Math 2.0

Functional analysis Definition

Rigged Hilbert space

Builds on Hilbert spaceContinuous dual spaceNuclear space

Definition

Let HH be a complex Hilbert space whose inner product ⟨⋅,⋅⟩\ip{\cdot}{\cdot} is linear in the first argument. Let Φ\Phi be a subspace of HH with a locally convex topology such that these conditions hold:

  1. The inclusion Φ→H\Phi \to H is continuous.
  2. Φ\Phi is dense in HH.

Let Φ×\Phi^\times be the space of continuous conjugate-linear maps Φ→ℂ\Phi \to \C. Each h∈Hh \in H gives the element φ↦⟨h,φ⟩\varphi \mapsto \ip{h}{\varphi} of Φ×\Phi^\times, and the resulting map H→Φ×H \to \Phi^\times is linear and injective. The chain Φ⊂H⊂Φ×\Phi \subset H \subset \Phi^\times is a rigged Hilbert space, or Gelfand triple. In the theory of generalized eigenvectors one also asks Φ\Phi to be a nuclear space.

Remarks

Injectivity of H→Φ×H \to \Phi^\times comes from condition 2: if ⟨h,φ⟩=0\ip{h}{\varphi} = 0 for all φ\varphi in a dense subspace, then h=0h = 0. Many authors use the continuous dual Φ′\Phi' of linear forms instead of Φ×\Phi^\times; then the map H→Φ′H \to \Phi' is conjugate-linear.

Example: Φ=𝒮(ℝ)\Phi = \mathcal{S}(\R), the Schwartz space with its Fréchet topology, H=L2(ℝ)H = L^2(\R), and Φ×\Phi^\times the conjugate-linear tempered distributions. The inclusion is continuous because ∥φ∥L2≤π sup⁡x∣(1+x2)1/2φ(x)∣\norm{\varphi}_{L^2} \le \sqrt{\pi}\, \sup_x \abs{(1 + x^2)^{1/2}\varphi(x)}, and 𝒮(ℝ)\mathcal{S}(\R) is dense in L2(ℝ)L^2(\R). The delta φ↦φ(a)‾\varphi \mapsto \overline{\varphi(a)} lies in Φ×\Phi^\times but not in HH.

Non-example: let Φ\Phi be the Schwartz functions that vanish on [0,1][0,1]. Its closure in L2(ℝ)L^2(\R) consists of functions that vanish almost everywhere on [0,1][0,1], so condition 2 fails. Then every h∈L2(ℝ)h \in L^2(\R) supported in [0,1][0,1] gives the zero functional on Φ\Phi, and H→Φ×H \to \Phi^\times is not injective.

Reading path

To understand this page from the ground up, read these 4 pages in order. The foundations come first.

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  1. Continuous dual space concept
  2. Hilbert space concept
  3. Nuclear space concept
  4. Rigged Hilbert space definition

Further reading

  1. Web https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigged_Hilbert_space
About this page
Tag11GMR0F2Q8
URIm2://11GMR0F2Q8
Kinddefinition
WritingW0 stub
MSC46C99, 46A11, 81Q10
DefinesRigged Hilbert space
UsesHilbert space, Continuous dual space, Nuclear space
Changed2 November 2026

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