`GM`$ and the second inequality will follow from Lemma 3.3.

Recall from the previous section that there exists a seminormalized block sequence $`(x_i^{})`$ in $`S^{}`$ and a non-decreasing function $`C:[2,\mathrm{})(0,\mathrm{})`$ which satisfies (1). Secondly we observe that from the remark following Lemma 2.6 and the conditions on $`J`$ it follows that

(32)
$$\underset{\mathrm{}J}{}\frac{1}{C(\mathrm{})}<\mathrm{}.$$

The sequence $`(x_i^{})`$ may not be seminormalized in $`GM^{}`$, i.e. $`(x_i^{})`$ could be a null sequence in $`GM`$ (which would imply that the operator $`T`$ defined in Section 2 would be compact on $`GM`$). But Proposition 3.1 implies that we can replace each $`x_i^{}`$ by $`\stackrel{~}{x}_i^{}`$ which has the same distribution and up to some arbitrarily small number $`\epsilon >0`$ the same norm in $`GM^{}`$ as in $`S^{}`$. Indeed, if $`z^{}=_{i=1}^k\lambda _ie_i^{}S^{}c_{00}`$ and $`z=_{i=1}^k\mu _ie_iS`$, with $`z_S=1`$ and $`z^{}(z)=z_S^{}`$ it follows that

$`z^{}_S`$ $`={\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}}\lambda _i\mu _i\underset{\begin{array}{c}N\mathrm{}\\ Nn_1<n_2<\mathrm{}n_k\end{array}}{lim\; inf}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}}\lambda _ie_{n_i}_{GM}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}}\mu _ie_{n_i}^{}_{GM^{}}`$
$`=\underset{\begin{array}{c}N\mathrm{}\\ Nn_1<n_2<\mathrm{}n_k\end{array}}{lim\; inf}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}}\mu _ie_{n_i}^{}_{GM^{}}.`$
Thus we will assume from now on that $`(x_i^{})`$ is also seminormalized in $`GM^{}`$.

Then define the operator $`T:GMGM`$ by $`T=_ix_i^{}e_i`$. We now present the

Proof of Theorem 1.1 We first show that $`T`$ is bounded. Every $`xGM`$ can be written as $`x=\lambda _iz_i`$ with $`x_{i1}^{}<z_i<x_{i+1}^{}`$, and $`x_i^{}(z_i)=1`$ for all $`i`$. Thus $`Tx=\lambda _ie_i`$. By (31) we have that for any $`xc_{00}`$,

$`Tx_{GM}`$ $``$ $`Tx_S+{\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{}J}{}}{\displaystyle \lambda _ie_i}_{\mathrm{}}`$
$``$ $`Tx_S+{\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{}J}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{C(\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \lambda _iz_i}_S\text{ (by property (}\text{1}\text{))}`$
$``$ $`(T:SS+{\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{}J}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{C(\mathrm{})}})x_S.`$
$``$ $`(T:SS+{\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{}J}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{C(\mathrm{})}})x_{GM}.`$
Now we show that $`T`$ is strictly singular. From the definition of $`(x_i^{})`$ it follows that $`T`$ has an infinite dimensional kernel. Since $`T`$ can be written as $`T=\lambda +\stackrel{~}{T}`$ with $`\stackrel{~}{T}`$ being strictly singular it follows that $`\lambda =0`$.

Finally, $`T`$ is not a compact operator since $`(x_i^{})`$ is seminormalized in $`GM^{}`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

Let $`X`$ be either the space $`S`$ or $`GM`$. For any sequence $`\nu =(\nu _i)\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}`$ define the operator

$$T_\nu =\underset{i}{}\nu _ix_i^{}e_i:XGM.$$

The above proof shows that $`T_\nu `$ is a bounded strictly singular operator with

$$\nu _{\mathrm{}}\underset{i}{inf}x_i^{}_XT_\nu :XGM(T:SS+\underset{\mathrm{}J}{}\frac{1}{C(\mathrm{})})\nu _{\mathrm{}}.$$

Therefore $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}`$ embeds in the space of operators from $`X`$ to $`GM`$. If $`\nu \mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}\backslash c_0`$ then $`T_\nu :XGM`$ is non-compact.

Let us now recall the definition of the space $`GM`$.

