When each continuous operator is regular, II

Abstract

The following theorem is essentially due to L.~Kantorovich and B. Vulikh and it describes one of the most important classes of Banach lattices between which each continuous operator is regular. {\bf Theorem 1.1.} {\sl Let $E$ be an arbitrary L-space and $F$ be an arbitrary Banach lattice with Levi norm. Then ${\cal L}(E,F)={\cal L}^r(E,F), (\star) $ that is, every continuous operator from $E$ to $F$ is regular.} In spite of the importance of this theorem it has not yet been determined to what extent the Levi condition is essential for the validity of equality $(\star)$. Our main aim in this work is to prove a converse to this theorem by showing that for a Dedekind complete $F$ the Levi condition is necessary for the validity of $(\star)$. As a sample of other results we mention the following. {\bf Theorem~3.6.} {\sl For a Banach lattice $F$ the following are equivalent: {\rm (a)} $F$ is Dedekind complete; {\rm (b)} For all Banach lattices $E$, the space ${\cal L}^r(E,F)$ is a Dedekind complete vector lattice; {\rm (c)} For all L-spaces $E$, the space ${\cal L}^r(E,F)$ is a vector lattice.}