Analysis and Mathematical Physics (2021) 11:21

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13324-020-00456-2

Approximate identities for the Schwartz space

Borys Álvarez-Samaniego1 · Wilson P. Álvarez-Samaniego1 ·

David Llerena-Montenegro1

Received: 30 March 2019 / Revised: 24 November 2020 / Accepted: 24 November 2020 /

Published online: 2 January 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
We establish a sufficient and a necessary conditions for the convergence, in the
Schwartz space topology, of the sequence obtained by the convolution of an arbi-
trary given approximate identity for L(Rk ), whose terms belongs to the Schwartz
space S (Rk ), with any arbitrary Schwartz function to this function. Additionally, we
give an example of a sequence, (ψn )+∞
n=1 in S (R ), that is an approximate identity for
k

L(R ) but for which there exists a function f ∈ S (Rk ) such that ψn ∗ f does not
k

converge to f as n → +∞ with respect to the topology of S (Rk ).

Keywords Convolution · Schwartz space · Approximate identity

Mathematics Subject Classification 42A85 · 46A11 · 42A38

1 Introduction

The approximation by convolution is of special interest and it is widely used in several

areas of science. For instance, in Quantum Mechanics, the Dirac delta distribution,
δ, may represent a localized particle in the space-time representation of the wave
function. Moreover, in Electromagnetic Theory, δ may correspond to a point charge

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current
study.

B Borys Álvarez-Samaniego
balvarez@uce.edu.ec; borys_yamil@yahoo.com
Wilson P. Álvarez-Samaniego
wpalvarez@uce.edu.ec; alvarezwilson@hotmail.com
David Llerena-Montenegro
hdllerena@uce.edu.ec

1 Núcleo de Investigadores Científicos, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central del Ecuador (UCE),
Quito, Ecuador
21 Page 2 of 14 B. Álvarez-Samaniego et al.

distribution, and so forth. It is worth mentioning that δ can also be obtained as a limit,
by using approximate identities and convolution, in the tempered distribution space.
As a direct consequence of Lemma 5 in [2], given by C. Graham, we are able to see
that any Schwartz function can be approximated, in the topology of the Schwartz space,
S (Rk ), with a sequence given by the convolution of a particular approximate identity
for L(Rk ), formed by dilations belonging to S (Rk ), and such function. Theorem 2.7
below shows the existence of an approximate identity for L(Rk ) and a function, both
in the Schwartz space, such that their convolution does not converge, with regard to
the topology of S (Rk ), to the above-mentioned function.
The remaining of this section is devoted to provide some notations, definitions and
valuable fundamental properties about the Schwartz space, approximate identities,
convolution and the Fourier transform. Section 2 contains the main results of this paper.
Theorem 2.3 presents a sufficient and a necessary conditions for the convergence,
considering the topology of S (Rk ), of the sequence defined by the convolution of an
arbitrary given approximate identity for L(Rk ), where its terms belongs to S (Rk ),
with every arbitrary Schwartz function to this function. In addition, Corollary 2.4
generalizes somehow Lemma 5 in [2]. Finally, Theorem 2.7 and its proof are given.

1.1 Preliminary results

We use standard notations: see [3,4]. First, it is important to notice that C0∞ (Rk ) 
S (Rk )  C ∞ (Rk )  C(Rk ), and S (Rk )  L(Rk ), where L(Rk ) :=
L(Rk , L (Rk ), λ) denotes the collection of all complex-valued L (Rk )-measurable
functions defined on Rk which are integrable with respect to the Lebesgue mea-
sure, λ, on Rk . We review below some essential facts about the Schwartz space,
approximate identities, convolution and the Fourier transform, whose detailed proofs
can be found in [1,3,4]. The Schwartz space is a complete metric space endowed
with the distance d : S (Rk ) × S (Rk ) → [0, +∞), where for all f , g ∈ S (Rk ),
  f −g
d( f , g) := α,β∈Nk 2|α|+|β|
1
· 1+ f −gα,βα,β . In addition, the convergence of the sequence
(ϕn )+∞
n=1 in S (R ) to the function ϕ ∈ S (R ), with respect to the metric d on S (R ),
k k k