Let $`𝐐`$ be the set of scalar sequences with finite support and rational coordinates whose absolute value is at most one. Write $`J`$ (introduced above) in increasing order as $`\{j_1,j_2,\mathrm{}\}`$. Now let $`KJ`$ be the set $`\{j_1,j_3,j_5,\mathrm{}\}`$ and $`LJ`$ be the set $`\{j_2,j_4,j_6,\mathrm{}\}`$. Let $`\sigma `$ be an injective function from the collection of all finite sequences of elements of $`𝐐`$ to $`L`$ such that if $`z_1,\mathrm{},z_i`$ is such a sequence, then $`(1/20)f(\sigma (z_1,\mathrm{},z_i)^{1/40})\mathrm{\#}\mathrm{supp}(_{j=1}^iz_j)`$. Then, recursively, we define a set of functionals of the unit ball of $`GM^{}`$ as follows: Let

$$GM_0^{}=\{\lambda e_n^{}:n,|\lambda |1\}.$$

Assume that $`GM_k^{}`$ has been defined. Then $`GM_{k+1}^{}`$ is the set of all functionals of the form $`Ez^{}`$ where $`E`$ is an interval and $`z^{}`$ has one of the following three forms:

(34)
$$z^{}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\alpha _iz_i^{}$$

where $`_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}|\alpha _i|1`$ and $`z_i^{}GM_k^{}`$ for $`i=1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}`$.

(35)
$$z^{}=\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}z_i^{}$$

where $`z_i^{}GM_k^{}`$ for $`i=1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}`$, and $`z_1^{}<\mathrm{}<z_{\mathrm{}}^{}`$.

(36)
$$z^{}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}z_i^{}\text{ and }z_i^{}=\frac{1}{f(m_i)}\underset{j=1}{\overset{m_i}{}}z_{i,j}^{}$$

where $`z_{i,j}^{}GM_k^{}`$ for $`1i\mathrm{}`$ and $`1jm_i`$, $`z_{1,1}^{}<\mathrm{}<z_{1,m_1}^{}<z_{2,1}^{}<\mathrm{}<z_{\mathrm{},m_{\mathrm{}}}^{}`$,

$`m_1=j_2\mathrm{}`$, $`z_i^{}`$ has rational coordinates, and $`m_{i+1}=\sigma (z_1^{},\mathrm{},z_i^{})`$, for $`i=1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}1`$.

Finally, the norm of $`GM`$ is defined by

$$x_{GM}=sup\{z^{}(x):z^{}_{k=0}^{\mathrm{}}GM_k^{}\}.$$

For an interval $`I`$ we define

$$J(I)=\{\sigma (x_1^{},x_2^{},\mathrm{},x_n^{}):n,x_1^{}<x_2^{}<\mathrm{}<x_n^{},\mathrm{min}I\mathrm{max}\mathrm{supp}(x_n^{})<\mathrm{max}I\}.$$

Also, for $`x^{}GM^{}`$ we define $`J(x^{})=J([\mathrm{min}\mathrm{supp}(x^{}),\mathrm{max}\mathrm{supp}(x^{})]).`$

The next result relates the functionals of the unit ball of $`GM^{}`$ to the functionals of the unit ball of $`S^{}`$.

###### Lemma 3.3.

For any $`z^{}_{k=0}^{\mathrm{}}GM_k`$ there exist $`T_0(z^{})\mathrm{Ba}(\mathrm{S}^{})`$, the unit ball of $`S^{}`$, and a family $`(T_j(z^{}))_{jJ(z^{})}\mathrm{Ba}S^{}`$ such that

* For $`j\{0\}J(z^{})`$, $`\mathrm{supp}T_j(z^{})[\mathrm{min}\mathrm{supp}z^{},\mathrm{max}\mathrm{supp}z^{}].`$
* For $`jJ(z^{})`$

$$T_j(z^{})\mathrm{aco}\{\frac{1}{f(j)}:\underset{s=1}{\overset{j}{}}x_s^{}:x_1^{}<\mathrm{}<x_j^{}\text{ are in }\mathrm{Ba}(S^{})\}.$$

where “$`\mathrm{aco}`$” denotes the absolute convex hull.
* $$z^{}=T_0(z^{})+\underset{jJ(z^{})}{}T_j(z^{}).$$

###### Proof.

We proceed by induction on $`k`$ (assume that $`z^{}GM_k^{}`$). For $`k=0`$, $`z^{}=\lambda e_n^{}`$ for some $`\lambda `$, $`|\lambda |1`$ and some $`n`$. Then $`J(z^{})=\mathrm{}`$ and $`T_0(z^{})=z^{}`$. The inductive step, from $`k`$ to $`k+1`$ proceeds as follows: By the definition of $`GM_{k+1}^{}`$, we separate three cases:

Case 1: Assume that $`z^{}=E(_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}\alpha _iz_i^{})`$ where $`E`$ is an interval, $`z_i^{}GM_k^{}`$ for all $`i\mathrm{}`$ and $`_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}|\alpha _i|1`$. Let $`\stackrel{~}{E}=[\mathrm{min}\mathrm{supp}E(z^{}),\mathrm{max}\mathrm{supp}E(z^{})].`$ Then $`\stackrel{~}{E}E`$ and by the induction hypothesis we have

$$z^{}=\stackrel{~}{E}\left(\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\alpha _iz_i^{}\right)=\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\alpha _i\stackrel{~}{E}(z_i^{})=\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\alpha _iT_0(\stackrel{~}{E}(z_i^{}))+\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\underset{jJ(\stackrel{~}{E}(z_i^{}))}{}T_j(\stackrel{~}{E}(z_i^{})).$$

