The ball fixed point property for continuous functions on locally compact spaces

Abstract

Let $K$ be a compact Hausdorff space and $p\in K$. We prove that the Banach space $C(K,p)=\{f\in C(K,\mathbb R):f(p)=0\}$ fails the ball fixed point property (BFPP) whenever $p$ is non-isolated, answering a question of Avilés, Japón, Lennard, Martínez-Cervantes and Stawski. Consequently, $C_0(L)$ fails the BFPP for every noncompact locally compact Hausdorff space $L$. Together with Barroso's characterization for $C(K)$, this yields complete topological classifications of the BFPP for $C_0(L)$ and $C(K,p)$. We also resolve a second question of Avilés et al., showing that the BFPP of $C(K)$ implies that of $C(K,p)$ for every compact Hausdorff space $K$ and every $P$-point $p\in K$ if and only if there are no measurable cardinals.