(S (Rk ), d)
is written as ϕn −−−−−−→ ϕ ⇐⇒ limn→+∞ d(ϕn , ϕ) = 0 ⇐⇒ for all α, β ∈
n→+∞
Nk , limn→+∞ ϕn −ϕα,β = 0. Moreover, for all f ∈ S (Rk ), and for any α, β ∈ Nk ,
x α ∂ β f ∈ S (Rk ).
Definition 1.1 An approximate identity for L(Rk ) is a sequence (ϕn )+∞
n=1 in L(R ) that
k

satisfies the following conditions:

(i) For all n ∈ Z+ , ϕn ≥ 0 almost everywhere
 (a.e.) on Rk .
(ii) For any n ∈ Z+ , ϕn (x) d x :=
ϕn dλ = 1.
Rk 
Rk
(iii) For every γ > 0, limn→+∞ |x|≥γ ϕn (x) d x = 0.
More generally, a family of functions (ϕt )t>0 in L(Rk ) will also be called an approx-
imate identity for L(Rk ) if for all sequence (tn )+∞ +
n=1 in R := (0, +∞) such that
tn → 0 as n → +∞, the sequence, defined for all n ∈ Z+ by φn := ϕtn , satisfies
(i)–(iii) given above.
Approximate identities for the Schwartz space Page 3 of 14 21

For the sake of completeness, we present a proof of the next known technical fact,
which will be useful for Lemma 2.1.

Remark 1.2 Let (ϕn )+∞n=1 be an approximate identity for L(R ). Then, (ϕ
k n )+∞
n=1 con-
1
verges to k
uniformly on compact sets. In order to prove the last claim, let F ⊂ Rk
(2π ) 2
be a compact set. There exists γ := γ (F) > 0 such that F ⊂ {x ∈ Rk ; |x| ≤ γ }. Let
k
(2π ) 2 ε
ε > 0. We take D := D(ε, F) := 2γ > 0. Thus, there is N := N (ε, F) ∈ Z+
 k
(2π ) 2 ε
such that for all m ∈ Z+ , m ≥ N ⇒ ϕm (x)d x < . Hence, for all
|x|≥D 4
n ∈ Z+ ,
   
 1   1 
 
n ≥ N ⇒ sup ϕn (ξ ) − k 
≤ sup ϕn (ξ ) − k 
ξ ∈F  (2π ) 2  |ξ |≤γ  (2π ) 2 
   
1  −iξ ·x 
≤ k
sup e − 1 ϕn (x)d x
(2π ) 2 |ξ |≤γ Rk
  
1
≤ k
sup |ξ | |x| ϕn (x)d x + 2 ϕn (x)d x
(2π ) 2 |ξ |≤γ |x|<D |x|≥D
   
1
≤ k
γ · D ϕ n (x)d x + 2 ϕn (x)d x
(2π ) 2 |x|<D |x|≥D
k k
1 (2π ) 2 ε (2π ) 2 ε
< k
+ = ε.
(2π ) 2 2 2

The next proposition gives an easy way to create approximate identities for L(Rk ).

Proposition 1.3 Let ψ ∈ L(Rk ) be an almost everywhere nonnegative function with


ψ(t)dt = 1. Then, the family (ψr )r >0 of functions such that for all r > 0,
Rk

ψr (·) := r −k ψ(r −1 ·),

is an approximate identity for L(Rk ).

The coming result provides some conventional properties related to the Fourier trans-
form.

Proposition 1.4 Suppose that f , g ∈ S (Rk ), and α := (α1 , . . . , αk ) ∈ Nk is a multi-

index. Then, for all ξ ∈ Rk , we have the following properties:

(a) (∂ α 
f )(ξ ) = (−i)|α|  x α f (ξ ), where |α| := kj=1 α j .
∂ α f (ξ ) = i |α| ξ α 
(b)  f (ξ ).
(c) f ∗ g(ξ ) = (2π ) 2 
 k
f (ξ ) g (ξ ).
21 Page 4 of 14 B. Álvarez-Samaniego et al.

