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In mathematics, the Mazur–Ulam theorem states that if and are normed spaces over R and the mapping

is a surjective isometry, then is affine. It was proved by Stanisław Mazur and Stanisław Ulam in response to a question raised by Stefan Banach.

For strictly convex spaces the result is true, and easy, even for isometries which are not necessarily surjective. In this case, for any and in , and for any in , write

and denote the closed ball of radius R around v by . Then is the unique element of , so, since is injective, is the unique element of
and therefore is equal to . Therefore is an affine map. This argument fails in the general case, because in a normed space which is not strictly convex two tangent balls may meet in some flat convex region of their boundary, not just a single point.

See also

Aleksandrov–Rassias problem

References



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