On the average distance property in finite dimensional real Banach spaces

Abstract

The average distance Theorem of Gross implies that for each N-dimensional real Banach space E (N ≥ 2) there is a unique positive real number r(E) with the following property: for each positive integer n and for all (not necessarily distinct) x1, x2, …, xn, in E with ‖x1‖ = ‖x2‖ = … = ‖xn‖ = 1, there exists an x in E with ‖x‖ = 1 such that.In this paper we prove that if E has a 1-unconditional basis then r(E)≤2−(l/N) and equality holds if and only if E is isometrically isomorphic to Rn equipped with the usual 1-norm.