Characterization of Hilbert spaces by minimal K-sets

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Let X\mathbb{X} be an nn-dimensional normed linear space, with unit sphere SXS_{\mathbb{X}}. For subsets A,B⊆XA,B\subseteq\mathbb{X}, write A⊥BBA\perp_B B when every element of AA is Birkhoff-James orthogonal to every element of BB. A nonempty subset A⊂SXA\subset S_{\mathbb{X}} is a minimal K\mathcal K-set if it has the minimality property considered in the article.

Hilbert-space characterization conjecture. The following conditions are equivalent: X\mathbb{X} is a Hilbert space; and a nonempty set A⊂SXA\subset S_{\mathbb{X}} is a minimal K\mathcal K-set if and only if

A={x1,x2,…,xn},A=\{x_1,x_2,\dots,x_n\},

where x1,x2,…,xnx_1,x_2,\dots,x_n are linearly independent, and whenever A=A1∪A2A=A_1\cup A_2 with A1≠∅A_1\neq\varnothing and A2≠∅A_2\neq\varnothing, one has A1̸⊥BA2A_1\not\perp_B A_2.

The conjecture proposes that this description of minimal K\mathcal K-sets characterizes finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces among normed linear spaces.

References

Primary source

Jayanta Manna, Kalidas Mandal, Kallol Paul and Debmalya Sain, “On directional preservation of orthogonality and its application to isometries”, arXiv:2501.02714 (2025).

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