Set

$$T_0(z^{})=\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\alpha _iT_0(\stackrel{~}{E}(z_i^{}))$$

and after noting that $`_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}J(\stackrel{~}{E}(z_i^{}))J(z^{})`$, for $`jJ(z^{})`$ set

$$T_j(z^{})=\underset{\stackrel{i=1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}}{jJ(\stackrel{~}{E}(z_i^{})}}{}\alpha _iT_j(\stackrel{~}{E}(z_i^{}))$$

where the sum over an empty set of indices is zero, and $`T_j(z^{})=0`$ if $`jJ(z^{})\backslash _{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}J(\stackrel{~}{E}(z_i^{}))`$. It is easy to see that the above choices of $`T_0(z^{})`$ and $`T_j(z^{})`$, $`jJ(z^{})`$, satisfy the conclusion of the lemma.

Case 2: Assume that $`z^{}=E\left(\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}z_i^{}\right)`$ where $`E`$ is an interval and $`z_1^{}<z_2^{}<\mathrm{}<z_{\mathrm{}}^{}`$ in $`GM_k^{}`$. By the induction hypothesis we have that

$$z^{}=\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}E(z_i^{})=\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}T_0(Ez_i^{})+\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\underset{jJ(E(z_i^{}))}{}\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}T_j(Ez_i^{}).$$

Set

$$T_0(z^{})=\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}\underset{i=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}T_0(Ez_i^{})$$

and after noting that $`J(E(z_i^{}))J(E(z_j^{}))=\mathrm{}`$ (since $`\sigma `$ is injective) for $`1ij\mathrm{}`$, and $`_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}J(E(z_i^{}))J(z^{})`$, for $`jJ(z^{})`$ set

$$T_j(z^{})=\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}T_j(Ez_i^{})\text{ if }jJ(E(z_i^{})),$$

and $`T_j(z^{})=0`$ if $`jJ(z^{})\backslash _{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}J(E(z_i^{}))`$. It is easy to see that the conclusion of the lemma is satisfied.

Case 3: Assume that $`z^{}=E\left(\frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}_{i=1}^{\mathrm{}}z_i^{}\right)`$ and $`z_i^{}=\frac{1}{f(m_i)}_{j=1}^{m_i}z_{i,j}^{}`$ where $`z_{i,j}^{}GM_k^{}`$ for $`1i\mathrm{}`$ and $`1jm_i`$, $`z_{1,1}^{}<\mathrm{}<z_{1,m_1}^{}<z_{2,1}^{}<\mathrm{}<z_{\mathrm{},m_{\mathrm{}}}^{}`$, $`m_1=j_2\mathrm{}`$, $`z_i^{}`$ has rational coordinates, and $`m_{i+1}=\sigma (z_1^{},\mathrm{},z_i^{})`$, for $`i=1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}1`$. Let

$$i_1=\mathrm{min}\left\{i\{1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}\}:E\mathrm{supp}(z_i^{})\mathrm{}\right\}$$

and

$$i_2=\mathrm{max}\left\{i\{1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}\}:E\mathrm{supp}(z_i^{})\mathrm{}\right\}.$$

If $`i_1=i_2`$ then we proceed as in Case 2. Therefore without loss of generality, we assume that $`i_1<i_2`$. Let

$$j_1=\mathrm{min}\left\{j\{1,\mathrm{},m_{i_1}\}:E\mathrm{supp}(z_{i_1,j}^{})\mathrm{}\right\}$$

and

$$j_2=\mathrm{max}\{j\{1,\mathrm{},m_{i_2}\}:E\mathrm{supp}(z_{i_2,j}^{})\mathrm{}\}$$

By the induction hypothesis we have

$`E(z^{})`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(m_{i_1})}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=j_1}{\overset{m_{i_1}}{}}}E(z_{i_1,j}^{})+{\displaystyle \underset{i=i_1+1}{\overset{i_21}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(m_i)}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{m_i}{}}}z_{i,j}^{}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(m_{i_2})}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{j_2}{}}}E(z_{i_2,j}^{})\right]`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(m_{i_1})}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=j_1}{\overset{m_{i_1}}{}}}T_0(E(z_{i_1,j}^{}))`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{i=i_1+1}{\overset{i_21}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(m_i)}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{m_i}{}}}T_0(Ez_{i,j}^{})+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(m_{i_2})}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{j_2}{}}}T_0(Ez_{i_2,j}^{})`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{j=j_1}{\overset{m_{i_1}}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{kJ(Ez_{i_1,j}^{})}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(m_{i_1})}}T_k(Ez_{i_1,j}^{})`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{i=i_1+1}{\overset{i_21}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{m_i}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{kJ(Ez_{i,j}^{})}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(m_i)}}T_k(Ez_{i,j}^{})`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{j_2}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{kJ(Ez_{i_2,j}^{})}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(m_{i_2})}}T_k(Ez_{i_2,j}^{})`$
Set

