Banach spaces[edit]

Main article: Banach space

Banach spaces, introduced by Stefan Banach, are complete normed vector spaces.[57] A first
example is the vector space p consisting of infinite vectors with real entries x = (x1, x2, ...) whose p-
norm (1 p ) given by

for p < and

is finite. The topologies on the infinite-dimensional space p are inequivalent for different p. E.g.
the sequence of vectors xn = (2n, 2n, ..., 2n, 0, 0, ...), i.e. the first 2ncomponents are 2n, the
following ones are 0, converges to the zero vector for p = , but does not for p = 1:

, but
More generally than sequences of real numbers, functions f: R are endowed with a
norm that replaces the above sum by the Lebesgue integral

The space of integrable functions on a given domain (for example an interval)

satisfying |f|p < , and equipped with this norm are called Lebesgue spaces,
denoted Lp().[nb 10] These spaces are complete.[58] (If one uses the Riemann
integral instead, the space is not complete, which may be seen as a justification for
Lebesgue's integration theory.[nb 11]) Concretely this means that for any sequence of
Lebesgue-integrable functions f1, f2, ... with |fn|p < , satisfying the condition

there exists a function f(x) belonging to the vector space Lp() such that

Imposing boundedness conditions not only on the function, but also on

its derivatives leads to Sobolev spaces.[59]
Hilbert spaces[edit]
Main article: Hilbert space

The succeeding snapshots show summation of 1 to 5 terms in approximating a periodic

function (blue) by finite sum of sine functions (red).

Complete inner product spaces are known as Hilbert spaces, in honor of David
Hilbert.[60] The Hilbert space L2(), with inner product given by
where denotes the complex conjugate of g(x),[61][nb 12] is a key case.
By definition, in a Hilbert space any Cauchy sequence converges to a limit.
Conversely, finding a sequence of functions fn with desirable properties that
approximates a given limit function, is equally crucial. Early analysis, in the
guise of the Taylor approximation, established an approximation
of differentiable functions f by polynomials.[62] By the StoneWeierstrass
theorem, every continuous function on [a, b] can be approximated as
closely as desired by a polynomial.[63] A similar approximation technique
by trigonometric functions is commonly called Fourier expansion, and is
much applied in engineering, see below. More generally, and more
conceptually, the theorem yields a simple description of what "basic
functions", or, in abstract Hilbert spaces, what basic vectors suffice to
generate a Hilbert space H, in the sense that the closure of their span (i.e.,
finite linear combinations and limits of those) is the whole space. Such a set
of functions is called a basis of H, its cardinality is known as the Hilbert
space dimension.[nb 13] Not only does the theorem exhibit suitable basis
functions as sufficient for approximation purposes, but together with
the GramSchmidt process, it enables one to construct a basis of
orthogonal vectors.[64] Such orthogonal bases are the Hilbert space
generalization of the coordinate axes in finite-dimensional Euclidean space.
The solutions to various differential equations can be interpreted in terms of
Hilbert spaces. For example, a great many fields in physics and engineering
lead to such equations and frequently solutions with particular physical
properties are used as basis functions, often orthogonal.[65] As an example
from physics, the time-dependent Schrdinger equation in quantum
mechanics describes the change of physical properties in time by means of
a partial differential equation, whose solutions are
called wavefunctions.[66] Definite values for physical properties such as
energy, or momentum, correspond to eigenvalues of a certain
(linear) differential operator and the associated wavefunctions are
called eigenstates. The spectral theorem decomposes a linear compact
operator acting on functions in terms of these eigenfunctions and their
eigenvalues.[67]