To end this section, it deserves to be remarked that the Fourier transform is an isomor-
phism from the metric space (S (Rk ), d) onto itself, i.e., F =: S (Rk ) → S (Rk )
is injective, surjective and continuous with a continuous inverse. Moreover, for all
f ∈ S (Rk ), fˇˆ = f = fˆˇ.

2 On the convergence, in the Schwartz space, of the convolution of a

function and an approximate identity for L(Rk )

In this section, we show the main results of this paper. The next two lemmas helps in
proving Theorem 2.3 below.

Lemma 2.1 Let (ϕn )+∞ +

n=1 be an approximate identity for L(R ) such that for all n ∈ Z ,
k

ϕn ∈ S (R ). Then, for any g ∈ S (R ), and for all multi-index α ∈ N ,

k k k

k
lim (2π ) 2 ϕn g − g = 0.
n→+∞ α,0

Proof Suppose that (ϕn )+∞

n=1 is an approximate identity for L(R ), where for all n ∈
k
+
Z , ϕn ∈ S (R ). Let g ∈ S (R ) and α ∈ N . We give below two different proofs.
k k k

(a) If g = 0 ∈ S (Rk ), we get directly the desired result. We assume now that g = 0.
For all n ∈ Z+ , we see that
 
k  k 
(2π ) 2 ϕn g − g := sup ξ α (2π ) 2 ϕn (ξ ) − 1 g(ξ )
α,0 ξ ∈Rk
   
 α 

= sup ξ g(ξ ) ϕn (x)e −iξ ·x
dx − ϕn (x) d x 
ξ ∈Rk Rk Rk
  
 
= sup ξ α g(ξ ) (e−iξ ·x − 1) ϕn (x) d x 
ξ ∈Rk Rk
  
≤ sup |ξ α g(ξ )| |e−iξ ·x − 1| ϕn (x) d x . (2.1)
ξ ∈Rk Rk

Moreover, using Hölder’s inequality, we see that

for all x, ξ ∈ Rk , |e−i x·ξ − 1| ≤ |x| |ξ |. (2.2)

ε
Let ε > 0. We write R := R(ε, g, α) := 2 A(g,α) > 0, where A(g, α) :=
α +∞
supξ ∈Rk [ |ξ g(ξ )| |ξ | ] ∈ (0, +∞). Since (ϕn )n=1 is an approximate identity
for L(Rk ), there exists N := N (ε, g, α) ∈ Z+ such that for all n ∈ Z+ ,

ε
n≥N ⇒ 2gα,0 ϕn (x) d x < .
|x|≥R 2
Approximate identities for the Schwartz space Page 5 of 14 21

From (2.1), (2.2), the last expression and the fact that
 
+
for all m ∈ Z , ϕm (x) d x ≤ ϕm (x) d x = 1,
|x|<R Rk

we obtain, for all n ∈ {N , N + 1, . . .}, that

  
k
(2π ) 2 ϕn g − g ≤ sup |ξ α g(ξ )| |e−iξ ·x − 1| ϕn (x) d x
α,0 ξ ∈Rk |x|<R
  
α −iξ ·x
+ sup |ξ g(ξ )| |e − 1| ϕn (x) d x
ξ ∈Rk |x|≥R

≤ A(g, α) |x| ϕn (x) d x
|x|<R

+ 2 gα,0 ϕn (x) d x
|x|≥R

ε
< R · A(g, α) ϕn (x) d x +
|x|<R 2
ε ε
≤ + = ε.
2 2

Then,
k
lim (2π ) 2 ϕn g − g = 0.
n→+∞ α,0

(b) An alternative proof is as follows. Let ε > 0. Since lim|ξ |→+∞ |ξ α g(ξ )| = 0,
there exists Q := Q(ε, g, α) > 0 such that for all ξ ∈ Rk ,

