In the mathematical disciplines of in functional analysis and order theory, a Banach lattice is a complete normed vector space with a lattice order, , such that for all , the implication holds, where the absolute value is defined as
Banach lattices are extremely common in functional analysis, and "every known example [in 1948] of a Banach space [was] also a vector lattice." In particular:
Examples of non-lattice Banach spaces are now known; James' space is one such.
The continuous dual space of a Banach lattice is equal to its order dual.
Every Banach lattice admits a continuous approximation to the identity.
A Banach lattice satisfying the additional condition is called an abstract (L)-space. Such spaces, under the assumption of separability, are isomorphic to closed sublattices of . The classical mean ergodic theorem and Poincaré recurrence generalize to abstract (L)-spaces.