The Hartman-Stampacchia Theorem and the Maximum Displacements of Nonvanishing Continuous Vector-Valued Functions

Abstract

This paper aims at giving solutions to six interesting interconnected open questions suggested by Professor Biagio Ricceri. The questions focus on the behavior of nonvanishing continuous vector-valued functions in finite-dimensional normed spaces as well as in infinite-dimensional normed spaces. Using the celebrated Hartman-Stampacchia Theorem (1966) on the solution existence of variational inequalities, we establish sharp lower estimates for the maximum displacements of nonvanishing continuous vector-valued functions. Then, combining the obtained results with suitable tools from functional analysis and several novel geometrical constructions, we get the above-mentioned solutions.