Factorization of weakly compact operators between Banach spaces and Fréchet or (LB)-spaces

Abstract

In this note we show that weakly compact operators from a Banach space X into a complete (LB)-space E need not factorize through a reflexive Banach space. If E is a Fréchet space, then weakly compact operators from a Banach space X into E factorize through a reflexive Banach space. The factorization of operators from a Fréchet or a complete (LB)-space into a Banach space mapping bounded sets into relatively weakly compact sets is also investigated.