Math 527/528
Functional Analysis

Gerald Folland

Autumn/Winter 2002-2003, Monday/Wednesday/Friday 11:30-12:20


Functional analysis is a huge subject, much too big to cover in two quarters (or even two years), so this course will cover only selected parts. Its focus will be the theory of linear operators on Banach spaces, especially Hilbert spaces, and some of its applications. Spectral theory will be a central theme, leading up to the spectral theorem for self-adjoint operators, perhaps the most important and profound result of the subject. There will be some emphasis on concrete examples arising from differential and integral equations. The choice of topics will be guided by the contents of Schechter's book, although I will not try to go through the book page by page, and I will include a few things that aren't in it.

Text: Principles of Functional Analysis (2nd ed) by Martin Schechter (Amer Math Soc, 2001).

Prerequisites: Real Analysis or Linear Analysis.