ε
|ξ | > Q ⇒ |ξ α g(ξ )| < . (2.3)
2

Moreover, for all n ∈ Z+ , and for any ξ ∈ Rk , we see that

 
 k  k
(2π ) 2 ϕn (ξ ) − 1 ≤ (2π ) 2 |ϕn (ξ )| + 1

k 1
≤ (2π ) 2 k
ϕn (x)d x + 1 = 2. (2.4)
(2π ) 2 Rk

1
By Remark 1.2, (ϕn )+∞
n=1 converges to k
uniformly on compact sets. Thus,
(2π ) 2
there is M := M(ε, Q(ε, g, α)) =: M(ε, g, α) ∈ Z+ such that for all n ∈ Z+ ,
 
 1  ε

n≥M ⇒ gα,0 · sup ϕn (ξ ) − k 
< . (2.5)
|ξ |≤Q  (2π ) 2  k
(2π ) 2
21 Page 6 of 14 B. Álvarez-Samaniego et al.

By using (2.4), (2.3) and (2.5), for all n ∈ {M, M + 1, . . .}, we get
 
k  k 
(2π ) 2 ϕn g − g := sup ξ α (2π ) 2 ϕn (ξ ) − 1 g(ξ )
α,0 ξ ∈Rk

 
 k 
= max sup ξ α (2π ) 2 ϕn (ξ ) − 1 g(ξ ) ,
|ξ |≤Q

 
 k 
sup ξ α (2π ) 2 ϕn (ξ ) − 1 g(ξ )
|ξ |>Q
 
  ε
 k 
≤ max gα,0 · sup (2π ) 2 ϕn (ξ ) − 1 , 2 · = ε.
|ξ |≤Q 2




The coming lemma is a well-known result that will be used in the proofs of item (b)
of Theorems 2.3 and 2.7 below.
Lemma 2.2 There exists a nonnegative function g ∈ C0∞ (Rk ) ⊂ S (Rk ), which is
bounded from above by 1, with supp(g) ⊂ {y ∈ Rk ; |y| ≤ 3} and such that for all
x ∈ {z ∈ Rk ; |z| ≤ 1}, g(x) = 1.
The following result gives a sufficient and a necessary conditions for the convergence,
with regard to the topology of the Schwartz space, of the sequence given by the
convolution of an arbitrary given approximate identity for L(Rk ), whose terms belongs
to S (Rk ), with any arbitrary Schwartz function to such function. The item (b) of the
next theorem is a key result in the proof of Theorem 2.7 below.
Theorem 2.3 Let (ϕn )+∞
n=1 be an approximate identity for L(R ) such that for all n ∈
k
+
Z , ϕn ∈ S (R ).
k

(a) If  
 μ 
for all μ ∈ Nk with |μ| > 0, lim sup x ϕn (ξ ) = 0, (2.6)
n→+∞
ξ ∈Rk

then for every f ∈ S (Rk ),

(S (Rk ),d)
ϕn ∗ f −−−−−−→ f ,
n→+∞

In particular, the hypothesis (2.6) above is satisfied if


for all γ ∈ N with |γ | > 0,
k
lim |x γ | ϕn (x) d x = 0.
n→+∞ Rk

(b) If for all f ∈ S (Rk ),

(S (Rk ),d)
ϕn ∗ f −−−−−−→ f ,
n→+∞
Approximate identities for the Schwartz space Page 7 of 14 21

then 
for any γ ∈ N with |γ | > 0,
k
lim x γ ϕn (x) d x = 0.
n→+∞ Rk

Proof Let (ϕn )+∞

n=1 be a sequence in S (R ), which is an approximate identity for
k

L(R ).
k

(a) Let f ∈ S (Rk ). Using the fact that 

f ∈ S (Rk ), the Leibniz rule for the derivative
of the product of two functions ([4]) and the derivative property of the Fourier
transform (item (a) of Proposition 1.4), for all α, β ∈ Nk , we get
   
