In
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
, the predual of an object ''D'' is an object ''P'' whose
dual space
In mathematics, any vector space ''V'' has a corresponding dual vector space (or just dual space for short) consisting of all linear forms on ''V,'' together with the vector space structure of pointwise addition and scalar multiplication by cons ...
is ''D''.
For example, the predual of the space of
bounded operator
In functional analysis and operator theory, a bounded linear operator is a linear transformation L : X \to Y between topological vector spaces (TVSs) X and Y that maps bounded subsets of X to bounded subsets of Y.
If X and Y are normed vector ...
s is the space of
trace class
In mathematics, specifically functional analysis, a trace-class operator is a linear operator for which a trace may be defined, such that the trace is a finite number independent of the choice of basis used to compute the trace. This trace of tra ...
operators, and the predual of the space ''L''
∞(R) of essentially bounded functions on R is the Banach space ''L''
1(R) of integrable functions.
Abstract algebra
Functional analysis
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