Lotz-Peck-Porta and Rosenthal's theorems for spaces $C_p(X)$

Abstract

For a Tychonoff space $X$ by $C_p(X)$ we denote the space $C(X)$ of continuous real valued functions on $X$ endowed with the pointwise topology. We prove that an infinite compact space $X$ is scattered if and only if every closed infinite-dimensional subspace in $C_p(X)$ contains a copy of $c_0$ (with the pointwise topology) which is complemented in the whole space $C_p(X)$. This provides a $C_p$-version of the theorem of Lotz, Peck and Porta for Banach spaces $C(X)$ and $c_0$. Applications will be provided. We prove also a $C_p$-version of Rosenthal's theorem by showing that for an infinite compact $X$ the space $C_p(X)$ contains a closed copy of $c_0(\Gamma )$ (with the pointwise topology) for some uncountable set $\Gamma$ if and only if $X$ admits an uncountable family of pairwise disjoint open subsets of $X$. Illustrating examples, additional supplementing $C_p$-theorems and comments are included.