 
(2π ) 2 ϕn 
f −  := sup ξ α ∂ β (2π ) 2 ϕn − 1 
k k
f f (ξ )
α,β ξ ∈Rk
  β    
 
∂ θ (2π ) 2 ϕn − 1 ∂ β−θ 
k
= sup ξ α f (ξ )
ξ ∈Rk θ
θ≤β
⎛
 ⎜  β 

= sup ξ α ⎜ (2π ) 2 (∂ θ ϕn )(ξ ) (∂ β−θ 
k
⎝ f )(ξ )
ξ ∈Rk θ
θ≤β
0<|θ|


+ (2π ) 2 ϕn (ξ ) − 1 (∂ β 
k
f )(ξ ) 
 
k  β    
≤ (2π ) 2 sup ξ α (∂ β−θ  θ ϕ (ξ )
f )(ξ ) (−i)|θ| x n
θ ξ ∈Rk
θ≤β
0<|θ|
 
 
+ sup ξ α (2π ) 2 ϕn (ξ ) − 1 (∂ β 
k
f )(ξ )
ξ ∈Rk
 β  
 θ


f α,β−θ sup x

k
≤ (2π ) 2 ϕn (ξ )
θ ξ ∈Rk
θ≤β
0<|θ|

+ (2π ) 2 ϕn ∂ β 
f − ∂β 
k
f . (2.7)
α,0

Using (2.7), (2.6) and Lemma 2.1, for all α, β ∈ Nk , we conclude that

(2π ) 2 ϕn 
f − 
k
lim f
n→+∞ α,β

Since the Fourier transform is an isomorphism from the metric space (S (Rk ), d)
onto itself, it follows from the last expression that for all α, β ∈ Nk ,

lim ϕn ∗ f − f α,β = 0.

n→+∞
21 Page 8 of 14 B. Álvarez-Samaniego et al.

(b) We now assume that for all f ∈ S (Rk ),

(S (Rk ),d)
ϕn ∗ f −−−−−−→ f ,
n→+∞

i.e., for any α, β ∈ Nk ,

lim ϕn ∗ f − f α,β = 0. (2.8)

n→+∞

Let γ ∈ Nk be a multi-index such that |γ | > 0. By Lemma 2.2, there exists a

function g ∈ C0∞ (Rk ) ⊂ S (Rk ) such that g(0) = 1 and for all η ∈ Nk with
|η| > 0, (∂ η g)(0) = 0. Using now the fact that gq ∈ S (Rk ) and (2.8), we have
that for all α, β ∈ Nk ,
lim ϕn ∗ gq − gqα,β = 0.
n→+∞

Since the Fourier transform is an isomorphism from the metric space (S (Rk ), d)
onto itself, the last expression implies that for all α, β ∈ Nk ,

k
lim (2π ) 2 ϕn g − g = 0.
n→+∞ α,β

Taking α = 0 and β = γ into the last equation, we get

k
lim (2π ) 2 ϕn g − g = 0. (2.9)
n→+∞ 0,γ

Let ε > 0. From (2.9), there exists N := N (ε, γ ) ∈ Z+ such that for all n ∈ Z+ ,

k
n≥N ⇒ (2π ) 2 ϕn g − g < ε. (2.10)
0,γ

Moreover, for all m ∈ Z+ ,

   
k  k 
(2π ) 2 ϕ
m g−g := sup ∂ γ (2π ) 2 ϕ
m − 1 g (ξ )
0,γ ξ ∈Rk
 
     
 γ
= sup  g (ξ )
k
∂ θ (2π ) 2 ϕ m −1 ∂
γ −θ

ξ ∈R θ≤γ
k θ 
 
 γ
= sup 
k
(2π ) 2 (∂ θ ϕ
m )(ξ ) (∂
γ −θ
g)(ξ )
ξ ∈Rk θ
θ≤γ
0<|θ|


k
+ (2π ) 2 ϕ (ξ ) − 1 (∂ γ
g)(ξ ) 
m 
Approximate identities for the Schwartz space Page 9 of 14 21

