Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
The purpose of this note is to present two characterizations of conjugate Banach spaces. More precisely, we present two conditions, each necessary and sufficient for a (real or complex) Banach space to be isomorphic to the conjugate space of a Banach space, and two corresponding conditions for to be equivalent to the conjugate space of a Banach space. Other characterizations, in terms of weak topologies, have been given by Alaoglu ((1), Theorem 2:1, p. 256, and Corollary 2:1, p. 257) and Bourbaki ((4), Chap, IV, §5, exerc. 15c, p. 122). Here, by the conjugate space* of a Banach space we mean ((2), p. 188) the space of continuous linear functionals over . Two Banach spaces and are said to be isomorphic if there is a one-one continuous linear mapping of onto (its inverse is necessarily continuous by the inversion theorem ((2), Théorème 5, p. 41; (6), Theorem 2·13·7, Corollary, p. 29)); they are said to be equivalent if there is a norm-preserving linear mapping of onto .((2), p. 180).