$$T_0(Ez^{})=\frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}\frac{1}{f(m_{i_1})}\underset{j=j_1}{\overset{m_{i_1}}{}}T_0(E(z_{i_1,j}^{}))$$

and after noting that

(37)
$$\{m_{i_1+1},\mathrm{},m_{i_2}\}_{j=j_1}^{m_{i_1}}J(Ez_{i_1,j}^{})_{i=i_1+1}^{i_21}_{j=1}^{m_i}J(Ez_{i,j}^{})_{j=1}^{j_2}J(Ez_{i_2,j}^{})J(Ez^{})$$

and that the sets $`\{m_{i_1+1},\mathrm{},m_{i_2}\}`$, $`J(Ez_{i_1,j}^{})`$ (for $`j=j_1,\mathrm{},m_{i_1}`$), $`J(Ez_{i,j}^{})`$ (for $`i=i_1+1,\mathrm{},i_21`$ and $`j=1,\mathrm{},m_i`$), $`J(Ez_{i_2,j}^{})`$ (for $`j=1,\mathrm{},j_2`$) are mutually disjoint (by the injectivity of $`\sigma `$), set

$$T_k(Ez^{})=\{\begin{array}{cc}\frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}\frac{1}{f(m_i)}_{j=1}^kT_0(Ez_{i,j}^{})\hfill & \text{ if }k=m_i\{m_{i_1+1},\mathrm{},m_{i_21}\}\hfill \\ \frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}\frac{1}{f(m_{i_2})}_{j=1}^{j_2}T_0(Ez_{i_2,j}^{})\hfill & \text{ if }k=m_{i_2}\hfill \\ \frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}\frac{1}{f(m_{i_1})}T_k(Ez_{i_1,j}^{})\hfill & \text{ if }k_{i=j_1}^{m_{i_1}}J(Ez_{i_1,j}^{})\hfill \\ \frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}\frac{1}{f(m_i)}T_k(Ez_{i,j}^{})\hfill & \text{ if }k_{i=i_1+1}^{i_21}_{j=1}^{m_i}J(z_{i,j}^{})\hfill \\ \frac{1}{\sqrt{f(\mathrm{})}}\frac{1}{f(m_{i_2})}T_k(Ez_{i_2,j}^{})\hfill & \text{ if }k_{j=1}^{j_2}J(Ez_{i_2,j}^{})\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{ if }kJ(Ez^{})\text{ otherwise.}\hfill \end{array}$$

It is easy to see that the conclusion of the lemma is satisfied. ∎

Note that inequality (31) (which was used in the proof of Theorem 1.1) is an immediate consequence of Lemma 3.3. It only remains to give the

Proof of Proposition 3.1. Let $`x=_{i=1}^k\lambda _ie_ic_{00}`$. We want to show that

(38)
$$\underset{\begin{array}{c}N\mathrm{}\\ Nn_1<n_2<\mathrm{}<n_k\end{array}}{lim}\underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}\lambda _ie_{n_i}_{GM}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}\lambda _ie_i_S.$$

Let $`\epsilon >0`$. Since $`J`$ is lacunary enough and $`\sigma `$ is injective we can choose $`N`$ sufficiently large, such that

(39)
$$k\underset{i}{\mathrm{max}}|\lambda _i|\underset{\mathrm{}J([N,\mathrm{}))}{}\frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}<\epsilon .$$

Thus, if $`Nn_1<n_2<\mathrm{}n_k`$, then by Lemma 3.3,

$`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}}\lambda _ie_{n_i}_{GM}`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}}\lambda _ie_i_S+{\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{}J([N,\mathrm{}))}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}}\lambda _ie_{n_i}_{\mathrm{}}`$
$`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}}\lambda _ie_i_S+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}}|\lambda _i|{\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{}J([N,\mathrm{}))}{}}e_{n_i}_{\mathrm{}}`$
$`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}}\lambda _ie_i_S+k\underset{i}{\mathrm{max}}|\lambda _i|{\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{}J([N,\mathrm{}))}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{f(\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}}\lambda _ie_i_S+\epsilon \text{ (by (}\text{39}\text{))}`$
which finishes the proof of (38). $`\mathrm{}`$

Department of Mathematics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, giorgis@math.sc.edu

Department of Mathematics, Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843, schlump@math.tamu.edu