  
 γ
= sup  (2π ) 2 (−i)|θ| x
k
θ ϕ (ξ ) (∂ γ −θ g)(ξ )
m
ξ ∈R k θ
θ≤γ
0<|θ|


+ (2π ) ϕ
k
m (ξ ) − 1 (∂ g)(ξ )
2  γ

 
 γ
≥  (2π ) 2 (−i)|θ| x
k
θ ϕ (0) (∂ γ −θ g)(0)
m
θ
θ≤γ
0<|θ|


+ (2π ) ϕ
k

m (0) − 1 (∂ g)(0)
2 γ

 
 k
γ ϕ (0)
= (2π ) 2 (−i)|γ | x m
 
 
=  x γ ϕm (x) d x  , (2.11)
Rk

where we have used the Leibniz rule for the derivative of the product of two
functions, the derivative property of the Fourier transform, the fact that g(0) = 1
and for all η ∈ Nk with |η| > 0, (∂ η g)(0) = 0. Using (2.10) and (2.11), we obtain
that for all n ∈ Z+ ,
 
 
⇒  x ϕn (x) d x  ≤ (2π ) 2 ϕn g − g
k
γ
n≥N < ε.
Rk 0,γ

Thus, we conclude that


lim x γ ϕn (x) d x = 0.
n→+∞ Rk




The coming corollary generalizes, in some way, Lemma 5 in [2].

Corollary 2.4 Let (ϕr )r >0 be a family of functions such that for all r > 0,

ϕr (·) := r −k ϕ(r −1 ·),


where ϕ ∈ S (Rk ) is a nonnegative function and ϕ(t)dt = 1. Then, for all
Rk
f ∈ S (Rk ),
(S (Rk ),d)
ϕr ∗ f −−−−−−→ f ,
r →0+

i.e., for all α, β ∈ Nk ,

lim ϕr ∗ f − f α,β = 0.
r →0+
21 Page 10 of 14 B. Álvarez-Samaniego et al.


Proof Let ϕ ∈ S (Rk ) be such that for every x ∈ Rk , ϕ(x) ≥ 0, and ϕ(t)dt = 1.
Rk
We take the family (ϕr )r >0 of real-valued functions, where for all r > 0,

ϕr (·) = r −k ϕ(r −1 ·).

Let (h n )+∞
n=1 be a sequence of positive real numbers such that h n → 0 as n →
+∞. Since ϕ ∈ S (Rk ), and using Proposition 1.3 and Definition 1.1, it follows that
(ϕh n )+∞ +
n=1 is an approximate identity for L(R ), where for all n ∈ Z , ϕh n ∈ S (R ).
k k

Furthermore, for all γ ∈ Nk such that |γ | > 0, we get

      
γ 1 γ x  |γ | γ 
|x | ϕh n (x) d x := |x | · ϕ d x = h n u  ϕ(u) du
Rk Rk (h n )k hn Rk
 
= (h n )|γ | |u γ | ϕ(u) du
Rk
 
|γ | 1 + |u|k+1
= (h n ) · |u γ | ϕ(u) du
Rk 1 + |u|
k+1
 
≤ (h n )|γ | sup (1 + |u|k+1 ) |u γ | ϕ(u)
u∈Rk
 
1
du
Rk 1 + |u|k+1
⎡ ⎛ ⎞ ⎤
k
≤ dk (h n ) |γ |
sup ⎣|u | ϕ(u) + ⎝
γ
|u j | ⎠ |u | ϕ(u)⎦
k+1 γ
u∈Rk j=1
 
1
du
Rk 1 + |u|k+1
⎛ ⎞

k
≤ dk ⎝ϕγ ,0 + ϕγ +(k+1)ej ,0 ⎠
j=1
 
1
du (h n )|γ |
Rk 1 + |u|k+1
⎛ ⎞

k
= dk ⎝ϕγ ,0 + ϕγ +(k+1)ej ,0 ⎠
j=1
   +∞ 
r k−1
dω · dr
S k−1 0 1 + r k+1
⎛ ⎞

k
≤ ck · dk ⎝ϕγ ,0 + ϕγ +(k+1)ej ,0 ⎠
j=1
Approximate identities for the Schwartz space Page 11 of 14 21

 1  +∞ 
r k−1 1
dr + dr
0 1 + r k+1 1 r2
⎛ ⎞

k
≤ 2 ck · dk ⎝ϕγ ,0 + ϕγ +(k+1)ej ,0 ⎠ (h n )|γ | −−−−→ 0,
n→+∞
j=1

where dk > 0 is a positive constant depending only on the dimension k, ck > 0 is the
measure of the (k −1)-dimensional unit sphere, S k−1 , in Rk , and for all j ∈ {1, . . . , k},
ej is the j-th element of the canonical basis of Rk . Item (a) of Theorem 2.3 implies
that for any f ∈ S (Rk ), and for all α, β ∈ Nk ,

lim ϕh n ∗ f − f α,β = 0.

n→+∞

Therefore, for all f ∈ S (Rk ), and for every α, β ∈ Nk ,

lim ϕr ∗ f − f α,β = 0. 


r →0

Remark 2.5 By considering the proof of item (b) of Theorem 2.3 above, we see that
to obtain the result of the last mentioned item, we only need to assume that for all
γ ∈ Nk with |γ | > 0, the approximate identity for L(Rk ), (ϕn )+∞
n=1 in S (R ), satisfies
k
∞
condition (2.9), where the function g ∈ C0 (R ) ⊂ S (R ) is given by Lemma 2.2.
k k

Remark 2.6 Let g : Rk → C be a function such that for all γ ∈ Nk , ∂ γ  g has polynomial
growth, i.e., there are constants Cγ > 0 and Nγ ∈ Z+ such that for all ξ ∈ Rk ,
|(∂ γ 
g )(ξ )| ≤ Cγ (1 + |ξ |2 ) Nγ . For all f ∈ S (Rk ), and for any α, β ∈ Nk , we have
that
   

f 
g α,β
:= sup ξ α ∂ β  f (ξ )
g 
ξ ∈Rk
 
   
 α β  θ  β−θ 
= sup ξ ∂ 
g (ξ ) ∂ f (ξ )

ξ ∈Rk  θ 
θ≤β
  
 β   
≤ Cθ sup (1 + |ξ |2 ) Nθ ξ α ∂ β−θ  f (ξ )
θ ξ ∈Rk
θ≤β
⎡ ⎛ ⎞ ⎤
 β   α  β−θ   k
  
≤ C̃θ sup ⎣ ξ ∂ f (ξ ) + ⎝
 |ξ j |2Nθ ⎠ ξ α ∂ β−θ 
f (ξ ) ⎦
θ ξ ∈R k
θ≤β j=1
⎛ ⎞
 β   k
≤ C̃θ ⎝  f α,β−θ + 
f α+2N e ,β−θ ⎠ < +∞.
θ θ j
θ≤β j=1

Hence, for all f ∈ S (Rk ), f ∗ g ∈ S (Rk ).

21 Page 12 of 14 B. Álvarez-Samaniego et al.

Finally, the next theorem shows the existence of an approximate identity (ψn )+∞n=1 for
L(Rk ) and a function f , both in S (Rk ), such that the sequence (ψn ∗ f )+∞
n=1 does not
converge to f with respect to the topology of S (Rk ).
Theorem 2.7 There exists an approximate identity (ψn )+∞n=1 for L(R ), where for all
k

n ∈ Z+ , ψn ∈ S (Rk ), there is a function f ∈ S (Rk ), and there are α, β ∈ Nk such

that
lim ψn ∗ f − f α,β = 0.
n→+∞

Proof We first take the following function

φ : Rk → C
1
x → φ(x) := ρ(x),
k

where

ρ : Rk → C
 1
e |x|2 −1 , if |x| < 1,
x → ρ(x) :=
0, if |x| ≥ 1,

and k := Rk ρ(t) dt > 0. We have that φ is a nonnegative function, φ ∈ C0∞ (Rk ),

φ(t) dt = 1, and supp(φ) = {y ∈ Rk ; |y| ≤ 1}. Moreover, we consider the
Rk
sequence (φn )+∞ +
n=1 , where for all n ∈ Z ,

φn (·) := n k φ(n·).

Using Proposition 1.3, we see that (φn )+∞ ∞

n=1 is a sequence in C 0 (R ) ⊂ S (R ), which
k k

is an approximate identity! for "L(Rk ). Furthermore, for every n ∈ Z+ , supp(φn ) =

{y ∈ Rk ; |y| ≤ n1 } =: B 0, n1 . By Lemma 2.2, there exists a nonnegative function
g ∈ C0∞ (Rk ) ⊂ S (Rk ), upper bounded by 1, with supp(g) ⊂ {y ∈ Rk ; |y| ≤ 3} and
such that for all x ∈ {z ∈ Rk ; |z| ≤ 1}, g(x) = 1. We now define the function

h : Rk → C
  
1
x → h(x) := g 6 x − e1 .
2

∞
 1 $to C0 (R
Therefore, h is also a nonnegative function k ) ⊂ S (Rk ), bounded
#  belonging !1 "
 1 
above by 1, with supp(h) ⊂ y ∈ R ; y − 2 e1 ≤ 2 =: B 2 e1 , 21 such that for all
k
#   $
x ∈ y ∈ Rk ;  y − 21 e1  ≤ 16 , h(x) = 1. Then, for every x ∈ Rk ,

h(x) ≤ χ   (x).
1 1
B 2 e1 , 2
Approximate identities for the Schwartz space Page 13 of 14 21

Thus,    
1 1 ck
h(x) d x ≤ λ B e1 , = =: bk ∈ (0, +∞).
Rk 2 2 k · 2k
We now consider the sequence (h n )+∞ ∞ +
n=1 in C 0 (R ), where for all n ∈ Z ,
k

1
h n (·) = h(· − 2ne1 ).
bk · n

It is not difficult to see that for all n ∈ Z+ , h n satisfies the next properties:
• h n is a nonnegative
# function
  with  $ ! "
supp(h n ) ⊂ y ∈ Rk ;  y − 2n + 21 e1  ≤ 21 =: B 2n + 21 e1 , 21 ,
#    $ ! "
• for all x ∈ y ∈ Rk ;  y − 2n + 21 e1  ≤ 16 =: B 2n + 21 e1 , 16 , h n (x) =
1
bk ·n , 
1
• and 0 < h n (t) dt =: an ≤ .
Rk n
For all n ∈ Z+ , let

ψn : Rk → C
⎧  
⎪
⎪ (1 − an ) φn (x), if x ∈ B 0, n1 ,
⎪
⎨  
x  → ψn (x) = h n (x), if x ∈ B 2n + 21 e1 , 21 ,
⎪
⎪    
⎪
⎩0, 1 1 1
if x ∈ Rk \ B 0, n ∪ B 2n + 2 e1 , 2 .

It is routine to show that the sequence (ψn )+∞

n=1 is an approximate identity for L(R ),
k

where for all n ∈ Z+ , ψn ∈ C0∞ (Rk ) ⊂ S (Rk ). We now assume, by contradiction,

that for all f ∈ S (Rk ), and for any α, β ∈ Nk ,

lim ψn ∗ f − f α,β = 0.

n→+∞

By item (b) of Theorem 2.3, we obtain that


lim x12 ψn (x) d x = 0. (2.12)
n→+∞ Rk

On the other hand, for all m ∈ Z+ ,

 
x1 ψm (x) d x ≥ 
2 2
 x1 h m (x) d x
Rk B 2m+ 21 e1 , 16

1
= 
2
 x1 dx
bk · m B 2m+ 21 e1 , 16
  2
1 1
≥   2m + dx
bk · m B 2m+ 21 e1 , 16 3
21 Page 14 of 14 B. Álvarez-Samaniego et al.

 2  
1 1 ck 1 1 2
= 2m + = k 2m +
bk · m 3 k · 6k 3 ·m 3
4
≥ k m.
3
Then, 
lim x12 ψm (x)d x = +∞,
m→+∞ Rk

which contradicts (2.12). Hence, there exists a function f ∈ S (Rk ), and there are
α, β ∈ Nk such that
lim ψn ∗ f − f α,β = 0.
n→+∞

This finishes the proof. 



Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the referees for carefully reading our manuscript as
well as for their valuable comments and suggestions. The first two authors would like to dedicate this paper
to the memory of their beloved mother, Mrs. María Esther Samaniego Rodríguez.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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